Micro Focus Visual COBOL 2.3 for Visual Studio 2015 > Programming > Data Access > Data Files > Data File Tools (Technology Preview) > Using the Data File Editor > Viewing, Filtering, and Searching Data Files > Searching a Data File > Search the Data File

Search the Data File

The results of a search include each record that contains data that satisfied the search conditions.

From the Data File Tools (Technology Preview) window, click File > Open, or click (Open).
The Open dialog box appears.
Navigate to the required data file, then click Open.
The Open Data File dialog box appears.
If you are applying a layout, click Browse to the right of the Structure File (optional) field, then use the Open dialog box to navigate to and select a structure (.dfs) file.
Click Open File.
The file is displayed on its own tab in the main window.
In the Navigation group, click (Search).
The Search dialog box appears.

Searches are constructed by adding one or more conditions.
To add a reference search condition:
1. Click New Ref.
  The basic search elements appear.
2. In the Field field, enter the start position and the number of positions on from that in which to search within each record; for example, values of 7:3 will search positions 7 to 9 within each record, as indicated below:
3. In the Alphanumeric field, click and select the type of text to search: Text or Numeric.
4. In the Operator field, click and select the required operator.
5. In the Value field, enter the search value.
6. (Optional) Select Trim to remove any leading or trailing spaces, or leading zeroes from each record before it is searched.
7. (Optional) Select Case to ensure the search is case sensitive.
To add a field condition:
Note: This type of condition is only available if you are using a layout.
1. Click New Field.
  The basic search elements appear.
2. In the Field field, click and select the field on which to search.
  Note: Group fields are not available to select.
  
  The Alphanumeric field is updated based on the type of field selected.
3. In the Operator field, click and select the required operator.
4. In the Value field, enter the search value.
5. (Optional) Select Trim to remove any leading or trailing spaces, or leading zeroes from each record before it is searched.
6. (Optional) Select Case to ensure the search is case sensitive.
By default, a record must match all specified conditions to be included in the results.
To base the results on a record matching any of the conditions, click Match one.

Tip: To remove a condition from the search, click Delete Condition to the right of the required condition.
Click Search.
The results appear.
You can toggle between the search results and the original file by clicking in the View field and select All Records or Search Results.