ManualSearchTickets

Up: ManualUsingWebInterface

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Introduction

RT comes with several interfaces to search for tickets: queue list, simple search, and the query builder search.

Searches can be saved, shared between groups, placed on the home page, bookmarked in the browser, used in charts or even emailed within Dashboards.

Queue List

Queue List portlet

The Queue List is a portlet that you can see on the home page, by default. This is a table where rows are queues you can see and columns are active statuses, each cell of the table shows number of tickets.

Queue name and each number in this table is clickable, so you can jump to a page with search results.

Simple search

Simple search is an input box in the upper right corner of all pages. You can also run a "Simple Search" by clicking on Search -> Tickets -> Simple Search from the top navigation bar, that leads to the simple search page with some hints.

This search allows you to use some magic, for example you can type in a ticket id, and jump directly to that ticket. Check out ManualSimpleSearch.

Advanced search

Search Tickets with the Query Builder

More advanced ticket search is available by clicking Search -> Tickets -> New Search in the menu. This is a query builder with many fields listed for you to build your searches.

It is fairly intuitive, but there are some features worth noting:

• Searches, by default, are sticky. That is, if you return to the Search page during a session, it will display the most recent search (unless you click on the "New Search" link again in the main menu).
• Searches are, by default, limited. You can walk by pages or unlimit them.
• Searches are iterative - you build them up. If you search for tickets owned by Jane, then search for open tickets, you'll get open tickets owned by Jane.
• When RT displays a ticket that is part of the current search, it will also display Previous, Next, First, and Last links for navigating through the matching tickets.

If you get too many results, you can still pinpoint what you need by searching again to narrow the results down.

You can search by id, ticket subject, queue, status, SLA, owner, requestor, group, time fields, date fields, priority, and/or links. For instance, you could search for tickets you own by selecting your own name from the Owner drop-down menu, or search for only high priority tickets.

If there is an attribute that is not set yet, like ticket was never answered, you can use "IS NULL" in the query. Example:

Status = 'new' AND Queue = 'support' AND Told IS NULL

Relative Date Searching

Example of using relative dates for searching

Consider needing a bookmarkable search which lists what you've resolved in the last month or what is due in the next week. Manually entered dates make the search outdated soon after creation. The perl module that RT uses allows for some relative date/time phrases. Using the query builder, you can run these searches.

NOTE: See the Time::ParseDate man page for more options

Examples:

Tickets resolved in the last month

Resolved -> After -> -1 month

Tickets created in the last week

Created -> After -> -1 week

Tickets due in the next week

Due -> After -> Today AND Due -> Before -> +1 week

Tickets created between an hour and three hours ago

Created -> After -> -1 hour AND Created -> After -> -3 hour

Advanced Search vs. other searches

Most interfaces that simplify search, like queue list and simple searches, at the end generate a query using special syntax and redirect you to results page that is part of advanced search. So you can click 'Edit Search' from the top submenu and refine it with more conditions or "Advanced" to write out the search query explicitly.

Search results

Search results look like the following:

Search Results

Changing display format

At the bottom of the query builder page, you can also alter the number of search results returned per page, how the results are sorted, and which columns are displayed. From the search results page, you can select how often the page is refreshed. Click the Change button when you're done.

To clear previous search results and start a new search:

• click Search -> Tickets -> New Search

Saving Searches

After you've added all of the criteria you want for a query, you can save your search.

To save a search so you can return to the results later:

1. under Saved Searches on the query builder page, select a privacy (you can only save for yourself "My Saved Searches", or for a group you are a member of) and add a description
2. click the Save button

NOTE You must have the correct permissions to show saved searches and to edit them.

To retrieve a saved search

1. under Saved Searches on the query builder page, select from the "Load saved search" dropdown
2. click the Load button

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Up: ManualUsingWebInterface