Global Search Window

This windows enables you to search for records on one or multiple projects. The following ALM modules are supported: Defects, Requirements, Test Plan, Test Lab, and Analysis items.

To access

Choose one of the following options:

On the Application Lifecycle Management Options window, click the Global Search link. In the ALM Login window, enter user name and password.

In the ALM window, select one of the following modules: Defects, Requirements, Test Plan, Test Lab, or Analysis. On the module's toolbar, click Global Search .

Important information

Global Search is only available if it has been enabled for the project. Contact your ALM site administrator if the global search option is unavailable.

Relevant tasks

How to Globally Search ALM Data

User interface elements are described below:

UI Element	Description
<tab name>	All. Searches the following modules: Defects, Requirements, Test Plan, Test Lab, and Analysis. Defects. Searches the Defects module. Requirements. Searches the Requirements module. Test Plan. Searches the Test Plan module. Test Lab. Searches the Test Lab module. Analysis Items. Searches the Analysis View module.
Search	Indicates the keywords you want to find. For details, see Global Search Tips.
	Enables you to select the projects for inclusion in your search results. ALM Editions: Cross projects search is not available for Quality Center Enterprise Edition, Quality Center Community Edition, or Quality Center Express Edition. For more information about ALM editions and their functionality, see ALM Editions. To find out what edition of ALM you are using, ask your ALM site administrator.
	Enables you define conditions for filtering. To define a filter: Under Select field, select a field name. Select Equal to or Not equal to. Enter a field value or use search operators to refine your query (see Global Search Tips). Only those records that match the conditions are displayed. Tip: You can define multiple filters. Defined filters are displayed next to the Add Filter button. Note: The Add Filter button is available only when selecting a specific module.
	Searches for the specified keywords.
<time range filter>	Limits the search to a specific time period. Possible values: Past 24 hours, Past week, Past month, Past year, All time, and Custom.

Global Search Tips

Punctuation and Symbols

Symbol	How to use it
?	Add a question mark as a placeholder for a single character. Example: The query BU? returns items such as BUG, BUS, BUY etc.
*	Add an asterisk as a placeholder for any unknown or wildcard terms. Example: The query AL* returns items such as ALM, Alert, All, etc.
" "	Add quotation marks to search for an exact phrase. Example: The query "flight reservation" returns items that contain the exact phrase.

Search Operators

Operator	How to use it
NOT / - / !	The term following the NOT / - / ! operator will be excluded from the results. Example: `flight reservation NOT bug` (The NOT operator must be in capital letters.) or `flight reservation -bug` or `flight reservation !bug` The query returns items that contain flight or reservation but excludes items that contain the word bug.
OR / space char / \|\|	Use the OR operator between two words to search for content that contains either word. Example: `flight OR reservation` (The OR operator must be in capital letters.) or `flight reservation` or `flight \|\| reservation`
AND / &&	Use AND to search for results that include all terms. Note that the AND operator must be in capital letters. Example: `qc AND alm` (The AND operator must be in capital letters.) or `qc && alm` The query returns all items that contain both the word qc and the word alm.
Grouping	Use parentheses to group search terms in clauses. This can be very useful if you want to control the Boolean logic for a query. Example: `(mercury OR tours) AND reservation` or `(mercury tours) && reservation` The query returns items that contain mercury or tours, and include reservation.
<	To search for values less than the value specified. Used only with numeric values. Example: `X<1`
>	To search for values greater than the value specified. Used only with numeric values. Example: `X>1`
Escaping Special Characters	Global Search supports escaping special characters that are part of the query syntax. The special characters are *+ - && \|\| ! ( ) { } [ ] ^ " ~ ? : \ To escape a character use a backslash “\” before the character. Example: To search for (1+1):2**, type `\(1\+1\)\:2`