Logs Entered

 

Keyword

When you create or modify a Log CLIFF automatically generates keywords for the following data fields:

First Name and Last Name of authors entered in the Log and Additional Authors.

Company

Subject

The user-defined text fields

The user-defined pop-up fields

Keywords are generated by extracting all the unique words in the above data fields. Note that all non-numeric and non-alphabetic characters are excluded when generating keywords. The only exception to this is '/' and '-' if they are bordered by numbers.

Examples:

Text to be keyworded	Keywords
Bob/Tom/Sue	Bob, Tom, Sue
01/01/1999	01/01/1999
Re: 1995 agreement between Acme/Government signed by-John, Sue(Minister)-10-11-95	Re, 1995, agreement, between, Acme, Government, signed, by, John, Sue, Minister, 10-11-95

 

The resulting keywords are compared to a table of exceptions, or noise words, contained in the Noise Word table maintained by your Administrator. Any keywords, except those from First Name and Last Name, that found in the Noise Word table are not saved as keywords for the Log. Noise words are words you would not normally search on, such as 'and', 'the', 'to', and 'a'. Single character keywords are also dropped. For each keyword saved a phonetic equivalent of the keyword is also saved. This will allow you to search for keywords that 'sound like' the specified keyword.

To search for Logs by keyword

Click on the Keyword Search button in the CLIFF Toolbar.
The Search by Keyword window is displayed. Unlike other search functions in CLIFF, all the fields are cleared and the date range reset to your Active Period.

Enter the keywords you want to search for.
A search on two or more keywords is called a compound search. When you do a compound search, you combine separate search conditions using a conjunction operator. The conjunction operator tells CLIFF how to combine the results of the individual searches.

There are three conjunction operators:

• & (AND): Finds all the Logs that meet two conditions. A keyword search of 'John & Smith' will list only the Logs that contain both those keywords. & is the default conjunction operator so entering a keyword search of 'John Smith' is the same as 'John & Smith'.
• | (OR): Finds all the Logs that meet either of two conditions. A search for the keywords 'John | Smith' will list all Logs containing 'John' and all Logs containing 'Smith', including all Logs that contain both names.
• # (EXCEPT): Searches by exception. For example: a search for 'John # Smith' will list all Logs containing 'John' except those that also contain the keyword 'Smith'.

You can also combine the conjunction operators to create compound search conditions that are extremely specific. For example: 'John | Fred & Smith & taxes # 1996'.

If necessary, change the date range to search in. The date range defaults to your Active Period.

Click on Search.

If the search is successful, CLIFF displays a list of all Logs that contain the keyword(s) you entered.
If the search is not successful, CLIFF will display a message. Click Back to modify your search and try again.

TIP: You can use the '@' wildcard with keywords. For example: 'Ander@' will find 'Andersen', 'Anderson', 'Andersson' and other names beginning with 'Ander'.

Phonetic Searches

A keyword search for 'Smith' would not find 'Smyth' or 'Smythe'. But if you click on Phonetic Search in the keyword search window, the search will include all Logs that contain phonetically similar keywords. A phonetic search for 'Smith' will bring up both 'Smyth' and 'Smythe'. Phonetic searches may select many more logs than you expect. For example, in the above tip of searching with 'Ander@' a phonetic search for 'Anderson' would find all the variations of Anderson plus anything that sounds the same, for example Andrew, Andreason, etc.

Log Search

Apart from Keyword Searching, Searching for Logs will probably be your most frequent searching tool in CLIFF.

To search Logs for information in specific fields

Click on the Search for Logs button in the CLIFF toolbar.
The Search for Logs window is displayed:

NOTE: CLIFF automatically enters a date range for Date Received based on the defined Active Period. You can search outside the Active Period by amending the date range.
NOTE: Search for Logs retains search criteria from search to search. This allows you to modify searches without reentering all the criteria every time. If you wish to start a new search click the Clear button, to clear all fields and reset the Date Received, to your Active field.

If you are searching for a specific Log Id, enter the ID number at the top and click Search. OR Enter the information you want to search for.

• The more search criteria you include the more efficient and brief the search will be. When you enter search criteria in more than one field, the search becomes a compound search. For example if you enter ‘John’ in the First Name field and ‘Smith’ in the Last Name field, only logs that have ‘John’ AND ‘Smith’ will be selected. You will notice that the ID Number and Batch are separated from the other data fields. If you enter an ID number or a Batch number, CLIFF will only use that criteria for searching, ignoring other search criteria. If both ID Number and Batch are entered, CLIFF will only use the ID Number.
• If you click Search in Selection, CLIFF will only search in the current selection of Logs. Note that if there is not currently a selection of Logs, the Search in Selection option will not be available.
• If you click Exclude Batch Members, CLIFF will not show Batch Members in the resulting list of Logs.

TIP: You can use the ‘@’ wildcard in most places where CLIFF asks you to enter a search value. For example: ‘Ander@’ in the Last Name field will find Logs with names beginning with ‘Ander’; ‘@logging@’ looks for all occurrences of ‘logging’.
NOTE: Searching using wildcards will slow down a search. Especially a search criteria of ‘@logging@’ where CLIFF cannot use the database searching indexes. If you want to look for a single word like ‘logging’ in one of the keyword indexed fields, then use the Keyword Search. It is much faster. You may also enter search criteria for Referrals which will allow you to refine your search even more. Instead of just searching for Logs based on information contained in the Logs, you may also search the Referrals associated with Logs. For example, search for all Logs with Log Action of ‘prepare response’ sent to ‘Office A’.

Click on Search.

CLIFF displays a list of the logs that meet your search requirements.

TIP: If you are only searching on Subject, the two text fields below the subject, or any of the six pop-up fields, use the Keyword Search It is much faster.  
TIP: If Search for Logs does not provide all the search functionality you require, try Search for Logs & Referrals. This alternate search function provides more options and power. The search criteria you specified in Search for Logs will automatically be used by Search for Logs & Referrals.

Referrals Received

Referrals Received are those Referrals sent to your Office. You may search for Referrals Received using the predefined searches or by using one of the standard Search tools. Referrals found from any of the search options are displayed in the Referral list format.

Predefined Searches

The predefined searches are available from the Referrals Received button on the CLIFF Toolbar.

• [Referrals Received] For This Office - Lists all Referrals received by your Current Office and that are not completed.
  
• [Referrals Received] With Due Dates - Lists all Referrals received by your Current Office that are not completed and have a Due Date.
  
• [Referrals Received] Overdue In This Office - Lists all Referrals received by your Current Office that are not completed and have a Due Date earlier than today.
  
• [Referrals Received] Active in This Office - Lists all Referrals received by your Current Office that are currently Active. If your office has created Referrals that are currently Pending, the search drills down through the forwarded Referrals to find the Active Referral.
  

Searching for Referrals

If you need more flexibility searching for Referrals than the predefined searches provide, use the Search for Referral form. If you need even more searching power, use the Search for Logs & Referrals.

Referrals Sent

Referrals Sent are Referrals created by your Office. You may search for Referrals Sent using the predefined searches or by using one of the standard Search tools. Referrals found from any of the search options are displayed in the Referral list format.

Predefined Searches

The predefined searches are available from the Referrals Sent button in the CLIFF Toolbar.

• [Referrals Sent] By This Office - Lists all Referrals created by your Current Office and that are not completed.
  
• [Referrals Sent] With Due Dates - Lists all Referrals created by your Current Office that are not completed and have a Due Date.
  
• [Referrals Sent] That Are Overdue - Lists all Referrals created by your Current Office that are not completed and have a Due Date earlier than today.
  
• [Referrals Sent] With Active Office - Lists all Referrals created by your Current Office that are Active. If your office has created Referrals that are currently Pending, the search drills down through the forwarded Referrals to find the Active Referral.
  
• [Referrals Sent] Overdue in Active Office - Lists all Referrals created by your Current Office that are currently Active and have a Due Date earlier than today. If your office has created Referrals that are currently Pending, the search drills down through the forwarded Referrals to find the Active Referral.
  

Searching for Referrals

If you need more flexibility searching for Referrals than the predefined searches provide, use the Search for Referral form. If you need even more searching power, use the Search for Logs & Referrals.

Batch Search

Batch members are included in normal searches but there are times when you only want to see the Batch Header and its associated members.

To Search for a Batch

Click on the Batch Search button in the CLIFF Toolbar.
A window is displayed showing all the Open Batches in your database.

Click Name, or Date, to sort the list of batches.

Click on the Batch Name to search for.

Click Search. The Batch Header and Batch Members for the Batch are displayed.

To Search for a Closed Batch

The Batch Search list only contains open batches. When a batch is closed, it is automatically removed from the Batch table. In order to determine what your closed batches are in the database you must perform a search.

1. Click the Search for Logs & Referrals button in the CLIFF Toolbar.
   
2. Enter search criteria as follows:
   

   
   

3. Click Search. All closed Batch Headers will be displayed.

To Display Batch Members for a Closed Batch

Click on the Search for Logs button in the CLIFF Toolbar.

Enter the name of the closed batch in the Batch field. You can copy and paste this from the closed Batch Header.

Click Search. The Batch Header and all the Batch members for the batch are displayed.

Referral Search

To search for Referrals

Click the Search for Referrals button in the CLIFF toolbar.
The Search for Referrals window is displayed:

NOTE: CLIFF automatically enters a date range for Date Sent based on your Active Period. You can search outside the Active Period by amending the date range.
NOTE: Search for Referrals retains search criteria from search to search. This allows you to modify searches without reentering all the criteria every time. If you wish to start a new search, click Clear to clear all fields and reset the Date Sent to your Active period.

Enter the information you want to search for.
When you enter search criteria in more than one field the search becomes a compound search. For example, if you enter ‘Draft Response’ in the Action field and ‘Completed’ in the Status field, only Referrals that have ‘Draft Response’ AND ‘Completed’ will be selected.
If you click Search in Selection CLIFF will only search in the current selection of Referrals.

TIP: You can use the ‘@’ wildcard in most places where CLIFF asks you to enter a search value. For example: ‘Draft@’ in the Action field will find Referrals with Action beginning with ‘Draft’.
NOTE: Searching using wildcards will slow down a search. Especially a search criteria of ‘@letter@’ where CLIFF cannot use the database searching indexes.

Click on Search.
CLIFF displays a list of the Referrals that meet your search requirements.

TIP: If Search for Referrals does not provide the search functionality you require try Search for Logs & Referrals. This alternate search function provides more options and power. The search criteria you specified in Search for Referrals will automatically be used by Search for Referrals by Popup.

Logs and Referrals

Search for Logs & Referrals allows you to build searches based on data fields in Logs and Referrals and return the result as Logs, or Referrals. You may build complicated searches using Boolean operators.

To Build Search Criteria

1. Click on the Logs & Referrals search button in the Toolbar.
   The Logs & Referrals Search window is displayed. The search criteria for any previous search you may have performed will be automatically displayed. For example if you had previously used the Searching for Logs function, the criteria it used will be displayed. This allows you to expand on a previously attempted search.
   If you wish to start a new search, click Clear All. (The first data field will be selected by default.)
   

   
   

2. If you want to modify a previously saved search, choose it from the Use Saved Search Specification drop down menu. See Saving Searches for more information.
3. Select the type of records you want from the search in the Find popup list at the top of the window. The default is Logs.
4. Choose the Boolean operator to apply. If this is a single line search leave as AND.
   The Boolean operator allows you to combine the current line with the previous line of search criteria. For example the search criteria
   

   
   

   would find all Logs received after "2005/06/01" AND whose Office is "Executive Branch". If the OR operator had been used instead, then the search would find all Logs whose Office is "Executive Branch" OR any Log received after "2005/06/01".
   Multiple lines of search criteria are applied in sequence. For example the search criteria
   

   
   

   may not give the results you expect. This search will find all Logs for "President's Office" and only Logs for "Executive Branch" received after "2005/06/01". The correct way to specify this search criteria is as follows:
   

   
   

   In this case only Logs for "President's Office" or "Executive Branch" received after "2005/06/01" will be found.

5. Select the Table that contains the data field you want to search on from the first popup. Different data fields will be displayed in the second popup depending on which Table you select. CLIFF’s database is comprised of two main Tables: Logs, and Referrals. When creating your search criteria you may search fields in both Tables. For example, you can search for all Logs received after "2005/06/01" that were Referred to "Executive Branch". Each data field displayed in the search criteria is prefixed with the file (Log or Referral) that is being referenced.
6. Select the Data Field to search by clicking on the second popup list.
7. Select the Comparison to be performed from the third popup.
   Depending upon the data field selected, your options may be any of the following:
   
   • is - is equal to
   • is not - is not equal to
   • is before - dates which are before specified date
   • is after - dates which are after specified date
   • is greater than
   • is less than
   • starts with - similar to using a trailing wildcard, for example ‘Ander@’
   • contains - similar to using a wildcard before and after, for example ‘@Ander@’
8. Enter a Value to search for.
   When entering search criteria please note the following:
   
   • Do not enter criteria in quotes
   • Do not use a wildcard. The specified comparison will apply wildcards as necessary
   • You may enter relative dates, for example ‘-10’ to represent current date minus 10 days
   • You may use the generic ‘This Office’ to represent the user’s current office
   • Searching Date Received is not restricted to your Active Period

   If the selected Data Field has a support table (Office, for example) you may select the Office to search on from the Field supporting data popup.

9. If you wish to add another line of search criteria, click Add Line and repeat steps 3 to 8.
10. If you wish to exclude Batch Members from the search, click the checkbox.
11. If you wish to only search in the current selection, click the checkbox.
12. Click Search.

To Edit the Search Criteria

1. Click on the line of search criteria to change
2. Make your changes.

To Add a New Line of Search Criteria

1. Click the Add Line button. New Lines are always added to the bottom of the list.

To Remove a Line of Search Criteria

1. Click on the line to be removed
2. Click the Clear Line button

To Search in Selection

If you perform a search that results in a larger selection than anticipated, you may perform further searches on only the found set of records by clicking the Search in Selection check box. This feature may also be used to break down complicated searches.

Marked Logs

To find Logs that have been Marked, choose Select Marked from the Mark commands in the List Toolbar. See Marking Records for more information.

History Search

While logging a document, you may want to find out if its author has communicated with your office or organization before. CLIFF lets you search through historical Logs based on the author’s last name, company name, postal codes, or keywords.

To search for history

Click the Search for History button in the Log toolbar.
A window is displayed with available search options:

If a last name is entered in the Log, this will be the default search parameter. You may select an alternate search criteria, or change the displayed criteria. Note that at this point a search has not yet been performed.

Click Search to proceed with the search.
If Logs are found matching the search criteria, the search window expands showing a list of found Logs. CLIFF tells you how many Logs it found just below the search criteria.

Basic information for each found log is displayed in the list. You may scroll the list as required to view the Logs and data fields. You may redo the search by changing the search criteria and clicking Search again.
If no historical logs are found, a message is displayed at the bottom of the Search window.

 

To View Any of the Historical Logs

Click the Log's ID in the list.
The selected Log is displayed in a separate window. You may update the historical Log as necessary.

NOTE: The windows for the displayed historical Logs do not automatically close when you close the Search for History window or when you exit the main Log. This allows you to keep historical information readily at hand while working with other Logs.

To Save a Cross Reference of the Historical Logs

Click the checkbox to the left of Logs in the list for which a cross reference should be created. If your search resulted in a small selection of Logs, they may already be checked.

Click on Include button.

Summary information for each checked Log is appended to the Log Notes.