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Always Available Search

Always Available Search

Always Available Search appears as an input box in the blue ribbon on top of your CX page. It remains there regardless of where you are in RIB CX enabling you to quickly and effortlessly search for anything at any time. That is what makes it such a powerful tool.

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By default the keyword search is restricted to the form. This means it will search for that text in the title, fields, comments, and names of attachments. You can change this to search the text WITHIN attachments by selecting "Anywhere including Attachments" from the “Search in” range drop down.

"Anywhere including Attachments" is not currently supported in RIB 4.0 / Azure hosted environments.

Refine Search by Form Type

Basic Keyword Search

Users can type in a keyword, press Enter or click the search button. The results will load, along with advanced criteria to narrow down your search.

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Keyword Search Without Operators

When you search with two or more keywords without using an operator, BOTH keywords typed in need to match for a result to be returned.

The empty space functions like an ‘AND' operator. You are instructing search to search for word1 AND word2 in the same result.

For example, the words ‘Damaged Install’ are searched without a Search Operator. Results show words Damaged ‘AND’ Install in the form.

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Keyword Search With Operators

The following operators are applicable when performing a keyword search in Anywhere on Form/Document (normal).

OR

Search for X or Y. This will return results related to X or Y, or both. 

Examples: 

rib OR software

“Exact-Match”

Force an exact-match search. Use this to refine results for ambiguous searches, or to exclude synonyms when searching for single words.

Example: 

“RIB Software”

AND

Search for X and Y. This will return only results related to both X and Y. 

Example: 

rib AND software

Wildcard *

Acts as a wildcard and will match any word or phrase.

Example: 

rib*, will look for results with any word of phrase after rib

"rib software"* , will look for results with the phrase rib software with any word or phrase after rib software

rib* software, will look for results with the word rib with any word or phrase after it OR the word software

There may be some keyword searches that will not return results.

You cannot search for single letters or numbers with a Wildcard after it. e.g. 5* or 1* or Stage 5*. This will not return any results.

To search for a phrase with a Wildcard you can use quotations, for example "Stage 5"* or "5"*

These search functions are limited to key word searches with in Global Search

If you are searching for 2 user fields in Global Search, you may use the 'or' function. For example if you are searching for a text based search within 'Special fields' for either of two words, you can use the 'or' function.

When it comes to Text based user field searches (contrary to Keyword searches) RIB CX does not support other search functions like AND, "Exact Match", Wild Card*. However you are able to use the 'or' function. 

Adding Advanced Criteria

You can begin a search without typing in a keyword by clicking on the All Criteria button. This will take you to the Advanced Criteria page.

Advanced criteria provides all available search options to refine your search. Use the filters and criteria to narrow down your results for more precise searching.

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To begin a search you can pick a Form Type or Status.

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More Criteria

Add User Field criteria by clicking on ‘+ More Criteria’ and searching for the field you need.

You can select from standard fields, user fields, and project selections.

Tick one or more options to add them to your criteria list, or use the search feature to filter and find specific fields.

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The dropdown displays the the user fields relevant to that search : Selected Fields, Standard Fields and User User Fields.

  • Selected Fields will display the user fields that have been selected in search criteria

  • Standard Fields will display user fields that are standard (not custom) available for selection

  • User Fields will show custom fields available for selection

You can add any of these fields to your criteria by ticking the check box next to them and clicking done. You can select one or more fields at a time

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More Criteria Search Box

You can also search for the fields using the search box at the top of the dropdown list

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Pin and Unpin fields for Easy Access

You can ‘Pin’ the criteria that you use often in your search criteria. This way you will always see it in the search criteria and not need to click ‘+ More Criteria’.

To pin a field as criteria, click the pin icon next to the field. This keeps the field in your search criteria list for easy access in future searches.

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To unpin, you can click the same icon and it will unpin it.

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Or you can hover over your pinned field and unpin it.

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Filter Field Options Intuitively

You can filter fields with options as by typing into the input box to find the option you want, or by selecting the options you need.

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Search Contacts by Company, Role, Groups and Retired Users

The contact picker has categorised tabs and a quick filter input, allowing users to quickly narrow down and select the contacts they need.

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The contact picker tabs contact type filtering are:

Tab

What It Shows

All

All contacts (default view)

Company

Contacts grouped by company

Role

Roles on the project

Groups

Configured user groups

Retired Users

Users who have been retired from the project

A search filter input is located below each of the tabs and above the contact list. This allows users to quickly search within the selected tab.

Where It’s Supported

✅ This feature is available for:

  • Standard contact fields in Global Search

  • Standard contact fields in Publication Space Search

🚫 This feature is not available for:

  • Contact user fields (UFs) in search or forms

  • Forms (Create, Edit, Respond) – no changes to contact field behaviour there

Company-Based Search
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When a user searches for a contact field by company, the results will now include rows that match the company or any user within that company.

For example: Searching for MC-* will show rows with MC-* or any users within that company, such as "MC-PA."

Role-Based Search

When a user searches for a contact field by role, the results will include rows that match the role or any user or company associated with that role.

Example: Searching for "SUB" (where "MC-" has the role of SUB) will show rows with SUB, MC-* and MC-PA.

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If you notice that the screen goes blank when you press search, it could be that certain Chrome Browser Extensions are not supported. For example Tango, Grammerly etc extension is not supported. To fix that, go to your Chrome Settings → Extensions → Remove or Toggle Off the Extensions. Alternatively use a different browser.

Automatic Addition of Search Criteria as Columns in Search Results

  • Before executing a search, the system automatically detects criteria selected by the user.

  • Selected search criteria not already in the result layout are automatically added as columns to the results layout, ensuring relevant details are immediately visible without further manual adjustments.

https://www.loom.com/share/ca14c71b21f44a2891b6c215e2ffba8a

Specific Column Handling

  • Selectable User Fields:
    Adds the descriptive name (not the code) of the user field to the results layout.

  • Cascading Fields:
    Adds the full description of cascading fields to provide comprehensive context.

Update Layout Prompt

  • After the automatic addition of new columns, users are shown the "Update Layout" prompt, allowing quick saving of the modified layout for future searches.

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Multiple Field Support

  • The functionality supports automatic addition of one or more fields simultaneously, accommodating complex search scenarios effortlessly.

Exclusions

  • Extending this functionality specifically to the Publication Space (PS) search will be addressed in the future.

  • Contract Admin module specific criteria are also excluded.

Customise the Look and Feel

This search interface comes with 3 different view options for the search criteria.

  • Auto width-view

  • Column View

  • List view

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This UI toggle allows you to swap the layout of the criteria fields to a format that suits you best. You can either have a Auto width layout, Column view layout or List view to suit your way of working.

Search Operators for User Fields

For Standard Fields (Forms) - Global Search

The unified search has comprehensive filtering options for standard fields on forms.

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The table below shows the standard fields and the search operators supported for each.

Field Type

Related Standard Fields

Equals

Contains

Not contains

NotEquals

between

on

before

after

during

last

1

Text

Ref

Y

Y

Y

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

Date

Created

 

 

 

Y

 Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

3

Due Date

 

 

 

Y

 Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

4

First Opened 

 

 

 

Y

 Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

5

Modified 

 

 

 

Y

 Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

6

Closed 

 

 

 

Y

 Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

7

Response On 

 

 

 

Y

 Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

8

Select

Project 

 

Y

Y

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9

Status

 

Y

Y

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10

Status Category 

 

Y

Y

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11

Contact

Action

 

Y

Y

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12

Author

 

Y

Y

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13

Action First 

 

Y

Y

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14

Action or Info 

 

Y

Y

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15

Response by 

 

Y

Y

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Select User Fields

For User Fields with options (Select, Radio, Checkbox) the following search operators are available:

  • equals

  • not equal

  • is blank

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For Numeric User Fields

For numeric fields (Currency, Number) the following search operators are available:

  • equals

  • not equals

  • greater than

  • greater than or equals

  • less than

  • less than or equal

  • between

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For Date User Fields

The following search operators are available:

  • between (between a certain range days)

  • on

  • before

  • after

  • during (as in during a number of days)

  • last

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For Contact User Fields

The following search operators are available:

  • contains (meaning either, or)