Result view of a design search

This view displays the results of the instance search that was requested from the Design Search or Advanced Design Search tab. You opened this tab with the Search Button in the toolbar or the Search menu. The search bore on one or more open locations of the Design Explorer view.

Display of the results in the view

The view title and its associated tooltip display the main characteristics of the search and the number of the instances found.

You can do the following actions from the toolbar:
  • Expand all (Expand all.). This command expands every tree item in this view.
    Note: This choice is reserved for a display in Hierachy mode.
  • Collapse all (Collapse all.) This command collapses every tree item in this view.
    Note: This choice is reserved for a display in Hierachy mode.
  • Run the current search again (Run the current search again.). This command runs the current search again so that removed results are displayed again or changes are applied.
  • Cancel the current search (Cancel current search.).
  • Show the previous searches (Show previous searches.). This command displays the previous searches. You can run one of them again.
    • If you select a previous search, its result is displayed in the view.
    • If you select the History choice, you open a window that shows the 10 previous searches (by default). In this window, you can select a previous search to view its results or remove it from the history. You can also configure the number of the previous searches that is displayed in the history.
    • If you select Clear History, all the previous searches are removed from the history.
  • Modify the display mode of the search results. Two display modes are available:
    • Hierarchy (Hierarchy).

      The highest branches are constituted of the selected top-level element: entity, project, or package (irrelevant for the maintenance of a Pacbase application).

      If the view displays the results of an advanced design search, an additional element can be displayed between parentheses after the instance name, according to the search implementation.

    • Flat (Flat).

      From the header of any column, you can modify the display of the search results. By clicking a header, you can display the search results according to the ascending or descending order of the column content. By selecting a header and dragging it, you can move the column.

      If the view displays the results of an advanced design search, the column that corresponds to the specific criterion of the advanced search is added to the standard columns. A Transaction code column is added for a search on Screens by transaction codes, a Format column is added for a search on numeric Data Elements or Data Elements by format, and a Relational Name column is added for a search on Data Elements by relational name. For user search patterns, the specific columns vary according to the search implementation.

  • Export the query result (Export the query result) in a CSV format that can be used in a spreadsheet program. In the export wizard, you must select a file with a .CSV extension. Then, if you click Next, you can select the data to be exported.
You can modify the display by clicking the triangle (View menu) of the view toolbar and selecting one of the following options:
  • Top-level elements to indicate which element type is to constitute the top of the hierarchy in each location tree. The element type can be the folders (default value, which represents the entity types), the projects, or the packages (irrelevant for the maintenance of a Pacbase application).
    Note: This choice is reserved for a display in Hierachy mode.
  • Sort to specify a new sort criterion for the display of the results. For a display in Flat mode, you can select any standard column as the sort criterion, whereas in Hierarchy mode, the sort is limited to the names or projects (or packages).
  • Display to display more information about each instance line in the tree. If you want to remove some of the selected information, select it again in the menu. In the Flat mode, you can choose to display all the standard columns ; the specific columns are always displayed. In the Hierarchy mode, you can display projects and labels (or package) only.
This new setting is then automatically saved and associated with this view until you change it again.

You can filter the results by selecting a project in the Context field and by clicking one of the buttons that represent a hierarchic view of the projects in the design build path. Context only Is selected by default. It means that only the instances that are found in the selected project are displayed. However, you can select another hierarchy (upper, lower, or whole) to display the instances that are found in the selected project and in the projects that are hierarchically higher or lower, or in all the projects of the hierarchy.

Possible actions on the instances

If you right-click an instance in the list, you can complete the following actions:
  • Open The instance in its design editor.
  • Open the instance in another editor. You can also open it in its COBOL editor if the entity contains a COBOL description.
  • Copy and paste the instance. See Copying and pasting an instance.
  • Generate the instance. If you have updated the design of a generatable instance (Program or Screen for example), the newly generated code will integrate the changes in the design, while keeping any specific changes in the code.

    The preference Structure checking before generation management, which is available from Window > Preferences > Pattern Driven Programming > Pacbase Patterns, checks that the nesting of subfunctions in the COBOL code is correct before the generation. By default, it blocks the generation if structure errors are detected.

  • Search for its own super references or subreferences, which are then in turn displayed in the References view.
  • Publish The instance (Pacbase facet). A multiple selection is possible.
  • Add the instance to the publish session (Add to session choice in the Pacbase facet). A multiple selection is possible.
  • Go to the next match to select the next instance in the list (also available with Next match in the view toolbar)
  • Go to the previous match to select the previous instance in the list (also available with Previous match in the view toolbar)
  • Remove the selected matches, to remove all the selected instances from the Design Search view (also available with Remove selected matches in the view toolbar)
  • Remove all matches; that is, remove all search result from the Design Search view (also available with Remove all matches in the view toolbar)

If you right-click a Data Element, you can select Usage search. This search detects the Data Element usages in the code that is entered manually in the PROCEDURE DIVISION of Programs, Screens, or Servers (files with a cbl extension). Selecting Usage search opens a dialog box where you can filter the cbl files on which the search is to run. When you click OK in the dialog box, you switch to the Usage Search view where the results of each usage are displayed.


Feedback