Using the search feature

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On various screens in Practice CS, you can search a list of clients, staff, or other items to find a specific record. Some screens have a basic search field that requires you to enter the first few characters of the item you’re looking for, autofilling the field with the first item that matches your entry.

Practice CS also offers enhanced searching capabilities on many screens to make your searches easier and more effective. The enhanced search field appears on setup screens for offices, staff, activities, and clients, as well as the Billing, Time and Expense Entry, Manage Projects, Manage Clients, Client Calendar, and Client Dashboard screens.

Using the enhanced Search field

The enhanced Search field lets you restrict your search to one or more selected fields and to specify how closely the results must match your search criteria. To use the enhanced search, follow these steps.

  1. Click the Down arrow button button in the Search field.
  2. If you want to confine your search to specific fields, choose Search Fields from the menu, and click each field that you want to include in the search.

    Note: Choose Restore defaults to clear any Search Fields you have selected and restore the default search settings.

  3. Click the Down arrow button button again and select one of the available options to perform your search.
    • Exact: All characters in the name of the item must match the characters you enter in the Search field.
    • Begins with: The first characters in the name of the item must match the characters you enter in the Search field.
    • Contains: The characters you enter in the Search field must be contained, in order, within the name of the item.
    • Ends with: The last characters in the name of the item must match the characters you enter in the Search field.

    If, for example, you are searching for a client named "Smith & Jones" and you enter Jones in the Search field but choose the Begins with search option, Smith & Jones will not appear in the search results, because the name of the client does not begin with "Jones." However, if you perform the same search using either Contains or Ends with as the search option, the desired client would appear in the search results, because the search string fulfills the requirements for both options.

  4. Enter a keyword or string of characters in the Search field.
  5. Click the Magnifying glass button or press ENTER to perform the search.
  6. To clear all search criteria and start over, click the Red X button in the Search field.

    Note: The Search Options selection defaults to the last selection you chose.


Related topics

Repeating a previous search

Filtering your data

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