Using the Record List

Use the Record List to select a set of  records to chart, plot, or export. This topic covers how to add records to and remove them from the Record List.; see Reports page tools for information on the various tools available on the Reports page for comparing, plotting, exporting and analyzing the data from the records in your Record List.

Viewing the Record List

To view the Record List, click Reports on the toolbar.

Adding records to the Record List

You can add records to the Record List from various places within MI:Viewer, including the Contents tree and in individual record datasheets, and from search and substitution results.

To add a record or multiple records on a folder from the contents tree, click Add to list on the item menu:

To add an individual record from the datasheet toolbar:

You can also add records to the list by pasting record data into it directly from the clipboard; see Pasting records from the clipboard.

For version-controlled tables, multiple record versions can also be added from the version history page for the record.

 Removing records from the list

To remove a record from the Record List, on the Record List tab, click Remove.

To remove all records from the list, click the Clear List command below the list.

Copying the Record List to the clipboard

When you copy your Record List to the clipboard, what gets placed on the clipboard is a list of record identifiers (in a JSON format). For each record, the following information is included:

• RecordGuid (record unique identifier)
• RecordHistoryGuid (record version identifier)
• FullName (full record name)
• DatabaseKey (database key)
• VolumeGuid (database ID)

For example,  this list includes 2 records (beryllium and boron) from the MaterialUniverse database:

{
"Records": [
{
"RecordGuid": "00000353-000e-4fff-8fff-dd92ffff0000",
"RecordHistoryGuid": "b8d541e0-62d5-463e-8903-2ceb7ee99edf",
"FullName": "Beryllium (50-127 micron, f)",
"DatabaseKey": "MI_MaterialUniverse_5.40.0m_Dec2016",
"VolumeGuid": "ea6b62b6-4e8a-4f78-bc4b-cf51ec2351ff"
},
{
"RecordGuid": "00000355-000e-4fff-8fff-dd92ffff0000",
"RecordHistoryGuid": "db886e6e-38c4-4777-9acc-2f59a5293bfe",
"FullName": "Boron (AVCO 102-200 micron, f)",
"DatabaseKey": "MI_MaterialUniverse_5.40.0m_Dec2016",
"VolumeGuid": "ea6b62b6-4e8a-4f78-bc4b-cf51ec2351ff"
{
]
}

A record list in this format can be used in the Excel Exporter, Record Manipulator, and Tabular Roll-up plug-ins in MI:Toolbox.

Pasting into the Record List from the clipboard

A quick way of adding large numbers of records to the Record List is by pasting them into the list from the clipboard. The record data being pasted in must be matched to existing records in the database:

• if a match is found, the record is added to the Record List;
• if no match is found, that is, the record cannot be found in the database, it is not added to the Record List;
• if more than one match is found, then all the matched records are added to the Record list.

The data pasted from the clipboard must be a list of record identifiers in one of two formats:

• A list of JSON-formatted record identifiers, as described above in Copying records to the clipboard.
• A plain text list of values that identify the records, for example, a list of CAS numbers. This could be copied from a text editor or a spreadsheet. For records in this format, you will need to specify the database and table where the records are located, and the short text attribute that will be used to match the clipboard data with the records.

Any records already in the Record List will be removed when you paste records in from the clipboard.

Worked example: copying and pasting records into the record list from Excel

In this example, over 900 records in the Product Risk database are added to the Record List by pasting them in from an Excel spreadsheet via the clipboard.

In the source spreadsheet, the record name is in the first column, and the CAS number in the second column; column 2 will be pasted into the Record List and the values matched against the unique CAS number attribute value in the database records.

1. In the Excel spreadsheet, copy the column. The column title should not be included.
   

   (Tip: to select all cells in the column but not the first cell, select the 2nd cell in the column and then press CTRL+SHIFT+DOWN ARROW.)

2. On the Reports page in MI:Viewer, click Paste From Clipboard below the Record List.
3. Paste the data from the clipboard into the text box:
   
4. Specify the database and table where the records are located, and the short text attribute that will be used to match the clipboard data to the records in the specified table; you will see that this information is added to the top of the list of records to be pasted:
   
5. Click Add to List.
6. Records that are found in the database are added to the Record List. The number of records matched and added  is shown above the list. You can click the Download link here to download and view a summary of which records were and were not matched and added to the list.
   

Tip: It is also possible to paste a list of record GUIDs. This need to be done in a slightly different way:

1. Paste in the list of record GUIDs.
2. Select the database from the list.
3. Type in the following line below the database identifier:
   *attribute=RecordGuid

   Note that you don't need to set the Table and Match Attribute options, as these will be automatically selected.

4. Click Add to List.

Click to see an example

Record list settings

By default, the record list can include only records from the same table: if you add records from a different table, any records from other tables will be removed from the list. To be able to include records from more than one table in the list, you need to make a change to the Record List options on the MI:Viewer Settings page. See Record List Options.