SageCRM Keyword Search
Using the Keyword Search in Sage CRM, you can perform a search across all text fields on any of the main CRM entities by typing key terms in the search field. In this blog post, we will go over some tips and tricks to get the most out of the keyword search.
The CRM keyword search function uses an “any words” search technique. An ‘any words’ search returns records containing all of the listed in a search term once those words appear in the record text fields or in the text fields or in the text fields of any associated entity record specified in the keyword search view.
For example, a search for European software services returns all records containing the words European + software + services in any text field. These words can appear in any order within a record and across more than one text field. If the search term is not enclosed in quotation marks, matching records are picked up even where there are words inserted between the search term words within a record. If quotation marks are used, only records containing the exact phrases are returned.
Here are a variety of search characters that can help you narrow your search results in such circumstances:
| Search Character | Usage |
| *% | A * or % can be placed at any position in a word and matches any number of characters. Both the * and the % perform the exact action. For example, *ope* would make Europe,open, and so on. Note: Leave a space between words when using these characters for a multi-search terms. |
| “” | To search for a phrase, place in between quotation marks |
| ? | A ? can be placed at any position in a word and matches any single character. For example, Americ? Would match America but not America. However, you could use Americ?? To return all words using Americ and two characters after it. |
| = | A = can be placed at any position in a word and matches any single digit. For example, B== would match B12, B09, B99 but not B123. |
| # | The # must be placed at the start of a word and will return all words that start with the same letter and sound like the word you are searching for. For example, #smith will return smith, smithe, smythe. Note: The # can sometimes be over-inclusive, For example, in the example above, it might also return words like smart, smoke, smell. |
| ~~ | The ~~ symbols allow you to search within a numeric range. To perform a numeric range search, you enter the upper and lower bounds of the range separated by ~~. For example, 10~~20 will return all numbers between 10 & 20. Note: Numeric range searches work with positive numbers only , and decimal points, and commas are treated as spaces, while minus signs are ignored. |
| +- | Place + in front of a word that is required in your search or – in front of a word that you wish to exclude. For example, if you wanted to return all records containing the word ‘software’ in association with the word ‘services’, you could use the search term software + services. However, if you wanted to return all instances of ‘software’ except those that are associated with ‘services’ you could use the search term software –services. |
We hope you will find some of these search characters useful and more importantly, help you with your Sage CRM practice.
Article Courtesy of Sage