### Defining a Query

You define a query by:

- Specifying the Object to be retrieved.
- Defining one or more search statements.

Each search statement consists of:

- An attribute of the specified Object, or of a linked Object.
- A condition.
- One or more values.

Each search statement relates to only one attribute. You can specify different attributes for the specified Object or for linked Objects, by defining additional search statements.

Within a search statement, depending on the attribute that you have selected, you may select several alternative values for the same attribute. See Defining Alternative Values in Queries.

For an example of a query with several search statements and alternative values, see Complex Query Example.

You can also define a search statement that checks whether certain links do or do not exist, for example, you can query for Documents that were created on a specified date and that have no linked Items.

To define search criteria:

1. Click Query SSA PDM in the SSA PDM Toolbar. The SSA PDM Integration Query window opens.
2. To define your query as case sensitive, select Case Sensitive in the Query Options menu. Consecutive clicks will turn the option on or off.
3. Select the type of Object to be retrieved in the Search for dropdown list of the Query Definition tab. The default is Document.
4. Select This Object in the According to dropdown list, to choose one of the Document attributes, or select one of the linked Objects in the list.
5. Select the required attribute in the Attribute dropdown list. To retrieve the Document according to its file name, select the Description attribute.
6. Select the required condition in the Condition dropdown list. For date attribute conditions, see Defining Date Attributes in Queries.
7. Enter the required value(s) in the Value field, according to the attribute type and the number of values you want to specify:

- To specify one value only, select the required value from the dropdown list, or enter the required text.
- To specify two or more alternative values, see Defining Alternative Values in Queries.
- To specify a value that contains specific text, see Querying for Values using Wildcards.

8. Click Add. The search statement is added to the List of Search Statements. All the values you have selected for this search statement attribute are shown in the Value column of the list, for example, MANUFACTURED OR PURCHASED.
9. Repeat the procedure from Step 4 to add more criteria.

NOTE:

If you make a mistake, select the search statement and click Remove.
10. When you have finished adding search statements, you can run the query. See Running a Query.

SSA Product Data Management 8.0 Integration for MS Office & Project © Copyright 2004 by SSA Global Technologies (Israel), Ltd All rights reserved.