How to Use the New Advanced Search

One of the most compelling upgrades within OnTime version 5 is the new Tracking view. This brief video will walk you through some of the new features you can expect to see when migrating from OnTime version 4.

The new Tracking view is available with both OnTime Management Suite and OnTime Dispatch and functions similarly in both applications.

If you are coming from a previous version of OnTime, you’ll notice that there have been some changes, including lots of new features. Every one of these changes and additions was placed into the program in response to the feedback of hundreds of users. Some have waited patiently for years to see these additions, and with this update, we are happy to deliver.

First and foremost, we worked very hard to ensure that everything that could be done before can be done within the new Tracking view. We strived to ensure that everything could be done just as easily as before.

The first thing to call out is that the Tracking view has been expanded to display much more data at once. Previously, OnTime defaulted to showing 500 of the most recent orders. This was done to preserve performance. In this new version, we have developed technology that allows you to view tens of thousands of orders at once, while still preserving performance. OnTime will automatically calibrate itself to show the maximum number of orders without affecting performance. If the Tracking view ever limits the number of orders displayed due to performance reasons, a note will appear at the bottom indicating the number of months’ worth of orders currently displayed. If desired, this feature can be customized within settings.

Sorting columns works as before, with a few additional features. As before, sort by a column by clicking its header. Click a second time to reverse the sort order.

In addition to sorting a single column, you can now sort by multiple columns. This can be useful when you have many similar values in the first column and would like additional sorting on a second, third, or fourth column. This creates a type of cascading method of sorting data.

To clear all sorting in the view, right-click on a column header and choose Clear All Sorting.

Grouping sees a significant upgrade in this release. Previously, you could choose to group by one of 6 different columns. Now you can choose to group by over 120 columns! Additionally, the previous version only permitted grouping by one column at a time. Now you can group by as many columns as needed.

To group by any column, right-click on the column’s header and choose Group By This Column. Repeat those steps to continue grouping by additional columns. You’ll also notice the Group By Box appear when grouping is activated. This gives you quick access to sorting and reassigning your grouping order. To remove all grouping, right-click within the Group By Box and choose Clear Grouping.

In previous versions, Advanced Search within the Tracking view was presented as a large pane that displayed over the top third of the Tracking view. Now you’ll see a streamlined, narrow row spanning the list. This approach gives you all the features of the previous Advanced Search while giving back precious screen space to view shipment data. Instead of getting lost in a drop-down list of field names, just go to the top of the data you’d like to search by and start typing.

But the new advanced search isn’t just about saving screen space. One of the largest requests from our customers was to add more columns to the Advanced Search. In previous versions, 29 columns were available. Now you can search across any combination of 124 columns.

In addition to the number of searchable columns, we’ve made improvements to the number of ways data can be searched. Previously, search was largely limited to “equals” only. In other words, a search would always be processed as a direct match. There was no support for different types of search comparisons, such as matches that “begin with,” “end with,” “match exactly,” or “does not match.” Now there are 12 different ways to search, with “equals” still the default as before. In the case of dates, there are more than 25 different ways to search.

Previously, you could perform a text search across up to three columns at a time. Now you search across up to 124 columns at a time. Searches will complete faster than before. At any time, look at the bottom of the Tracking view to see current filters applied. To adjust a search, go back to the appropriate column, and change the value.

A new way of performing quick searches across most columns, use the search box in the upper right corner of the application. A useful shortcut to this search box is CTRL + F on the keyboard. When using this search box, the Tracking view will look for matches across most columns and will highlight those matches in yellow. Since this method of search checks for matches across multiple columns, it does require much longer to return results. For the fastest results, use the Advanced Search where possible.

An all-new feature in version 5 is the Advanced Filter. This window offers full control to build complex filters.  Additional information on how to create complex filters is available in the OnTime User Guide and the OnTime Knowledge Base.

Quick Views are still fully supported and remain the easiest way to save your searches and layout. Any Quick Views that you’ve set up in the past will migrate to the new format automatically.

This has been a quick overview of some of the changes in the new Tracking view. We are excited to offer these highly requested features to our customers. If you have any questions about how to use these new features, we encourage you to consult the OnTime User Guide, the OnTime Knowledge Base, or contact OnTime customer support.