The new Field Report database system is powered by the MySQL database engine. It is very powerful and flexible, and I've done my best to make the interface as intuitive as possible. Here are some things to keep in mind:
The most important thing to remember is that adding search options can only narrow a search, not expand it. If you were to uncheck all the search options, you'd get a list of every report in the database. Of course, the system won't let you do that as the list would be far too long.
If your search yields no results, or fewer than you'd expected, make sure you haven't got a box checked that you didn't intend.
Even if you fill in the boxes on the right side of the table, you still have to check the corresponding box on the left side to make it active.
Make sure you haven't specified search parameters that exclude each other - for example, choosing "Most Recent reports within 7 days" as well as "By Date: July 1999 through January 2000" will yield no results - because no individual report could possibly satisfy both conditions.
Some search field have options such as "Exactly Matches", "Starts With", or "Contains". Some examples: When searching for the Lady's Name "Mel", "Exactly Matches" will return only reports on ladies called "Mel". "Starts With" will return Mel, Melissa, Melinda, etc. "Contains" will return Mel, Melissa, Melinda, and Amelia - you get the idea. If a report is about more than one lady, you will still get the matches even when using "Exactly Matches" - it will return "Mel & Jane" and "Jane & Mel".As you see, with a little careful thought you can construct some very elaborate and precise queries to retrieve the Field Report data you need.