Sets a filter on a column of a query to limit the records in the resulting dataset of a query.

The following code shows the syntax of the SETFILTER function. Query is a variable of the Query data type that specifies the query object.

Query.SETFILTER(Column, String[, Value],...)

Parameters

Column

Type: Text

The name of the column in the query that you want to filter. The name is defined by the column's Name Property in Query Designer.

String

Type: Text or code

The filter expression. A valid expression consists of alphanumeric characters and one or more of the following operators: <, >, *, &, |, and =. You can use replacement fields (%1, %2, and so on) to insert values at run-time. For more information about filter expressions and syntax, see Entering Criteria in Filters.

Value

Type: Any

Replacement values to insert in replacement fields in the filter expression. The data type of Value must match the data type of field that is referred to by the ColumnName.

Remarks

To apply filters to a dataset, the SETFILTER function must be called before the OPEN, SAVEASXML, and SAVEASCSV functions, as shown in the following example. To remove filters from query, you call the CLEAR Function.

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Query.SETFILTER(Column1, String);
Query.OPEN;
Query.READ;
CLEAR(Query);

A call to the SETFILTER function automatically closes a query dataset that is currently open. Therefore, the following code is unauthorized and will fail because there is no open dataset for the READ function to read.

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Query.OPEN;
Query.READ;
Query.SETFILTER(Column2, String);
Query.READ;

You can have multiple calls to the SETFILTER function. If SETFILTER function calls set filters on different columns, then the filters are combined and applied to the dataset. If consecutive SETFILTER function calls set filters on the same column, then the last SETFILTER function call is applied to the column.

In addition to the SETFILTER function, you can apply filters to a query using the SETRANGE Function (Query) function, the FILTERGROUP function, and the DataItemTableFilter Property and ColumnFilter Property in Query Designer.

If the SETFILTER function... then...

Sets a filter on the same field as the DataItemTableFilter property

The two filters are joined into a resulting filter.

Sets a filter on the same field as the ColumnFilter property

The SETFILTER function overwrites the ColumnFilter property, so the filter that is set by the SETFILTER function that is applied to the dataset.

Sets a filter on the same field as the SETRANGE function

The function that is called last is applied to the dataset.

Sets a filter on a field that has global filters that are applied by the FILTERGROUP(1) function

The filters of the SETFILTER function are added to the global filters.

For example, a query has the following filters set on the Quantity column in Query Designer:

  • DataItemTableFilter property: Quantity=FILTER(<100)
  • ColumnFilter property: Quantity=FILTER(<>50)

Query.SETFILTER ("Quantity", '>1’) will result in a filter that is equivalent to: 1<Quantity <100.

For more information about how to set filters in Query Designer, see Understanding Query Filters.

Example

The following C/AL code example demonstrates how to use the SETFILTER function on a query. The example code sets a filter on a query column, and then displays a message when the query is run that indicates the filter on the column.

This example requires that you do the following:

  1. Create a query called Customer_SalesQuantity that has the following characteristics:
    • Links table 18, Customer with table 37, Sales Lines from the CRONUS International Ltd. demonstration database.
    • Includes columns for the Name and No. fields from the Customer table and the Quantity field from Sales Lines table.
      For step-by-step instructions for creating this query, see Walkthrough: Creating a Query to Link Two Tables.
  2. Create the following C/AL variables and text constant in the object that will run the query, such as a codeunit.

    Variable name DataType Subtype

    MyQuery

    Query

    Customer_SalesQuantity

    Text constant name ENU Value

    Text000

    Customer name = %1, Quantity = %2

The following C/AL code uses the SETFILTER function to filter the query dataset on the Quantity and Name columns. You can add the code to a codeunit, and then run the codeunit to see the results.

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// Sets a filter to display only sales quantities greater than 10.
MyQuery.SETFILTER(Quantity, '>10');
// Sets a filter to display the columns with the value Selangorian Ltd. only.
MyQuery.SETFILTER(NAME, 'Selangorian Ltd.');
// Runs the query.
MyQuery.OPEN;
// Reads each row in the dataset and displays message with column values.
// Stops reading when there are no more rows remaining in the dataset (READ is FALSE).
WHILE MyQuery.READ DO
BEGIN
  MESSAGE(Text000, MyQuery.Name, MyQuery.Quantity);
END; 
// Saves the resulting dataset as a CSV file.
MyQuery.SAVEASCSV('c:\temp\CustomerSales.csv');
// Closes the query.
Myquery.CLOSE;

When the code is run, a message that resembles the following appears for each row in the dataset:

Customer name = Selangorian Ltd., Quantity = 30