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Page Revision: 02/14/2012 04:11 PM
Item Code Searches
Throughout ComCept .Net, users are prompted to specify an inventory item. This is true of Invoicing and other point-of-sale screens, inventory adjustments, count sheets and virtually anywhere an item is affected. The fields for item codes are smart, helping you zero in on the item you are looking for. As you type an item code, a helpful list of selections will appear just below your entry, aiding your search.
{screen shot of item dropdown}
Line Codes
Each inventory item in ComCept .Net is assigned an
item code. Not all item codes are unique across all manufacturers. For example, Manufacturer A sells an item with part number "1234", and so does manufacturer B. Because Item Codes in ComCept .Net must be unique, many users have simply prefixed their item codes with a few extra letters to indicate the manufacturer, such as "MMM". Many software vendors call this a "Line Code".
An item code of "MMM 1234" is made up of three parts. The "MMM" is the
line code. The space (" ") is the
separator. The "1234" portion is the
part number. Of course some customers use dashes ("-"), slashes ("/"), or other characters for separators.
{screen shot of item code parts}
Having line codes in ComCept .Net used to make finding items more difficult at the point of sale, because you had to type in the whole part number, line code and all, such as "MMM1234", or use a wildcard such as "%1234". Wildcard searches are slow because the computer has to scan every letter of every item code until it finds a match.
ComCept .Net now fully supports line codes, and they won't slow down your searches. In fact we have found ways to speed searches up when we added the line code feature. All you have to do is choose a separator, and make a few changes to your item codes.
Item Code Search Rules
When you type a few characters in an Item Code search, ComCept shows you all the matching records it can find. The items that are most likely what you meant will appear first, and everything else will show up alphabetically afterward. The exact rules are as follows:
Item Code Exact Match
The first results will contain records where the entire Item Code matches exactly what you typed. If you supply "1234", an item code of exactly "1234" will be at the top of the search results.
Part Number Exact Match
The next set of results will contain any records where the entire part number matches exactly what you typed. If you supply "123", you will get any item where the part number after the separator is exactly "123". This would include "MMM.
123" and "PC.
123".
Item Code Partial Match
The next set of results will be any records that start with the text you typed, or there’s a match when you strip out the punctuation. If you supply "123", you will find items that start with "123", such as "123006", and "123X". You will even see matches for "12-34" and "1.2-3_4", because punctuation is ignored during the search.
Part Number Partial Match
The last set of results will be any items that partially match your search in the part number. If you supply "123", you will see results for "MMM.1230" and "PC.1230009". You will also see matches on "ABC.12-34" and "PC.1_23-4", because punctuation is ignored during the search.
Punctuation
Some items contain punctuation characters, like dashes and slashes. An example of this would be the dash (-) in "PC.12-34". ComCept .Net will find this item for you, even if you only supply "1234" in your search. If you supply the part number with its punctuation when you search, you will still find your item. In our example, "1234" and "12-34" will both find "PC.12-34".
The following characters are considered punctuation, and need not be supplied when searching for items:
- Space (" ")
- Dash ( - )
- Slash ( / )
- Back-slash ( \ )
- Period ( . )
- Asterisk ( * )
Start Using Line Codes
You can start using Line Codes on inventory searches in three steps. Caution: You should choose your separator carefully, because it's a lot of work to change your mind. Once you’ve decided which separator you will use, perform the following steps:
Configure Separator
In ComCept .Net, on the Company --> Preferences screen, navigate to the Documents page. You may need administrative privileges to do this.
{ screen shot of preferences }