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Find functionality

Using information in the link record, Find (us.link) locates and displays information in another record (or records) based on the contents of the current record.

In an Incident Management example, the source record could contain pc in the field labeled Affected CI (logical.name field). The link record relates the logical.name field in the SOURCE record to the logical.name field in the vendor (TARGET) file.

All device records containing logical.name fields beginning with pc are selected and displayed in a record list for the user to select.

The user selects the specific device sought and opens the applicable device record.

Find uses the field name of the text box where the cursor currently is, in order to determine what relationship to establish. To select the device records with names that begin with pc, the cursor must be in the CI Name field that contains pc.

It builds the following query:
logical.name field in device file begins with “pc”

That translates in to the following link query that executes against the vendor file:
device#“pc”

Note: Using advanced features in Link Maintenance, you can apply rules to use a more complex link query for data selection. Refer to Using Advanced Link Editing Features Help for more information.

The Find option is available throughout the system. It is subject to security restrictions within the application. For example, Database Manager controls the Find option through the use of Format Control. In Incident Management, the profile determines whether Find is available for the current user and how it behaves.

The selected data records can be manipulated in accordance with security restrictions. Changes made to these records DO NOT modify the source record unless the user selects from an available list of options that allow updated information to be posted to the specific configuration item record. For more information on posting, refer to Format Control and Display Options Help.

Related concepts

Link maintenance
Types of links
Fill functionality
Virtual joining functionality
Us.link
Variables used in links
Calling us.link
Find from and Fill to a $ variable