Setup (general)

Filtering your data

Digita Practice Advanced lets you create filters for much of the data you set up throughout the application (such as client, staff, office, and activities lists). By reducing the size of data lists, filters can save time by making it easier to find the data you are looking for.

Creating a filter

To create a filter, follow these steps.
note
You can also apply a temporary filter for the screen you are viewing. Instead of following the steps below to add a new, permanent filter, select an item from the Filter field and complete the filter by choosing a method and the desired filter, range, or individual items. These temporary filters cannot be saved, so we recommend creating permanent filters for most situations.
  1. Open the screen where you would like to create a filter. Many setup and entry screens include filtering capability.
  2. If applicable, click the Two blue down arrows button to reveal the
    Filter
     field.
  3. Right-click the
    Filter
     field and choose Add Filter from the context menu. The filter dialog opens. Note that the left pane of the dialog contains the names of any existing filters of the same type.
    note
    The name of this command varies depending on the screen you are in. For example, in the Staff setup screen, the command is "Add Staff Filter."
  4. In the
    Filter Name
     field, enter a name for the new filter. This is a required field.
  5. In the Criteria Information section, you can select up to six criteria for your filter from the drop-down lists. In the
    Filter by
     field, select the criteria to use for the filter from the drop-down list.
  6. From the
    Method
     drop-down list, select a method for your fileter. Note that the available selections vary according to the type of criterion you selected in the
    Filter by
     field. Methods:
    • Choose
      is
       to match a specific item.
    • Choose
      is not
       to match all items except a specific item.
    • Choose
      is greater than
       to match items greater than the selected value.
    • Choose
      is greater than or equal to
       to match items equal to or greater than the selected value.
      note
      For items in alphabetical lists, a "greater than" selection matches items that appear after the selected item alphabetically.
    • Choose
      is less than
       to match items less than the selected value.
    • Choose
      is less than or equal to
       to match items equal to or less than the selected value.
      note
      For items in alphabetical lists, a "less than" selection matches items that appear before the selected item alphabetically.
    • Choose
      is blank
       to match items with no entry or data.
    • Choose
      is not blank
       to match only items with an entry or data.
    • Choose
      is in the list
       to match multiple items. To select the items, click the More button and select the items from the Filter Selection dialog.
    • Choose
      is in the range
       to filter for items that fall between the beginning and ending items you select from the drop-down lists.
      For date-based filters, numerous range options are available.
      Some items in this list are available only if your firm is licensed for the Staff Management module.
      • Week
      • Period
         — The current Period begin date through the Period end date, as defined on the Change Periods dialog
      • Month
      • Firm Quarter
         — The begin date through the end date for the Quarter (defined as three months) of the Firm Year that contains the current Period end date
      • Benefit Quarter
         — The begin date through the end date for the Quarter (defined as three months) of the Benefit Year that contains the current Period end date
      • Calendar Quarter
      • Firm Year
         — The Firm year beginning date through the Firm year ending date, as defined on the Change Periods dialog
      • Benefit Year
         — The Benefit Year Begin date through the Benefit Year End date, as defined on the Benefits tab of the Firm setup screen
      • Calendar Year
      • Week-to-date
      • Period-to-date
         — The period begin date (as defined on the Change Periods dialog) through today; if today’s date is outside of the current Period, the end date is the current Period end date
      • Month-to-date
      • Firm Quarter-to-date
         — The Firm Quarter begin date through today; if today’s date is outside the current Period, the end date is the Period end date
      • Benefit Quarter-to-date
         — The Benefit Quarter begin date through today; if today’s date is outside of the current Period, the end date is the Period end date
      • Calendar Quarter-to-date
      • Firm Year-to-date
         — The Firm year beginning date (as defined on the Change periods dialog) through today; if today’s date is outside of the current Period, the end date is the current Period end date
      • Benefit Year-to-date
         — The Benefit Year Begin date through today’s date; if today’s date is outside the current Period, the end date is the current Period end date
      • Calendar Year-to-date
      • Next Week
      • Next Month
      • Next Calendar Quarter
      • Next Calendar Year
      • Previous Week
      • Previous Month
      • Previous Calendar Quarter
      • Previous Calendar Year
      • Custom Date Range
    • Choose
      is in the filter
       to choose an existing filter.
    • Choose
      is selected
       to match checkboxes that are marked.
    • Choose
      is not selected
       to match checkboxes that are not marked.
  7. Selected:
    In the
    Selected
     field, choose individual items or ranges or items to include in the filter.
  8. Add additional criteria in the available rows as necessary.
  9. In the Logic section, click the
    Must match all criteria
     option if items in the filter must meet all of the criteria, or
    Must match one or more criteria
     if the items can meet any criteria.
  10. Click the Enter button to save the filter.
  11. Click the Done button to exit the Filters dialog. Notice that the filter has been applied to the setup screen, and that the list now shows only those items matching your filter’s criteria.
note
  • After you create a filter, it will be available throughout the application. For example, if you create a filter for Clients, that filter will be available wherever you can filter clients. For instance, you can filter the Billing screen with your new client filter:
    1. In the
      Filter
       field, select
      Clients
      .
    2. In the
      Method
       field, select
      is in the filter
      .
    3. In the third field, select the name of your new client filter.
  • If you click the Two blue up arrows button to collapse the search and filter area while a filter is active, Digita Practice Advanced will display the filter criteria next to the
    Search
     field.

Undoing a filter

To undo a filter that you have applied to a list, click the Red X button in the
Filter
 field.

This article applies to:

  • Product: Digita Practice Advanced