April Miniseries Ep. 3: Don’t be weary, it’s just a query! What is Query? >
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Query is a tool that allows you to group records from your database based on criteria that you define Query can be used in conjunction with Export to get the data you grouped outside of the database into a spreadsheet If you intend to use the query results in another area of the program, for instance in an export or in a mailing, you create a Selection from the query results Check out Query: A Guided Tour for details about the query screen layout and terminology Concepts behind using query >
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The Source View of a query is the type of record you want to group, if you want to group Constituents, then you select Constituents for your Source View when creating the query Write down a statement of what records you want to see. Then break that down into individual segments that, when put together, satisfy all of the requirements of your statement. Search for the field you need for each criterion in the Field Explorer and Field Viewer windows, then use that field with the appropriate Operator to build Filters in the Filters window • For example: I want to see all Members who renewed last month • My individual segments are: The membership was renewed and the membership transaction was last month. When I put these together, they cover all of the requirements of my original statement. • When I put these segments together with my operators, my filters like this: [Membership Action equals Renew] and [Membership Transaction Date equals Last Month] Place the fields you want to see in the results into the Output window Building Common Queries >
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Constituent Query: I want to see all Constituents who gave a donation over $1000 last year. • Revenue\Application Details: Application is equal to Donation • Revenue: Amount is greater than $1000 • Revenue: Date is equal to Last Year Revenue Query: I want to see all Membership payments made between 3/20/11 and 4/15/11. • Application Details: Application is equal to Membership • Date is between 3/20/11 and 4/15/11 Sales Order Query: I want to see all orders for the Children’s Art Class taking place today. • Sales Order Item\Sales Order Item Ticket\Program: Name is equal to Children’s Art Class • Sales Order Item\Sales Order Item Ticket\Program Events: Start Date is equal to Today Smart Queries >
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Smart Queries are predefined queries for both commonly used queries and those that would otherwise be difficult to build manually You enter information into a couple of fields to further customize your results, and the query finds the desired records for you Some examples of Smart Queries are the LYBUNT (groups Constituents who gave Last Year But Unfortunately Not This Year) and the Donor List (groups Constituents who gave a certain amount to a specific designation in a certain date range) FAQs Why do I have duplicate results in my query? Query is a grouping tool, not a reporting tool. Because of this, the results you see on the results tab are meant as a way to verify that you have grouped the correct records, but they may include duplicate records depending on what fields are included in the output. For instance, if you have a Constituent query and output phone number, this is what we call a one‐to‐many field because each Constituent in the results could have one phone number or they could have many. That Constituent will be listed in the output once for each phone number on record. If you want to get rid of the duplicates and report on these Constituents, you should pull a selection from this query into an Export. Why do I only see 500 records in my results? In order to maintain the speed and performance of Query, it is designed to only output the first 500 records of your results. If you need to see a complete list of the results, you can create an export from the query. I’m on the results tab of my query and I need to double‐check a detail on one of the records, can I quickly jump to that record? Yes. In the results of the query, you can simply double‐click one of the records and Altru will present you with a list of options for how to view the record. Once you go to the record, you will see a window listing the query results in the bottom portion of that screen, you can use this to continue to browse through the results. When you’ve finished, you can simply return to the query window. Also see our Help Guide section on this: http://www.blackbaud.com/files/support/guides/altruac/DATAQueryBrowseResults.html Why can’t I find the query I just created when I try to pull it into a mailing? Most likely, you have not created a Selection from the results. Anytime you want to use the results of a query in another area of the program, you must create a Selection. To do this, open the Query and click Edit definition. Go to File>Properties, click on the Options tab and mark the Create a Selection checkbox. What’s the difference between a Static selection and a Dynamic selection? A static selection will not refresh itself, while a dynamic selection will. For instance, if you query on all active members and later in the week you add a batch of new members, a static selection would not include those new members in the results unless you manually refresh it, but a dynamic selection would automatically refresh itself and include those new members in the results. A static selection is ideal if you want your query results to be a snapshot of your database at the time you ran the query, but a dynamic selection is ideal if you want the results to change to reflect changes made in your database. Resources Getting Started with Query http://www.blackbaud.com/files/support/guides/altruac/DATAQueryGettingStarted.html Query: A Guided Tour http://www.blackbaud.com/files/support/guides/altruac/DATAQueryGettingStartedTour.html#6244320 Smart Queries http://www.blackbaud.com/files/support/guides/altruac/DATAQuerySmartQueries.html Ad‐hoc Queries http://www.blackbaud.com/files/support/guides/altruac/DATAQueryAdHocQueries.html