EasyFinder tm Searches

applies to: nutraCoster 2.1, nutraCoster 3.0

nutraCoster uses a powerful search technology called EasyFindertm. EasyFinder Searches allow you to find items by typing just a few characters.

Refer to the General Information chapter (nutraCoster 2.1) or the EasyFinder Searches chapter (nutraCoster 3.0) in nutraCoster Help for more details about how EasyFinder Searches work.

There are 2 important things you need to understand about EasyFinder Searches.

  • How EasyFinder Searches find matching Items.
  • Clicking OK has a different result depending on whether the search found matching items or NO matching items.

If you find yourself scrolling through the Master Items List looking for items, you do not understand how to use EasyFinder Searches.

How EasyFinder Searches find matching Items

  • EasyFinder Searches are active in the Add or Change Master Items window, the Add or Change Recipes/Formulas window, the Ingredients tab of the New Recipe/Formula or Change Recipe/Formula window, and other windows where you need to specify an item (except report windows).
  • You can type any part of the item description. nutraCoster will find all matching items that have the text you typed anywhere in the item description.
  • You can separate text with a space. nutraCoster will find all items that contain all of the words you typed.
  • nutraCoster displays the number of matching items it found in the title of the EasyFinder list box (above the first item).
  • The first matching item displayed is the one that is closest alphabetically to the text you typed. However, there may be other matching items that are alphabetically before the first item displayed. Scroll up in the list to see additional matching items.

Some windows search subsets of the Master Items List.

  • In the Add or Change Recipes/Formulas window, nutraCoster first searches the list of recipes and displays any matching recipes. If there are no matching recipes, nutraCoster searches the entire Master Items List. Click Show All Items to bypass searching the list of recipes.
  • In the Ingredients tab of the New Recipe/Formula or Change Recipe/Formula window, nutraCoster first searches the ingredients of the recipe and displays any matching ingredients. If there are no matching ingredients, nutraCoster searches the entire Master Items List. Click Show All Items to bypass searching the list of ingredients.

Search tips:

  • To avoid finding excessively large numbers of matching items, nutraCoster initiates the EasyFinder search after you have typed 3 or more characters. If you type 1 or 2 characters, nutraCoster positions the list on the first alphabetical matching item.
  • Less is more. The less you type the more matching items you will find. For example, if you type "egg" you will find 113 (or so) matching items, including "Egg, Whole, Raw, Fresh". If you type "eggs" you will find 11 (or so) matching items, and you will not find the whole egg item.
  • As you become familiar with the Master Items List you will discover that you can quickly find any item by typing just a few characters.

Clicking OK in EasyFinder windows

You get different results when you click OK in an EasyFinder window, depending on whether or not nutraCoster found matching items.

Clicking OK, pressing Enter or double clicking an item are equivalent in an EasyFinder window.

  • If there are matching items, clicking OK selects the highlighted item.
  • If there are NO matching items, nutraCoster assumes you want to add the item you typed. nutraCoster will offer to automatically add the item to the Master Items List.

Clicking New Item in EasyFinder windows

If there are NO matching items nutraCoster already knows the item is not in the Master Items List. It is not necessary to click New Item

The only time it is necessary to click New Item is when the item description of the new item is a subset of an existing item. In this case nutraCoster will find matching items. If you just click OK, nutraCoster will select the highlighted matching item.

To tell nutraCoster to use the description you have typed rather than to select the highlighted matching item, click New Item, then click OK.