Search features on Portal

Applies to version: 2020.3.x and above; author: Paweł Fijał

With the introduction of version 2019 and the entire Portal interface, several search methods have been included in Portal that allow you to search not only the content of the workflow instances but also the structure of all applications available on Portal (e.g. reports, dashboards, start buttons).

This article describes where and what you can search from the Portal level – information about the search mechanism can be found in the Searching structure in WEBCON BPS Portal article.

There are three places where you can search on the Portal. They use the same mechanism, but narrowing down the search results is different in each of them (it is described in the next part of this article). The search returns only those elements that the user has the privilege to access. 

The screenshot displays the main page of WEBCON BPS Portal with the three search boxes marked red  - places where you can search for information.

Fig. 1. Portal page with its searching features

Search in navigation

This field is used to search for such elements as applications, processes, reports, dashboards, start buttons. The suggested results depend on the place where a user is in the Portal. Being on the main page – the suggested results are from the entire system, and by going to the page of the selected application, only elements related to the given application are suggested.

Fig. 2. One the left - suggestions for the "test" phrase from the main page level, on the right - from the application page

With no results, you have the ability of displaying all results – click on the “Show more results” field at the bottom of the suggested results. A new window with additional filtering options (on the left) that allow you to narrow down the searched elements will appear on the screen.

Fig. 3. Displaying all resulted for the searched phrase

Search application

To open this window, click on the square made of dots and the “Select application” option if you are on the Portal’s page, or the name of the application on which you are located. After opening the window, a field to enter the search phrase is displayed, and you see the most frequently used applications by a user. After clicking on the “All” tab, all applications divided into groups are displayed.

Fig. 4. The "Choose application" search window

Search everywhere

It is used to search for all elements such as:

• those returned in the “Search application” and “Search in navigation” search windows
• instances created in WEBCON BPS
• documents attached to the workflows

You can search for documents by the content of the document or attachment without worrying that you do not know the instance’s signature or the attachment’s name.

An example MS Word file with the quote has been created:

“I could tell you my adventures—beginning from this morning,” said Alice a little timidly; “but it’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then."

This document was added as an attachment to the WEBCON BPS instance, in the “Search everywhere” window enter the “but it’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then” phrase – in the suggestions you will see this document with the appropriate attachment.

Fig. 5. The returned search result

By clicking on the “Show more results” option, you will redirect to the page with all results where you will find more details, e.g. in which element the search phrase is located.  

Fig. 6. The page with all results

1. This section allows you to narrow down the returned results
2. Information about the number of returned results and time in which the result was returned. Below there is the field to enter a searched phrase.
3. If this field is checked, the search will return only those elements that contain the whole phrase (not fragments).
4. Tabs with results. In the “In all applications” tab you will see all instances registered in WEBCON BPS, while in the “In navigation” tab – elements such as applications, processes, reports, dashboards and start buttons.
5. The icon with a link directly to the instance.
6. More details (such as process name/workflow name/step name) about the instance. By clicking on any instance,  a window with the instance preview is opened.
7. If the searched phrase is found in the attachment, the attachment details will be displayed. If a value is found in a form field, the name of that form field will appear.
8. Attachments added to the instance – if you want to open the attachment preview, click on them.
9. Sorting by: Rank – search relevance, Created – created date of an instance (descending), Modified – modification date (descending).