Example Selection Queries
You can create selection criteria for Clients using any data held in a Site database. This enables you to create dynamic groups that contain any subset of Clients. The following examples demonstrate how to use the natural language queries to create Client selection criteria.
Identifying Obsolete PCs
This query uses data collected by hardware inventory operations to identify obsolete PCs within a Site. It uses CPU speed as the criterion for selecting PCs, but you could also use other Client data, such as the memory or installed software.
1 In the Natural language query tab, click Click here to add new condition.
2 Click OU Name. In the Condition list, choose CPU then Speed to specify which table in the database you want to select from.
3 Click is starting with and select is less than. Click the adjacent underscore and type 266. This specifies you want to select all Clients with a CPU speed of less than 266 MHz.
4 Select Preview to display a list of the Clients that will be selected by the query.
Identifying all PCs in the Administration Department
This query uses data collected from users by the Get User Data operation to identify the PCs that belong to a department.
1 In the Natural language query tab, click Click here to add new condition.
2 Click OU Name. In the Condition list, choose Core HW Details then Department to specify which table in the database you want to select from.
3 Click is starting with and select contains. Click the adjacent line and type Administration. This specifies you want to select all department records that contain the string Administration.
4 Select Preview to display a list of the Clients that will be selected by the query.
Planning a migration to Windows XP
You can create dynamic groups to help you plan and manage software migrations, such as updating operating systems. This example shows you how to create a query that identifies PCs that do not meet the minimum hardware requirements for Windows XP (266 MHz processor, 128 MB RAM and 4 GB free disk space).
1 On the first line of query, click All and select Any from the menu. This selects any Clients that do not meet all the requirements.
2 Click Click here to add new condition and click OU Name. In the Condition list, choose CPU then CPU Speed. Change the remainder of the line to is less than 266.
3 Click Click here to add new condition to add a second condition. Click OU Name. In the Condition list, choose Memory then Total RAM. Change the remainder of the line to is less than 120.
4 Click
and choose Add Bracket to create a sub-condition. Click Core HW Details.BIOS System Date
and choose Disk Drives then Disk Drive letter. Change the remainder of the line to is
starting with C.
5 Click Click here to add new condition and click OU Name. In the Condition list, choose Disk Drives and then Disk Size Change. Change the remainder of the line to is less than 4000.
6 Click Show Fields, expand Core HW Details, double-click NODENAME and click OK to display each PC name only once.
7 Select Preview to display a list of the Clients that will be selected by the query.