The Query Editor

Introduction to the Query Editor

The Query Editor is used when you want to search or filter for music by more than once criteria. In the Query Editor you can combine several criteria to search or filter for.
 
The Query Editor is used in various places throughout Helium Music Manager. It is a good idea to get acquainted with this dialog since it's very powerful and can help you a lot when searching and filtering for music.

Using the Query Editor

The Query Editor is used in the following places in Helium Music Manager:

• When performing an Advanced Search from the Search View.
• When creating or editing a Smart Playlist in the Playlist Browser.
• When selecting tracks to include in a report from the Report Wizard.
• When creating or editing an Advanced filter from the Album Filter.
• When creating or editing an Advanced filter from the Artist Filter.

The Query Editor dialog is made up of one or more rows of different search criteria. Each row has its own search criteria which together will be combined into what is called a query.
 
A query can be saved as either an Advanced Search or a Smart Playlist.
 
Advanced Searches are used in these places:

• Search View - as loading or creating an advanced search
• Artist Browser - as loading or creating an advanced filter in the Artist Browser Filter.
• Album Browser - as loading or creating an advanced filter in the Album Browser Filter.

Smart Playlists are used in these places:

• Playlist Browser - when using or creating Smart Playlists.
• Auto-Enqueue - when automatically enqueuing tracks from a Smart Playlist.
• Device Synchronization - when using Smart Playlists to synchronize your portable devices.

Each row has - depending on the contents - a maximum of six different criteria to be set. These are explained below:

1. A field that you want to search for (e.g. Artist or Title). This entry can also be an opening or closing parenthesis, for the use of nestling queries.
2. An operator, which can be one of the following:
   
   For textual fields
   • Contains
   • Does not contain
   • Is
   • Is not
   • Starts with
   • Ends with
   • Is empty
   • Is not empty
    
   For numeric fields
   • Is
   • Is not
   • Is at least
   • Is at most
   • Is in the range
   • Is empty
   • Is not empty
   • Weekday (ony available on date fields)
   • Hour Range (only available on date fields)
   • Dynamic (only available on date fields. This operator will be explained below.)
    
3. A value to search for. This entry looks different depending on which field you have selected to search for.
4. A boolean operator, which can be either AND or OR. This entry will not show on rows where the field value is set to an opening parenthesis or if next row in the query contains a closing parenthesis or is empty.
5. A plus (+) button, for adding a row.
6. A minus (-) button, for removing a row.

You can add opening and closing parenthesis to a query to combine certain criteria in a group to join with another group. You should use parenthesis on queries where you wish to use more than one AND/OR operator. If you only use the AND operator or the OR operator in a query, you don't need to use any parenthesis. An example of this follows:

(
Genre is Rock AND
Release Year is at least 1994
) OR
(
Genre is Heavy Metal AND
Release Year is at most 1994
)

The above query will generate results with Rock songs from 1994 and forward and Heavy Metal songs from 1994 and back. If you would have left the parenthesises out the results would have been severely wrong.

The Dynamic operator

The Dynamic operator is very useful for creating flexible queries that will change the results of the query throughout time. A good example is if you create a query and set the following arguments:

Last Played Dynamic Is at least 1 month ago

This query will show tracks, albums or artists (depending on from where you run the query) that have been played more than one month ago. Try experimenting with the Dynamic operator and you will experience that it is most useful from the various places of Helium Music Manager that you can take advantage of the Query Editor.

Search Options

• Select the Search in subtracks to also search in subtracks.
• Click the Load button to load a previously saved query.
• Click the Save button to save the current query.

Limiting Smart Playlists

When using the Query Editor for creating or editing a Smart Playlist from the Playlist Browser there are a few extra controls at the bottom of the dialog:
 

 
By selecting the Limit to option you can limit the query from generating too many results. There are three different criteria to select from:

1. An amount
2. A type
3. A selection method

The selection method tells what type of results you wish to have, based on the type and amount specified. You may call it a kind of priority or sorting. The different selection methods are explained below:

• No special selection - This options may be used if you don't wish to assign any special preference in your selection method.
• Highest rating - This will primarily select tracks with the highest rating.
• Lowest rating - This will primarily select tracks with the lowest rating.
• Artist
• Album
• Title
• Genre
• Most recently played - This will primarily select tracks which have been played recently.
• Least recently played - This will primarily select tracks which have been played least recently.
• Most recently added - This will primarily select tracks which have been added recently to the database.
• Least recently added - This will primarily select tracks which have been added least recently to the database.
• Most played - This will primarily select tracks that have been played most.
• Least played - This will primarily select tracks that have been played least.
• Random - This will randomise the results, offering a way of making the Smart Playlist more dynamic, since the results will differ from time to time.