January 22nd, 2008
Search for selected text
In my post yesterday about the new LiveText feature on 8.0.1, I was asked to explain more about the new searching feature. Here you go...
If you have an application that you wish to be the target of a search, open the database to the view you wish to search, then click the "Configure a Widget from Current Context" toolbar button.
This starts the Configure component wizard. Select "Perform a full text search on this Notes view"
On the next screen, provide a name for this new action that you are creating, then choose "Wire as an action" and click Next
Now provide a name for the action (this is what you will see in the right click menu), choose "Other content" (since this is not a specific pattern), and "Text Selection" (this is telling the action that the selected text is what will be used as the search query), and then finally at the bottom, you can define where you want the results to be shown, in a Notes tab, in the Sidebar, or in a pop up window.
Now, when you select text in any document (it does not need to be an email) your new search action is available in the right click menu.
This results in the full text search being performed automatically for you, which is much better than having to manually copy the highlighted text, move to the database you want to search, open the full text search bar, paste in the text, and hit search!
Just think of the possibilities! You could highlight a person's name, and perform a full text search in your Notes HelpDesk database or CRM database. You could search for a part number in an inventory database. You could search for documents related to a project in a TeamRoom. You could _____________________ , or _____________________ !
This is really helpful new feature.
By the way, if setting these up seems a little too complex for the "average user" (not to offend anyone!), don't worry. One of the most important things about these new Notes Widgets, is that you can deploy them to users simply via a catalog or even by email. Each user does not need to create them on their own.
