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Access also provides a quick search feature that lets you scan your datasheet for specific information. Whereas filtering helps you pull out a batch of important records, searching’s better if you need to find a single detail that’s lost in the mountains of data. And while filtering changes the datasheet view by hiding some records, searching leaves everything as is. It just takes you to the data you want to see.

Figure 3-12. Top: With a numeric field like this PurchasePrice field, filtering by condition lets you look at values that fall above a certain minimum.
Bottom: Once you’ve chosen the type of filter you want, you need to supply the information for that filter. If you choose Greater Than, then you need to supply the minimum number. Records that are equal to or larger than this value are shown in the datasheet.

The quickest way to search is through the search box next to the record navigation controls (see Figure 3-13). Just type in the text you want to find. As you type, the first match in the table is highlighted automatically. You can press Enter to search for subsequent matches.

When performing a search, Access scans the table starting from the first field in the first record. It then goes left to right, examining every field in the current record. If it reaches the end without a match, then it continues to the next record and checks all of its values, and so on. When it reaches the end of the table, it stops.

If you want to change the way Access performs a search, you’ll need to use the Find feature instead:

1. Choose Home Sort & Filter Find. (Or, just use the shortcut Ctrl+F.)

   The Find and Replace dialog box appears (Figure 3-14).

   
   Figure 3-13. Here, a search is being performed for the word “bobblehead.” If you find a match, you can keep searchingjust press Enter again to jump to the next match. In this example, pressing Enter sends Access to the next record’s Description field.
   
   Figure 3-14. The Find and Replace dialog box is the perfect tool for hunting for lost information.

2. Specify the text you’re searching for in the Find What box, and then set any other search options you want to use:

   • Find What. The text you’re looking for.

   • Look In. Allows you to choose between searching the entire table or just a single field.

   • Match. lets you specify whether values need to match exactly. Use Whole Field to require exact matches. Use Start of Field if you want to match beginnings (so “bowl” matches “bowling”), or Any Part of Field if you want to match text anywhere in a field (so “bowl” matches “League of extraordinary bowlers”).

   • Search. Sets the direction Access looks: Up, Down, or All (which loops from the end of the table to beginning, and keeps going until it has traversed the entire table).

   • Match Case. If selected, finds only matches that have identical capitalization. So “banana” doesn’t match “BANANA.”

   • Search Fields as Formatted. If selected, means Access searches the value as it appears on the datasheet. For example, the number 44 may appear in a Currency field as $44.00. If you search for 44, you always find what you’re looking for. But if you search for the formatted representation $44.00, you get a match only if you have Search Fields as Formatted switched on. In extremely large tables (with thousands of records), searches may be faster if you switch off Search Fields as Formatted.

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   Note: In order to turn off Search Fields as Formatted, you must choose to search a single field in the Look In box. If you are searching the entire table, then you must search the formatted values.
   

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3. Click Find Next.

   Access starts searching from the current position. If you’re using the standard search direction (Down), Access moves from left to right in the current record, and then down from record to record until it finds a match.

   When Access finds a match, it highlights the value. You can then click Find Next to look for the next match, or Cancel to stop searching.

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