You can use special search characters in the Find Container dialog's attribute fields to further refine your search criteria. Groups of special characters can be used together by separating the groups by commas.
You cannot use special characters in attribute fields that don't have a pre-defined list of values.
Each type of search character is described and examples are shown using the equipment type attribute.
Commas. You can use a comma [,] to combine different search criteria in a single field. For example, if you use 4022,4233 (with no space between the comma and the equipment types), the XPS client will return matches for both 4022 and 4233.
Wildcards - Wildcard search characters let you select all values of one or more characters in an attribute code. Note: You cannot use wildcards to find results with multiple values.
There are four wildcard characters that perform three functions.
The question mark [?] and underscore [_] characters replace a single character in any attribute. You use one question mark or underscore for each character.
Examples
4??? Finds containers whose equipment type begins with a 4 and has exactly 4 characters (finds 4022, 4233, but not 40D, 40R, 40, 4).
4_?_ Finds containers whose equipment type begins with 4 and has exactly 4 characters (underscore and question mark are equivalent).
4??0 Finds containers whose equipment type begins with 4, ends with 0, and has exactly 4 characters (finds 4020, 4530, but not 400 or 4003).
The percent sign [%] replaces zero or more characters in a specific attribute. A percent sign alone retrieves all types for that attribute. Only one percent sign may be used per attribute.
Examples
% Finds all containers.
4% Finds containers whose equipment type begins with 4 (finds 4, 40, 45, 40D, 45R, 4022, and 4233, but not 24 or 204).
4%0 Finds containers whose equipment type begins with 4 and ends with 0 (finds 4020, but not 4001 or 4201).
If none of the digits match, XPS displays warning message, " No containers matched the filter that you entered. Click "refind" if you want to try again".
The equal [=] sign applies only to the Inbound Carrier and Outbound Carrier fields. It selects the vessel that is open when the filter is applied. This search character enables you to create filters that can be applied to any open arriving or departing vessel without specifying its name.
Character matches and ranges. The brackets [[] []] alone or with the hyphen [-] specify multiple values or a range of values for a character in a search attribute. Alphanumeric characters in a bracket signify the various acceptable values for a single character in that field. The acceptable values can be presented as one or more discrete values, or values within a range.
Examples
40[DF] Finds containers whose equipment type is 40D or 40F.
40[D-F] Finds containers whose equipment type is 40D, 40E, or 40F.
20[DP-T] Finds containers whose equipment type begins with 20 followed by a D, P, Q, R, S, or T (finds 20D, 20P, 20R, and 20T, but not 20F, 2D, 200T, or 40D).
Character matches with container ID numbers. You can search for a specific container ID number or you can search for a series of containers with ID numbers that start with a specified string of characters. To search for a specific container ID number, type the whole container ID number in the Equip. ID field. To search for a series, type the beginning characters of the ID number in the Equip. ID field, ending with the % wildcard character.
To find one specific container, it is easier to use the Find One dialog. See Finding a Container (on page 1) for more information.
Examples
GSTU% Finds a series of containers starting with the character string GSTU.
GSTU129%Finds a series of containers starting with the character string GSTU129.
None. The hyphen used outside of brackets specifies the none attribute. The none attribute finds all containers with that attribute undefined.
Examples
- Finds all containers with an undefined equipment type.
-,4% Finds all containers with an undefined equipment type or with any equipment type code that begins with 4.
Exclusion character. The exclamation point [!] is the not character. The exclamation point causes items to be excluded. The exclusion character cannot be used alone. To exclude all containers with undefined equipment types from a list or recap, you enter !- (all, except those with undefined equipment types).
The exclusion character cannot be used in the Booking/Rlse or Equip. ID fields.
Examples
To help clarify the use of the special characters, a few examples of setting up a search criteria for the equipment type are included:
!- Finds all containers except those with undefined equipment types.
- Finds all containers with no equipment type.
4%,!4020 Finds any container whose equipment type starts with 4 except containers with equipment type 4020.
!4[2-4]% Finds all containers except those whose equipment type begins with 4, followed by 2, 3, or 4 (excludes 42, 43, 42D, 44D, 4310, and 4415, but not 40D, 4820 and 2200).
!2%,!4820 Finds all containers except those whose equipment type starts with 2 and those with equipment type 4820.