A saved search is a search whose criteria has been saved (from either the Search by Form or Define Search dialog) so that you can run the same search over and over again.

At the root of the datasource, and at the root of every work area in the datasource, is a folder called Saved Searches, which is where saved searches are stored.

Each Saved Searches folder contains a Global and a Personal folder. The Global folder under the main Saved Searches folder is where administrators can create saved searches for all users in the datasource to use. Only administrators can modify saved searches in this Global folder. The Global folder under the Saved Searches folder of a work area is where users with modify rights for that work area can create saved searches for all users with access to the work area to use. Only users with modify rights for that work area can modify searches in this Global folder. Personal folders, whether under the main Saved Searches folder, or under the Saved Searches folder of a particular work area, are where you create your own saved searches, which are only available to you, and can only be modified or deleted by you.

When a saved search is selected, the regular options on the ProjectWise Explorer Folder menu are replaced with options for working with saved searches. These same options are available when you right-click the Global or Search folders, or saved searches within those folders.

Once a search is saved, all you have to do is select the search in the interface and the search is automatically run. As the contents and properties of your work areas, folders, and documents are updated and modified, so are the results of your saved search. For example, if your saved search looks for documents associated to the application 'MicroStation', and you change the association of several documents from 'MicroStation' to 'AutoCAD', then those documents now associated to 'AutoCAD' will no longer appear in the search results.

You can refresh existing search results, either because you have modified the search's criteria, or to find data which other users have added since the original search was run.

You can create additional saved search folders under the Global or Personal saved search folders, and then create and save new searches to them.

You can delete any saved search your have created in your Personal search folder. If you have administrative privileges, you can delete searches from the Global search folder.