The UI includes a range of operator types, which are used to apply search criteria to condition input fields:
- Equal to.
- Like.
- Not like.
- Not equal to.
- Greater than.
- Less than.
- Equal to or greater than.
- Equal to or less than.
- Between.
- Is null.
- Is not null.
- Start with.
- End with.
- Is date equals.
- Is month equals.
- Is year equals.
- Is day equals.
Note:
See Input field types for more about each input field.
Equal to
The Equal to operator is used to select all those contacts that exactly match the value entered in the condition input field.
Example:
Setting the First Name condition to Equal to, with Sam as the input field value, selects all those contacts whose first name is exactly Sam. Contacts whose first name is, for example, Samantha or Sammy are not selected.
The Equal to operator applies to string, numeric and date data types.
Note:
The Equal to operator can also be applied when multiple values are set for a given attribute. It is used to select those contacts for which the relevant attribute has a value that exactly matches at least one of those entered in the condition input field. In this instance, the Equal to operator applies to string data types only.
Like
The Like operator is used to select all those contacts for which the relevant attribute partially matches the value entered in the condition input field. This means that the operator implicitly uses wildcards to match the input field with the relevant attribute values in the database.
Example:
Setting the First Name condition to Like, with Sam as the input field value, selects all those contacts whose first name has Sam included anywhere in their name. Contacts whose first name is, for example, Sam, Samantha or Sammy are selected.
The Like operator applies to string data types.
Not like
The Not like operator is used to select all those contacts for which the relevant attribute does not at least partially match the value entered in the condition input field. This means that the operator implicitly uses wildcards to match the input field with the relevant attribute values in the database.
Example:
Setting the Email condition to Not like, with ‘gmail’ as the input field value, selects all those contacts whose email address does not include ‘gmail’ anywhere in the relevant string.
The Not like operator applies to string data types.
Not equal to
The Not equal to operator is used to select all those contacts that do not match the value entered in the condition input field.
Example:
Setting the First Name condition to Not equal to, with Sam as the input field value, selects all those contacts whose first name is not Sam. Contacts whose first name is, for example, Samantha, Sammy, Paul, John and so on, are selected.
The Not equal to operator applies to string, numeric and date data types.
Note:
The Not equal to operator can also be applied when multiple values are set for a given attribute. It is used to select those contacts for which the relevant attribute value does not match any of those entered in the condition input field. In this instance, the Not equal to operator applies to string data types only.
Greater than
The Greater than operator applies to attributes that can be ordered. It is used to select those contacts for which the relevant attribute has a value greater than the one entered in the condition input field.
Example:
Setting the Number of children condition to Greater than, with 3 as the input field value, selects all contacts with 4, 5, 6 or more children, but does not select those with 3 or less children.
The Greater than operator applies to numeric and date data types.
Less than
The Less than operator applies to attributes that can be ordered. It is used to select those contacts for which the relevant attribute has a value less than the one entered in the condition input field.
Example:
Setting the Number of children condition to Less than, with 3 as the input field value, selects all contacts with 0, 1 or 2 children, but does not select those with 3 or more children.
The Less than operator applies to numeric and date data types.
Equal to or greater than
The Equal to or greater than operator applies to attributes that can be ordered. It is used to select those contacts for which the relevant attribute has a value equal to or greater than the one entered in the condition input field.
Example:
Setting the Number of children condition to Equal to or greater than, with 3 as the input field value, selects all contacts with 3, 4, 5 or more children, but does not select those with 2 or less children.
The Equal to or greater than operator applies to numeric and date data types.
Equal to or less than
The Equal to or less than operator applies to attributes that can be ordered. It is used to select those contacts for which the relevant attribute has a value equal to or less than the one entered in the condition input field.
Example:
Setting the Number of children condition to Equal to or less than, with 3 as the input field value, selects all contacts with 0, 1, 2 or 3 children, but does not select those with 4 or more children.
The Equal to or less than operator applies to numeric and date data types.
Between
The Between operator defines a value range for a particular condition. It is used to select those contacts for which the relevant attribute has a value that falls within the range identified by the minimum and maximum condition input fields.
Example:
Setting the Date of birth condition to Between with 01/01/1980 and 31/12/1989 as the input field values, selects all contacts born in the 1980s.
Setting the Number of children condition to Between, with 1 and 3 as the input field values, selects all contacts with 1, 2 or 3 children.
The Between operator applies to numeric and date data types.
Is null
The Is null operator is used to select all those contacts that have no value entered for the relevant attribute in the database. If this operator is selected, no value is required in condition input field.
Example:
Setting the Gender condition to Is null, selects all those contacts that do not have gender information in the database.
The Is null operator applies to string, numeric and date data types.
Is not null
The Is not null operator is used to select all those contacts that have anything but no value entered for the relevant attribute. This means all contacts that have any value for the relevant attribute in the database are selected. If this operator is selected, no value is required in condition input field.
Example:
Setting the Gender condition to Is not null, selects all those contacts that have any gender information in the database.
The Is not null operator applies to string, numeric and date data types.
Start with
The Start with operator is used to select all those contacts that start with the value entered in the condition input field. This means that the operator implicitly uses wildcards to match the input field with the relevant attribute values in the database.
The Start with operator is not case sensitive.
Example:
Setting the First Name condition to Start with, with Sam as the input field value, selects all those contacts whose first name starts with Sam. Contacts whose first name is, for example, Sam, Samantha or Sammy are selected.
The Start with operator applies to string data types.
End with
The End with operator is used to select all those contacts that end with the value entered in the condition input field. This means that the operator implicitly uses wildcards to match the input field with the relevant attribute values in the database.
The End with operator is not case sensitive.
Example:
Setting the First Name condition to End with, with ammy as the input field value, selects all those contacts whose first name ends with ammy. Contacts whose first name is, for example, Sammy, Pammy or Tammy are selected.
The End with operator applies to string data types.
Is date equals
The Is date equals operator is used to select dates that exactly match the DD/MM/YYYY value entered in the condition input field. Any hours and minutes values associated with a date are ignored.
Example:
Setting the Date condition of a Birth date field to Is date equals, and entering 12/12/1978 as the input field value, selects all those contacts whose birth date matches that value.
The Is date equals operator applies to date data types.
Is month equals
The Is month equals operator is used to select dates with a month value that exactly matches the MM component of the date that is entered in the condition input field. All other date components are ignored.
Example:
Setting the Date condition of a Birth date field to Is month equals, and entering 12/12/1978 as the input field value, selects all those contacts whose birth month matches that value. In this instance, all contacts born in December are selected.
The Is month equals operator applies to date data types.
Is year equals
The Is year equals operator is used to select dates with a year value that exactly matches the YYYY component of the date that is entered in the condition input field. All other date components are ignored.
Example:
Setting the Date condition of a Birth date field to Is year equals, and entering 12/12/1978 as the input field value, selects all those contacts whose birth year matches that value. In this instance, all contacts born in 1978 are selected.
The Is year equals operator applies to date data types.
Is day equals
The Is day equals operator is used to select dates with a day value that exactly matches the DD component of the date that is entered in the condition input field. All other date components are ignored.
Example:
Setting the Date condition of a Birth date field to Is day equals, and entering 12/12/1978 as the input field value, selects all those contacts whose birth day matches that value. In this instance, all contacts born on the 12th of any month are selected.
The Is day equals operator applies to date data types.