Condition Operators

The Operator drop-down list allows you to select a function for the field selected in the Fields drop-down list. The following table describes the operators available for different field types.

Operator Description
= (equal to) Use the equal to operator to find exact values.

For example, select the Active/Inactive field with the = operator and the Active value to display all active items in the specified project. For Date/Time fields, dates used with this operator are treated as a Date-only field. For example, select the Submit Date/Time field with the = operator and type yesterday's date in the Value menu to find all of the items submitted into the specified project yesterday.

> (greater than) Use the greater-than operator to find larger values than the value specified.

For example, select the Submit Date/Time field with the > operator and type the last day of last year in the Value menu to find all of the items submitted into the specified project for this calendar year. Use this operator with the less-than operator to define all items between two specified dates.

< (less than) Use the less-than operator to find smaller values than the value specified.

For example, select the Submit Date/Time field and the < operator, and then type 2/27/2009 in the Value menu to return all items with a submit date and time up to 2/26/2009 11:59:59 p.m. Use this operator with the greater than operator (>) to define all items between two specified dates.

>= (greater than or equal to) User the greater-than-or-equal-to operator to find identical and greater values than the value specified.

For example, select the Submit Date/Time field with the >= operator and type the last day of last year in the Value menu to find all of the items submitted into the specified project this calendar year. Use this operator with the less-than sign to define all items between two specified dates.

<= (less than or equal to) Use the less-than-or-equal-to operator to find identical and lesser values than the value specified.
For example, select the Submit Date/Time field with the <= operator and type the first day of this year in the Value menu to find all of the items submitted into the specified project before this calendar year.
Note: For Query At Runtime searches, the time portion of the date you select from the calendar defaults to 12:00:00 AM. Therefore, to search for items submitted on 6/30/2011, select 07/01/2011 as the less than or equal to date/time (or enter the date/time manually as 6/30/2011 11:59:59 PM) and select 6/30/2011 as the greater than or equal to date/time.
<> (not equal to) Use the not-equal-to operator to find values not equal to the value specified. For Date/Time fields, dates used with this operator are treated as Date-only fields.

For example, select the Submit Date/Time field with the <> operator and type a date in the Value menu to find all items that were not submitted into the specified project on that date. For Date/Time fields, dates used with this operator are treated as Date-only fields.

contains all Use this operator to select one or more values to return items that contain all values in the field.

For example, select the "v2.0", "v2.1," and "V3.0" values as your search criteria for a Change in Version field, and then select "Contains All" from the operator drop-down list. Items in which "v2.0", "v2.1," AND "V3.0" are selected for the Change in Version field are returned. Multiple search conditions are allowed.

contains any Use this operator to select one or more values to return items that contain any values in the field. Multiple conditions are allowed.

For example, select the "v2.0", "v2.1," and "V3.0" values as your search criteria for a Change in Version field, and then select "Contains Any" from the operator drop-down list. Items in which "v2.0," "v2.1," OR"V3.0" are selected for the Change in Version field are returned. Multiple search conditions are allowed.

does not contain all Use this operator to select one or more values to return items that do not contain all specified values in the field. Multiple conditions are allowed.

For example, select the "v2.0", "v2.1," and "V3.0" values as your search criteria for a Change in Version field, and then select "Does Not Contain All" from the operator drop-down list. Items in which "v2.0," "v2.1," AND "V3.0" are not selected for the Change in Version field are returned. Multiple search conditions are allowed.

does not contain any Use this operator to select one or more values to return items that do not contain any values in the field. Multiple conditions are allowed.

For example, select the "v2.0," "v2.1," and "V3.0" values as your search criteria for a Change in Version field, and then select "Does Not Contains Any" from the operator drop-down list. Items in which "v2.0," "v2.1," OR "V3.0" are not selected for the Change in Version field are returned. Multiple search conditions are allowed.

contains Use this operator to search for keywords in a Text field or Sub-Relational field or the Item Type Prefix option. SBM automatically includes wildcard characters at the beginning and the end of the search criteria. For example, type the value icons for a title search and the "contains" operator to return all items that contain the word "icons" in the title. Use this operator to search for exact phrases or single keywords in the Text field, or for searching by items by a specific item prefix.

Use this operator to search for exact phrases or single keywords in the Text or Sub-Relational field, or for searching by items by a specific item prefix.

like Like is a comparison expression that returns data that is like the value selected. This operator gives you complete control over how SBM uses wildcard characters.

For example, select the Title field and the "Like" operator, and then type a word in the Value menu followed by an asterisk to display items that have this word only at the beginning of the title. Use this operator to search for multiple phrases or keywords throughout any Text or Sub-Relational field or the Item Type Prefix option. For example, select the Title field and the "like" operator, and then type *change*modern* to return items that contain both the words "change" and "modern" in the title, and where "change" precedes "modern."

not contains Use this operator to return items that do not contain specified keywords in the queried Text or Sub-Relational field or the Item Type Prefix option.

When you run the report, SBM automatically includes wildcard characters at the beginning and the end of the search criteria. For example, type the value icon and use the "Not Contains" operator for a title search to return items that do not contain the word icon in the title. Use this operator to search for exact phrases or single keywords not in the field or item prefix.

not like This is a comparison expression that returns data that is not like the selected value. Select the Title field and the "not like" operator, and then type the first or last word of the title to exclude that item from the report. You can use an asterisk (*) in the search as a wildcard character. For example, type the value *icons* for a title search to return items that do not contain the word icons. Use this operator to search for multiple phrases or keywords not in the field or item prefix.
like (zero-filled) Use this operator to include leading zeros in your criteria for the Item ID field. For example, if there are leading zeroes on the ID number, they may be left off your search criteria. For example, to find item ID number "BUG00017," type 17.

To search for multiple items by Item ID, separate each Item ID with a space.

not like (zero-filled) Use this operator to not include leading zeros in your criteria for the Item ID field. For example, if there are leading zeroes on the ID number, they must be included in your criteria. For example, to find item ID number "BUG00017," you must type 00017.
is empty Use this operator to find items with field values that are empty (in which values have not been entered or not provided by a user). For example, select the Description field with the is empty operator to return items that do not have any content in the Description field.
is not empty Use this operator to find items with field values that are not empty (in which values have been provided). For example, select the Secondary Owner field with the is not empty operator to return items that have been assigned a secondary owner user or group.

: (colon)

Use the : (colon) operator to specify all keywords that should be included in a search against all Text fields enabled for searching by your administrator. For example, if you select the Text Fields With All Keywords option and type graphic and file as field values, all items that contain the word graphic AND file are returned.

The colon can be used on Text Fields With All Keywords option

: (colon)

Use the : (colon) operator to specify any keyword that should be included in a search against all Text fields enabled for searching by your administrator. For example, if you select the Text Fields With Any Keywords option and type graphic and file as field values, all items that contain the word graphic OR file are returned.

The colon can be used on Text Fields With Any Keywords option

The following table lists which operators apply to each field type:
Field Type Operators
Binary =
Company, Contact, Folder, Item Type, Project, Single Relational, Single Selection, State, Sub-Relational, Trinary, User contains any, does not contain any
DateTime, Numeric, Summation =, <>, >, >=, <, <=
Multi-Group, Multi-Relational, Multi-Selection, Multi-User contains all, contains any, does not contain all, does not contain any
Text, Item Type, Prefix Option contains, like, not contains, not like
Item Id contains, like, like (zero-filled), not contains, not like
Sub-Relational The available operators depend on the selected sub-field type.
File, URL contains, not contains, is empty, is not empty
Note: The is empty and is not empty operators are only applicable to the following field types:
  • Text
  • Numeric
  • Multi-Group
  • Multi-Selection
  • Multi-User
  • Multi-Relational
  • Date/Time
  • Sub-Relational (only applicable if the target field of the sub-relational field is one of the above)

Related Topics

Working with Field Search Specifications

Selecting Fields for a Condition

Selecting Field Values for a Condition