Filters

With filters you can define complex logical conditions to show only the rows that satisfy a given set of criteria. For example, you may want to show a row only if the Share field equals a certain string and the Name field contains another string.

To create a filter, right click on a column header and choose Filter Editor from the context menu. The Filter Editor dialog window opens.

Tip: For a quicker way to create simple filters, see Quick Filters below.

Filters are composed of one or more conditions. A condition is a single logical statement of the type Column name - Logical operator - Value, for example [Solution] - Equals - 3.00. Not all conditions have a Value element.

Conditions are organized into a hierarchy of groups. A group is identified by a logical operator, which is the operator linking the conditions and subgroups belonging to that group.

For example, the previous figure shows a filter with a main group identified by the And operator. This means that the condition and subgroup belonging to this group will be linked by the and operator. The subgroup is identified by the Or operator and contains two conditions. These conditions will be linked by the or operator. The resulting logical expression is the following:

([Price] Is greater than or equal to 3.00 Or [Grade] Equals Fuel oil) And [Name] Contains Dallas

To add a condition, do any of the following:

• Click the group into which you want to add the condition and choose Add Condition from the menu.

• Click the icon next to the group into which you want to add the condition.

• Ensure that the group into which you want to add the condition is selected, and press the Insert or + key.

To edit a condition, click the condition element you want to change (column name, operator or value) and choose a new value from the menu.

To delete a condition, click the icon to the right of the condition. Alternatively, make sure that any component of the condition is selected and press the Delete or the - (minus) key.

To add a group, click the name of the group that should become the parent of the new group, and choose Add Group from the menu.

To change the logical operator that links the conditions and subgroups belonging to a group, click the name of the group and choose an alternative from the menu. Available operators are And, Or, Not And and Not Or.

To delete a group, click the name of the group you want to delete and choose Remove Group from the menu. Note that you cannot remove the root group.

To delete all groups and conditions, click the root group and choose Clear All from the menu. Note that the root group is never deleted.

To activate the filter, do either of the following:

• Click Apply. The filter is applied to the grid, but the Filter Editor window remains open.

• Click OK. The filter is applied and the Filter Editor window closes.

Manage filters

When a filter is applied, a status bar appears at the bottom of the grid. The status bar shows the currently applied filter and allows you to perform the actions described in this section.

To deactivate a filter, clear the check box to the left of the filter expression in the status bar. Select the check box again to apply the filter.

To select a different filter, click the arrow to the right of the filter expression in the status bar. Choose a different filter from the list that appears.

To edit a filter, click the Edit Filter button at the right end of the status bar. The Filter Editor window opens. See above in this topic for more information on editing filters.

To remove a filter, click the arrow to the right of the filter expression in the status bar. A list of all filters appears. Hover the mouse pointer over the filter you want to delete. The icon appears at the end of the line. Click the icon to remove the filter.

To remove the status bar, click the icon. All active filters are deactivated. To show the status bar again you will have to create a new filter.

Quick filters

You can quickly create a filter on a column without having to define it in the Filter Editor. Follow these steps:

1. Hover your mouse pointer on a column header. A small icon representing a funnel appears in the top right corner of the header. If the icon is already visible, it means that a quick filter is already defined on the column.

2. Click the icon. A list of elements you can filter appears. The type of list depends on the elements in the column.

3. Select the elements you want to show. The filter is created and activated.

Depending on the type of elements in the column, the interface to create a quick filter can be one of the following:

• In some cases a simple list is shown, from which you can select a single element. Choose (Custom) instead to open the Custom AutoFilter dialog. This dialog allows you to define a slightly more complex quick filter, by using up to two conditions and a range of operators.

  

• In other cases, each element in the list can be selected individually via a check box, so you can choose multiple elements to be included in the filter. Special elements are shown within brackets, such as (Select All) to include all elements and (Blanks) to include blank entries. Click OK to confirm your choices.

• For columns with data of date/time type, a calendar widget is shown to filter by a specific date.