In Queries 101 - Basics, we covered what a search query is, the anatomy of a query screen and its parts. Next, we will take a deeper dive into Personal Queries.

Frequently used queries can be named and saved for quick access.

Historically, these were called Personal Queries because they were “personal” to the user that created them. Later in this lesson, you will see additional functionality that is available to allow you to share your queries with groups of people.

A personal query is a custom search for desired information and can be created under any Module inside the AiM platform.

• Queries display a specific set of information.

• Queries allow you to find a record you need to update or review.

• Queries let you see how many records have a similar attribute.
  
  

1. You run the Query and your results are skewed.

2. You need to update the contents of a Saved Query.

A list of all queries can by found on the WorkDesk by clicking on the Magnify Glass Icon. Open a Saved Personal Query by clicking on one from this list.

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Press Execute to View the Query Results for this saved search.

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These are the search results for the reusable saved query.

You may not be satisfied with these results and want to Edit the query. If so, click Search at the top-left corner of the screen to return to the previous query page and perform another query/search.

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Search results for the saved query. Click search to edit the query and perform another search.

Next, under the Action menu on the left, select Edit Query to open the saved query screen in edit mode.

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Scroll through your saved query in edit mode, checking each line. Try to locate the missing or incorrect information/description/choice. This can be tricky because with so many choices the smallest of details can change your results. Take your time when editing.

Be sure to look closely at the list of Operator selections since the use of User, Shop and Employee are fairly easy to skip over without realizing they are there.

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Below, we are editing a field for an example parameter.

Be sure to hit Save when finished editing the saved query to your satisfaction.

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Clicking the magnify icon to search for a value to add to a query field

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List of field options; click on your selection

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Query build screen with specific value entered into a parameter field | Clicking Save will save this change to your query

If you are in edit mode for a saved query and want to clear all the settings of a query, click Reset at the top of your screen.

Reset will clear all previously saved parameters.

If you change your mind and have not saved any of the changes to the query, you can click Cancel at the top of the screen to keep all of your settings for the saved query intact.

You can quickly and easily delete a Personal Query. After opening the Query, you can delete it by clicking Delete at the top-left of the screen. This is a permanent action that cannot be undone, so make sure you’re absolutely certain before deleting.

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From a saved personal query, you can click on the linked title of the query at the top to update the query settings (it’s linked only if you created the query).

Or if you want to edit settings for a different saved query, under View on the left, you can click another saved query of your choice.

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Here, you can update the query settings. All blocks in a query can be edited except for the query name. Hit Edit.

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If you want to use a query in a dashboard widget, on the Personal Query screen of the saved query, make sure Yes is selected for the Query Listing and Query Count dropdown menus.

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If Alert Levels are set for the saved query, when the count of records meet the number set for a specific color, the color of the Widget on your dashboard will update to that color.

For example, a setting of 15 in the Red field means 15 or greater results will cause the Widget to turn red.

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At the bottom of the screen is a list of groups this query has been shared with. While in edit mode, you can add or remove groups here.

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Users with access can assign users to groups from the Group Manager screen in the System Administration Module.

You may like how someone else created a query and would like to add parameters to it to make it your own Personal Query. Shared Queries are a great starting point for creating your own.

This clickable link takes you to the query settings, from where you can click on Edit. If the query was created by someone else, this link will not be clickable.

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You can still use the existing parameters of a shared query and modify them to make it your own. With the saved, shared query opened, Click New Query under the Action menu on the left.

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Make your changes to the search criteria settings and click Save to create a customized version off of a Shared Query.

Previously, we searched for saved queries using the main query tab.

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Searching queries using the main query tab

Another way to find your query is to go to the search screen for the screen you wrote the query for.

For example, you wrote and saved a query on the Phase screen. Instead of digging through every query on the main query tab, you can click on the Phase search screen to only view a list of queries for that screen.

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Module search for phase queries

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Click Search for the list of phase queries

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Search/query screen with list of queries found inside of a phase

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Special operators with default values include:

• User - The persons User Security Role ID (user)

• Shop - The Shop listed on the User Security record (shop)

• Employee - Listed on their User Security record Employee Profile ID (employee).

We’ll go over an example of each, below.

For example, in the Notes Log sub-table below, the Editor field is set to User. AiM will pull records with default value(s) for the user that is logged in/creating this query, so that they will pull notes they specifically created.

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A sub-table of a query, using special operator: “User,” which pulls in default values based on the user that is logged in

For Shop, you can either search shops in the search field on the right, or select shop as a special operator.

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When shop is selected as the operator, the query pulls records based on the user’s shop who is creating the query.

For example, if you were in the electrical shop and this query was made and added to the electrical shops WorkDesks, it would pull all the electrical “shop” work orders into the query based on the user that is logged in as part of that shop. This would be a good one to use for electrical shop NEW work orders that would need to be assigned out.

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Just as with Shop, by Shop Person, you can either search employees in the search field on the right, or select Employee as a special operator.

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When employee is selected as the operator, the query pulls records based on the employee who is creating the query.

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Found in the System Administration Module, the User Security screen defines AiM access parameters, login defaults, and permissions of the user.

The User Security screen is also where the values for the Special Operators are defined:

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Found in the System Administration Module, the User Security screen defines AiM access parameters, login defaults, and permissions of the user. The Employee ID and Shop are associated with the specific user.

The Security filter view contains the SQL (Structured Query Language) statement limiting the User Security Profile to specific information. (User Security will be covered in a different course.)

Most often, Special Operators will be used with new WorkDesk queries to make them easier to share across the units.

When sharing a Personal Query that has default values, this will help the searcher locate information about the individual based on User Security defaults. These operator values allow for seamless group sharing.

A summary of estimated, actual, encumbered, and billed costs provided for financial evaluation at the Phase level. Costs are categorized into the four subledger types: labor, material, equipment, and contract.

Percentage is displayed when the percentage split usage is selected. This percentage defines the split distribution among accounts.

Amount and precedence are displayed when the fixed amount usage is displayed. Amount and precedence determine the charge sequence of each amount and in what order to charge.

A combination of fixed amount and percentage split is possible where the amount and precedence determine which account to use up to the defined threshold, after which a split distribution is applied to the remaining accounts.

You can also do these at the Work Order level, but the costs will be the total of all the Phases on that Work Order.

1. You will first look at the Phase

2. Now step back and look at the Work Order - Now you will see all the Phases on the Work Order are included.

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In the Time and Attendance module, supervisors can run queries for timecards that are pending their approval.

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With the timecard approval screen opened, click Execute to view the full list of timecards pending approval (without narrowing the query by entering search criteria).

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This will populate the Shop Person’s Timecards to view a summary of the data.

• You can see there is more than one Timecard posted.

• You can only see unposted Timecards. You will not find posted timecards here. This is strictly for approving Timecards.

By clicking More Detail in the top right corner, this will take you to summary of the unposted Timecards for each shop person.

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Summary screen for unposted timecards

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Details screen for unposted timecards

Timecard transaction numbers are clickable and will take you to the Timecard Query for that shop person.

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Clickable Timecard Transaction numbers

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Timecard Query for a shop person

Create a Timecard Approvals widget on the WorkDesk that will limit what they see by the parameter settings inside the personal query. Most are usually set by Shop.

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