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Settings

Creating a Filter Criterion Based on an Attribute

Filter criteria allow you to enter settings that select a subset of objects from a particular class. For example, you might want to select a specific set of assets based on the asset type or a group of work requests based on the request status.
Every filter criterion starts from the class of objects that you want to select (for example, the Work Request class). You can then select either an attribute or a relationship to use to filter the objects. In most cases, you will base the filter on an attribute (property) of the base class. For example, you might filter a group of work requests based on the WorkRequestStatus attribute. However, you can also use an attribute owned by a related class.
You can also filter a group of objects based on its relationship to another set of objects. For example, you might use the Work Request class’ Asset to work on relationship to select only requests for a specific asset or for a specific asset and its children. Criteria based on relationships are more complicated to create. For information about relationship-based filter criteria, see Creating a Filter Criterion Based on a Relationship.
You can create criteria using either fixed or variable values. A regular (fixed) filter based on a value allows you to filter a group of items based on a fixed value that you enter. Most of the filters you create will be regular filters.
 
A variable filter allows you to filter a group of objects based on a variable value. The value used in the filter is only determined at the time the filter is used by looking up the current value of the selected attribute or relationship. A specific, fixed value cannot be selected. For example, you might want to filter employee names based on the name of the employee currently logged in, rather than a specific employee name.
This topic explains how to create both fixed and variable filter criteria based on an attribute.
Note: Before you begin creating filter criteria, you should have a good understanding of APM object modeling and filtering concepts. For more information, see Object Model Overview and Selection Criteria Concepts for Asset Health Assets.

To Create a Filter Criterion Based on an Attribute

1.
On the Asset Health Report Definition window, Assets tab, click New. The Filter Criterion dialog appears.
2.
Select the criterion type and the attribute to use to filter the objects:
Setting Name
Description
Criterion type
Select Based on an attribute from the list. This allows you to create a filter that uses the value of an attribute owned by either the base class or a related class. For example, when filtering assets, you can use the Asset class’ Classification attribute. Most filter criteria are based on an attribute.
Relationship from
The relationship (join path) used to navigate to the class and its attribute or relationship.
Use the join path to select a related class. If you are filtering based on an attribute, you can then select an attribute from that class. If you are selecting an attribute from the base class, leave this box blank.
You can select any relationship that points to a single instance of the related object. This includes the following relationship types only:
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References one
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Owned by
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Scoped by
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Hierarchical parent
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Contains one
For example, to filter a list of tasks based on the asset, you would select the Work Order Task class’ Asset to work on relationship. Or, you could select a relationship from the Work Order Task class to the Maintenance Group class. You could then use the Maintenance Group Name attribute to filter the group of tasks.
To select a join path, click . Expand the hierarchy until you see the class that you want, select it, and click OK. The Class box displays the class you selected.
Attribute to use for filtering
The attribute that you want to use to filter the data. Select the appropriate attribute from the list. This setting is only applicable to criteria that are based on an attribute.
For example, if you are filtering a group of work order tasks, you might select the Task status attribute. You can then select one of the task statuses (for example, Planned) as the value to filter on.
The list contains only eligible attributes that are owned directly by the specified class. This means that the following types of attributes are excluded:
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Binary objects
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Html texts
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Icons
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Variable length strings
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Variants
3.
Select whether this will be a Fixed or Variable filter:
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The Fixed option allows you to filter a group of items based on a specific value that you enter.
To create a fixed value filter, see Fixed Value Filter Settings.
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The Variable option allows you to filter a group of objects using a relative value. The value used in the filter is only determined at the time the filter is used by looking up the current value of the selected relationship. A specific value cannot be selected.
To create a variable value filter, see Variable Value Filter Settings.
4.
Select the condition and value to use for the criterion:
Fixed Value Filter Settings
Setting Name
Description
Condition
For fixed values, the condition you want items to meet in your filtering criterion. The conditions that are available in the list differ depending on the data type of the column, attribute, or relationship. For example, when the filter uses a date and time data type, the list contains conditions such as “Last week”, “Next week”, “In the next”, and so on.
Value to filter by
Select or enter the fixed value to be used to filter the list of objects. For example, if you are filtering based on the Maintenance Group class’ Name attribute, enter a text string that contains all or part of the name.
Logical group
If you are grouping criteria in order to use “and/or” logic, enter the number of the group for this criterion.
Variable Value Filter Settings
Setting Name
Description
Condition
The condition you want items to meet in your filtering criterion. The conditions that are available in the list differ depending on the data type of the column, attribute, or relationship. For example, when the filter uses a date data type, the list contains conditions such as On, Before, After, and so on.
Join path to filter value
The join path to the value that you want to use in the filter. This setting applies to variable filters only.
For criteria based on a relationship, you must select a relationship to the same class as was selected in the Relationship from box.
To select a join path, click . Expand the hierarchy until you see the class that you want, select it, and click OK.
Attribute that contains the filter value
Select the attribute that contains the value to be used for the variable filter. This box does not apply to fixed filter criteria.
The list contains attributes that are owned directly by the specified class. However, it only includes attributes that are of the same type as the attribute identified in the Attribute to use for filtering box. For example, if the attribute to filter by is a string, then only string attributes appear in this list. Similarly, if the attribute to filter by is a date, then only date attributes are available.
Logical group
If you are grouping criteria in order to use “and/or” logic, enter the number of the group for this criterion.
5.
To save the criterion, click OK. The criterion appears in the table on the Selection Criteria tab.