Lookups in the Desktop Application

Use a Lookup to locate a record or group of records in an application or find a record to enter in a field.

In a Lookup, you can enter search criteria that narrows your search and eliminates the need to scan through large numbers of records. A Lookup searches across all records of a single type (all projects, all employees, all contacts, and so on). You can search for records that share certain characteristics. For example, use a Lookup to search for all of your contacts who are located in New York, or all of your projects of the same type. You can also use a Lookup to find a single record, such as a particular employee's Employees hub record.

Lookups are available wherever you see in the upper-right corner of a field. Click the icon to display a lookup dialog box.

Search Types

On a lookup dialog box, there are four basic search types to choose from when you use a Lookup:

  • Standard: Use the Standard Lookup for searches using basic criteria such as names, numbers, and types.
  • Advanced: Use the Advanced Lookup to enter additional criteria that limits the data retrieved by the search.
  • SQL Where Clause: The SQL Where Clause Lookup lets you perform more complex searches, using your own SQL WHERE clauses.

Clear Button

Before you start a search, click the Clear button on the lookup dialog box so that information from the previous search is not included in the new search.

Multicompany

If you have multiple companies in DPS Active Company is one of the Search By criteria you can use for projects, employees, and organizations. Using this criterion returns only those records that belong to the currently active company. If you create a global saved search using the Active Company criterion, you can use it for all companies.

Configure Lookups

On the Lookups tab in Settings > General > General System in the desktop application, you establish settings that control how lookups work, such as how many records can be retrieved by a lookup at one time and how search results display on your Dashboard.

Get Total Rows

The Use lookup limits check box and the Maximum number of records field on the Lookups tab in Settings > General > General System in the desktop application control the number of records that display at one time in the results grid on a lookup dialog box. When you select the check box and enter a maximum number of records to display, the following items display on a lookup dialog box after you click the Search button:
  • Show Results (x-xx) displays above the results grid on the right side of the lookup dialog box. It helps you know your place in the list of records since you cannot see or scroll through them all at one time. Use the right or left arrow beside this text to scroll through and view the next or previous set of retrieved records in the lookup grid.
  • Get Total Rows text displays in the lower right corner of the lookup dialog box. Click the text to display the total record count for the search results. The Get Total Rows text is replaced with Total Rows text when you click it.

Search Results Paging

On the Lookups tab in Settings > General > General System in the desktop application, if the Use Lookup Limits check box is selected and the number of records per page is identified in the Maximum number of records field, then the search results are displayed in pages in the search results grid. For search results to be displayed in pages, the number of records must exceed the number identified in the Maximum number of records field.

With search results paging enabled, left and right navigation buttons are available at the top of the search results grid. You can use these buttons to switch from page to page. If the Allow Lookup Limit Override check box is selected on the General tab of Settings > Security > Roles in the desktop application for your role, then the button is available beside the navigation buttons. The button disables the paged search results and instead displays the search results in a list.

Displaying Records in Dashparts

When you create system dashparts for the Dashboard in the desktop application, you use a lookup to select the records to display in the dashpart. The Use Dashboard lookup limits check box and the Maximum number of Dashboard records field on the Lookups tab in Settings > General > General System in the desktop application control the number of records that display at one time in the dashpart grid. When you select this check box and enter a maximum number of Dashboard records to display, << Previous X Records and Next X Records >> hyperlinks display in the bottom left and right corners of the dashpart dialog box. (X is the maximum number of records you can view at a time.) Click these hyperlinks to scroll through and view all retrieved records in the grid.