Product documentation
Dynamics Advanced Search offers next level searching. Finding exactly what you need, in a massive set of data. Knowing you will find the best match for the requirements in just a few moments; that is exactly what this building block offers to some of our solutions.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations generally offers good searching capabilities on specific fields. However:
With our Dynamics Advanced Search functionality we offer a flexible solution to your querying needs!
This topic describes the usage features for the solution. For the setup, please check this page.
Out of the box this functionality is available on the following objects:
In case of a large amount of search data, there is the option to increase the performance by using Azure Search as the search engine, instead of the internal Dynamics database search (usually referenced as Local search).
Important
There are two sources of object related data that can be used simultaneously as search values within the Dynamics Advanced Search functionality:
For the objects where Dynamics Advanced Search has been implemented a Search pane is available on the left hand side of the form.
In the Search field, a text search can be used to search for records based on a text string. The text that is entered will be interpreted and converted into filters. In order to do so, the user can use operators to indicate how the text should be interpreted. Those operators are shown to the user in a tool tip when they hover over the Search label.
Please note that partial searches using the *-wildcard only works for the ID, Title and Description fields.
| Field | Description | Remark |
| exterior_color=ocean_blue | Searches all items where property "exterior_color" = "ocean_blue" |
|
iPhone* |
Searches all items for which a property value exists starting with "iPhone" |
iPhone6 iPhone8 iPhone10 |
|
*GB |
Searches all items for which a property value exists ending with "GB" |
SD card 128GB Hard disc 500 GB |
|
connect*=USB* |
Searches all items with a property that starts with "connect" with a value that starts with USB |
Connector USB-mini |
|
iPhone*;64GB |
Searches all items for which a property values exist that starts with "iPhone" AND "64GB" |
iPhone8 64GB iPhone10 64GB |
|
col=blue;col=red;brand=VW |
if the same property e.g. color is used 2 or more times, the search request is interpreted as blue OR black. | |
|
brand="Range Rover" |
Searches all items for property brand = "Range Rover" |
Quotes are only needed when the search string contains an operator |
Via the gear icon, a user can set some preferences for the behavior of the search screen.
| Field | Description | Remark |
| Show grouped | Filter controls are shown in groups (according to the attribute groups) |
|
Show selected group |
An additional group named "Selected" is added. All filters that have an active selection are moved to this group |
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Show recent group |
An additional group named "Recent" is added. All filters that have been used recently are moved to this group |
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|
Move immediately |
The filter control is moved to "Selected" and/or to "Recent" immediately when the selection is made |
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Collapse on move |
The filter control auto-collapses when it is being moved to "Recent" or "Selected" |
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Hide if empty |
When no filter values are left due to other filters being set, the filter control is hidden automatically |
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Lookup form threshold |
When the number of filter values in the filter control exceeds this number, the More button will be replaced by Select and values can be set/unset via the lookup dialog instead of paging (More) |
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Search within hierarchy |
|
Auto wild card |
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Search languages |
Defines the languages in which a text search is searched for. This make it possible to search cross language |
A powerful tool to quickly and easily compare multiple items is the View / Compare overview.
This function displays each selected item in a column and the attributes in the lines. The button View / Compare is available on most screens where the Advanced Search functionality has been implemented.
The user has some options in how the information is displayed within the View/Compare overview:
| Field | Description | Remark |
| View - All |
All attributes are displayed: matching attributes are grey, different attributes are black |
|
View - Different |
Only the attributes with different values are displayed |
|
View - Matching |
Only the attributes with matching values are displayed |
|
Settings - Show grouped |
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Settings - Show images |
Select to show object images |
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Settings - Display properties in hierarchy |
Select to only display properties and values on the compare form from within the selected hierarchy |
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Open in Excel |
Download an Excel sheet with the selected items and attributes |