Find Command

This section explains how to use the Find command to locate accounts and transaction records quickly.

NOTE-- The Find command is included in all versions of Goldenseal small business software.

FIND COMMAND
       Find | Found Records | Finding Text | Finding Ranges | Multiple Fields
       Omit | Any Match | Find Within | Find Also | From End | Complex Finds
       Table Finds | Using Flags | Using Found Records

OTHER FIND COMMANDS
        Find All | Find Duplicates | Indexed Fields
        Replace All | Sort | Skip

Website Info Links
       Accounting Software | Business Management Software | Estimating Software

RELATED TOPICS
        Data Entry | Printed Forms | Reports

Find Command

The Find command locates all records that match the contents of any field.

For example, to find calls for a certain date, follow these steps:

  1. Choose Contact Log from the Income menu.
  2. Choose Find from the Edit menu.
  3. You'll see a modified version of the data entry screen.
  4. Click in the Contact Date field, and enter the date of the call.
  5. Click the Find button.
  6. You'll return to the regular data entry window, where you'll see all records for that date.
There are two numbers under the Browser Controls-- the total number of records and the number of records that are currently found (the Found Set).

If the call you want is not showing, click the right side of the browser to see the other calls for that day.

Viewing Found Records

When you use the Find command, Goldenseal remembers which records have been found, and continues to display only those items until you use the Find or Find All commands to change them.

You can use just the Found records when you create Printed Forms and Reports, or when you use the Replace All command.

HINT-- You can use the Find command to locate just some items to print or include in a report.

Finding Text

Use the Find command to locate records that have specific text in any text field.

Goldenseal uses special search characters the determine how the text is matched.

  • If you enter text directly, you'll see all records that start with that text.
  • If you put a ! (exclamation mark) before the text, you'll find all records with that text anywhere in the field.
  • If you put a * (asterisk) before the text, you'll also find all records with that text anywhere in the field.
  • If you put an = (equal sign) before the text, you'll only find records that are an exact match with that text.


For example, to find all calls that mention hogs anywhere in the description field, follow these steps:

  1. Choose Find from the Edit menu.
  2. Type !hog or *hog into the Description field.
  3. Click the Find button.


To find all calls that have a blank description field, follow these steps:

  1. Choose Find from the Edit menu.
  2. Type = (equal sign) into the Description field, with no text after it.
  3. Click the Find button.

Finding Ranges

Goldenseal lets you find records that are within a range of values in any text, clairvoyant, number, money, time or date field.

Goldenseal allows the following simple comparisons:
     > (greater than)
     < (less than)
     >= (greater than or equal to)
     <= (less than or equal to).

For example, to find calls made on or after October 10, 1999, follow these steps:
Choose Find from the Edit menu.
Type >=10/10/99 into the Contact Date field.
Click the Find button.

To find all items between two values, type .. or ... (two or three periods) between the values.

For example, to find calls made between October 10 and 14, follow these steps:

  1. Choose Find from the Edit menu.
  2. Type 10/10/99..10/14/99 into the Contact Date field.
  3. Click the Find button.

HINT-- when you enter a range, Goldenseal finds all values that are equal to either side of the range, or between the two values.

Complex Finds

The Find window includes a Find Panel with several check boxes that let you refine the way a Find proceeds. They will help you to find special groupings of records, that you can't find without them.

HINT-- The Find command is very useful, and it is worth the effort to learn all the ways it can work!

To find an unusual combination of records, you may need to perform several Finds with the Omit, Find Within and Find Also options, or use the Skip commands to remove some items from the found set.

Sometimes it takes some trial and error to get exactly what you want!

Table Finds

When you find records that have a breakdown table, you can find values in any table column, the same way you'd find values in any other field.

To find values in a breakdown table, follow these steps:

  1. Choose Find from the Edit menu.
  2. Click in the first row in any column of the table.
  3. Enter a value.
  4. Click the Find button.

When you enter table values for a find, Goldenseal will include a record if any row in that record has the requested value in the selected column.

Using Flags

Use the Flag box to put any group of items into a found set-- even ones that cannot be found easily with the Find and Skip commands. The flag box is located in the lower left corner of each transaction and account window.

For example, to create a list of all phone calls made and all phone calls received, follow these steps:

  1. Choose Find from the Edit menu.
  2. Enter Phone Call Made into the Contact Type field.
  3. Click the Find button. You'll see all matching items.
  4. Click in the Flag box so it is turned on (showing a check mark).
  5. Choose Replace All from the Edit menu, select the Flag choice, and click OK.
  6. Repeat steps 1 through 5, but choose Phone Call Received at step 2.
  7. Choose Find from the Edit menu for a third time.
  8. Put a check mark into the Flag button at lower left.
  9. Click the Find button. You'll see all phone calls made and received.

Indexed Fields

Goldenseal keeps an index of some field values in account and transaction records. An index makes finds much quicker when you have large numbers of records (Goldenseal can look at the index instead of fetching thousands of records from your hard drive).

If you frequently use the Find command on some fields when you have thousands of records, you can use the Custom Layouts command to index those fields. The index makes your file slightly bigger, but it also allows you to find values in that field much more quickly.

Using Found Records

Once you have found a group of records, you can do several things with it:

  • You can browse through the records to find a specific record.
  • You can use the Print Forms command to print a form or report for the found records.
  • You can create a Report which includes only the found records.
  • You can create report Calculations which use only the found records for totals.
  • You can use the Replace All command to fill all found records with data from the current record.
  • You can Export data from the found records.

Goldenseal remembers the current set of found records-- it will remain in the that order until you do another Find, or use the Find All command to find all records.