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Configure a Custom Search Box with Smart Search

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Tip:  Interface patterns give you an opportunity to explore different interface designs. Be sure to check out How to Adapt a Pattern for Your Application.

Goal

Implement smart search in a custom search box for a read-only grid.

This design pattern is not recommended for offline interfaces because reflecting immediate changes in an interface based on user interaction requires a connection to the server.

images/automation/custom-smartsearch-example.png

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Design structure

This recipe shows how to create a custom search experience for a grid using smart search. The interface uses components like a text input field and checkboxes to build the search and filter controls.

To implement smart search in the custom search box:

  • The grid has the showSearchBox parameter to false.
  • The grid data is filtered using a smart search operator. This example uses the "semantic search" operator to find records based on meaning and intent instead of full-text matches. You can replace this with the "lexical search" operator to search for exact phrases, or combine both operators in the same query.

The grid in this example only performs a semantic search on the fields filtered by the "semantic search" operator. It does not perform a keyword search on any other fields. This means that the search only returns rows of data based on their semantic similarity, not the exact terms used in the search.

Note:  Only use this recipe if you need more flexibility than the default search box in a read-only grid provides. When you use the default search box, you can use different grid parameters to easily implement both smart search and keyword search in the grid.

Setup

To use this recipe in your own environment, you'll need a synced record type with smart search enabled on at least one field of type Text, Extra Long Text, or Document. In this recipe, the title and description fields both have smart search enabled.

The expression in this recipe uses a sample record type called ACME Case. You will need to replace this record type with a record type in your environment.

Expression

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a!localVariables(
  /* searchTerm: stores the user's free-text search input */
  local!searchTerm,

  /* Minimum similarity score to include records */
  /* This similarity score threshold is for example purposes only */
   local!searchThreshold: 0.5,

  /* Queries the list of statues to filter by */
  local!statusList: a!queryRecordType(
    recordType: recordType!ACME Case Status,
    pagingInfo: a!pagingInfo(
      startIndex: 1,
      batchSize: 50
    )
  ),
  /* Keeps track of which status IDs the user has selected */
  local!statusSelection,

  /* Queries the list of priorities to filter by */
  local!priorityList: a!queryRecordType(
    recordType: recordType!ACME Case Priority,
    pagingInfo: a!pagingInfo(
      startIndex: 1,
      batchSize: 50
    )
  ),
  /* Keeps track of which priority IDs the user has selected */
  local!prioritySelection,

  /* Main container for the Support Cases UI */
  a!sectionLayout(
    label: "Support Cases",
    contents: {
      a!columnsLayout(
        columns: {

          /* Left column: Search & Filter card */
          a!columnLayout(
            contents: {
              a!cardLayout(
                contents: {
                  a!sectionLayout(
                    label: "Search & Filter",
                    labelSize: "SMALL",
                    contents: {

                      /* A search bar that includes a text field for entering your query, */
                      /* a clear icon to reset it, and an optional button to perform the search */
                      a!sideBySideLayout(
                        items: {
                          a!sideBySideItem(
                            /* Text field for searchTerm */
                            item: a!textField(
                              label: "",
                              labelPosition: "COLLAPSED",
                              placeholder: "Search case title or description",
                              value: local!searchTerm,
                              saveInto: local!searchTerm,
                              refreshAfter: "UNFOCUS",
                              validations: {}
                            ),
                            width: "6X"
                          ),
                          a!sideBySideItem(
                            /* Icon to clear the searchTerm */
                            item: a!richTextDisplayField(
                              value: {
                                a!richTextIcon(
                                  icon: "window-close",
                                  link: a!dynamicLink(
                                    saveInto: a!save(local!searchTerm, "")
                                  ),
                                  color: "ACCENT"
                                )
                              },
                              align: "LEFT",
                              marginBelow: "LESS"
                            ),
                            width: "1X"
                          ),
                          a!sideBySideItem(
                            /* (Optional) manual search button */
                            item: a!buttonArrayLayout(
                              buttons: {
                                a!buttonWidget(
                                  label: "",
                                  icon: "semantic search",
                                  size: "SMALL"
                                )
                              },
                              align: "START",
                              marginBelow: "NONE"
                            ),
                            width: "1X"
                          )
                        },
                        alignVertical: "BOTTOM",
                        spacing: "DENSE",
                        marginAbove: "NONE",
                        stackWhen: {"PHONE"}
                      ),

                      /* Collapsible filters section */
                      a!sectionLayout(
                        label: "Filters",
                        labelIcon: "filter",
                        labelSize: "EXTRA_SMALL",
                        contents: {
                          /* Status checkbox list */
                          a!checkboxField(
                            choiceLabels: index(
                              local!statusList.data,
                              recordType!ACME Case Status.fields.value
                            ),
                            choiceValues: index(
                              local!statusList.data,
                              recordType!ACME Case Status.fields.id
                            ),
                            label: "Status",
                            labelPosition: "ABOVE",
                            value: local!statusSelection,
                            saveInto: local!statusSelection,
                            validations: {}
                          ),
                          /* Priority checkbox list */
                          a!checkboxField(
                            choiceLabels: index(
                              local!priorityList.data,
                              recordType!ACME Case Priority.fields.value
                            ),
                            choiceValues: index(
                              local!priorityList.data,
                              recordType!ACME Case Priority.fields.id
                            ),
                            label: "Priority",
                            labelPosition: "ABOVE",
                            value: local!prioritySelection,
                            saveInto: local!prioritySelection,
                            validations: {}
                          )
                        },
                        isCollapsible: true,
                        isInitiallyCollapsed: false
                      )
                    },
                    marginAbove: "NONE"
                  )
                },
                height: "EXTRA_TALL",
                style: "STANDARD",
                marginBelow: "STANDARD",
                decorativeBarPosition: "NONE"
              )
            }
          ),

          /* Grid that displays search results for both the 'title' and 'description' fields using an OR operator*/
          a!columnLayout(
            contents: {
              a!gridField(
                labelPosition: "ABOVE",
                data: a!recordData(
                  recordType: recordType!ACME Case,
                  filters: a!queryLogicalExpression(
                    /* Return results from title OR description */
                    /* AND any additional filter selections */
                    operator: "AND",
                    logicalExpressions: a!queryLogicalExpression(
                      operator: "OR",
                      filters: {
                        /* Search title if searchTerm is present */
                        a!queryFilter(
                          field: recordType!ACME Case.fields.title,
                          operator: "semantic search",
                          value: local!searchTerm,
                          applyWhen: a!isNotNullOrEmpty(local!searchTerm)
                        ),
                        /* Search description if searchTerm is present */
                        a!queryFilter(
                          field: recordType!ACME Case.fields.description,
                          operator: "semantic search",
                          value: local!searchTerm,
                          applyWhen: a!isNotNullOrEmpty(local!searchTerm)
                        )
                      }
                    ),
                    filters: {
                      /* Additional filter for similarity score. */ 
                      /* Only includes records that have similarity scores */
                      /* that meet or exceeds the specified threshold,  */
                      /* this filters out less relevant matches */
                      a!queryFilter(
                        field: recordType!ACME Case.searchResults.allSearchFields.similarityScore,
                        operator: ">=",
                        value: local!searchThreshold,
                        applyWhen: a!isNotNullOrEmpty(local!searchTerm)
                      ),
                      /* Filter by selected statuses */
                      a!queryFilter(
                        field: recordType!ACME Case.relationships.status.fields.id,
                        operator: "in",
                        value: local!statusSelection,
                        applyWhen: a!isNotNullOrEmpty(local!statusSelection)
                      ),
                      /* Filter by selected priorities */
                      a!queryFilter(
                        field: recordType!ACME Case.relationships.priority.fields.id,
                        operator: "in",
                        value: local!prioritySelection,
                        applyWhen: a!isNotNullOrEmpty(local!prioritySelection)
                      )
                    }
                  )
                ),
                columns: {
                  a!gridColumn(
                    label: "Id",
                    sortField: recordType!ACME Case.fields.id,
                    value: a!richTextDisplayField(
                      value: {
                        a!richTextItem(
                          text: if(
                            index(fv!row, recordType!ACME Case.fields.id) < 100000,
                            text(
                              index(fv!row, recordType!ACME Case.fields.id),
                              "#00"
                            ),
                            index(fv!row, recordType!ACME Case.fields.id)
                          ),
                          link: a!recordLink(
                            recordType: recordType!ACME Case,
                            identifier: fv!identifier
                          ),
                          linkStyle: "STANDALONE"
                        )
                      }
                    ),
                    width: "NARROW"
                  ),
                  /* Title column: shows placeholder if empty */
                  a!gridColumn(
                    label: "Title",
                    sortField: recordType!ACME Case.fields.title,
                    value: a!defaultValue(
                      index(fv!row, recordType!ACME Case.fields.title),
                      "-"
                    ),
                    width: "NARROW_PLUS"
                  ),
                  /* Description column: shows placeholder if empty */
                  a!gridColumn(
                    label: "Description",
                    sortField: recordType!ACME Case.fields.description,
                    value: a!defaultValue(
                      index(fv!row, recordType!ACME Case.fields.description),
                      "-"
                    ),
                    width: "MEDIUM"
                  ),
                  /* Shows each case's current status in the Status column */
                  a!gridColumn(
                    label: "Status",
                    sortField: recordType!ACME Case.relationships.status.fields.value,
                    value: index(
                      fv!row,
                      recordType!ACME Case.relationships.status.fields.value
                    ),
                    width: "NARROW"
                  ),
                  /* Uses colored tags to display each case's priority in the Priority column */
                  a!gridColumn(
                    label: "Priority",
                    sortField: recordType!ACME Case.relationships.priority.fields.value,
                    value: if(
                      isnull(
                        index(fv!row, recordType!ACME Case.relationships.priority)
                      ),
                      "-",
                      a!tagField(
                        tags: {
                          a!tagItem(
                            text: index(
                              fv!row,
                              recordType!ACME Case.relationships.priority.fields.value
                            ),
                            /* Tag background color chosen by priority ID */
                            backgroundColor: a!match(
                              value: index(
                                fv!row,
                                recordType!ACME Case.relationships.priority.fields.id
                              ),
                              equals: 1, then: "#e4fcdc",
                              equals: 2, then: "#fcefca",
                              equals: 3, then: "#fcdcdc",
                              default: "#f0f0f0"
                            ),
                            textColor: "STANDARD"
                          )
                        }
                      )
                    ),
                    align: "CENTER",
                    width: "NARROW"
                  ),

                  /* Uses up to three colored circles in the Match Quality column to represent each record's similarity score.*/
                  a!gridColumn(
                    label: "Match Quality",
                    sortField: recordType!ACME Case.searchResults.allSearchFields.similarityScore,
                    value: a!localVariables(
                      /* Capture the raw similarityScore */
                      local!scoreValue: fv!row[recordType!ACME Case.searchResults.allSearchFields.similarityScore],
                      /* Number of circles to render */
                      local!circleCount: {1,1,1},
                      /* Determine circle color by score range */
                      /* This range is for example purposes only */
                      /* The similarity scores you choose will depend on your data and search criteria  */
                      local!color: a!match(
                        value: local!scoreValue,
                        whenTrue: fv!value >= 0.8, then: "#0f9037",
                        whenTrue: and(fv!value >= 0.6, fv!value < 0.79), then: "#119f3d",
                        whenTrue: and(fv!value >= 0.4, fv!value < 0.59), then: "#12a740",
                        default: "#83f9a8"
                      ),
                      /* Shows a placeholder when no score is available; otherwise, displays colored circles to represent the score */
                      if(
                        a!isNullOrEmpty(local!scoreValue),
                        "---",
                        a!richTextDisplayField(
                          value: a!forEach(
                            items: local!circleCount,
                            expression: a!richTextIcon(icon: "circle", color: local!color)
                          ),
                         /* This range is for example purposes only */
                         /* The similarity scores you choose will depend on your data and search criteria  */
                          tooltip: a!match(
                            value: local!scoreValue,
                            whenTrue: fv!value >= 0.8, then: "Strong",
                            whenTrue: and(fv!value >= 0.6, fv!value < 0.79), then: "Moderate",
                            whenTrue: and(fv!value >= 0.4, fv!value < 0.59), then: "Fair",
                            default: "Weak"
                          )
                        )
                      )
                    )
                  )
                },
                pagesize: 10,
                /* Sorts first by descending similarity, then ascending ID */
                /*If a search term is present, sorts results by similarity score in descending order so better matches appear at the top of the grid */
                initialSorts: {
                  a!sortInfo(
                    field: recordType!ACME Case.searchResults.allSearchFields.similarityScore,
                    ascending: false
                  ),
                  a!sortInfo(
                    field: recordType!ACME Case.fields.id,
                    ascending: true()
                  )
                },
                /* Refresh the grid after any record action (edit, save, etc.) */
                refreshAfter: "RECORD_ACTION",
                /* Hides the default search box because you have a custom search box */
                showSearchBox: false,
              )
            },
            width: "4X"
          )
        }
      )
    }
  )
)

Test it out

To test the custom search box:

  1. Enter a search term into the search box. This can be a few words or a phrase.
  2. Review the search results. Look for rows that are semantically related to your search term, even if the exact words aren't present. These are the semantic search matches, and they will have a similarityScore of less than 1.

Notable implementation details

  • This recipe exclusively uses semantic search on the fields you specify. It does not include the keyword search functionality that is available in the default search box in a grid.
  • For a simpler implementation that combines both semantic search and keyword search, you should use the default search box available in a read-only grid.
  • To learn how to display the "Match Quality" column in a grid that uses the default search box with semantic search, see the Display Semantic Search Match Quality in a Read-Only Grid recipe.

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