About inquiries

Ajera contains a set of standard inquiries, each one targeting information that is most commonly needed by architectural and engineering firms. In addition, inquiries contain links to other inquiries so that you can see supporting information or drill down to more detail with just one click.

However, a standard inquiry is just the beginning. You use each standard inquiry as a starting point for creating an inquiry that includes the exact information you want to see, in the way you want to see it.

As you create an inquiry or later change it, here are some of the things you can do:

• Select columns that you want to add to the inquiry. If you have something specific in mind, you can even create your own column using a formula.
• Move, delete, and sort columns. You can also group information.
• Add links from one inquiry to another. You can even select to show only certain information when linking to another inquiry.
• Set conditions to limit your inquiry so as to focus on only specific information. For example, you may want to see only active projects on the Project inquiry. Or you may want anyone who uses the inquiry to see only their information, not their coworkers' information.
• Export an inquiry to Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Excel, or Adobe Acrobat.

Right-clicking

When you work with inquiries, you often begin performing a task by right-clicking a column heading.

Inquiry toolbar

The inquiry toolbar appears at the top of each inquiry. Along with right-clicking a column heading, it is the other main way of performing tasks.

Links

Links appear in blue. When you click a link, it displays another inquiry that contains supporting information or more detail.

When you view an inquiry by clicking a link to it from another inquiry, you can then temporarily set conditions for it or add links on it, but they are not saved. You must set the conditions on the link you use to open the inquiry. You can also access the inquiry from the Inquiry menu and then set conditions for it and add links on it. However, you can add, change, or remove columns for an inquiry when accessing it through a link and then saving that inquiry as a custom inquiry.

Saving inquiries

There are different ways to save an inquiry depending if you are creating a new inquiry from a standard inquiry or just from an inquiry you previously created.

Saving a standard inquiry

Save a new inquiry you create from a standard inquiry in one of the following ways:

• Click the Save button to save your new inquiry with the same name as the standard inquiry. Any links in other inquiries that point to the standard inquiry are redirected to the inquiry that you save here instead.
• Click the Save as button to save your inquiry with a unique name. Any links in other inquiries that point to the standard inquiry continue to point to the standard inquiry, not the inquiry you save here. 

Your changed version appears on the Inquiry menu with the exact same name as the standard inquiry. However, so you can distinguish between them, your new inquiry appears in the section of the menu directly above all the standard versions.

After you click the Save as button, type the new name in the Custom Inquiry Name field, and click OK.

After you save an inquiry, it appears on the menu. You can make it visible to other employees by selecting it in their security settings.

Saving an inquiry you previously created

Save an inquiry you created in one of the following ways:

• To save your changes as a new inquiry, click the Save as button, type the new name in the Custom Inquiry Name field, and click OK.
• To apply your changes to the existing inquiry, click Save.