Using the global search

Overview

CAST Imaging offers a comprehensive and advanced search facility, allowing you to find exactly what you are looking for. The search will return objects present in your application (not just those currently visible (see Spotlight search) in the view), based on the search string or cypher query you enter.

In addition, there are a number of filters available to help you narrow down what you are looking for.

How do I access the global search facility?

Use the search bar available at the top of the screen, either:

enter a search string
or click the Advanced button

Or choose the Custom option in the left-panel:

In all cases, the global search dialog will be displayed. Entering a search string in the search box will return all matching objects, while using the Advanced button or Custom option will return all objects in the application by default:

What can I do with the results?

Use the check boxes on the left side of the global search dialog to select the objects you need to investigate further. Click Display Selected in the bottom right corner to visualize all the selected objects and any links between them in a dedicated tab ( a new tab is opened for each search display):

Similarly you can download the selected items to .CSV file:

The Download option can be enabled/disabled using the Objects export option in the Preferences panel.

How do I use the filters?

Are your searches returning too many objects? If so, you can use the filters located along the top to narrow down what you are looking for:

For example:

Object type (filter on specific objects such as Java Field, SQL Server table etc.)
Tags (filter on objects that have been tagged)
Internal/External (filter on internal or external (i.e. third-party libraries) object types)
Insights (filter on objects that contain an Insight such as a Structural Flaw, or a CloudMaturity blocker etc.)
Post-Its (filter on objects that have been assigned to an object Post-It - note that view level Post-Its are not included)
Property (filter on objects with a matching property such as Number of Code Lines, Cyclomatic Complexity etc.)

Some filter options will not always be visible: for example, if you have not added any Tags or Post-Its and the application has no Insights, then these filters will not be available.

What about AND, OR and NOT conditions?

Some filters (Object types, Post-Its, Properties) provide AND, OR and NOT conditions if you need to narrow down even further:

By default, all filters are set to AND.

What about other search options?

The Global Search feature provides other search options that are configurable on a per-user and per-session basis (i.e. they will not persist between logins):

Regex pattern: Enable this option to search via a regular expression, examples below:
- Digits matching - "[0-9]", "[0,6]"
- Wildcard matching for single character for multiple-characters - ".", ".*"
- Alphabet matching - "[a-z]","[A-Z]"
- Matching case-sensitive words - "keyword"
- Matching case-insensitive words - "[kK]eyword"
- Matching Special Characters - "Code_[0-9]{5}"
- Optional Characters and Quanitifiers - "?", "+"
- Matching Repetitions - "{n}"
- Excluding character - "[^asd]"
Case sensitivity: Enable this option to do a case sensitive search (disabled by default).
Search by: Name/Fullname (Name by default) - select as appropriate. The search string will be applied to the options you choose.
Search by position - select as appropriate to specify where in the string the match should occur. By default this is set to Start.

You can set these options to persist between sessions via the Preferences menu option:

What about cypher search?

Cypher search is a feature that allows you to directly query the Neo4j database (which underpins the CAST Imaging result generation system) using “cypher queries” - a specific functional language. See https://neo4j.com/docs/cypher-manual/current/introduction/ for more information and examples.

Use the Cypher option to enter and run your queries:

If you do not see the Cypher search option in the UI, it may be because your user login does not have appropriate permissions. See User Permissions for more information about the Cypher Search Access role.
If you are attempting to return object properties in a Cypher search, then you should be aware that the return distinct clause will not work and in this specific situation you should use a return * clause instead.

Tips

Add new search results to an existing tab

All objects located via a search will always be added to a new tab in the view, however, if you want to search for additional objects and add them to a tab that has already been opened following a previous search, use the following action icon in the existing tab:

Using this action icon will open the search popup and any new objects you select for display will be added to the existing tab.