Advanced Item Lookup
Advanced Item Lookup enables users to list one or more items by searching Inventory using search parameters, such as Description 1, ALU, Vendor Code, or Size. The Advanced Lookup feature is available when creating all document types (transaction, purchase order, voucher, transfer order, PI sheet, etc.).
Advanced Item Lookup provides access to most common item fields (e.g., DCS Code, Description 1, Vendor Code) to use as filter elements. Users can add one or more filter elements, define criteria for those elements, and then review search results to find the desired item.
Beginning with Prism 2.1, on most document types users with the required permissions can add/edit/delete items from within Advanced Item Lookup. This feature is useful, for example, when creating a purchase order to order an item that is not yet in Inventory. A user may start a new purchase order to order the item. The search for the item Inventory does not return any results, so the user creates a new Inventory item on the fly. After the user save the item and returns to the document, the new or changed item is brought back to the document. Note: The ability to add/edit/delete items within Advanced Item Lookup is not available on POS transactions.
Access Advanced Item Lookup
Click the Search button on a document to access Advanced Item Lookup.
When the user clicks the Search button, the Inventory Search screen is displayed. The Inventory Search screen is divided into two panes. One the left side, users add filter elements and define filter criteria. The right side of the screen displays the results of the search.
Sample Advanced Item Lookup screen:
Advanced Item Lookup on POS Transactions
1. On a transaction in progress, click the Search icon next to the item lookup field.
2. A search screen is displayed. Click the ">" icon.
3. Choose the value to use for item look-up: UPC, ALU, Desc 1, DCS, Vendor Name, Vendor Code, or Serial/Lot Number. For this example, we will select UPC.
4. The UPC filter element is now available on the interface.
5. You can change the default operator from "Equals" if necessary. Click the > button to display the list of available operators. Type the desired UPC value and press the
7. A list of matching results is displayed. Enter a Doc Qty for each item you want to bring to the transaction. Click Close. The selected items are added to the transaction.
Search Element Operators
When you add a search element to the interface, you must also select an operator. For most elements, you can select the desired value from a dropdown menu. This is easier than typing the value and avoids user-entry errors.
| Operator | Description |
|---|---|
| Equals | Use this operator if you only want to include documents that exactly match the entered filter value. For example, entering a document number and setting the operator to "Equals" will return only that specific document. |
| Not equals | Use this operator to exclude documents that match the entered filter value. Note: Null values are included even if Not Equals is selected. |
| Contains | Use this operator if you want to include documents that have the entered string in filter. You can use this operator with filter values like "PO No," "ASN No," etc. For example, entering "101" and selecting "Contains" will return documents numbered 101, 1010, 1011, 1012, 1013, etc. |
| Is Empty | Use this operator if you only want to include documents or records that do not have an entry for the selected filter element. This is a Boolean operator. If you select it, the user input text box is automatically disabled. |
| Is Not Empty | Use this operator if you only want to include documents or records that have an entry for the selected filter element. If the selected filter element is not empty, the document will be included in the search. This is a Boolean operator. If you select it, the user input text box is automatically disabled. |
From the drop-down, select the desired filter element. The default elements available for selection vary by document lookup area but will typically include elements like the document number, Associate, store, etc. You can change the elements available in the Search By drop-down by editing the appropriate Grid Formats preferences.
Item Lookup Notes
- You can use wildcards when looking up items. You can place the wildcard at the front, middle, or end of the search string. Keep in mind that using a wildcard will slow down search times.
- Serial Number items require entry of the full number.
- If the UPC includes leading zeroes, you can type the UPC without the leading zeroes. RP Prism will automatically add leading zeroes.
- You can enter special characters (e.g. hyphen, or quotation marks) when looking up items.
- Local UPC, not Global UPC: Retail Pro 9 supports the use of two UPC fields, Local UPC and Global UPC (to enable UPC reuse); however, Prism only has a single UPC field (corresponding to RP 9 Local UPC field). Be sure to enter the Local UPC when looking up items in Prism.
- In some areas of RP Prism (e.g. Inventory Lookup), users will notice a "Specific Search" checkbox. If selected, only exact matches will be returned for the entered search criteria (no wildcards or partial searches).
Multiple Matching Items
If the criteria you type matches multiple items, then the Item Lookup screen is displayed, enabling you to select the desired item. You can change the sort column and sort order, if needed.
Note: If the Tax Method is set to VAT, then the Price field in the Item Lookup dialog displays the item's Price with Tax.
Search Alternate Vendor UPC/ALU
Retail Pro 9 enables retailers to assign one or more "alternate vendors" to items. Each alternate vendor has its own UPC or ALU for the item. If the Search Alternate Vendor UPC/ALU checkbox is selected in preferences (Transactions - General), then Prism will include UPCs or ALUs assigned by alternate vendors in the search.
Defining Criteria
- Case: Searches are not case sensitive. Example: During filtering, navy, Navy, and NAVY would all match the criterion of navy.
- Spaces: A space made by pressing
is a keyboard character—the same as any other entered character. When a space is included in a criterion, a matching space is required in the data record for the record to be a match during filtering. - Blank Fields: A blank field acts as a wildcard; it matches every entry; however, you must have criteria entered in some other field. In other words, if all filter criteria are blank, no data records are included in the filter results.
ALU Lookups
ALU lookups in Prism are "exact match" only. The use of wildcards is not supported at this time.
Parameters and Browser Cache Considerations
The parameters that you enter are stored in local storage, so they will persist through log outs, switching to a different user, etc. When user clears the browser cache, the Advanced Lookup parameter fields are also cleared.
Advanced Item Lookup UI Elements
Refer to the following table for information about the elements of the Advanced Lookup dialog:
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Check Mark | When a user clicks the Search button, each item in the search results has a grayed-out check mark on the left side of the item row. The user should tap or click this check mark to select the row. Checking this will select the row. |
| Grid Row | Double-clicking a row with Doc Qty 0 will close the Adv Item Lookup and add that item to the document with a qty of 1. If Doc Qty is not 0, double-clicking a row will do nothing. |
| Add Selected button | Add Selected button will only be enabled when one or more items are selected (checked). When a user clicks the Add Selected button, the selected items' Doc Qty will increase from 0 to 1, the items will be de-selected and Add Selected will become disabled again (because no items are selected). Add Selected will not close the Advanced Item Lookup screen (users must click Done). |
| Done button | The Done button will simply close the Advanced Item Lookup screen and return the user to the document. The Done button does not add selected items to the document. |
| Doc Price | If the item is already listed on the document, changes to Doc Price will modify the price of the item on the document. If the item is being added to the document (via Add Selected, double-click or Doc Qty change), the Doc Price will become the price of the item on the document. If the item's Doc Qty is 0, changes to Doc Price will be discarded when the user clicks the Done button. |
| Doc Cost | Doc Cost field allows the user to edit the Cost of items on the document. If the item is already listed on the document, changes to Doc Cost will modify the cost of the item on the document. If the item is being added to the document (via Add Selected, double-click or Doc Qty change), the Doc Cost will become the cost of the item on the document. If the item's Doc Qty is 0, changes to Doc Price will be discarded when the user clicks the Done button. |
| Doc Qty | Doc Qty field allows the user to edit the Quantity of items on the document. Items with Doc Qty of zero will not be listed on the document. Items already listed on the document will be removed if Doc Qty is changed to 0. Items with Doc Qty not equal to zero will be listed on the document. Items not listed on the document will be added if Doc Qty is changed to non-zero value. |
Item Consolidation Rules
When returning to a document from the Advanced Item Lookup dialog, the following consolidation rules are followed:
- PO items are always consolidated, whether listed via the standard Lookup field or Advanced Item Lookup.
- On Vouchers, the same item can be listed as multiple rows on the document via the standard item lookup.
- Advanced Item Lookup will always list newly added items as a single row.
- If an item has been added as multiple rows and the user enters Advanced Item Lookup, the item will be represented in Advanced Lookup by a single row. Doc Price and Doc Cost displayed will be taken from the most recent instance of the item on the document. Doc Qty will be the sum of each instance's qty.
- If an item has been added as multiple rows and the user then modifies Doc Cost, Doc Price or Doc Qty for that item in Advanced Item Lookup, that item will be consolidated into a single row on the document using the current Doc values.
- Items that are listed as multiple rows on the document will not be consolidated if no changes are made to Doc Cost, Doc Price or Doc Qty for those items in Advanced Item Lookup.
Items that are excluded from Search Results
Different document types have different rules for which documents are excluded from the search results that are returned.
- POS: Non inventory items or unorderable items are not returned.
- Transfer Slips: Inventory items that are packages (kittype == 2) or set as noninventory are not returned.
- Purchase Orders: Inventory items that are packages (kittype == 2), set as noninventory, discontinued, not orderable or have orderable dates out of range are not returned.
- Markdown inventory (inside Price Manager) is limited to active inventory items
Using Advanced Item Search to add or edit Inventory
Note: This feature is not available in the POS area.
When users go to search for an item, they can add an item, edit an item, etc. Users can then return to the document while the changes to inventory are saved and/or the new/changed item is brought back to the document.
Use Case: Add a new item to Inventory while making a Purchase Order
A user searches for an item to add it to a purchase order; however, the search yield no results because the item does not yet exist in Inventory. The user can click the New button on the Search screen to add a new item. Alternatively, the user can click Style Lookup, then click New to add a new style.
If the user clicks the New button, the UI is refreshed.
At the top are fields for entering Doc Qty, Doc Cost and Doc Price for the current document. The rest of the UI is the same as one would see in Inventory when creating a new item.
Users can Cancel or Save as needed. After clicking Save, click Return to Document.
Advanced Item Inventory Add or Edit Inventory Features
This feature is available when using Advanced Item Search on the following document types: Purchase Orders, Transfer Slips, Transfer Orders, Vouchers, ASNs and Qty/Price/Cost Adjustment Memos.
- Items can be given document quantity on the document
- New Items can be created and added to the document
- New Styles can be created and added to the document
- New DCS and Vendor Codes can be created
The user's security permissions are checked if the user tries to create a new item, edit an existing item, or activate/deactivate an item
Item Creation from Advanced Item Search: Notes for Adjustment Memos
- Defining a Document Cost for a newly created item in advanced item lookup within a cost memo will add that item to the Cost Memo
- Defining a Document Price for a newly created item in advanced item lookup within a price memo will add that item to the Price Memo.
- Defining a Document Qty for a newly created item in advanced item lookup within a qty memo will add that item to the Qty Memo