Jeri is right; you can do what she suggests, and we definitely do. But these methods are both workarounds. The lack of ability to do negative searches (on fields with one-to-many relationships) for absence of images, constituents, attributes, status flags, inventory stamp, etc., is one of the few major problems we have with TMS. The media method Jeri suggests only works if there is NO media on the record. We are at the point of wanting to search for records with images of a publishable quality (here defined as rank >4). Cannot do it. The object package method isn't an option, because the object packages would be too big. And the login method doesn't work because there is some media on most records. So, we have set up a special flag form and assigned yes/no flags for things like: Images good enough for the web (based on Media info) Inventoried (based on Location info) On the web (based on Status flag) I have to update these flags in SQL but then anybody can do the searches. For example, once a week I use SQL to set the Inventoried stamp to 1 for every record that has an inventory transaction in its location history. Then anybody can run a quick and easy search for Inventoried=no to find those records that have no stamp. But this is still a workaround, because the flags are not "live". If Gallery Systems is following this thread, this is an area that can be greatly improved. I don't know how many times I have had to explain this situation to our users, and most of them just don't get it, and I don't think they should have to. Cheers, Jenny Jenny Wilker Manager, Collection Information Philadelphia Museum of Art -----Original Message----- From: The Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Jeri Moxley Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 6:22 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Searching question Hi Dee Dee, These searches are possible through the interface, though you may need to add a field or two to the query configuration. For both of these, you'll rely on the "Not Equal to" feature in Advanced Query. 1. Objects with no Media attached: Because it's the one field I've found that seems to work reliably for this search, I most commonly use an Objects module advanced query search of: LoginID (MediaXrefs) <not equal to> * The asterisk acts as a wildcard - so, in effect, the query is "Media Xref LoginID not equal to anything". Note that, in my experience, the Rendition Number field doesn't return results with this query - I don't know why. 2. Objects with no donor: This one's trickier. If you search for "Role not equal to Donor", you may very well get some records with Donors in your results because the search returns any record for which it is true that there is a constituent who is not a Donor (for example, we have a few records with both a 'Donor' and a 'Contributor' (contributed funds) under acquisition-related constituents). So - the trick is to first search for all records with Role = Donor and make an object package of those records. Then, go to advanced query and search for all objects where "Object Package Name is not equal to XXX (the name of your saved package of objects with donors)". From that point, you can narrow the search further. Of course, object packages are not dynamic, so you have to update the object package each time you run the query. Good luck! Best, Jeri -------------- Jeri L. Rojas-Moxley TMS Specialist Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 212-423-3509 [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: The Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Valdeva Ives Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 5:26 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Searching question Hi everyone, We are new to TMS in general and have some query questions. Does anyone know if there is a way to search for data that isn't there via TMS (not using SQL queries from the back end)? Some questions that have been asked are: 1. How do you search for a list of objects that have no media attached to them? 2. How do you find all of the objects that don't have a specific type of constituent attached? (eg. objects with no donor) I can generate these queries from SQL but it would be nice if the non-technical staff could do it for themselves. Is the only option to use a list view or report? Thanks in advance for any help! Dee Dee -- Valdeva Ives Application Developer and Support Specialist Digital Information and Technology Harvard University Art Museums 32 Quincy Street Cambridge, MA 02138 617.384.9389