The query parameter

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The query parameter determines which records are returned. You can build a new query string inside the <query></query> tag or you can choose to reference a saved query string using the <qid> or <qname> tags.

Building the query string

When you build a query, you must build at least one query string. A query string is composed of:

• a field ID (fid)

• an uppercase comparison operator

• the value to be compared against (see the table below for a list of available operators).

You should separate each of these query string components using a period and enclose the entire query string in curly braces, as shown below:

{'fid'.operator.'matching_value'}

Example:

<query>{'5'.CT.'Ragnar Lodbrok'}</query>

This example specifies that Quickbase should return all records where the “fid 5” field contains the value “Ragnar Lodbrok.”

Grouping multiple query strings

You can group several of query strings together, separating the query strings with the AND or OR operators, as shown here:

Example:

<query>{'5'.CT.'Ragnar Lodbrok'}AND{'7'.CT.'Acquisitions'}</query>

The next example illustrates how to group query strings together when using a URL:

Example:

&query={'5'.CT.'Ragnar Lodbrok'}AND{'7'.CT.'Acquisitions'}

Note: You can obtain the fids for a table by calling API_GetSchema, or from any call to API_DoQuery that sets the <fmt> parameter to structured.

Query string comparison operators

Note: Query string comparison operators must be in uppercase.

Handling Special Characters for a Query Field Values

If you are searching for a value that includes special characters, be sure to enclose the matching value in quotes. For example, if you are searching for this value:

"Joe B. Briggs"

...you should be sure to enclose the entire string in double quotes, as follows:

""Joe B. Briggs""

Querying on Dates and Times

You can query on dates (using the date format set in the app) or on times in milliseconds, but you cannot query on times in Date/Time fields.

Special Matching Values in a Query String

Certain field types use special values with a given comparison operator. For example, you may want to query on a checkbox field. You may want all records where a checkbox is either checked or not. In cases like this, you can use special matching values in your query string to return records with the value you want.

Referencing a Common Report

In the Quickbase UI, a user can customize a report and save it as a common report, which will then be available as a saved query. Each saved query has an ID (qid) and a user-supplied name (qname). Creating a saved query is an easy and quick way to construct a query, compared to building the query string yourself.

To use a saved query, you refer to it by its qid (e.g., <qid>3</qid>) or by the name you gave it when you saved it (e.g., <qname>My Custom View</qname>. For the qname value, do not replace blanks spaces with underscore.

You can use API_DoQuery to get the qid and qname of common reports. If you use the <fmt> parameter, Quickbase returns a list of all saved queries inside a <queries> aggregate, including their qid and qnames. (You can also use API_GetSchema to get the qid or qname of a saved query).

Quickbase tables have two default saved queries: List All, and List Changes.