Sorting, Searching, and Filtering Lists | Microsoft Docs

There are a few things that you can do that will help you scan, find, and limit records in a list. These include sorting, searching and filtering. You can apply some or all of these simultaneously to quickly find or analyze your data.

TIP

When viewing your data as tiles, you can search and use basic filtering. To use the full set of powerful features for sorting, searching and filtering, choose the Show as list icon to show as a list.

Sorting

Sorting makes it easy for you to get a quick overview of your data. If you have many customers, for example, you can choose to sort them by Customer No., Customer Posting Group, Currency Code, Country Region Code, or Sales Tax Registration No. to get the overview you need.

To sort a list, you can either choose a column heading text to toggle between ascending and descending order, or choose the small down arrow in the column heading, and then choose Ascending or Descending.

NOTE

Sorting is not supported on images, BLOB fields, FlowFilters, and fields that do not belong to a table.

Searching

At the top of each list page, there is a Search list Search icon that provides a quick and easy way to reduce the records in a list and display only those records that contain the data that you are interested in seeing.

To search, simply select the search icon, and then in the box, type the text that you are looking for. You can enter letters, numbers, and other symbols.

In general, search will attempt to match text across all fields; it does not distinguish between uppercase and lowercase characters (in other words, case insensitive), and will match text placed anwhere in the field (at the beginning, end, or in the middle).

However, you can make a more exact search by using the following special characters:

The following table provides some examples to explain how you can use the search.

Search Criteria Finds...
man
or
Man
All records with fields that contain the text man, regardless of the case. For example, Manchester, manual, or Sportsman.
'Man' All records with fields that contain only Man, matching the case.
Man* All records with fields that start with the text Man, matching the case. For example, Manchester but not manual or Sportsman.
@Man* All records with fields that start with man, regardless of the case. For example, Manchester and manual, but not Sportsman.
@*man All records that end with man, regardless of the case. For example Sportsman, but not Manchester or manual.
TIP

You can press F3 to activate and deactivate the search box. For more information see Keyboard Shortcuts.

Filtering

Filtering provides a more advanced and versatile way of controlling which records display in a list. There are two major differences between searching and filtering, as described in the table below.

Searching Filtering
Applicable fields Searches across all fields that are visible on the page. Filters one or more fields individually, selecting from any field on the table, including fields that are not visible on the page.
Matching Displays records with fields that match the search text, irrespective of casing or placement of that text. Displays records where the field matches the filter exactly and is case sensitive, unless special filter symbols are entered.

Filtering enables you to display records for specific accounts or customers, dates, amounts, and other information by specifying filter criteria. Only records that match the criteria are displayed. If you specify criteria for multiple fields, then only records that match all criteria will be displayed.

Working in the Filter Pane

To display the filter pane, select Filter pane icon at the top of the list or press Shift+F3. For lists within the Role Center, you can also choose the down arrow near the page title in the navigation bar above the list, and then choose Show filter pane as shown here:

Show filter pane

The filter pane displays the current filters for a list, and enables you to set your own custom filters on one or more fields. The following figure shows an example filter pane for a Sales Quotes list.

Filter pane overview

A filter pane is divided in three sections: Views, Filter list by, and Filter totals by:

Entering Filter Criteria in the Filter Pane

To select a field to filter, do one of the following:

You can now type or select your filter criteria in the box. The type of field you filter determines which criteria you can enter. For example, filtering a field that has fixed values will only let you choose from those values. For more information about special filter symbols, see Filter criteria and Filter tokens.

Columns that already have filters are indicated by the Filter icon in the column heading. To remove a filter, select the column heading, then choose Clear Filter.

Entering Filter Criteria Without Using the Filter Pane

You can specify simple filters directly within the list without having to use the filter pane. With any field selected on a row, use the Alt+F3 keyboard shortcut to display only the records having that same value. You can then select another field and use the same shortcut again to continue refining your filters. If the selected field is already filtered, using Alt+F3 will clear that filter.

TIP

Accelerate finding and analyzing your data by using combinations of keyboard shortcuts. For example, select a field, use Shift+Alt+F3 to add that field to the filter pane, type the filter criteria, use Ctrl+Enter to return to the rows, select another field, and use Alt+F3 to filter to that value. For more information see Keyboard Shortcuts.

Filter Criteria and Symbols

When you enter criteria, you can use all the numbers and letters that you can normally use in the field. In addition, you can use special symbols to further filter the results. The following tables show the symbols which can be used in filters. For dates and times, you can also refer to Working with Calendar Dates and Times for more detailed information.

IMPORTANT

There may be instances where field values contain these symbols and you want to filter on them. To do this, you must include the filter expression that contains the symbol in quotation marks (''). For example, if you want to filter on records that start with the text S&R, the filter expression is 'S&R*'.

(..) Interval

Sample Expression Records Displayed
1100..2100 Numbers 1100 through 2100
..2500 Up to and including 2500
..12 31 00 Dates up to and including 12 31 00
P8.. Information for accounting period 8 and thereafter
..23 From the beginning date until 23-current month-current year 23:59:59
23.. From 23-current month-current year 0:00:00 until the end of time
22..23 From 22-current month-current year 0:00:00 until 23-current month-current year 23:59:59

(|) Either/or

Sample Expression Records Displayed
`1200 1300` Numbers with 1200 or 1300

(<>) Not equal to

Sample Expression Records Displayed
<>0 All numbers except 0

The SQL Server Option allows you to combine this symbol with a wild card expression. For example, <>A* meaning not equal to any text that starts with A.

(>) Greater than

Sample Expression Records Displayed
>1200 Numbers greater than 1200

(>=) Greater than or equal to

Sample Expression Records Displayed
>=1200 Numbers greater than or equal to 1200

(<) Less than

Sample Expression Records Displayed
<1200 Numbers less than 1200

(<=) Less than or equal to

Sample Expression Records Displayed
<=1200 Numbers less than or equal to 1200

(&) And

Sample Expression Records Displayed
>200&<1200 Numbers greater than 200 and less than 1200

('') An exact character match

Sample Expression Records Displayed
'man' Text that matches man exactly and is case sensitive.

(@) Case insensitive

Sample Expression Records Displayed
@man* Text that starts with man and is case insensitive.

(*) An indefinite number of unknown characters

Sample Expression Records Displayed
*Co* Text that contains "Co" and is case sensitive.
*Co Text that ends with "Co" and is case sensitive.
Co* Text that begins with "Co" and is case sensitive.
NOTE

You cannot use * when filtering on option (enumeration) fields, such as the Status field on sales orders. To enter a filter for this type of field, you can enter the numeric value as a filtering parameter. For example, in the Status field on a sales order that has the values Open, Released, Pending Approval, and Pending Prepayment, use the values 0, 1, 2, and 3 to filter for these options.

(?) One unknown character

Sample Expression Records Displayed
Hans?n Text such as Hansen or Hanson

Combined Format Expressions

Sample Expression Records Displayed
`5999 8100..8490` Include any records with the number 5999 or a number from the interval 8100 through 8490.
`..1299 1400..` Include records with a number less than or equal to 1299 or a number equal to 1400 or greater (all numbers except 1300 through 1399).
>50&<100 Include records with numbers that are greater than 50 and less than 100 (numbers 51 through 99).

Filter Tokens

When entering filter criteria, you can also type words that have special meaning, called filter tokens. After entering the token word, the word is replaced by the value or values that it represents. This makes filtering easier by reducing the need to navigate to other pages to look up values you want to add to your filter. The tables below describe some of the tokens you can type as filter criteria.

TIP

Your organization may use custom tokens. To learn about the complete set of tokens available to you or to add more custom tokens, talk to your administrator. For technical information see Adding Filter Tokens.

(%me or %userid) Records Assigned to You

Use %me or %userid when filtering fields that contain the user ID, such as Assigned to User ID field, to display all records that are assigned to you.

Sample Expression Records Displayed
%me
or
%userid
Records that are assigned to your user account.

(%mycustomers) Customers in My Customers

Use %mycustomers in the customer No field to display all records for customers that are included in the My Customers list on your Role Center.

Sample Expression Records Displayed
%mycustomers Customers in the My Customers on your Role Center.

(%myitems) Items in My Items

Use %myitems in the item No field to display all records for items that are included in the My Items list on your Role Center.

Sample Expression Records Displayed
%myitems Items in the My Items on your Role Center.

(%myvendors) Vendors in My Vendors

Use %myvendors in the vendor No field to display all records for vendors that are included in the My Vendors list on your Role Center.

Sample Expression Records Displayed
%myvendors Vendors in the My Vendors on your Role Center.

See Also

Working with Business Central
Common questions about Searching and Filtering



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