Select Entries by Property Values Dialog Box

This dialog box enables you to select entries in the Project Table based on a combination of criteria for property values. The combination of criteria is called a filter. Once you have defined a set of criteria for selecting entries, you can store this set of criteria as a named filter, and use the filter directly from the Select menu in the Project Table panel.

To open this panel, do one of the following:

  • in the Project Table panel, choose Select → By Property Values
  • click the Tasks button and browse to Project Table and Project Operations → Select by Property Values
  • Using
  • Features
  • Additional Resources

Using the Select Entries by Property Values Dialog Box

This dialog box allows you to define a set of criteria that can be applied to select entries in Project Table. This set of criteria is called a filter, and it can be named and stored, as well as applied without saving it. The action taken depends on the option you select at the top.

The filter that you define can be a combination of individual filters. To define a property filter, choose a property in the Properties tab using the Property button, then select a criterion from the set given below it, and, if appropriate, enter a property range or a string to be matched. To combine this filter with the current filter definition, click Add to create a filter for entries whose properties meet either the new criterion or the existing criteria, click Subtract to create a filter for entries whose properties meet the existing criteria but not the new criterion, or click Intersect to create a filter for entries whose properties must meet both the existing criteria and the new criterion. You can also add named filters to the expression from the Filters tab.

Once you have defined a filter, you can create a new named filter by clicking Create Filter. To apply the specified action and dismiss the dialog box, click OK. These filters can also be viewed and applied from the Project Table panel by choosing Select → With Filter. If more than ten filters have been created, a View All option will become available. Choosing Select → With Filter → View All will open the Apply Filter Dialog Box, where the list of filters and the ESL expressions that define the filters can be viewed. Clicking OK will apply the chosen filter. To edit filters, choose Select → With Filter → Manage Filters, to open the Edit Filter Panel.

You can also select entries based on a property value with the Select by Property Value Dialog Box.

Select Entries by Property Values Dialog Box Features

At the top of the entry selection dialog box is a title bar, which defines the action to be taken when you click OK. In the center are two tabs, Properties and Filters, that you use to define or choose filters for entry selection. On the right are buttons for combining the new filter with the current filter. These tools become available when you have selected a property and a criterion for that property, or a named filter. In the lower portion of the panel is an ESL text box and a set of buttons for editing the filter.

Selection type options

Choose one of these options to determine how the selection made in this dialog box will be applied to the Project Table selection. A description is given below the options.

  • Select only—Select only the entries in the Project Table that match the criteria specified in this dialog box, and deselect any other entries. This is equivalent to clearing the selection, then selecting entries with the criteria specified.
  • Also select—Add the entries that match the criteria specified in this dialog box to the selection in the Project Table.
  • Deselect—Deselect (remove from the selection) the entries that match the criteria specified in this dialog box from the selection in the Project Table.

Properties Tab

The Properties tab contains a property selector, from which you can make a selection, and a set of tools to define a criterion for the property that entries must meet. The available criteria are:

  • The property is defined.
  • For textual properties, the text matches a given string.
  • For numerical properties, the value lies in a given range.
  • For Boolean properties, the value is true or false.

In addition, the inclusion state and the selection state of the entry can be selected as criteria. The tools become available once you have selected a property, and vary according to the kind of property.

To specify a range for a numerical property, you can use any of the following operators:

==  (equals)
!=  (is not equal to)
>  (greater than)
>=  (greater than or equal to)
<  (less than)
<=  (less than or equal to)

or you can specify a range with a minus sign, such as 1 - 3. There must be a space on both sides of the minus sign. You can also enter a space-separated list of the property values you want to match, and combine lists with ranges.

Filters Tab

The Filters tab contains a list of already-defined filters that you can combine with the current entry selection to define a new selection.

Combining Tools

The combining tools are the three buttons to the right of the tabs. When you have set up a criterion for a property or selected a filter, a new entry selection is defined. These tools combine the new selection with the current selection, which is defined by the expression in the ESL text box.

Add adds the new selection to the current selection, using a logical OR operation on the ESL expressions. The resulting selection includes all entries that are in the new criteria or the current criteria. This is the default action, which is performed if you press RETURN.

Remove removes the new selection from the current selection, using a logical AND NOT operation on the ESL expressions. If this is the first operation, the default current entry selection is "all". The resulting selection includes all entries in the current selection but not in the new selection.

Intersect takes only the common members of the new and current selections, using a logical AND operation on the ESL expressions. The resulting selection includes all entries that are in both the new selection and the current selection.

In addition to these three buttons, the Invert button at the bottom of the panel inverts the entire current entry selection, using a logical NOT operation. All entries that were selected are unselected, and all entries that were not selected are selected.

If you want to see how many entries are matched by the current property condition in the Properties tab or the selected filter in the Filters tab, click Show Total. The number of entries is displayed below the button.

ESL Expression and Editing Tools

You can undo multiple operations with repeated clicks on the Undo button. The Redo button reverses undo operations, and can also be used multiple times. You can also type ESL expressions directly into the ESL text box. The hand-edited expressions are considered part of the last operation performed with the mouse and can be undone and redone as part of that operation, but cannot be undone or redone separately. The All button sets the ESL expression to all; the Clear button clears the entire expression.

If you want to see how many entries are matched by the current ESL expression, click Show Total. The number of entries is displayed below the button.

Create Filter

Once you have defined the criteria for selecting entries, the resultant ESL expression can be stored as a filter. To create a filter, click Create Filter. The New Filter dialog box opens, in which you can provide a name to the new filter. The newly created filter appears in the Filters tab of this dialog box and on the Filter submenu of the Select menu in the Project Table panel.

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