If you need to base your lookup on multiple criteria, you can perform a basic lookup and then use the Narrow or Add to lookup options in the For the Current Lookup drop-down list in the Lookup Contacts dialog box to create a more specific search. This option works fine if you're willing to create several lookups until you reach the desired results. A better alternative is to create a lookup by Example. This simple but powerful lookup allows you to specify multiple criteria and then creates a lookup of contacts that match all of those criteria.
The Lookup by Example function allows you to create an exact profile for the contacts you're hoping to find. For example, you might want to have a look at all customers in the state of Arizona who originally found out about you through a phone book advertisement.
- Click the Lookup menu and choose By Example... The Lookup by Example dialog window opens, which is a replication of your current layout with one big difference: all the fields are blank.
- Click in the field that you want to query.
- Fill in the value on which you want to search. You can see an example of the Lookup By Example dialog window in the following screenshot:
- (Optional) Repeat step 3 as many times as you'd like.
- Click the Search button when you're ready to find the matching contact records.
- Click OK at the prompt asking if you'd like to Replace, Add to, or Narrow the current lookup.
Although you can fill in as many criteria as you need, a contact must match all of the criteria to be included in the lookup results.
You might find the Lookup By Example dialog window to be a bit awkward to maneuver. That's because unlike most windows the Lookup By Example dialog window is lacking a Maximize button. You can, however, resize the window manually by placing your mouse cursor on any of the window's edges and dragging the edge to the desired size.
You can create a query on virtually any field in your database. Don't forget to check out some of those neat fields that might be located on your various layout tabs. For example, the Contact Info tab contains the Record Manager and Create Date fields, which are common things to query.