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Search & Filtering

Dealing with files that have many series is hard, so we put together a flexible searching system to find the series you’re after. Typing in the search bar filters the series: anything that does not match what you type is hidden.

Typing a word is enough most of the time, but the search also supports wildcards, boolean logic, filtering on data values and filtering by file name.

Searching for Series

Simple Text Search

Type any text to filter series by name. Matching is case-insensitive and matches anywhere in the name.

You type What shows up
voltage Any series with "voltage" in the name, such as Voltage_A or Bus_Voltage_1
freq Frequency, Freq_Response, Low_Freq_Mode

A file stays visible as long as one of its series matches.

The ··· button next to the search bar opens a menu with Sort A to Z, Sort Z to A, and Advanced search....

The Advanced Search dialog builds a query visually instead of typing the syntax below by hand. Add rows under Channel name, Channel contents or File selection, choose AND/OR to combine them, and a live preview shows the query it will produce. Apply writes that query into the search bar; Clear resets it.

Exact Matching with Quotes

Wrap a term in double quotes to match the full series name exactly (still case-insensitive).

You type Matches Doesn't match
"Frequency" Frequency Frequency_Response, Low_Freq
"Active Power" Active Power Reactive Power, Active_Power_Output

Wildcards

  • * matches any characters (including none)
  • ? matches exactly one character
Pattern Matches Doesn't match
Volt* Voltage, Volt_Drop, Volt Line_Voltage
*Current* Line_Current, Current_A -
V?ltage Voltage, Valtage Vllltage

Combining with Boolean Operators

Operator Syntax Example
AND a space, or & voltage current, voltage & current
OR | voltage | current
NOT ! !reactive
Grouping < > <voltage | current> & phase_a

Precedence: NOT binds tightest, then AND, then OR.

So voltage | current & !reactive is read as voltage | (current & (!reactive)).

Angle brackets override that order. <voltage | current> & phase_a finds series matching voltage or current that also contain phase_a.

Examples

Query What it does
voltage Series containing "voltage"
voltage | frequency Series containing "voltage" or "frequency"
power & !reactive Series containing "power" but not "reactive"
<voltage | current> & phase_a Voltage or current series, narrowed to phase A

Filtering by Data Values

A : after a column name filters on the data itself rather than the name, which is how you find series that cross a threshold. Value filters read the underlying data, so they are slower than name matching on large files.

Basic Value Filters

Syntax: column_name:operator value

Operator Meaning
:> Greater than
:>= Greater than or equal
:< Less than
:<= Less than or equal
:= Equal to

Examples:

Query Meaning
Voltage:>1 Series where a Voltage value exceeds 1
Freq*:<=50 Series starting with "Freq" where a value is 50 or below
*Power:>100 Series ending with "Power" where a value exceeds 100

The column name matches the same way as an ordinary search: without wildcards it tries an exact match and then a substring match; with wildcards it uses glob matching.

Filtering at a Specific Time

Add @time to test the value at one point in time:

Voltage:>1@5

This finds series where Voltage exceeds 1 at time 5. If there is no sample at exactly that time, the nearest one is used.

Filtering Across a Time Range

Add @start-end to test a time window:

Frequency:<49.5@0-10

This finds series where Frequency drops below 49.5 at any point between time 0 and time 10. Both ends of the range are included.

Column Names with Spaces

Quote the column name when it contains spaces or punctuation:

"Active Power":>100
'Reactive Power':<=50

How Value Filters Affect Visibility

Value filters work at the file level: if one series in a file meets the condition, the whole file is shown. Text search, by contrast, filters individual series.

Mixed Queries (Value and Text)

You can combine the two in one query, where each part does a different job:

  • the value filter decides which files to show
  • the text search decides which series within those files to show

For example:

Voltage:>1 & Active Power

Show files in which a Voltage value exceeds 1, and within those files show only series containing "Active Power".

Another example:

P_*:>100@5-10 frequency

Show files in which a P_* series exceeds 100 between time 5 and time 10, and within those files show only series containing "frequency".

Filtering by File Name

Use the file: prefix to filter at the file level instead of the series level:

file:case1*

This shows only the files whose names match case1*, along with all of their series. As with series search, matching is case-insensitive and supports wildcards.

Query What it shows
file:simulation Files with "simulation" in the name
file:case1* Files starting with "case1"
file:*.csv Files ending with ".csv"

Quick Reference

Syntax What it does Example
term Substring match, case-insensitive voltage
"term" Exact full-name match "Active Power"
*, ? Wildcards Volt*, V?lt
A B or A & B AND voltage current
A | B OR voltage | frequency
!A NOT !reactive
<A | B> & C Grouping <voltage | current> & phase_a
col:>val Value greater than Voltage:>1
col:>=val Value greater than or equal to Freq:>=50
col:<val Value less than Power:<100
col:<=val Value less than or equal to Current:<=5
col:=val Value equal to Freq:=60
col:>val@t Value at a point in time Voltage:>1@5
col:<val@t1-t2 Value within a time range Freq:<49.5@0-10
"col name":>val Quoted column name "Active Power":>100
file:pattern Filter by file name file:case1*

Notes

  • Plain queries, with no operators or wildcards, are the fastest and filter as you type
  • A malformed query does not raise an error. It matches nothing, so an empty sidebar can mean a syntax mistake
  • Time ranges include both ends, and use the nearest available sample when there is none at exactly the time you gave