In a typical modern business environment, users working with data-heavy grid apps need to locate records quickly without scrolling through hundreds of rows. A single-field global search box placed prominently at the top of a grid can be an essential productivity tool, allowing end users to type a customer name, invoice number, product code, or any key term and immediately filter the dataset to matching rows. With Nitro App Builder’s latest enhancement to this feature, what was already convenient can now be significantly smarter and more performant.
Effective with build 6.3.20250923, NAB developers can specify which fields are included in any global search, thereby excluding columns like timestamps, internal IDs, status flags, or large free-text notes that may not be helpful for users to find what they need. This targeted approach not only returns more relevant results faster, but also reduces unnecessary processing overhead, especially on large datasets. By focusing the search on the columns that truly matter — such as names, descriptions, reference numbers, etc.— users can enjoy faster response times and a cleaner, more intuitive search experience that feels tailor-made for their specific business workflow.
As NAB tips go, this is a rather easy one to convey — you simply turn on the global search feature, then you’ll see the new column inclusion/exclusion option. Illustrating by a simple example, let’s revisit a grid built over our trusty old DEMOCMAST customer master file…
By default, a character value entered into the global search will check all the character fields that are at least as large as the number of characters typed. But let’s say we know our users will strictly be searching for a customer name or city, so we can optimize the search to only bother with those two columns.
The first step is to activate the global search in the grid widget configuration. This is done by going to the cog wheel tab, then under the Search section tick off the “Active” checkbox. A global search field will subsequently appear above the grid. Keep in mind that “Exact” and “Starts with” type searches are generally going to be much faster than “Contains” searches.
Now go back to the column configuration tab and you’ll notice a new “Searchable” column has appeared. By default, all columns are checked, so any search value entered will be applicable to all columns, minus obvious exceptions (i.e., a character search value won’t be compared to numeric or date columns). So for our use case, we would simply uncheck all the columns except for customer name and city.
For an optimal response time over larger files, you should aim to have a separate index or logical file built over every searchable column in your grid. Also be sure to review this older post on optimizing case-insensitive searches. Your users may subsequently shower you with praise for having produced an app with such snappy filtering!