Important Notice: This article applies to the New ParishSOFT Platform. If your diocese hasn’t migrated yet, explore our knowledge base for relevant resources.
Overview
Clicking the IQ tab opens the Intelligent Query page. This standalone page provides a visual interface that contains all of the controls needed to create and run queries in a user-friendly way. A query is a function that allows for data to be pulled from the ParishSOFT Database in a manner that allows users to build out data columns that are customizable
As shown in the following illustration, the Intelligent Query page has a row of command buttons across the top. These buttons can be used to create, view, and manage the queries created. Beneath the row of button are four main panels. These panels contain features that are used to build and define conditions to the queries. The illustration below identifies the main areas on this page. Place the mouse pointer over a link (without clicking) to view a general description of an area.
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Query Management Buttons
Use these button controls to create and manage queries.
: Opens the design view to start designing a new query. If working on a query, and have columns and conditions selected, clicking this button clears all current selections, leaving a blank query.
: Opens the Save Query window where the query being worked on can be given a name, tag and description.
: A variant of the Save Query feature saves a copy of the current query to the My Queries list with a different name.
: Opens the My Queries window to show a list of private queries (those created by the logged in user) as well as global (public) queries, which are those shared by other users.
: Opens the Recent Queries window to display a list of the last 12 queries opened by the logged in user.
: Opens the Query Tags window to display a list of existing query tags. The Add Tag feature in this window adds new tags to the list.
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Main User Interface Components
Column Picker Panel
The Column Picker panel lists all of the columns that can be selected to create the query. The columns are organized into main groups. The columns in the Column Picker panel are presented in a tree-style list. Expand the list to find the column or field needed.
Select the checkbox to the left and then click and drag to the column to Result Columns panel on the right.
Expand and Collapse List Buttons
By default, the columns in each group are hidden. Open and close the groups by using these buttons:
: Opens a group to show all of the columns in the group.
: Closes a group so the individual columns within the group are not visible.
Checkbox Controls
Checkbox controls allows for columns to be selected. An empty checkbox appears next to the name of each group and next to the name of each column within a group. With a single click of the checkbox next to the group name, all columns within the group are selected.
To select an individual column within a group, simply select the checkbox to the left of the column name.
In its initial state, a checkbox is empty: . Inside the empty box, a small checkmark
appears inside the box showing that the column is selected.
To deselect a single column, simply select the checkbox again. The checkmark is removed.
To deselect all of the selected columns, click . This button appears at the bottom of the Column Picker panel.
To select all columns in a group, select the checkbox next to the group name.
As shown in this illustration, all of the columns in the Batches group are selected when Batches is selected:
To select specific columns, select the checkbox next to the desired column name, as shown below:
Column Picker Panel Buttons
: Deselects all columns currently selected in the Column Picker panel.
: Adds condition statements to all columns currently selected in the Column Picker panel. The condition statements appear in the Query Conditions panel.
: Adds the columns selected in the Column Picker panel to the Result Columns panel.
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Result Columns Panel
The Result Columns panel shows the names of the columns to display in your query results.
To start, the Intelligent Query page to start a new query, the panel is empty.
Controls for Adding Columns
Add columns to the Result Columns panel one of three ways:
- By dragging columns one at a time from the Column Picker panel into the Result Columns panel.
- By selecting columns in the Column Picker panel and then clicking
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- By clicking the Add new column link in the Result Columns panel and then selecting the column from the displayed menu. F
Result Column Headers
Each column added to the Result Columns panel appears on a separate line. Each line item contains the following information:
Expression:
Shows the name of the selected column.
If a user selected the wrong column, click the link under the column name.
A dropdown menu is displayed with the names of columns.
Select the column from the menu.
Title
Shows the title of the column that displays in the query results.
To change title to make it more descriptive, click the Title link. In the Title field, type a new name for the column, and then press Enter to save the change.
Note: To re-display the default column title, select all of the text currently displayed in the field. Press the Del key on the keyboard to erase the contents of the field. Then, press Enter to display the original title.
Operations Buttons
: Sorting
This button appears to the left of each column in the Result Columns panel. Click it to display a menu of options available to sort and move the columns in the query results.
: Delete
This button appears to the right of each selected column. Click it to remove the column from the Result Columns panel. The data in the column does not appear in the query results.
: Change to Aggregate Column
This button appears to right of each selected column. Click it to display a menu of options available to aggregate the values in the column. Aggregate functions operate on a set of rows and return a summary value.
Add New Column Link
Click [Add a new column] to add a new column to the query.
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Query Conditions Panel
In this panel, Conditions can be set to specify how the data presents in a selected column.
Select Records Link
Clicking the all link in the "Select records" statement displays a menu of filters that you can apply to the query conditions.
Operations Buttons
A button in this list may or may not be immediately visible. If visible, it is shaded. To activate the button, simply place the mouse cursor directly on top of it (it changes color) and then click it.
: Add condition
This button appears to the right of the Select records link. Click it to add a condition to a query.
: Add group of conditions
This button appears to the right of the Select records link. Click it to add a group of conditions to a query.
: Toggle enable
This button appears to the right of a condition after you add it. Click once to disable (turn off) the condition. Click a second time to re-enable it (turn it back on).
Note: A condition is automatically enabled as soon as you add it to a column.
: Delete
This button appears to the right of an applied condition. Click it to remove the condition from the query.
Add New Condition Link
[Add a new condition]: adds a query condition.
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Query Results Panel
After executing a query, the results are displayed in the Query Results panel. The results include only the columns selected with data that satisfies the applied conditions.
Query Results Counter
This counter appears in the top left corner of the Query Results panel. The counter shows the number of records that meet the query criteria.
Results Per Page Dropdown List
The dropdown list can specify how many records the system is to display at one time.
Unique Records Only Checkbox
Select this checkbox to ensure that only unique records are displayed in the Query Results panel.
Execute Query Button
After setting up the query, click this button to run it.
Query Results Button
Click this button to display a menu of options that enable you to use your query results in other applications.
Full-screen View Button
Click this button to switch to a full-screen view of the results shown in the Query Results panel. The view is automatically scaled to fit the size of your computer screen.
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