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The Find feature assists you in quickly locating any words or numbers in any column of any of the windows in EasyEst Estimating. The Find feature in EasyEst Estimating works much like the Find or Search feature in your word processor, only you can also compare numeric amounts, too.
To use Find, go to list and column where you want to search (such as the Description column in the Bid Item List), activate the Find… feature from the Edit menu, and then type what your search criteria is into the dialog box. You may then find matching records one-by-one, or show only the matching records in the list window.
Understanding the Find Dialog Box:
To find a particular entry, often you will only need to type it into the Find What field and press the Find First button. But there is much more you can do with the Find Feature. It is helpful to understand what each control in the Find dialog box is used for:
In Column message
Lets you know what column you were in before issued the Find command and where the searching will take place. (If this is not correct, press the Cancel button to get out of the dialog box and then click on the appropriate column and try again.)
Find What field Enter characters or number you want to search for in this column.
Match If button Choose one of several types of search commands.
Match case check box
If checked, will match for EXACT upper- and lower-case characters in your Find What entry. For instance, "Plywood" would not match "PLYWOOD". But if un-checked (the default), looking for "Plywood" would find "PLYWOOD" and even "plYWooD".
Ignore Spaces check box
Check this box if you do not want to consider spaces when matching characters. For instance, when looking for "2x4", you would probably want to find 2x4s shown as "2 x 4" (with spaces before and after the "x").
Tagged Lines check box
If you want to limit the search to only the records you have tagged, check this box. (This check box will be disabled if there are no tagged records in the current list.)
Find First button Finds first occurrence of something by moving the highlight to the first line where there is a match. Unlike Show Only Found (described below), all records (lines) will continue to be shown in your List. Use the Find Next command on the Edit menu (or Ctrl+N) to move to the next record which matches the rule you set up.
Show Only Found button
Pressing this button to start the Find will find all the matches at once, and show only those records which match the find rule you have set up. To return to seeing all your records, select Show All from the View menu.
Show All Records button
If you have previously done a find and Show Only Found, pressing this button will again display all the records in the list so that your new find rule will search all the records in the current list, not just the ones currently shown.
If you do not press this button (or use Show Only from the View menu, etc.), the new find will search only the previously found records. This feature can be very useful for finding records will meet multiple criteria, such as "Concrete Items costing more than $500." You could first search for and show only Items with Descriptions including the word "Concrete", and then perform a second search on the Total Cost column for amounts greater than or equal to 500.
Cancel button Use this command if you want to leave the dialog box without performing the search.
Help button Press this button to get help on this dialog box.
Example 1: Find the Doors in the Bid Items
1. Highlight the Description column in the Bid Item List, and bring up the Find dialog box by selecting Find… from the Edit menu.
2. Enter "door" in the Find What: field, and make sure the Match If: selection is set to Contains.
3. Make sure the Match Case and Tagged Lines Only check boxes are not checked. (The Ignore Spaces check box does not matter much here because we are just searching for a single words.)
4. Press the Find First button to go to the first Item with the word "door" anywhere in its Description. (The Find dialog box will disappear so you can see the list/form where you are searching.) To find the next door record in the list, press the Find Next key, Ctrl+N. Repeat until you have found the particular Item you want, or you have seen all the door Items.
5. If you want to see all the "door" Items at the same time, press the Show Only Found button instead of the Find First button. The Bid Item List will show only the Items with "door" in their Description. Note that a description of your search appears in the title to the Bid Item List window. This "subtitle" reminds you that you are not viewing all the Bid Items, and which Bid Items you have chosen to view. When you are have seen all the doors, and made any changes to want to them, select Show All from the View menu to see all the Items in your Bid again.
Example 2: Find the Windows in the Price Book Items With (Material) Cost of More than $200
To do this search, we will need to do a "nested search" -- first searching for windows and then searching only the windows for those costing more than $200. We will need to be in the Price Book Item List in order to search the cost column, or make any changes to the Price Book Items. (Note that there is a special Find field in the Item Selection window, which makes it easy to find Items by Description or Unit, but does not search other fields. We will need to go to the Price Book Item List to find in the cost field, too.)
1. Go to the Price Book Item List (not Item Selection), by selecting PB Item List from the Price-Book menu.
2. Highlight the Description column, and bring up the Find dialog box by selecting Find… from the Edit menu.
3. Enter "window" in the Find What: field, and make sure the Match If: selection is set to Contains.
4. Make sure the Match Case and Tagged Lines Only check boxes are not checked. (The Ignore Spaces check box does not matter much here because we are just searching for a single words.)
5. Click the Show Only Found button to display only the "window" Price Book Items. (The Find dialog will disappear.)
6. Now highlight the Material (Material Unit Raw Cost) column, and bring up the Find dialog box again. This time, enter 200 in the Find What: field, and set Match If: to Greater Than.
7. Press Show Only Found to perform the search. Because only the "window" Items were show when the search was performed, only those Items were searched. Now, only the window Items which cost more than $200 will be shown. Note that both find rules are shown in the Price Book Item List's window title.
8. You may now change any of the Items, including their costs. (Changing the cost will not cause it to disappear from view unless you perform another find.) When you are finished, select Show All from the View menu to display all the Price Book Items again (or just close the window).
Special Finds Available from the View Menu
There are some special, easy finds available directly from the View menu, which do not require you to fill any information in the Find dialog box, and always perform a Show Only Found:
Show Only Tagged Shows only records that are tagged.
Show Only Found Shows only records which match the last-entered find rule. Use this if you did a Find First, and then decide you want to see only the found records.
Show Only Zero Total Costs
Shows only records which have no Total Costs (i.e., Total Cost of zero). This can be useful for finding Items without Quantities or Costs (either way, the Total Cost will be zero), or locating unused Divisions, etc.
Show Only Nonzero Total Costs
Shows only records which have a Total Cost (i.e., Total Costs of more than zero, or negative). Use this find to quickly show all of the used Divisions, Budgets, or Cost Types in your Bid.
Show Only Items from Drawing
Shows only Bid Items which were imported from a CAD or drawing program using the Drawing Interface. This can be used to check only the Items imported from CAD, or to delete the old CAD Items before running the import again. This feature can only be used in the Bid Item List or Form.
Show Only Costs Modified in Bid
Shows only the Bid Items which have had their costs changed since they were copied from the Price Book, or were entered from scratch. Use this feature to quickly review custom costs entered in a Bid. This item is also in the Bid menu, because it assists with the costing of the Bid.
See Also: How to Use the Replace Feature, How to go quickly to specific line by Code, Cross Reference, Find Match Rules.
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