Search Results v9

[joelande]

Overall I like the changes in v9.

But the search results lists, not so much.

If I want to see more results at once, I have to fiddle with the "Show" drop down.

In previous version, I had a nice, easy-to-read formatted list of all of my results.
Each record took one line. Lost of data on one page, and easy to read.

In v9, each record consumes 3 lines.

Fields are broken up into skinny little one-word per line chunks.
I find the data harder to read. It looks busier, and less informing.

It's little things that are hard to put into words, such as:
It is harder to see patterns in the results (for example, records that don't match, such as a a lone computer with less RAM than the others).

Which computer name is easier to read:

LES
Staff
03

or

LES Staff 03.

I'd like to see an option to tweak the search results page.

It's about the only thing I don't like about v9 right now.

[nextyoyoma]

Search is almost completely broken for me. I can basically only search for computer name/serial/mac address. I can't search for the assigned user from the "search inventory" tab anymore. Now I have to search for "local user account," but I have to know the exact username. This is a big step backward for me.

[nicky]

Hi nextyoyoma,

Have you tried using wildcards in your search? They are no longer implied and have to be explicitly added. So if I know my username begins with "Ni" I can no longer type "Ni" into the search, but instead must use "Ni*" to get results beginning with these letters. This may improve your searching! There is a section in the Admin guide on this that you may also find beneficial.

Nicky

[monogrant]

Wildcards are helpful, but the search is horrible.

You used to be able to search and filter by anything - IP address, Serial Number, MAC address, etc.

Now there are a very limited number of items the search seems to apply to and having to input wild cards? C'mon! It's 2013. We're in a post Spotlight/Google world and expect search to work. We shouldn't have to bend to it. I'm surprised this wasn't addressed immediately in 9.1

Very disappointing.

[mm2270]

@monogrant,

While I'm not a huge fan of Casper Suite 9's new searching, I have to call you out on your inaccuracy. Its simply not true that you could search on "anything" in versions 8.x. You were limited to about 14 or so criteria items in the main search field. Anything not in that list you needed to use the Advanced Search method, same as now.
If you don't believe me, take a look at any of the older Casper Suite 8.x full administrator's guides, under Inventory searching. Its all listed out there.

While I haven't done thorough testing and comparison yet, I think most of what you could search on before in 8.x is still there in version 9.x. One thing I see doesn't work is IP address, No matter how I search, even if I enter in a complete IP address that I know exists in the database, it pulls up nothing, so that part is either broken or was removed. Many others, like:

Computer Name (full or partial)
User name (full or partial)
Full name (full or partial)
Serial number (full or partial)
MAC address (full or partial)
Email address (full or partial)
Room (full or partial)
Building (full or partial)

...and many more are in fact working. Anything else needs to be done with Adbvanced Search, exactly like before...

...which brings me to my primary gripe. I wouldn't mind using Advanced Search in version 9.x other than the fact that JAMF inexplicably is forcing us to enter a name for every Advanced Search we do, regardless of whether we're saving it or not. The point of this change simply eludes me no matter how hard I try to understand it. I should NOT have to enter a search name for something I'm not actually saving!!. I've put in a feature request to get this changed and would love to see it gain more traction, because this aspect of Advanced Search is incredibly annoying to me. It may seem like a little thing, but as we all have observed, there seem to be more keystrokes and mouse clicks required in version 9 in many areas, and this simply adds to that overhead, unnecessarily.

As for the wildcard necessity now, I'll agree that adding this does complicate searching a bit, but this is more of a muscle memory issue than a true step backwards if you ask me. I fully understand that many would disagree with me here, so this is strictly a matter of opinion. In the end though, the wildcard doesn't bother me so much.
I do like that some advanced functions were added to the main search field, such as AND, OR and NOT operators, which was never possible before, and seem only possible now that the wildcard was added.
Its possible the wildcard was also added in order to get more advanced overall functions into the JSS, y'know, some of that stuff many of us have been banging on JAMF's door to add now for a while, like, say, Scope exclusions.
If this is the case, it would be nice to actually hear it from the horses mouth instead of us speculating, but JAMF has been strangely silent on this issue.

[lhscasper]

and while we're on the subject of having to add wildcards, don't forget to add a wildcard at the start of your search pattern as well. So I basically use *FRED* if I'm looking for devices or names containing FRED.

It would be good if JAMF could add the is / is not / like / is not like to the search page.

[monogrant]

@lhscasper amen. Nothing like having to turn a simple name like Fred (four key presses) into double the key presses - (because let's be honest, shift+8 is two keys)

@mm2270 I completely agree on the naming of a temporary search.

The Casper Suite Administrator's Guide 9.0.pdf documentation does list the "Simple Computer Searches" available attributes on page 154 and does include 14 items in the "Computers" inventory type. These include "IP address" however in all my attempts, I cannot return any systems at all with *10.0.* or 10.0.* which should include all systems on our local LAN subnet.

This leads me to think, not only is the search needlessly complicated - wildcard requirement, naming requirement - but also broken.

[axnessj]

Give me the choice to use regular expression or this expression "if it ain't broke don't fix it"

[damienbarrett]

Upgraded from 8.73 to 9.21 today. My feedback is the same as most of those here. The search results are terrible in Casper 9! I shouldn't have to enter wildcards just to quickly search for a machine. And we shouldn't be forced to save an advanced search just to be able to use it.

Loving the new interface and speed, but this search is broken from a UI point-of-view.