Searching for Documents

Use the Documents application to display a list of documents according to the defined search criteria. After creating such a filter, you can save it. Then you can select a document from the filtered list and work with it as discussed in subsequent sections. To use filters (search criteria) to locate a document in SDMS, a common element is used which is called Documents Navigator.

1.	Log on as a user with access to Life Cycle Options> SDMS> Documents and open that branch in the console.

2.	Search for SDMS documents using the following filtering options:

•	Click the Favorite Views icon and select from the existing views (previously saved filtering criteria).

•	Click the Add Filters icon to create a filter for documents based on categories such as projects, file types, users, and/or keywords. In the resulting dialog box, you can select an icon representing the relevant category such as a specific project.

TIP You can use this feature as the first layer of a search, for example Projects. All available projects will be displayed as icons in the window.

•	Click on the Additional Filters icon, to display documents according to properties such as recognition statuses, flags, date range using from and to, and so on. Make selections using the drop-down menus. You can gradually narrow the results until you locate your document.

•	Enter a partial filename in the Partial file name filter to narrow down your search.

3.	To save a filter after you add it, click the Favorite Views icon and select Add View. In the resulting dialog box, type descriptive text in the View Name box and click OK. This allows you to view the documents by selecting this view instead of repeating the searching process.

TIP Using Favorite Views greatly reduces the amount of time it takes to build common queries, and reduces the load on the server. It is highly recommended to build Public favorite views for common query types for all the users of the system. For more information, see section Favorite Views.

You can use a text search similar to using Internet search engines to locate pages containing a word or phrase. In other words, you can search for documents according to keywords or specific text that they contain.

1.	Log on as a user with access to Life Cycle Options> SDMS> Documents and open that branch in the console.

2.	Click the Search button to open the Search dialog box.

3.	In the Search for field, type the text contained in the documents that you want to list.

4.	Optionally, expand the dialog box to add filters such as project, file type, user, and creation date range. To do so:

4.	Click the Search button. Documents containing the entered text and meeting other search criteria, if any, are listed in the Documents application window.

After you locate the relevant document, highlight it in order to work on it. You can do the following with your document:

•	Save a copy to your computer. See section Saving Copies (No Check Out).

•	Check the document out and modify it, then check it in. See section Checking Out, Editing, Checking In Documents.

•	Attach it to a workflow for processing, typically with document information moved into LIMS tables. See section Attaching a Document to a Workflow.