Important Notice: This article applies to the New ParishSOFT Platform. If your diocese hasn’t migrated yet, explore our knowledge base for relevant resources.
A query enables information from your database to be pulled based on specified criteria. This topic steps you through the processes of creating, running, modifying, and saving a new query.
How to create a new query
Click New Query.
Choose the columns that contain the information you want to include in the query.
To do this, use one of the following methods to add Result Columns:
Continue adding columns until all of the columns needed for the query are showing in the Result Columns panel.
Be aware that the order in which the columns are listed in the Result Columns panel is the same order in which they appear in your results. If you want to change the order in which the columns appear in your results, complete the following:
- Place your cursor on top of the name of the column you want to move.
- Slide the cursor to the left until you see this icon:
. Click it to display this menu:
- The column order options are at the bottom of the menu.
- Select the desired option to move the column into the desired position.
Aggregate Function
To summarize a column's data, apply an aggregate function to it.
In the Results Column, place the cursor on top of the name of the column of the data to summarize.
Slide the mouse cursor to the right to highlight this icon:.
Click it to display the aggregate functions menu:
Select the function to apply to the column's data.
For example, to count the data in the column, select Count.
The name of the function is added to the column name to indicate it will be applied as shown below:
To remove the function from the column, click again.
By default, the information in a column is not sorted. If you want to a column's information to display in a specific order, you need to specify a sorting order. Do the following for each column whose data you want to sort:
- Place your cursor on top of the name of the column. Slide the cursor to the left until you see this icon
.
- Click it to display this menu:
- The sort order options are in the group at the top of the menu. Select one of these sort options:
Ascending: sorts the column's results in ascending order. For numeric results, sorts the information from lowest to highest. For alphabetic results, sorts the information in A to Z order. For dates and times, sorts the information from least recent to most recent.
Descending: sorts the column's results in descending order. For numeric results, sorts the information from highest to lowest. For alphabetic results, sorts the information in Z to A order. For dates and times, sorts the information from most recent to least recent.
Query Conditions
By default, no conditions are applied to columns in the query.
Conditions are criteria applied to a column to limit the results.
Take a look at the following for more details about adding conditions to the query build:
- Query Operators and Examples to help build out the query.
After having chosen the columns for the query, specified the arrangement of the information, and applied conditions, the query can be executed.
How to modify a query
If the results are acceptable, you can skip this step and go to Saving a Query.
If you need to make changes to the query, consult these topics for information on how to make specific changes.
How to Add, Remove, or Replace a Column
How to Add, Edit, or Remove a Condition
Execute the query again to view the results of your changes.
Note: If you are experiencing slowness or technical issues with your query results, reach out to support via https://www.parishsoft.com/support/.
How to save a query
After executing the query, there is the option to save it for future use.
Keep the query private (only the owner can access) or share it with other users by saving it as Global (recommended).
To save your query, click Save Query.
The Save Query window opens.
Complete the following:
- In the Name field, type a name for the query.
- To share the query with other users in your organization, select the Global check box. If you want the query to remain private, leave the box unchecked.
- To assign a tag to the query, select one from the Tags dropdown list.
- In the Description field, type a description of the query.
- Click Save.
The system saves the query and adds it to the My Queries and Recent Queries lists.
You see this message next to the name of the query in the title bar:
.
Updated