Custom Filters and Filter Views

The following topics are discussed on this page. Click the link to jump to that topic:

About Custom Filters and Filter Views

To create Filter Views

To create Custom Filters

Filter Libraries

 - To sort search for a filter

 - Using the symbols in the Filter Library

 - To copy a filter

About Custom Filters and Filter Views

Custom Note Filters and Filter Views are used in the Notes feature to customize the note creation process. Since the terms are similar, it's important to know the difference.

See a screen shot with examples here [+].

To create Filter Views

Filter Views are used to customize which filters and templates are displayed in the Create Note, Edit Note, Edit Draft, Add Addendum, and Create/Edit Template panels. When creating a note, the desired filter view is selected from the drop-down list at the top of the left side of the page - which determines the display of templates and available filters below it. To create these filter views, click the toggle button located to the right of the filter view field. This enables the Filter View Management mode.

  1. Click the green plus button. The Create Filter View box is displayed.

If you want to copy an existing Filter View, you must have it selected before you click the green plus icon to create a new Filter View.

  1. Enter a name for the Filter View you are creating. Filter names are limited to 100 characters. If you'd like to copy the current filter view to this one,  the Copy Current Filter View box defaults to checked. Uncheck this box if you don't want to copy the current filter view settings to the new view.  Then, click Save.
  2. Published: Check this option if you want the filter view to be available for all users at your facility. Otherwise, it will only be viewable and usable by the you - the logged in user.  (Note: You must have administrator access to publish filter views.)
  3. Go through each dataset category and activate items you wish to include in the filter view. Click on the visibility icon (eye) to activate it. When the item is not grayed out, it is activated and will be visible in the filter view. Use the following tips when creating your filter views:
  1. Once you have completed your selections, click the blue toggle button to return to the Create Note view.

Tutorial: How to Create a Filter View
To view the tutorial, click the Play button on the viewer below. Use the Full Screen/Exit Full Screen button to expand the viewer to full screen.




 For a list of all tutorials, see Notes Tutorials.

To create Custom Filters

From the Create Note view, the list of filters is grouped by dataset. Each dataset has a blue filter button. Click the blue filter button to display the Filter Library for the selected dataset. The Filter creation process is a very detailed process that resembles the process of building a custom report. Users must have appropriate security to access the custom filter creation tools.

The Filter Library grids are customizable - just like the Note List grid - by clicking the Configure Grid button located at the top right corner of the grid. You can change the sort order, make fields visible/not visible, rename columns, and group filters together using the options available. See To configure the Note List grid for details on configuring grids. Click outside of the Configure Grid window to close it.

  1. Click Create New Filter.  The create filter page is displayed. (Tip: You can use an existing filter and copy it to your new filter to facilitate the filter building process. See To copy a filter for details.)
  2. In section 1, enter the Filter Name, Optional Display Title, and select the format that you'd like the data to display in the note. The following formats are available:

This format identifies the format that the data will display when populated into the note. Note: Headers are used to identify the data contained in the column.

  1. Publish: Check this option if you want the filter view to be available for all users at your facility. Otherwise, it will only be viewable and usable by you - the logged in user.
  2. In section 2, use the drop-down list to select the field/column name that you wish to build your data filter around.
  3. In section 3, select the type of "comparison operator" for your filter (equals, contains, does not contain, etc.) - the comparison operator will help filter the data in the field/column name that you selected. Without a comparison operator, the filter will try to present all data in the database.  Operators change based on the type of field/column name that is selected.  Example: Date/Time, String (Text), or Numeric.
  4. In section 4 (if applicable), enter the criteria or condition for the operator you selected. For example, if you selected "contains" as your comparison operator in section 3, enter the word that the field must contain to be included in the data filter. You can have multiple conditions to the criteria by clicking the plus button. For example, if you want the data to "contain" either of the words "DM" or "diabetes", you would enter "DM" in the first field. Add another field using the plus button and enter the word "diabetes" in the additional field.
  5. Click Add. The criteria that you built (formula) is added above the grid. As you build your filter, the available data that meets your criteria (formula) is displayed in the grid. Criteria for the filter can be edited or removed by clicking the edit (pencil) or remove (X) buttons located next to the criteria.

The Filter grid is customizable - just like the Note List grid - by clicking the Configure Grid button located at the top right corner of the grid. You can change the sort order, make fields visible/not visible, rename columns, and group filters together using the options available. See To configure the Note List grid for details on configuring grids. Click outside of the Configure Grid window to close it.

  1. Repeat steps 4-6 to create and add additional criteria to the filter, if desired. For example, the first time we selected that the data field (e.g., Problem) contains either "DM" or "Diabetes" and we also want to add that the data field (e.g., gender) is "female". We would start in section 2 and select a new data field (Gender). Then, go to section 3 and select a comparison operator (equals). And, complete the criteria by entering "female" in section 4 and clicking Add. Now, your filter contains 2 customized criteria - (1) Problem equal to DM or Diabetes and (2) Gender equal to Female. Available data records for the filter are displayed in the grid as you build your filter.
  2. Limit your Dataset: Click on the Dataset field to limit the amount of data displayed in the results, e.g. last 5 results, limit rows to 5, etc. Select an operator in section 3, enter the values in section 4, and click Add.
  3. To preview the data in the format that you selected in section 1, click the Preview button.
  4. Once you are finished building the filter, you can insert it into the current note by clicking the Insert to Note button. Note: You will need to edit your filter view to make it visible in the left pane of the note.
  5. To save your data filter, click Create. The create filter is closed and the Filter Library is displayed. The newly created filter is displayed in the grid.  

Tutorial: How to Create a Filter
To view the tutorial, click the Play button on the viewer below. Use the Full Screen/Exit Full Screen button to expand the viewer to full screen.




 For a list of all tutorials, see Notes Tutorials.

Filter Libraries

Each dataset displayed on the left side of the Create Note, Edit Note, Edit Draft, Add Addendum, and Create/Edit Template panels has a filter library, which lists all the currently available filters for that dataset. To access the filter library, click the blue filter icon located on the section header for the category. The Filter Library is displayed and filters are listed in the grid.

The Filter Library grids are customizable - just like the Note List grid - by clicking the Configure Grid button located at the top right corner of the grid. You can change the sort order, make fields visible/not visible, rename columns, and group filters together using the options available. See To configure the Note List grid for details on configuring grids. Click outside of the Configure Grid window to close it.

To sort/search for a filter

You can sort the grid by clicking on the column headers. Clicking once initiates the sort in an ascending manner for that column. Clicking the header again sorts the grid in a descending manner for that column. In addition, you can search the filter list by typing text in the ...search across all columns field. Press <Enter> or click the Filter button to initiate the search. Results are displayed in the grid. To remove the search term and display all filters, click the X button.

The Filter Library, by default, does not display deleted filters. To view deleted filters, check the Show Deleted box.

Using the symbols in the Filter Library

The first two columns of the Filter Library display helpful icons that will provide you additional information and allow you quick access to certain actions. The following icons are displayed in the Filter Library grid:

Published: This icon indicates that this filter is published and available to all users. Hover over this icon to display and the quantity of Published Filter Views, Unpublished Views, and My Unpublished Filter Views.

Filter Details: Hover over this icon to view filter details, including Name, Title, Format, Filters, and Columns.

Edit: Click this button to edit the filter.

Remove: Click this button to remove the filter.

Favorite: The blue star icon indicates that this filter is marked as a favorite (by you). Click the button to remove it as a favorite or click a grayed out star to change it to blue and make it a favorite.

To copy a filter

You can use an existing filter to create a new filter by copying it into a new filter. To copy a filter, highlight the desired filter and click the Copy to New button. The create filter page is displayed with the copied filters criteria. Enter a new Filter Name, make desired modifications, and click Create to create a copied version of the filter.

Special Note regarding Filter Administrator Security Access

In User Administration, users are assigned the Filter Administrator Access.  This access allows users to manage (edit, update, remove, add, etc.) all filters (whether it is created by a creator or another administrator) that they can see.  Administrators have permissions to manage other user's published Filter Views.