Free Form Filters
The Free Form Filter feature allows the user to enter their own SQL WHERE clause (Fig. 1) for more flexible and precise data selection than is possible with the structured Data Selection (Filters) feature.
Fig. 1 - Free Form Filters - Web Client
For both structured filters and free form filters, the filter behaviour selected will also be applied to the record selection for retries and reschedules (callbacks). This may mean that some existing retries and reschedules that fall outside the new filter criteria will be missed.
It is important to remember that the more complex the data selection, the slower database access will become when the campaign is running. This is particularly pertinent to free form filtering as this is capable of performing more complex data selection.
If using filters to share a list (table) with multiple campaigns, see 'Limit retries by filter criteria' below.
Setting Free Form Filters
To add or edit a Free Form filter:
- From the Data Selection (Filters) tab/ page, press Add or select a filter and press Edit. The Filter editor will open.
- Enter a Filter name.
Only characters a-z, A-Z and 0-9 are accepted.
- Press the radio button marked Free form SQL query
- Enter the filter text into the text box.
Only the WHERE part of the full query is required. The SELECT * and FROM components are implied.
- Press OK to commit this condition to the filter .
Testing is performed in the same way as it is for structured filters (See Data Selection (Filters) - Testing The Filters)
More about free form filters
Free Form filters must be written in valid SQL query format for the database table being used by the campaign. Fig. 1 above shows a query written for the Mobiles Microsoft Access campaign list. If this query was required for a Microsoft SQL Server database the form would need to be changed to:
Retry_TS -2 > GetDate()
In Fig. 1, the filter selects all rows where the Retry_TS column values are more than 3 hours (OleDateValue > 0.125) from the current time.
As with structured Data Selection (Filters), if no filters are specified, then all contacts are called.
Make sure that the filter text does not contain any illegal characters. This can happen if text is copied from another application which may insert hidden characters causing the filter to fail. This will generate an alert which is passed to Softdial CallGem™ and in some circumstances may cause Softdial CallGem™ to fail.
From V10.6.395 - we have improved validation of alerts received by Softdial CallGem™ to prevent failures caused by alerts containing user generated illegal characters.
'Limit retries by filter criteria'
This feature allows retries and callbacks to be processed where they would normally be excluded due to filter selection. Normally this option should be left unchecked. Check the box only if using filters to share a list (table) with multiple campaigns.
This was moved from the Database Input tab to the Filters tab in V10.6.