VED List Gadget

The VED List gadget allows you to select information based on specific text in specific fields of the specified format. You must complete each text box in the gadget to add an entry to the list. Continue to add entries until the list is complete. Click any entry in the list to update or remove it.

To select specific text in a VED entry

1

Click the VED List gadget.

2

In the Entry ID box, select the field that will contain the specified text in the format that you selected, such as Extended Info, from the list.

3

Under Occurrences, if the Entry ID is a repeated field in the format that you selected, such as Extended Info, click which occurrence (the first through fifth) of the field the selected text should display. Click Any to search for any occurrence of the text in that particular entry ID within that particular address field.

4

Under Operator, click one of the following options.

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Contains – Includes the text phrase anywhere in the specified field.

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Equals – This text string will be the only text in the specified field.

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Not Equals – All records that have text typed into the specified field will be selected, records which have only this text in the field will be eliminated. In some reports, if you select the Blank Field Matches Not Equals Qualifier check box on the Item Selection or User Selection tab, records in which the field is blank are not included. If you clear this check box, records in which the field is blank will be included.

5

In the Search Strings box, use the String List Gadget to create lists of text strings that the report results should contain, be equal to, or not equal to.

Note: The VED list gadget selections override any Contains/Not Contains value typed in the String List gadget.

6

Click Add to add this entry to the list.

7

To Remove an entry in the list, select the entry and click Remove.

8

When finished building your list, click OK.

Important: In order for the Search String selection option to be effective, it is necessary to establish and follow standards in your library for consistent data entry. Variable Entry Data (VED) fields are free text and are not verified by the system. This Search String field is also case and punctuation sensitive, so it is necessary to set rules for even minor typographical conventions. If you are planning to use VED fields for report selection, it is advisable to use either all capitalized or lower case text, and discourage all use of punctuation. If your library does not use consistent data entry, select a string for each possible option.

A “Contains” Example

For example, you want to note the classes that faculty teach. The usefulness of the Note field for reporting options was not initially considered, so meticulous standards of notation were not established. To find all faculty that teach Composition 101, you should type all possible search strings for the course name/number. If you constructed a report to search only the string “COMP101” in the Note field, you would find only the first user in the following list, even though all the following should have qualified.

CLASSES COMP101 ENGLISH02 POETRY01
CLASSES COMP 101 ENGLISH 02 POETRY 01
CLASSES COMP101, ENGLISH02, POETRY01
CLASSES Comp101 English02 Poetry01
CLASSES--COMP101 ENGLISH02 POETRY01
CLASSES:COMP101 ENGLISH02 POETRY01

An “Equals” Example

For example, you want to find entries with the string “Canada.” If you select Equals and type “Canada,” then only entries with “Canada” in them will be found, not “Ontario Canada.”

A “Not Equals” Example

For example, you want to compile a list of users who do not have email addresses. You can select Not Equals and search the string “@” in the EMAIL entry of the User Address format.