Search for	Example	Results
A single word	`cat`	Topics that contain the word "cat". You will also find its grammatical variations, such as "cats".
A phrase. You can specify that the search results contain a specific phrase.	`"cat food"` (quotation marks)	Topics that contain the literal phrase "cat food" and all its grammatical variations. Without the quotation marks, the query is equivalent to specifying an OR operator, which finds topics with one of the individual words instead of the phrase.

Search for	Operator	Example
Two or more words in the same topic	`AND` `and` `+` (plus symbol) `&` (ampersand)	`cat AND dog` `"cat food"+milk` `"cat food"&"dog food"`
Either word in a topic	`OR` `or` `\|` (pipe)	`cat OR dog` `cat \| dog`
Topics that do not contain a specific word or phrase	`NOT` `not` `!` (exclamation point)	`NOT cat` `! dog`
Topics that contain one string and do not contain another	`^` (caret)	`cat ^ mouse`
A combination of search types	`( )` parentheses	`cat + (dog \| mouse)` `cat \| dog + (! mouse)`

Server Automation10.51

Use > Server Automation > Run SA extensions > Compare custom fields and custom attributes

Comparing custom fields and custom attributes

SA can store a large amount of information about your managed servers. Custom Attributes and Custom Fields provide a way for you to store additional information about your servers quickly and easily. Custom Attributes and Customer Fields are data elements you can create for servers and other objects in SA.

Custom Attributes and Custom Fields are similar but they have several differences as described in the following table. In general, you should use custom fields when all servers require the data to be stored and you should use custom attributes when only a subset of servers require the data to be stored. However, see the following table for other differences before you decide which to use.

Comparison of custom attributes and custom fields
	Custom attributes	Custom fields
Data Type:	String only.	Typed. Must be one of the types listed in Data types in custom fields.
Objects Allowed for:	Allowed for any object: servers, device groups, customers, facilities, OS installation profiles, and software policies.	Allowed only for servers and device groups.
Number:	Each custom attribute is for one object only.	Each custom field creates an instance for all servers or device groups. All managed servers have the same named custom field, but the value can vary with each server. Similarly for device groups.
Searches Allowed:	Search is only allowed on the custom attribute name, not on its value. That is, you can search for all servers that define a particular custom attribute.	Search is allowed based on custom field values, including different matching criteria for different data types. For example, if you have a custom field of type date, you can search for all servers where the date value is one month old or older.
Inheritance:	Inherited from more general objects. For example, servers inherit custom attributes defined for device groups they belong to.	No inheritance.
Permissions Required to View:	Read permission on the server, device group or other object.	Read permission on the server or device group.
Permissions Required to Modify the Value:	Write permission on the server, device group or other object.	Write permission on the server or device group.
Permissions Required to Create or Delete:	Write permission on the server or device group where you are creating the custom attribute.	Manage Virtual Columns permission. Write permission on the server or device group.

For more information on Custom Attributes and Custom Fields, see Custom fields and Custom attributes defined for a server.

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