Edit Lookup Dialog

See below for the description of fields in the Edit Lookup dialog:

Field/Checkbox Name

Description

Name

Enter a name that uniquely identifies the lookup function.

Result Field

Specifies the field from which you want to fetch values for the lookup function. Almost any field from almost any table can be used as the Result Field.

Aggregate

Allows you to aggregate data from the Result Field by selecting a value from this field. If you select an aggregate, NEXUS IC will make a list of all the results and aggregate as appropriate. For example, if you chose a field from an event form as your Result Field and Min as your Aggregate, then NEXUS IC will look through all the events on that asset, and return the minimum value from that field in that list of events.

If you choose the value None, you must ensure that your filters allow only one value to be returned. If multiple values exist, the Lookup will return the first value it finds.

Return Type

If the Result Field you select has a display type different from its field type, then you can set the Return Type to be either the functional value or the display value. The display value is usually a readable text, whereas the functional value is the underlying numeric key value, which may be useful for feeding into subsequent function elements for comparisons.

Asset Input

You can specify an Asset Input, if the result table you have selected has Asset or Component_ID as a key field (for example, if your Result Field is an asset information field). Only use this for Asset or Component_ID. For any other table’s key field, add a Filter, as shown below. An Asset Input must have a type of whole number (not numeric).

Asset Filter

You can choose from the following values:

  • The default, No Children value returns results from only the single asset specified by the Asset Input.

  • This Asset and dependent Assets returns results from the asset specified, and also from that asset’s children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on.

  • Dependant Assets but not this Asset does almost the same thing, but leaves out results for the asset specified.

  • Immediate Children returns results from the specified asset’s immediate descendants, but not from the asset itself, nor from any grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on.

  • Parent Assets looks up the tree instead of down, returning results from the specified asset’s parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, and so on, all the way to the root of the asset tree.

  • Direct Parents returns results from the specified asset’s immediate parent.

If you are using an Asset Filter option other than No Children or Direct Parents, you will typically also want to specify a value for Aggregate.

If an asset appears in multiple asset views, it may have different parents and different descendants in different views. These asset filters will match parents and descendants in all asset views.

Workpack Filter

You can set up a workpack filter if the Result Field is an event field. Choose a filtering option from the drop-down list as required.

Filters

Allows you to filter the list of results that would otherwise be returned to a shorter list (possibly containing exactly one item, thus avoiding the requirement to use an Aggregate). You can drag extra inputs onto the Lookup element for use as Filter inputs. You can choose from the following comparison options:

  • Use the first six comparisons (=, <>, >, >=, <, <=) as usual.

  • The various closest filters (closest (either), closest (lower or equal), closest (higher or equal), closest (lower) and closest (higher)) are special. For example, if you want to find the event whose KP is closest to a particular value, use closest (either). Or if you want to find the event just before this one, that is, the event with KP closest to a particular value, but lower, use closest (lower). And similarly, use closest (higher) to find the next event after a particular KP.

  • For highest and lowest, you need to specify no input. These simply return the single result that has the highest or lowest value in whatever field you specified in the filter. Note though that using an Aggregate of Max or Min is usually faster than using a filter for highest or lowest.

  • contains lets you search for a substring within an alphanumeric input. You can use “_” and “%” as wildcard characters, with “_” matching any single character and “%” matching several characters, so “abcde” contains “a_c”, and also contains “a%d”.

All filters must be matched for results to be returned; in other words, filters are implicitly connected by ANDs.

See also

Function Elements