This example shows how to search PiMS to find records of 'Organisations'.
An organisation can be a public institute, such as a University department, or a private company such as a reagent supplier.
This is like searching for entries in an address book.

To search for organisations you can:
  -select "Search Organisations" from the People & Places menu or
  -click the "Search Suppliers" link in the Sample & Reagent Functions page.
 note: To search for other types of information in PiMS you need to click the appropriate search link.

You will see a form with multiple fields for searching for organisations in PiMS.

notes:

• The search form shows the number of Organisations records currently recorded in PiMS.
  In this example, there are 28.
  
  
• There are also at least two search fields.
    -one labelled "Search in all fields" allows you to search for a matching term in all of the Organisation data fields.
    -the additional field(s) are to search for records with information matching specific data fields for an Organisation
  
  note: a search field is only shown if PiMS contains a record with information recorded for that field.
  So, in this example, there are 9 additional search fields indicating that PiMS contains Organisation records with information recorded for the Fax number, Postal code, Country, Organisation type, E.mail address, URL, Telephone number, Name and City data fields.
  
  
• For help on each search field, mouse-over the field name to reveal tool-tips or click on the field name for a printable list describing all of the search fields.
  
  
• To perform a search, enter a search term(s) in the appropriate fields and then click
  
  
• If you do not enter any search terms, the details of all relevant PiMS records will be retrieved.
    - in this case, the details for all 28 Organisation records will be retrieved.
  
  
• If you enter a term which does not match the corresponding entries for existing records, none will be retrieved.
  
  
• A list of appropriate records matching your search criteria will be displayed in a table at the bottom of the form.
  
  
• note: If PiMS does not contain any appropriate records, there will be no search fields displayed but you may use the link at the bottom of the page to create a new record.
    -In this example, click the Create a new Organisation link.
  
  

A list of records which match your search criteria will be displayed in a table the bottom of the form.
A blue progress bar will be displayed as the records are being retrieved from PiMS.

An example of the result of searching PiMS for all organisations with a name containing 'bio' is shown below.

• The search retrieved 9 matching records -the details for 6 of these are shown.
   note: the search is case-insensitive and the search term can occur anywhere in the field.
  
  
• To see all details recorded for a particular organisation, click the magnifying glass icon in the appropriate row.
    see Viewing a PiMS record for help.