CRM Best Practice #7 - Flexible Searching with SQL Masking
The Aplicor SEARCH function automatically pads the front and back of the search term so that as long as the matching search text exists anywhere in the field being searched the results will be retrieved. For instance, if you search on the account name of "Acme", you will get every record where "Acme" is anywhere in the name (e.g. Acme001, AcmeABC, First Acme, etc.)
However, inserting the percent sign (%) with the search text will override Aplicor's default padded search to further restrict the search results. For example, if you search for "Acme%" you are telling the system to only return records that start with 'Acme' and end with anything else. Therefore, from the prior example, the search results will still include Acme001 and AcmeABC, however, will not include First Acme. Using this inherent SQL functionality, you can override the Aplicor SEARCH padding and fine tune your searches with more precision if desired.
Also, don't forget you can apply the Search function - and the SQL masking technique - to multiple search columns simultaneously simply by holding the
key while clicking an additional navigator column. The column display will then place sort order numbers in each of the columns selected and the column names will be described just to the right of the Search field. Our sales staff use this function extensively to apply search text to both company names and contact names at the same time.
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