Getting Started with CISPro > Getting Started for Users > Getting Started with Searching
CISPro is a database program. As such, it is only as useful as it is easy to search. You will find that while CISPro is easy to use, it is also powerful, and it may take some time to understand just how much power is available. But as a new user, you should not concern yourself with this. CISPro will grow with you. It provides a very simple search interface for the novice, and keeps the more powerful searching hidden (but close at hand) until you need it.
As we saw in the previous lesson, after you login, you will always begin at the home page. This page has basic searching for material name, CAS #, and formula built in. You can also search for container barcodes from the home page.
Material Search
You can fill in a single field or multiple fields for a search. In the example below, we asked:
What chemicals have a name that begins with the letters "ac?"
When you click Search, CISPro brings back a list of hits. The one highlighted in yellow is the one that is currently selected. To view a different material, click its name in the search results list.
There is a lot of information available for each chemical, organized by tabs. To view the details on any tab, click on it. The set of tabs and menus you see here is called the Material View.
Finding Containers
Go back to the Home Page and look at container barcode searching now. (Click the CISPro logo and select the 'Home' menu item to return to the Home Page.)
Every container in CISPro Global is assigned a unique barcode identity number. (See Container ID Assignment for container barcode ID rules.) The simplest way to find container information is to scan or type any valid container barcode into the Container Search edit box on the Home Page and click the Search button.
If you only know part of the barcode, enter that part. When you click Search, you will be taken to the Search for Container Barcode page (you can also get there by clicking the 'Search by Barcode' link on the Home page). Here, you can scan or type the barcode number into the barcode# box (an 'exact' search), or type in part of the barcode (a 'begins with', 'ends with' or 'contains' search):
When you click search, CISPro will return a list of all containers that match your search criteria. You may then click any barcode link you want to see information about that specific container:
There is a lot of information on this page. It tells us what the container has in it, how much, where CISPro thinks it is located, when it expires, and whether someone owns it. If you click Cancel, you will be returned to the page you were on just before this one.
More Help on Searching
That's the basics of searching. For a detailed description of basic and advanced search, see Searching in the Reference section.
NEXT: Now, let's move onto creating materials and containers in CISPro.