Get Started | Calendar | Locations | Search

Reference: Tools-Fragment Fields

RidgeStar search functions normally contain what is called a Criteria Area, where the Visitor can specify values that will restrict the resulting records to a desired subset. The Criteria Area may be made up of a series of pulldowns, checkboxes, radio buttons, and/or open text boxes (where you simply type a desired value).

Many of the "text boxes" are what we call text Fragment fields. They're called Fragment fields because you are permitted to enter only a portion of the text value being searched to locate a record. For instance, the name "Smith" can be located using the Fragment of "SM", "ith", "i" or any portion (fragment) of the character string.

To see how this works, click to the demonstration Simple List and:

Move your mouse over the top of the text box above the label Name and pause

If your Browser is suitably equipped, you should see a small reminder popup saying "Fragment of the Name?". These popups will occur all over the Criteria Areas to help you know what is acceptable in the Text Box. The presence of the word "Fragment" tells you that RidgeStar Fragment support is active on the input text box.

Put the letters "ad" into the box and click "Show"

You should see two results, the Names of "Administrator" and "Grader" because these both contain the letters "ad"

Add a percent sign (%) after the letters "ad" and click "Show"

This represents specific instructions to the search mechanism to display ONLY LastNames that start with the letters "ad". After clicking Show, you should now only see the "Administrator" because "Grader" doesn't start with the letters "ad". Similarly, you could enter "%d" to find names that end in "d" We're not sure why you'd want to do that, but you could if you wanted to.

Masking Characters

The percent sign is what we identify as a "Masking Character" that permits you to control the Fragment search. Available Masking Characters are:

If you omit both Masking characters in the characters typed into a Fragment field, the system will insert a percent sign at the front AND the back of whatever you enter.

Examples

To help you understand how this works, consider the following table:

The flexibility and power of Fragment searches is quite useful, but .... it is important that you understand how to use it effectively. Happy Searching!!

Some SiteManagers have opted to implement a different mechanism within their Site's Fragment fields. If your site does not operate as described here, please contact your SiteManager.