How to Use an Inquiry

Additional Information

Inquiries allow you to view a grouping of information on an area of the system. Inquiries can include one or more levels of information. When there are multiple levels, you can drill-down to see more detail about a specific result.

Open an Inquiry

  1. From the toolbar, click the Open Inquiries button.
    The Open Inquiries dialog box displays. It contains a list of inquiries that you are authorized to view and edit.
  2. From the Inquiries or Folder area, select an inquiry. The Inquiries area contains an alphabetical list of available inquiries while the Folder area contains the inquiries organized into system folders.
  3. Click the Open button.
    The dialog box is closed and the selected inquiry is displayed on the active tab on the Content Pane.

Run an Inquiry

  1. Open an Inquiry.
  2. In the Restrictions pane, enter restriction criteria. This allows you to restrict the information returned in the inquiry. For general information on how to restrict data, see Restrictions.
  3. From the toolbar, click the Run button.
    A list of matching records display on the Results pane. The number of matching records display in parenthesis next to the inquiry name at the top of the screen.

Drill-Down to Levels

For inquiries with multiple levels of data, you can drill-down into additional, detail levels of information. Each level is nested under the previous level and is indicated by a descriptive heading and a level of column headers.

  • To drill-down to the next level of information, click the plus sign next to a row of data.
  • To collapse a level of data, click the minus sign next to the top row of information.

Refresh the Inquiry Results

Once the inquiry has been run, you can refresh the Results pane. In addition, you can add or change restrictions as needed before you refresh the results. Refreshed, real-time results replace any previous results.

The pane can be refreshed in either of the following ways:

  • Click the Run button.
  • Click the right mouse button in the Results pane and then select the Refresh option.

View Additional Details in the Split Pane

The inquiry split pane allows you to view additional information about a specific result in an inquiry. The split pane can only display a single instance, so when multiple instances are selected, the pane is blank. The split pane is only available on standalone inquiries and is not available for inquiries displayed in dashboards.

By default, the split pane is not displayed. The split pane can be displayed below or to the right of the inquiry results. As part of personalization, your previous selection used while viewing the inquiry will be retained between sessions.

To display the split pane, click the View button, and then select Split Pane and one of the following options:

  • Preview: This option allows you to view details about the instance. It is limited to the available properties on the inquiry.
  • Document Instance: This option allows you to view and edit the related document instance. Your ability to edit and view is based on your permissions for the document type. If a document instance is edited, the inquiry results will not automatically be updated, and the inquiry will need to be run again. This option is only available on the select inquiries, like Final Bills (Inquiry), Prebills (Inquiry), Expense Reports (Inquiry), and Timesheets (Inquiry).
  • None: This option removes the split pane from view.

Inquiry Views

Once you have a defined inquiry, you can save and share it. Both existing and user defined inquiries can be saved, as well as any values entered in the inquiry fields. For more information on managing shared and unshared inquiry views, see Inquiry Preferences

Manage Inquiries

Click the View button, which is located to the right of the list, to access the drop-down list with these options:

  • Save As: This option displays the Save View As dialog box, which allows you to save the active inquiry as a new named inquiry view. It will also allow you to overwrite an existing shared or unshared inquiry view.
  • Rename: This option displays the Rename dialog box, which allows you to enter a new name for the active shared or unshared inquiry view.
  • Remove: This option displays the Remove View dialog box, which allows you to delete a shared or unshared inquiry view.
  • Share: This option displays the Shared Preference dialog box, which allows users with permission to share the active shared or unshared inquiry view.

Drill To

To view additional information about inquiry data, you can drill to the screen with the original source of data. For example, if you select project detail data, you can open the project on the Project screen.

With a row of data selected, click the right mouse button and then select the Open option.
The related screen is displayed on the current, active tab with the selected data instance displayed.

Additional Display Options

Inquiry results are displayed in a list format, which allows you to modify how data is displayed; for more information about how lists work in the system, see How to Work with Lists. The following topics describe how to filter, sort, and export lists or manage or group by columns: