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Advanced Search

Find relevant data based on what you have documented in Ardoq through simple or multiple data sets searches.

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Written by Jacqueline S.
Updated yesterday

Use Advanced search to find specific components or references using field values. You can do simple searches or search for multiple data sets for more specific results.

When building a query using Advanced search, you can choose to search for components or references and whether you wish the results to match all or any of the rules you defined.

Moreover, you can search for components or references of a certain type or with specific field values. For example:

  • Components in workspace “Application services” that don’t have a “Criticality” value

  • References of type “Uses” that have a specific tag

  • Components that are either “Capability” or “Strategic Capability”

  • Components that have the “State” field with the value “AS-IS” and are either an “Application” or a “Service”

  • Workspaces that were created in October

Table of Contents:


Simple Search

Find components based on one rule only. For instance, you can search for all components with a specific field value.

Multiple data sets

You can also search for multiple data sets by adding as many rules or subqueries as you need. For instance:

  • Components that have the “State” field with the value “AS-IS” and are either an “Application” or a “Service”.

  • Components in workspace “Application services” that don’t have a “Criticality” value.

How to Find Components and References Using Advanced Search

There are two ways in which you can access Advanced search. From:

Using Advanced Search From Analytics > Advanced Search

We currently support two versions of Advanced search. The version available from the Analytics menu is the new one. Learn more about the new version of Advanced search in the section below.

To build and Advanced search query from the Analytics menu:

  1. Hover over the "Analytics" icon on the left side bar menu and select "Advanced search".

  2. Choose to search for components or references and whether you wish the results to match all or any of the rules you defined.

  3. Next, select a field and an operator. For example, "equal to" or "not equal to".

  4. Add more rules or subqueries to refine your search.

  5. Click "Search" and see the results below the Advanced search query builder.

  6. From here, you can export your search results as an .xls file or create a report by clicking on the "Create report" button at the top right corner of the screen. It will take you to the Report Builder.

Using Advanced Search From the Report Builder

We currently support two versions of Advanced search in the Report Builder. We recommend using the latest version of Advanced search so you can search your data with greater precision. Learn more about the new version of Advanced search in the section below.

To create an Advanced search report, see our detailed guide on how to create a report here or follow the steps below:

  1. Navigate to the Home page or the Report Overview page.

  2. From the Home page, click on "Create new > Report" at the top right corner of the screen. From the Report Overview page, select "Create new".

  3. Select "Advanced search" in the first step of the Report Builder.

  4. Select the workspace(s) you wish to query.

  5. Choose to search for components or references and whether you wish the results to match all or any of the rules you defined.

  6. Build your query.

  7. Click "Next" and see your search results.

Advanced Search: New vs. Old

We understand the importance of finding what you need in the most efficient way so we have introduced a new version of Advanced search in the Report builder and in Analytics > Advanced search. The old version will be eventually discontinued and replaced with the latest version across Ardoq by the end of December 2023. Learn more about how we are preparing for this transition and what it means for you in the section below.

The difference between the old and new version of Advanced search are the:

  • Precision of the search

  • Available operators

Precision of the Search

In the new version Advanced search, the “contains substring” operator now searches the entire field value, going beyond the old version's 50-character limitation.

Available Operators

All operators except from “contains substring” behave exactly the same across versions of Advanced search. “Contains substring” now searches for the entire field value, not just the first 50 characters.

Morevoer, the new version of Advanced search:

  • Doesn’t support the “contains phrase” nor “does not contain phrase” operators. Instead you can use the “contains substring” and “does not contain substring” operators to find all relevant components and references. Please note that when switching existing reports over to the latest version of Advanced search their search results might change. “Contains substrings” allows for more accurate and comprehensive search results. Learn more about migrating to the latest version of Advanced search in the section below.

  • Enables you to find components based on references to other components using reference-based operators. Find answers to critical questions such as:

    • Which applications are not supported by any capabilities?

    • Which capabilities are realized by multiple applications?

    • How many highly critical capabilities are dependent on high-risk applications

    • What is the average criticality score for the applications that are realized by the Product Portfolio Management capability?

    • How many capabilities will be impacted by sunsetting applications in the current year?

Old Advanced search

New Advanced search

  • Equal to

  • No equal to

  • Contains phrase

  • Does not contain phrase

  • Contains substring

  • Does not contains substring

  • Is

  • After

  • Before

  • Between

  • Is empty

  • Is not empty

  • Checked

  • Unchecked

  • Not set

  • Equal to

  • No equal to

  • Contains substring

  • Does not contains substring

  • Is

  • After

  • Before

  • Between

  • Is empty

  • Is not empty

  • Checked

  • Unchecked

  • Not set

  • Has reference to/from component/ component type

  • Has no reference to/from component/ component type

  • Has incoming/ outgoing reference type

  • Does not have incoming/ outgoing reference type

Transitioning Assets to the New Version of Advanced Search

We are taking steps to ensure a smooth transition in preparation for the retirement of the old Advanced search.

Automatic Migration

In the next few weeks, we will make the following changes:

  • Ardoq’s quick search and Ardoq Discover search bar will be upgraded to the latest version of Advanced search.

  • All your existing reports, surveys, and broadcasts that belong to one of the following two categories will be automatically transitioned to the latest version of Advanced search:

    1. Assets that do not use the "contains phrase" and "does not contain phrase" operators.

    2. Assets that utilize the “contains phrase” and “does not contain phrase” operators and experience no changes in their search results during migration.

No action is required on your part. These assets will remain unaffected by the migration, with no alterations to their search results.

Manual Transition

Surveys, broadcasts, and reports currently using the “contains phrase” and “does not contain phrase” operators with anticipated changes in their search results during the transition to the latest Advanced search version, will not be automatically migrated.

You can manually transition them to the latest version of Advanced search and review the changes in your query results before the old Advanced search is retired at the end of January 2024.

How to Switch Reports From the Old to the New Advanced Search

To update your reports to use the latest version of Advanced search:

  1. Go to Preferences > Organization settings > Migration checklist.

  2. Navigate to “Migration checklist > Report datasource” tab.

  3. Take a look at the “Reason for manual review” column and learn why reports require your attention and why they were not eligible for automatic migration.

    1. The results differ: The report’s search results change when migrating it to the new Advanced search.

    2. Empty: The report’s search results returns 0 before and after the migration to the new Advanced search

  4. To review the query and manually migrate your report:

    1. Click “Edit” on the “Edit report” column to open the Report builder.

    2. Select “Advanced search (new)” under “Select data source”.

    3. Next, choose “contains substring” and “does not contains substring” where “contains phrase” and “does not contain phrase” were selected.

    4. Click “Save” at the top right corner of your report to save the changes and finalize the migration.

  5. Alternatively, to quickly migrate your report to the new Advanced search:

    1. Click on “Migrate” in the “Migrate report” column. The queries using “contains phrase” and “does not contains phrase” will immediately be updated with the “contains substring” and “does not contain substring” operators.

    2. Verify you receive a confirmation message that your report has been successfully migrated at the top right corner of the screen.

How to Switch Surveys From the Old to the New Advanced Search

To identify which surveys need to be switched over to the latest version of Advanced search:

  1. Navigate to the Survey overview page and look for the surveys that sport the “Needs migration” badge next to their name.

  2. Navigate to the “Workspace and Components” tab on the left-side navigation menu in the Survey builder.

  3. Click on “Preview selected components” and take note of the components found for future comparison after migrating your survey.

  4. Next, toggle the “Migrate to new Advanced search for this survey” button under “Enable new Advanced search”.

  5. Click "Preview selected components" again to rerun the query and observe any changes in your search results.

  6. Click the "Save changes" button at the top left corner of the screen.

How to Switch Broadcasts From the Old to the New Advanced Search

To update your broadcasts to use the latest version of Advanced search:

  1. Navigate to the Broadcast overview page and open the broadcasts that display a “Needs migration” badge next to their name.

  2. Go to the “1. Select content” section in the Broadcast builder.

  3. Click on “Preview included components” and take note of the components found for future comparison after migrating your broadcast.

  4. Next, toggle the “Use the new advanced search for this broadcast” button under “Enable new Advanced search”.

  5. Click "Preview included components" again to rerun the query and observe any changes in your search results.

  6. Click the "Save" button at the top right corner of the screen and hit “Launch broadcasts” to set it live.

The Difference Between Contains Phrase and Contains Substring

The old version of Advanced search supports the “contains phrase” and “contains substring” operators. You can access Advanced search (old) from the Report Builder only. The old version will be eventually discontinued and replaced with the latest version. Learn more about the new version of Advanced search in the section above.

ardoq advanced search contains substring operator
  • Use "contains phrase" to find components or references using a field value that contains a word or a specific group of words that appear together in the exact order as specified in the search query. For instance, searching for “new app” using "contains phrase" would return results that contain the exact phrase “new app” such as “new app”, “EA new app”, and “New App for EA team” because they contain the phrase “new app” as a whole. But it wouldn't return “New application for EAs” nor “New apps” because they don't have the exact phrase “new app”. This operator is more restrictive in its matching as it requires the words to be contiguous.

  • Use "contains substring" to find components and references using a field value that contains a series of letters anywhere in a sentence. For example, searching for “new app” using "contains substring" would return results that contain the substring "new app" anywhere within the content such as “New app”, “EA new app”, “New app for EA team”, “New application for EAs”, and “New apps”.

In summary, "contains phrase" is stricter and requires the specified phrase to appear exactly as specified in the search query, while "contains substring" is more flexible and matches any instance of the specified substring within the content, regardless of its position or order.

How to Export Advanced Search Results

  • From Analytics > Advanced search: You can export your Advanced search results as an .xls file (import format) from the Analytics menu by clicking the "Export to Excel" button at the top right corner of the screen.

  • From the Report reader: Open a report or create and save one to access the Report Reader. From there, click on the export icon to the right top corner of the screen and choose:

    • Export to Excel (report data only) when you need to download an .xls file that includes the selected columns in the report only and lists names instead of IDs for source, type, target, and reference columns.

    • Export to Excel (import format) when you need to re-import the .xls file into Ardoq using the Excel integration

    • JSON when you need the data in a computer readable format

Troubleshooting

  • You have added or removed a field that is being used in a report or a dashboard chart.

    This may cause one of the following things:

    • Your report or chart is showing 0 results

    • Your chart is showing a number instead of a sum or average

    • Your chart is showing different periods of history for different fields

  • My report is not returning any results anymore.

    You have had a report for a long time that usually had returned results, but suddenly it gives 0 results. This may be because you have removed a field on that component or reference that was specified in the search.

    For example, if you have searched for “All components with a criticality of High” and you remove the criticality field and replace it with two fields (“Criticality list” and “Criticality number”) the original search will not return any values because there are no components with the“Criticality” field.

  • My dashboard chart is not showing the full history.

    When you save a query, we start snapshotting it on a nightly basis. Still, you might have an incomplete history because you have added a field to your component or reference at a later point.

  • How does historical data work in reports, and how can I preserve it when moving or modifying charts.
    Historical data in reports is tied directly to the report itself, not the chart or dashboard. If you modify or recreate a chart or report in a different dashboard, the historical data may not appear because the history is linked to the original report.

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