10 IN THE SPOTLIGHT

ADVANCED SEARCH: GET THE BEST RESULTS

If you use TOPdesk intensively, you may lose track of tasks, persons or contracts. However, TOPdesk features many handy search functions to ensure you always have access to the information you need. This article provides a number of useful tips to help you nd what you are looking for.

Text: Timme Hos

IN THE SPOTLIGHT 11

Searching starts with autocomplete

When you start typing in the search eld, TOPdesk displays a list of suggestions from the selected card type (database). This list includes all terms from the database that start with the letters you have entered.

You can also use a wildcard to replace a single character. Including a question mark in a search term lets the fuzzy search include variations for that character. For instance, the search term te?t will generate results such as test, text and tent. This wildcard is also useful when searching for serial numbers or different (or incorrect) spelling variations such as organization/organisation.

Simplify your search with fuzzy

Users should be aware that TOPdesk uses fuzzy search. This prevents typing mistakes or spelling variations from affecting search results. For instance, if you were to search for pinter, TOPdesk will also display results for printer.

Excluding terms and characters

Use the command NOT to exclude terms and characters from your search. For instance, the command error NOT printer will exclude printer from the results. When copying a search term (such as an error message or a URL), you will have to remove or neutralize wildcards such as ? or *. You can deactivate wildcards by inserting a backslash before the wildcard. In other words, you change ? into \?.

Exact search
Using quotation marks ensures that you only see search results for your exact search term printer. In other words, quotation marks disable fuzzy search. This also works for multi-word search terms. Please note: highlighted search terms in the text are based on individual search terms. This may make it seem as if only part of the search term was taken into account.

DataDict
The DataDict is the ideal solution for users who wish to perform very advanced searches within TOPdesk. This lets you specify textual search elds in the quick nder. The DataDict is especially useful when a general search term generates too many results, or if you wish to search specic elds or categories, such as the name of the caller in Incident Management. Select the desired eld name from the Category list. Your search would be [Field name]: search term, for example object: dean. You can access the DataDict in TOPdesk via the TOPdesk menu > Help > DataDict. Another useful alternative is a (saved) selection with an ask during use value.

Searching for several terms

If you are looking for a card that includes two specic search terms, use the command [term A] AND [term B]. For instance, if you want to nd all calls featuring the terms printer and malfunction, you would enter printer AND malfunction. To search for at least one of both terms, use the command [term A] OR [term B]. It is also possible to combine these commands: ([term A] OR

[term B]) AND ([term C] OR [term D]). Use parentheses to dene combined terms. For the example above, the results must contain at least one of the terms between the rst set of parentheses and at least one term from the second set. An example of this command is (printing OR printer) AND (error OR malfunction).

Using wildcards
Using an asterisk in a search term generates results matching characters before, after or before and after the asterisk. For instance, if you search for cof*, *copy and de*n, possible results would be coffee, photocopy and Dean. You can also use wildcards if you are not sure which spelling convention was used within TOPdesk. The search term help* will generate results for both help desk and helpdesk.

Visit the Help & Support site

Our Help & Support site features tips on how to get the most out of your TOPdesk, including Getting Started instructions, manuals and more. You can access the Help & Support site by clicking on the question mark in TOPdesk.