Ytria logo TUTORIALS

This website require JavaScript for full functionality. Please enable JavaScript in your Web browser.


 

Q

I have an IBM Notes database that contains documents all containing an item whose values need to be modified to remove a couple of characters leftover from an old naming convention. How can I find all the documents that contain these characters, and then remove only those characters?

A

scanEZ contains a powerful feature, called the Diff function, that you can use to get a clear idea of what items your documents contain. From there you can focus your efforts on a specific item across all documents.

Before you begin:


The steps below assume that you have already opened scanEZ on the database that you need to work on. See this simple tutorial to learn how to open scanEZ on a database.
Figuring out that your documents contain different values is a process in itself. See how to view all values for a specific item across all documents in a database in scanEZ.

This process shown here requires a small bit of @formula to perform the modification:
@ReplaceSubstring(Description;"substring to remove";"value to replace it with").
But don't worry, it's really just a few clicks!.


The scenario:


The image on the right shows a composite image of two scanEZ readouts of the values of the item "LicenseType".
In this example, the goal is to focus efforts on changing only the incorrect part of the item value, while leaving the rest intact, for a final result of uniform values across all instances of the item "LicenseType".
In your case, when it comes time to use the formula, you can simply decide what to remove and replace.
Composite image of item value readouts in scanEZ.

Isolate an item in all documents in a database.

scanEZ interface showing focused documents and the Diff button clickedStep 1 Click on the "Documents" selection tree node to set the focus on all documents in your database.
Step 2 Click the 'Diff' button.

This will give you a summary or all the items found in the selection of documents. You will also see the status of their values: if the times are present in all documents or not, and if they are present, if the values are uniform or not.
scanEZ's Diff panel with an item selected and the Modify button clickedStep 3 In the Diff panel, select the item that you want to work on.
Step 4 Click 'Modify'.

Use @formula to search and replace a substring within the items' values.

scanEZ's Modify item dialog with a formula enteredStep 5 In the 'Modify item' dialog, make sure that the Type and Name of the item you are correct. And make sure that the '@ Set Value Using Formula' tab (the default tab) is displayed.
Note: If the Type and Name are not correct, your modifications may not work as needed. You can also run the risk of modifying a different item.
Step 6 In formula input field, input the formula found at the start of this article, modified, of course, to account for the value of the substring you want to find, and the replacement substring.
Step 7 Click 'Apply'.
scanEZ's document update confirmation dialogYou will see a confirmation dialog showing the number of documents tested, NOT the number of documents changed.
Step 8 Click 'OK'.
scanEZ's Diff panel showing uniform values for the item named DescriptionStep 9 Final confirmation of your changes is visible in the Diff panel if the end result is a uniform value across all documents.
In your case, you may have different values across your documents. See how to view all values for a specific item across all documents in a database in scanEZ.