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Creating Query Groups and Report Definitions
11 Define Custom Groups and Reports in Dell EMC OpenManage Enterprise
2.3.1 Copy an existing query
The top control on the Query Criteria Selection page may be used, if necessary, to copy the selection criteria
from another query. It essentially provides a starting point for defining a new query. For example, it could be
used to create a query that is similar to an existing query.
The control displays a drop-down menu of queries which can be selected. It includes only queries defined by
using the Query Builder. Because the data for Report Definitions is a superset of the data for Query Group
definitions, when a report definition is being created this drop-down menu includes Query Builder queries for
both Query Groups and other Report Definitions. When creating a Query Group, queries from Report
Definitions are not included in the drop-down menu.
If a query is selected from the drop-down menu, the selection criteria from that query is used to populate the
query currently being defined. Any selection criteria entries that are currently displayed will be removed and
replaced by the selection criteria of the selected query. The query criteria selection page is updated to show
that criteria. The entries in that query can be modified or deleted as wanted, and additional query criteria
entries may be added.
2.3.2 Query Criteria Selection–field definitions
Query criteria is specified by using one or more “conditions”, where each condition has the following form:
FieldName
Operator
Value
In a few cases, the value is included in the operator. Therefore, it is not designated separately. The Field-
Name control is a drop-down menu that stores a large number of data items maintained by OpenManage
Enterprise in its database. Data items with a similar purpose or usage are grouped together. These data items
may be selected as necessary for specifying all the criteria for the members of a Query Group or the output
rows of a report.
Note—If you are familiar with a database structure, the groups and fields listed in the Field-Name drop-down menu are
similar to tables and columns in a database.
Note that the Query Criteria Selection page (Figure 5) initially displays just a Field-Name control. After a Field
Name is selected, a control for the Operator appears next to it. The Operator control is also a drop-down
menu. The options in the list vary based on the data type of the selected Field Name.
Note—The large list of fields contained in the Field-Name drop-down menu may seem confusing and overwhelming, and
difficult to use in creating queries. Advanced topics about Query Groups and Report Definitions provides additional
information that should help make more sense of this long list of field names.
Query Builder &
System Groups
•Most of the System Groups shown in the devices tree in the left pane of the All Devices
page are actually Query Groups with a Query Builder definition. As a result, most System
Groups appear in the drop-down menu for this control. However, a few System Groups are
not included in the drop-down menu. It implies that the query for that particular group
was too complex to be defined in the Query Builder (so it couldn’t be included in the drop-
down menu).