Overview

The Filters in FogBugz are used for searching (aka filtering) cases. This describes how to use the FogBugz Filtering feature. There are basic filters and advanced filters (these allow you to "refine further"). An advanced filter is used for precision, allowing you to have the maximum detail in filtering out the case you are searching for. 

The complete list of available search criteria, search operators, and search axis read Searching in FogBugz, Syntax and the Search Axis (the Ultimate Guide for Complex FogBugz Searches) 

Information

Basic Search

Just enter the text you are looking for in the Search bar at the top of the page. The results are provided immediately.

Refine Further - Advanced Filter

Once you have a basic search result, you can refine it further using the "Refine Further" criteria available in the Filter bar.

Below are some features of the Advanced Filter:

• To see fewer cases, refine a filter by adding a criterion by clicking on the name of the filter after expanding "Refine Further". Multiple categories can be selected to refine the search.
• Personal filters can be created by refining an existing filter.
• Any minor modification to the filter can produce different results.
• Filters provide a wide range of sub-filters so that the best results are produced.

To enter a text-specific filter, click on "Refine Further" to expand the drop-down list, then click on "Search For", and add the search criteria you require.

Sort Filter

The Sort Filter is used to sort by any of the columns, from ascending to descending order and vice versa. Descending order is also known as "reversed".

Add / Remove Columns in the Search Result

Once you have the desired search result, you can adjust the columns that are displayed by using the "Select Columns" and checking the columns that should be visible and unchecking the columns to be hidden.

When you are looking at a list of cases in grid view, you can:

• Rearrange columns by dragging the column header to the left or right.

• Sort by a column by clicking on the column header; reverse sort by clicking it again.

  Tip: To sort by two or three terms, click the column headers in reverse order. For example, to sort by area first, and by priority within each area, click on the Priority header and then the Area header.

• Change the width of a column by dragging the thin gray separator between two column headers.

• Autosize a column to the minimum width necessary to show everything, by double-clicking on the thin gray separator to the right of the column header.

Save your Filter

Once you have the desired search results, ordering, and column layout, you can save your filters as described in Saving Filters / Searches

Extended Use of the Filter Feature

Additional features of the filter allow the results to be displayed in various formats.

"More" Option

The following controls are located under the "More" option:

• RSS Feed - It provides an RSS feed link for the current filter which you can use in your RSS aggregator.
  
  NOTE: RSS Feeds are only available when you have saved the filter.
• Permanent Link - It reloads the page with a URL that fully describes the current filter in the query string. This allows you to share the exact same filter with another user.
• Export to CSV - To export the cases in your current filter to a CSV file.
  
  NOTE: This will export the table as you see it in the filter, including the order of the columns and cases.

Case View Control

• Case List (Default View) - When you are looking at a list of cases in grid view, you can:
  • Rearrange columns
  • Sort by a column
  • Change the width of a column
  • Autosize a column
• Chart - Presents the filter output, allowing you to create professional PowerPoint presentations based on the various chart options.
• Changes Over Time - It displays the number of filtered cases that have changed over time.

Using Filters in the API

FogBugz has three kinds of Filters:

• Built-In Filters are always present and include "My Cases" and sometimes the main "Inbox" if FogBugz is used to read mail.
• Saved Filters are created and saved by users.
• Shared Filters can be shared by administrators to all users.

The following API command is used to list Filters: cmd=listFilters.

The result is:

<response>
  <filters>
    <filter type="builtin" sFilter="ez349">My Cases</filter>
    <filter type="saved" sFilter="304">Cases I should have closed months ago</filter>
    <filter type="shared" sFilter="98" status="current">Customer Service Top 10</filter>
  </filters>
</response>

One or none of the filters may have the status="current" indicating that this is the user's current filter. If none of the filters has the status="current", the user is probably looking at an ad-hoc filter that has not been saved yet.

To change the current filter (pass in the sFilter attribute from the listFilters command), use this command:

cmd=setCurrentFilter&sFilter=402

The result will be empty.

More details on listing filter with API are available in the article FogBugz XML API: Filters

Limitations When Searching for Subscribed Cases

When a filter is applied to search for cases to which I am subscribed, ElasticSearch joins the cached cases with the top 2000 latest subscription items, and the resolution set is sorted in descending order. It then cross-references the two sets of data and selects the intersect. In this case, it doesn't matter which filter comes first. 

In short, if a user account is subscribed to more than 2000 cases, searching within subscribed cases will always be limited to the latest 2000 subscription items. This design was originally placed to ensure Elastic Search performance, especially for users with thousands of subscribed cases.

A useful workaround is to search for subscribed cases and assign a (new) tag to them, so the search can be done using the tag as a filter instead of the subscription parameter.