Sometimes you may wish to search through all data in OfficeTalk for specific text. OfficeTalk lets you perform a database search by selecting Search Database from the Search menu from within any mode. The Search Database dialog box is displayed.
The Search Database page lets you choose which fields to search through. You may choose from the following options:
| Field option | Description |
| Name/Subject fields only | Searches just the name or subject field of the associated data type. |
| Category fields | Searches the category fields of the associated data items. |
| All text fields | Searches all text fields of the associated data type. This includes category fields and any custom fields. |
| All fields | Searches all text fields and any date fields |
In the Search what list, place a tick next to each data item that you wish to include as part of the database search. If you wish to search through a subset of any data type, for example, you may wish to search through a particular user's tasks rather than all users' tasks, then you may do this by selecting the Tasks data type and pressing the Details… button. A further dialog box is displayed allowing you to select which users' tasks will be searched.
When you have specified the search criteria, press the Search button. The Search button will change to a Stop button which enables you to halt the search at any point during the search. The results of the search will be added to the Results list as and when the results are found. At any time, you may view a particular result by selecting the result from the Results list and pressing the Goto button.