---
title: "Run a global search"
canonical: "https://docs.devo.com/space/latest/94764610/Run%20a%20global%20search"
format: markdown
---
> Macro (toc)

## Overview

You can find events containing specific values across all the data tables in their current domain using the Global search option in the data search area.

![image](media://43824db7-7d16-4ddf-97af-03ab79075095)

## What permissions do I need to perform a global search?

In order to access this area to perform a global search, you need to have a role with the *Global searches*** **permission. If you do not have this permission, you will not be able to see the tab and hence perform any global search.

Take into account that you need to activate any level of the parent permission (Finders)** **to enable the permission checkbox (know more about permissions [here](https://docs.devo.com/space/latest/94763681)).

![image](media://6544505b-54e0-432f-96bc-2714b5b1b695)

> ⚠️ **Domain feature**
> ⚠️ 
> ⚠️ Note that this feature is only enabled in certain domains by default so even though you have the required permissions, you might still be unable to see it. If you need to use it and is not enabled in your domain, contact the [Devo support team](mailto:support@devo.com).

## Using the global search

> Macro (rw-ui-steps-macro)
> 
> > Macro (rw-step)
> 
> Go to **Data search **and select the **Global search** tab.
> 
> > Macro (rw-step)
> 
> Enter the expression you want to search for. You can use standard *AND* and *OR* operators, use an asterisk ( * ) as a wildcard, or quotation marks ( "" ) to indicate exact expressions. For example: *user1@domain.com****OR****user2@domain.com****AND"****illegal access****"AND*****apache*
> 
> > Macro (rw-step)
> 
> Click to open the time menu and select the time period over which you want to search (see the [section below](#time_range_global_search) for more info).
> 
> > Macro (rw-step)
> 
> Select the tables that you wish to search. Note that, by default, all tables are selected, and switching off one of them will switch off the **Select all tables** option.
> 
> > Macro (rw-step)
> 
> Hit the [ENTER] key to run the search.

![image](media://e854eca5-4bda-4293-939b-ce6affdc3754)

> ⚠️ **Activity shown**
> ⚠️ 
> ⚠️ In order to avoid long loading times, note that the global search only returns events from data tables that had some activity for **the last 7 days**. Due to this, you may miss some data in your global search results.

> Macro (anchor)



### Setting time ranges for a global search

When setting time ranges, it is important to consider different aspects related to the type of time range specified and the method chosen to do it. You can use the interface to set **absolute**, **relative**, or **snap-to** dates:

- **Absolute**: a specific interval with fixed start and end dates to see data from a specific time period.
- **Relative**: a period of time relative to the current date (last 5 minutes, last day, etc.) to see data progression up to the present.
- **Snap to**: a period of time that goes back to the starting point of the selected time frame to see data without unrepresentative data samples resulting from analyzing incomplete periods. For example, if it is 10:53:17 on a Tuesday:

Snap to the day: you will see data beginning at 00:00 on that same Tuesday.  
Snap to the hour: you will see data beginning at 10:00.  
Snap to the minute: you will see data beginning at 10:53:00.

You can set a time range using the interface or manually introduce time expressions. Select the corresponding tab below to see the desired method.

#### Using the interface

You can set a time interval following the steps described in the picture below.

![image](media://3c0878be-d14d-44e2-845f-9ef8cc7c83e4)


#### Using date language expressions

You can also introduce time ranges manually using **[date language expressions](https://devodocs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/latest/pages/1236107316/Standards+across+the+Devo+Platform#Relative-date-language)**, which gives you more flexibility and precision when searching your data. Simply click on the date field and write the desired time expression or edit the existing one. The field turns red and an explanatory message appears until a valid date is entered. Click **Apply** when you finish. When the and the expressions will be translated into the corresponding dates.

> ⚠️ Your **from** date cannot be after your **to** date and your **to** date cannot be in the future.

You can use a mix of both absolute and date language expressions in any given time range (for example, the **to** date can be relative and the **from** date absolute, and vice versa). For date language expressions, the current moment "now()" is used as the reference point.

## Query performed by a global search

When you perform a global search, you will access the `all.data` table filtered by the expression you searched for. The default operation used is [Contains tokens (toktains)](https://devodocs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/latest/pages/95200622). You will see the operation performed under the text box while you enter the expression to look for. This would be the resulting query:

```
from all.data
where weaktoktains(message, "user@devo.com")
```

> ℹ️ **Case sensitive information**
> ℹ️ 
> ℹ️ Note that this operation is case sensitive. To ignore case, access your user or domain settings in the **Preferences **area and choose **Case insensitive** in the **Default case sensitivity in searches** dropdown. In this case, the operation would be [Contains tokens - case insensitive (weaktoktains)](https://devodocs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/latest/pages/95200585).

## Table fields in a global search

You can find the following fields with the following information in the table:

| **eventdate** | The date and time in which Devo received the event. |
| --- | --- |
| **technology** | The first and highest tag level. It indicates the type of technology from which the data comes. |
| **brand** | The second tag level. It indicates the vendor of the aforementioned technology. |
| **phylum** | The third tag level and the first optional, also known as type. It describes and categorizes the data source inside the company. |
| **family** | The fourth tag level and the second optional, also known as subtype 1. It further describes and categorizes the data source in case subdivisions are necessary. |
| **genus** | The fifth tag level and the third optional, also known as subtype 2. If further describes and categorizes the data source in case more subdivisions are necessary. |
| **species** | The sixth and lowest tag level and the fourth optional, also known as subtype 3. It further describes and categorizes the data source in case even more subdivisions are necessary. |
| **tables** | The tables in which the token appears. |
| **hostName** | The name of the machine from which the event originated. |
| **hostIp** | The IP address of the machine from which the event originated. |
| **message** | The data received in the event. |

> ℹ️ **Metadata from other tables**
> ℹ️ 
> ℹ️ Be aware that sometimes the tags from the fields do not coincide with the tables in which the token appears. This is because those tables extract information and metadata from the ones in which they actually appear.

## Global search result

In the capture below, we have entered the term *info *to check the events containing that word in all the tables in our domain. You can filter the table so that only those events contained in specific tables are shown. To do that, you can use the [Any name matches (anymatches)](https://devodocs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/latest/pages/95199143) operation.

![image](media://ff067044-8869-412c-92f6-08e7f8496e23)