Panorama has two ways of locating information, finding and selecting. Finding is much like looking up a name in a phone book—Panorama points out the location of the information you are looking for. For example, you might ask Panorama to find a phone number or a price in a catalog. Panorama will locate the information, and position the database to that spot. In this example we’ve asked Panorama to find Blue Cross.
If the database contains multiple instances of the searched item you can use the Find Next command to advance to each occurence of the item.
Selecting is like creating a whole new phone book containing only the information you are looking for. All the selected data remains visible, while everything else temporarily vanishes. For example, you might ask Panorama to select all customers that have purchased from you in the last six months, or all transactions over $250,000. In this example we’ve asked Panorama to select Blue Cross.
Deciding whether to find or select is your choice. Usually find is used when you want to locate a specific item like an address or price, while select is used when you want to locate a set of information. You can also combine the two techniques—for example, first select a subset of the database, then find a specific item within that subset.
Note: Some other database programs have a “Find” command that actually does the same thing as Panorama’s Select command (for example FileMaker). These programs do not have a true find capability like Panorama.
Locating Data with Live Clairvoyance
Panorama has several different tools available for searching your databases. The easiest to use is the Live Clairvoyance wizard, which is available in the Search menu. The search results are updated dynamically as you type, allowing you to “hone in” on just the information you are looking for. The search may include multiple fields or even all fields in the database being searched, and you can also search based on a boolean formula. (If you've used Spotlight or the search box in iTunes you'll find the operation of this wizard familiar.) Once the wizard is open simply type the word or phrase you want to search for into the search box at the top of the wizard window. As you type each character the list will update to show the records that match the word or phrase you have typed so far.
To jump to any record you have found in the original database, double click on that record in the list. Panorama will bring the target database forward and position the current record to the corresponding location.
As it searches the database the wizard displays the status of the search, for example 9 matches from 10,000 records. If there is a + symbol after the number of matches (for example 9+ matches from 10,000 records the wizard has not completed the search yet, and more matching records may be found. The +symbol will disappear when the entire database has been searched.
Using a Formula to Locate Data
The Live Clairvoyance wizard has two modes: basic searching (described in the previous section) and formula searching. The formula search mode allows you to search for records based on a boolean formula. You can make this formula as simple or complex as you want, using parentheses, and/or, and any operator of function in Panorama’s repertoire (see “True/False Formulas” on page 552 of Panorama Essentials for a detailed explanation of true-false logic).
To switch between basic and formula mode click the appropriate icon in the toolbar. The small triangle shows which mode is currently selected.
Once you’ve selected formula mode you can type in any valid boolean formula. In this case the search finds every person in the database whose title contains the word safety.
The formula can be revised to only show results from California. The search
results will instantaneously update as you modify the formula.
Panorama has a wide variety of operators and functions that can be used in a formula. You should be able to
select data just about any way you want. See the Panorama documentation for many more examples.
Selecting Search Results in the Original Database
The Live Clairvoyance wizard displays the results of the search in the wizard window. To see that subset of records in the original database press the Select Data tool. For example, suppose you have searched for all records referring to Blue Cross.
To see these records in the data sheet, press the Select Data icon.
Once the data is selected you can perform bulk modifications on the data (see Bulk Data Changes).
More Searching and Selecting
Panorama has many more tools for searching and selecting data. To learn more, see Chapter 9 of Panorama Essentials or the Panorama Handbook.