Regex in filters

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #5072
    AnonymousAnonymous
    Inactive

    I was attempting to use the “Filter Fields” dialog to view fields in my metafile that start with a particular prefix but was unable to do so using the current filter options. It would be great if it were possible to use a regular expression to set the filter criteria (in the same manner as the MATCH function).

    #5094

    Hi Steve,

    I’m a little confused. If you want to find fields in the list that start with a particular prefix, just sort the Fields list in the Navigator by Field Name, and then use incremental search to position the grid on the first Field that matches. (Refer to the Navigator chapter in the help file, topic Incremental Searching for an explanation of how EditWriter implements this feature.)

    The Filter Fields dialog allows you to filter for a search term appearing anywhere within the Field Name (or in the Comments area of the Field object), including at the beginning of the Field Name. What didn’t work for you?

    Kathleen

    #5257
    AnonymousAnonymous
    Inactive

    Sure, that works although it’s less intuitive and less convenient.

    #5258
    AnonymousAnonymous
    Inactive

    I wasn’t trying to FIND fields, I was trying to FILTER fields (ie. to restrict the list of fields to ONLY the fields I was interested in so that I could focus on that particular subset). I used a naming convention for my fields that consists of an alphabetic character followed by two digits. I’d like to be able to filter based on this prefix (eg. all fields that start with “A”) but the existing filter options are not able to do this. The ability to filter on a regular expression would make this simple and would allow for more sophisticated filter options.

    #5259

    There are other ways you could isolate these fields with the existing filter, you know. Since you have stated you are working with custom fields, you could use date last changed, or place a keyword in the Field comments and filter on that.

    There are many easy ways you can achieve what you are trying to do without adding regular expressions (a difficult concept, even for programmers) to the EditWriter filters.

    Kathleen

    #5260
    AnonymousAnonymous
    Inactive

    Never mind. I won’t bother you any further.

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • The forum ‘Specifications – requests for new features’ is closed to new topics and replies.

Copyright © 2018 NAACCR, Inc. All Rights Reserved | naaccr-swoosh-only See NAACCR Partners and Sponsors