About Lookup Job Property

Administrators can use the Lookup job property to define a set values as search criteria for users. Using a prompt, the search criteria provided by the user at a device or Client application initiates the Lookup function. Results are returned based on matches made between the server and the Administrator’s list definition and/or database query and validations. The Lookup job property can be configured for your company-specific workflows by using the Server Administrator > Configuration > Job Properties node.

How it works

The Administrator must complete the following tasks when planning and configuring a Lookup job property.

Determine which display names and values will be used in the workflow and presented to a user.
Determine if the Lookup is based on a list or database.
Configure the Lookup job property as a list or database lookup.
Qualify the List lookup.
Test the database lookup.
Apply the Lookup-enabled job property to a workflow.

Note: You must be familiar with your company’s database schema if the Database lookup configuration is used.

Based on the Administrator’s Lookup configuration, the user is prompted to type the search criteria at a device or Client application. The user types a series of characters and initiates the search. The server does a lookup and returns the appropriate values specified in the list or database created by the Administrator.

Before you begin

There are 2 Lookup types.

Prompt UI (Item-based List) – This Lookup is based on a list of items configured by an Administrator. The selected item's internal value is applied to a job. When the server searches the list of items, the Lookup is not case-sensitive and performs a "contains" search. For example, if the user types "INV01", the server searches for values that contain or match values like INV01-001, ENG-inv01, and ENG-INV01-001.

Note: The list of items is defined by using the Job Property > Prompt UI tab. No additional configuration is required. A message appears if the Configure button is incorrectly selected when using the Qualify tab.

Database ADO (similar to Database Validation) – This Lookup is based on a database configured by an Administrator. The message server executes the database lookup using its credentials when communicating with the database. The Administrator can provide different credentials to use with a DSN (Data Source Name), if necessary. In addition, an Administrator must use the Configure button to configure this type of Lookup and provide a DSN and query to use. The SQL Select clause determines how the items will be matched which includes "starts with", "ends with", "contains" and other search strings.

Note: No DSN/Table is provided with the server installation. A DSN/Table that meets a company’s requirements must be provided by the Administrator for the database Lookup configuration.

The query must reference the lookup job property (via substitution); for example, %lookupjobpropertyname% and specify the display text and internal value columns by using an "as" clause.

See the Query (SKU job property) example below.

The server expects {Value} and {DisplayName} to be returned from the database when the Lookup function is applied. Other columns returned are ignored.

Note: The example above uses “like” and the percent symbol (%) wildcard character. This is what the server uses to determine substitution. A back tick character (known as a back apostrophe) (`) must be included in the quoted string as shown above. The back tick is used to ignore the percent symbol and not process it as part of a substitution. This allows it to pass through the SQL engine where it is used as the "like" wildcard character.

What you need to know about validations

Validations may reject selected Lookup values due to the validation requirements specified during configuration. Client applications will perform configured validations after the selection of a Lookup value is completed. For example, an Administrator configured a Length validation of 4 to 8 characters and a Lookup configuration that may return values less than 4 characters. When the Length validation is applied, it fails because the values selected are not between 4 and 8 characters.

Note: Administrators must review and be aware of their configured validations to ensure Lookups are successful.

The following Client applications support the use of the Lookup job property.

Desktop
Queue
WebApps
Universal Device Client

Lookup Job Property at a Glance

Lookup Job Property Legend	Description
1. Prompt UI tab	Use to create and configure a List lookup.
2. Qualify tab	Use to create and configure a Database lookup. Note: The Qualify tab is also used to qualify a List lookup.
3. Prompt UI (list) parameters	Use to specify list items, display names, values and more. See Configuring a List lookup for more information.
4. Qualify (database) parameters	Use to specify, configure, test database parameters and more. See Configuring a Database lookup for more information.

Accessing Job Properties

You can access Job Properties by using the Server Administrator > Configuration node.

To access Job Properties

Start the Server Administrator.

On the Start menu, click HP Capture and Route > HP Capture and Route Server Administrator.