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Advanced Search

TestPlanIt's Advanced Search feature provides a powerful, unified way to search across all your test management data. You can search for test cases, test runs, sessions, projects, issues, milestones, and shared steps - all from one interface.

You can access the Advanced Search in two ways:

  1. Global Search - Click the search icon in the top navigation bar or use the keyboard shortcut Cmd+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows/Linux)
  2. Context Search - Use the search bar on specific pages (e.g., Repository, Test Runs, Sessions) to search within that context

Search Interface​

The search interface consists of several key components:

Advanced Search Interface - Searching for "login"

1. Search Input​

  • Enter your search query in the main input field
  • Search begins automatically as you type (after a short delay)
  • Click the X button to clear your search

2. Entity Type Selector​

  • Choose which types of content to search
  • Select "All Types" or specific entity types:
    • Repository Cases - Test cases in your repository
    • Shared Steps - Reusable test step groups
    • Test Runs - Test execution runs
    • Sessions - Exploratory testing sessions
    • Projects - Your projects
    • Issues - Tracked issues
    • Milestones - Project milestones

Each entity type has its own icon to help you quickly identify results at a glance.

3. Project Scope Toggle​

  • When in a project context, toggle "Current project only" to limit results to the current project
  • Turn off to search across all projects you have access to

4. Advanced Filters​

Click the filter icon to access advanced filtering options:

Advanced Filters Interface

Common Filters​

  • Projects - Filter by specific projects
  • States - Filter by workflow states (e.g., Draft, Ready, In Progress)
  • Tags - Filter by tags
  • Created By - Filter by the user who created the item
  • Date Range - Filter by creation, update, or completion date

Entity-Specific Filters​

Repository Cases:

  • Folders - Filter by repository folder
  • Templates - Filter by test case template
  • Automation Status - Show only automated or manual tests
  • Estimate Range - Filter by time estimates
  • Custom Fields - Advanced filtering by custom field values with operators:
    • Text fields: equals, not equals, contains, not contains, starts with, ends with
    • Number fields: equals, greater than, less than, greater than or equal, less than or equal, between
    • Select fields: in, not in
    • All fields: exists, not exists

Test Runs:

  • Test Run Type - Regular or JUnit imports
  • Configurations - Filter by test configurations
  • Milestones - Filter by associated milestones
  • Completed - Show only completed runs
  • Elapsed Time - Filter by execution time
  • Custom Fields - Advanced filtering by custom field values (same operators as Repository Cases)

Sessions:

  • Templates - Filter by session template
  • Assigned To - Filter by assigned user
  • Completed - Show only completed sessions
  • Estimate/Elapsed Range - Filter by time estimates or actual time

Issues:

  • Has External ID - Show only issues with external IDs

Milestones:

  • Has Parent - Show only sub-milestones
  • Due Date Range - Filter by due dates
  • Completed - Show only completed milestones

Search Results​

Result Display​

Each search result shows:

  • Icon - Visual indicator of the entity type
  • Title - The name of the item (with search term highlighting)
  • Entity Badge - Shows what type of item it is
  • Metadata - Relevant information like project, state, creator, dates
  • Highlights - Snippets showing where your search terms were found

Result Tabs​

When searching multiple entity types, results are organized into tabs:

  • All Types - Shows all results across all entity types
  • Individual entity tabs - Shows results for each specific type with counts
  • Click on any result to navigate directly to that item
  • Use pagination controls at the bottom for large result sets
  • Results are sorted by relevance by default

Search Tips​

Text Search​

Search is performed across multiple fields including names, descriptions, and content. Search terms are highlighted in yellow in the results.

Advanced Search Operators​

TestPlanIt supports powerful search operators that allow you to create precise queries:

Exact Phrase Matching​

Use double quotes to search for an exact phrase:

"test scenario"
"user authentication flow"

This will only match documents containing those exact words in that exact order.

Required Terms (+)​

Use the + prefix to require a term must be present:

+login +password
+api +authentication

Both terms must appear in the results.

Excluded Terms (-)​

Use the - prefix to exclude documents containing a term:

testing -automated
login -forgot

This searches for "testing" but excludes any results containing "automated".

Wildcards​

Use * for multiple character wildcards or ? for single character wildcards:

test*           # Matches: test, testing, tester, tests
te?t            # Matches: test, text
user*name       # Matches: username, user_name, userfullname

Boolean Operators​

Use AND, OR, and NOT for complex logical queries:

login AND password
signin OR login
authentication NOT oauth

Grouping with Parentheses​

Combine operators using parentheses for complex queries:

(login OR signin) AND password
(test OR check) AND -automated

Search within specific fields using the field:value syntax:

name:dashboard
description:"api endpoint"
name:user* AND description:authentication

Available fields: name, title, description, searchableContent, className, note, mission, docs, externalId

Fuzzy Matching​

Use ~ to allow for typos and variations:

test~           # Matches: test, rest, best (with typos)
authentication~ # Matches similar words with minor differences

Combining Operators​

You can combine multiple operators for powerful searches:

+"test case" -automated name:login*
(api OR endpoint) +documentation -deprecated
"user login" AND (password OR oauth) -forgot

Search Operator Examples​

Find exact phrase excluding automated tests:

"login flow" -automated

Find all test cases with "api" in the name:

name:api*

Find items with either "test" or "check" but must have "authentication":

(test OR check) +authentication

Find items starting with "user" but not "username":

user* -username

Find items in descriptions with typo tolerance:

description:athentication~

Common Search Scenarios​

Finding all test cases for a specific feature:

  1. Select "Repository Cases" as the entity type
  2. Enter the feature name (e.g., "payment")
  3. Use folder filter if your tests are organized by feature

Tracking test execution progress:

  1. Select "Test Runs" as the entity type
  2. Filter by milestone or date range
  3. Use the "Completed" filter to see only finished runs

Finding all work assigned to you:

  1. Select "Sessions" as the entity type
  2. Use the "Assigned To" filter and select your name
  3. Toggle "Completed" filter to see only active work

Searching for specific issues:

  1. Select "Issues" as the entity type
  2. Enter the external ID or issue description
  3. Filter by project if needed

Filtering Best Practices​

  1. Start broad, then narrow - Begin with a simple search, then apply filters to refine
  2. Use entity-specific searches - When looking for a specific type, select only that entity type
  3. Combine filters - Use multiple filters together for precise results
  4. Save common searches - If you frequently use the same search criteria, bookmark the URL

Keyboard Shortcuts​

  • Cmd/Ctrl + K - Open global search
  • Escape - Close search or clear current search
  • Enter - Navigate to the first result
  • Arrow keys - Navigate through results

Search Indexing​

TestPlanIt uses Elasticsearch for fast, full-text search capabilities. Content is automatically indexed when:

  • Creating new items
  • Updating existing items
  • Changing item states or properties

The search index includes:

  • All text content (names, descriptions, notes)
  • Rich text content (automatically extracted from formatted text)
  • Metadata (projects, users, dates, states)
  • Custom field values
  • Tags and labels

Troubleshooting​

No Results Found​

  • Check your spelling
  • Try broader search terms
  • Remove filters to see if they're too restrictive
  • Ensure you have access to the content you're searching for

Search Performance​

  • Very broad searches may take longer
  • Use entity type filters to improve performance
  • Limit date ranges when possible

Missing Results​

  • Recently created items may take a moment to appear in search
  • Deleted items are automatically removed from search results
  • Archived test cases won't appear in search by default