Ad Astra Apps Advanced Filtering

Advanced filtering allows you to build structured queries using a query like language.

Constructing Queries

The basic syntax for a query consists of a field, followed by an operator, followed by a value. The query can be combined using the AND or OR operator. Values are case insensitive so MATH and math will match equally. 

A query that returns matches that contain the subject MATH in Fall Semester 2019 looks like this:

Term = 201908 AND Subject = MATH

A more complex query that returns matches that contain the subject MATH or SCI looks like this:

Subject = MATH OR Subject = SCI

Quotation marks are required for values that contain spaces. A query that returns matches that contain a course title that equals Intro Financial Accounting looks like this:

Title = “Intro Financial Accounting”

Enrollment Ratio is a percentage and can be represented as either a whole number or a percentage when constructing a query. If a decimal is in the query, the number will read as a decimal percentage. Example: EnrollmentRatio = .85 would return Enrollment Ratio equal to .85%

EnrollmentRatio = 80%

OR

EnrollmentRatio = 80

To filter to 120 level courses, you would need to construct the query like this: 

CourseNumber starts_with 120

Use "in" to see if a value is in a specific set of values or attributes. To use this operator, quotation must be used with values separated by commas.  

Subject in “ENGL, FREN, SPAN”

 OR

CourseNumber in “1100, 1101, 1102”

Setting The Precedence of Operators

You can also use parenthesis to set the precedence of operators. For example, a query that returns matches that have either MATH or SCI subjects and have less than 2 sections would look like this:

(Subject = MATH OR Subject = SCI) AND SectionsOffered < 2

Supported Operators

For text fields the following operators are supported: 

For number fields the following operators are supported:

Field Definitions

Monitor

Campus = Campus Code (Example: M)

CampusName = Full Campus Name (Example = Main)

CourseNumber = Course Number (Example = 1101)

EnrollmentRatio = Average enrollment divided by average course enrollment cap

Status = Enrollment Ratio is High, Low, or On Track

• High: Courses are "high" if the Enrollment Ratio is greater than 85%
• Low: Courses are "low" if the Enrollment Ratio is less than 25%
• On Track: courses are "on track" if the Enrollment Ratio is 25-85%

Subject = Subject Code (Example: ACCT)

Term = Term Code (Example: 202008)

Title = Course Title (Example: Introduction to Chemistry)

Align

AverageSeats = Average section size

Campus = Campus Code (Example: M)

CampusName = Full Campus Name (Example = Main)

CandidateDetail = Additional information explaining the Candidate Type (Examples: Standard Addition, Low Demand, New Course)

CandidateSections = Difference between Needed sections and Offered sections

CandidateType = Type of candidate created by Astra’s recommendations (Examples: Addition, Reduction, No Action)

CourseNumber = Course Number (Example = 1101)

HistoricSeatsNeeded = Number of seats needed based upon historical analysis

PlannedSections = Number of sections that will be offered after the schedule changes have been completed in the SIS

PredictedSeatsNeeded = Number of seats needed based upon predict analysis

SeatsNeeded = Number of seats recommended based upon the analysis

SeatsOffered = Number of seats offered for all sections in the analyzed term

SectionsOffered = Number of sections imported from SIS for the analyzed term

SectionsNeeded = Number of sections recommended based upon the analysis

SectionsVariance = Difference between Needed sections and Offered sections

Status = Selected status from the status column (Examples: Reviewed, Approved, Scheduled, Blocked)

Subject = Subject Code (Example: ACCT)

Term = Term Code (Example: 202008)

Title = Course Title (Example: Introduction to Chemistry)

TopCandidate = Recommendations that potentially have the highest impact

Sharing a Filter

Once you have saved a filter, you can share it with other Ad Astra users in your institution. 

Q: What does it mean to share a filter?

A: When you share a filter with another user, they will automatically see the filter in their Quick Filters menu under the ’Shared with Me’ header. 

Q: What if I don’t want a filter someone has shared with me?

A: There are two options: 

1. Delete the filter: permanently removes the filter from your list and visibility. In order to see the filter again, you would need to request the owner to share it with you.

2. Hide the filter: removes the visibility from the Quick Filter list, but doesn't remove your access. You can choose to show the filter again. 

Q: Can I make changes to a filter once it is shared?

A: Filter owners (there is only one owner per filter) can make changes to a shared filter. The changes will automatically be pushed to the people you’ve shared it with, includes deleting. If you do not want them to get the changes: load the filter, click Save, and give your new filter a different name without sharing it.

Q: What if I want to make edits to a filter that has been shared with me? 

A: Select the filter from the Quick Filter list, click the filter edit mode icon (indicated by a blue dot) and edit the query. Once you save and give the filter a name, you will become the owner of the new filter. 

Q: I created a filter and it once worked, but now it’s not working. 

A: Not all filter queries will be applicable between applications. For example: a filter query that works on the Courses tab in Monitor may not be applicable to the Analyze tab and would return no results. Check your query again to see if changing the field or operator returns results. 

Invalid Filters

Not all filters are applicable between the application views. For example, in Align you can filter by ’SectionsNeeded’ but ’SectionsNeeded’ is not an available filter for Monitor. In this instance, if you create and save a filter for ’SectionsNeeded' and switch to Monitor the saved filter for ’SectionsNeeded’ is invalid and will not show in the quick filters list. 'Quick Filters' will only show filters that are valid for the current view.

When navigating between applications, your browser will remember the last valid filter used for that application. For instance, if you have a 'Term' and 'Subject' filter in Monitor and switch over to Align, Align will have remembered the last valid filter used for Align (if applicable). Navigating back to Monitor, you will see the 'Term' and 'Subject' filter again.

Another example of an invalid filter that could happen within Monitor. On the ‘Analyze' tab in Monitor, filter queries are limited to ‘Subject' and ‘Term’. If you navigate to the 'Analyze’ tab it will only show applicable filters in the 'Quick Filter' list. An example would be a filter loaded that uses ‘Campus’ will work on the ‘Courses’ tab but switching to the ‘Analyze' tab, the filter would be invalid and not appear in the ‘Quick Filter’ list.

When editing or constructing a filter, it is possible to introduce a typing error. When a query cannot be validated, a red line appears around the query and no results will be shown on the list.

If you need further help creating a query, please submit a support ticket so one of our Support team members can assist you.