Overview
The Find Text In Attributes calculator searches across all attributes in your event log to locate text patterns. This powerful search tool scans both case-level and event-level attributes, helping you quickly locate specific values, identifiers, or text fragments anywhere in your process data.
Unlike simple filters that work on individual attributes, this calculator performs a comprehensive search across your entire dataset and returns all matching locations, making it ideal for data exploration and investigation tasks.
Common Uses
- Locate cases containing specific order numbers, invoice numbers, or transaction IDs
- Find all instances of a customer name or vendor name across multiple attributes
- Search for error messages or status codes across different process stages
- Investigate data quality issues by searching for unexpected values or patterns
- Discover which attributes contain specific text when you're unsure where to look
- Track the propagation of key identifiers through different process attributes
Settings
Search Text: Enter the text string you want to search for across all attributes. The search is case-sensitive by default and will find exact matches of the text anywhere within attribute values.
Search Mode: Choose how the search should match text:
- Contains: Finds attributes where the search text appears anywhere in the value (default)
- Exact Match: Finds attributes where the value exactly matches the search text
- Starts With: Finds attributes where the value begins with the search text
- Ends With: Finds attributes where the value ends with the search text
Include Case Attributes: When enabled, searches through all case-level attributes (default: enabled).
Include Event Attributes: When enabled, searches through all event-level attributes (default: enabled).
Case Sensitive: When enabled, the search distinguishes between uppercase and lowercase letters (default: enabled).
Examples
Example 1: Finding a Specific Order Number
Scenario: A customer called about order "ORD-2024-15847" and you need to quickly locate this order in your system without knowing which attribute contains the order number.
Settings:
- Search Text: ORD-2024-15847
- Search Mode: Contains
- Include Case Attributes: Enabled
- Include Event Attributes: Enabled
- Case Sensitive: Enabled
Output:
The calculator displays a table showing all matches:
| Attribute Name | Attribute Type | Match Count | Sample Values |
|---|---|---|---|
| OrderID | Case | 1 | ORD-2024-15847 |
| ReferenceNumber | Event | 3 | Payment for ORD-2024-15847 |
| Description | Event | 2 | Shipped ORD-2024-15847 |
Insights: The order number appears in three different attributes across the process. The single match in OrderID confirms one case exists, while the event-level matches show this reference appears in payment and shipping descriptions. You can click on any row to see the specific cases and events containing this value.
Example 2: Investigating Customer Complaints
Scenario: You received complaints about a vendor named "Acme Corp" and want to find all process instances involving this vendor, regardless of which attribute stores the vendor name.
Settings:
- Search Text: Acme Corp
- Search Mode: Contains
- Include Case Attributes: Enabled
- Include Event Attributes: Enabled
- Case Sensitive: Disabled
Output:
| Attribute Name | Attribute Type | Match Count | Sample Values |
|---|---|---|---|
| VendorName | Case | 47 | Acme Corp |
| Supplier | Case | 47 | ACME CORP |
| ProcessedBy | Event | 142 | Acme Corp Distribution Center |
| Notes | Event | 23 | Contacted Acme Corp regarding delay |
Insights: The search found 47 cases involving Acme Corp. The vendor appears under both "VendorName" and "Supplier" attributes, with slight variations in capitalization. Event-level matches reveal specific touchpoints with this vendor throughout the process. This comprehensive view helps you quickly filter to all Acme Corp-related cases for detailed analysis.
Example 3: Tracking Error Codes Across the Process
Scenario: You want to understand where error code "ERR-503" appears in your process to identify which activities or stages are affected.
Settings:
- Search Text: ERR-503
- Search Mode: Contains
- Include Case Attributes: Enabled
- Include Event Attributes: Enabled
- Case Sensitive: Enabled
Output:
| Attribute Name | Attribute Type | Match Count | Sample Values |
|---|---|---|---|
| ErrorCode | Event | 38 | ERR-503 |
| SystemResponse | Event | 38 | Service Unavailable ERR-503 |
| ValidationStatus | Case | 12 | Failed with ERR-503 |
| Comments | Event | 15 | Retry after ERR-503 |
Insights: Error code ERR-503 appears in 38 events across the process, affecting 12 cases overall (shown in ValidationStatus). The error appears primarily in event-level attributes, suggesting it occurs at specific process steps rather than affecting entire cases. By drilling into these matches, you can identify which activities generate this error and when retry attempts occur.
Example 4: Data Quality Investigation
Scenario: During data validation, you notice some records may contain the placeholder text "NULL" or "N/A" instead of actual values. You want to identify which attributes contain these placeholders.
Settings:
- Search Text: NULL
- Search Mode: Exact Match
- Include Case Attributes: Enabled
- Include Event Attributes: Enabled
- Case Sensitive: Disabled
Output:
| Attribute Name | Attribute Type | Match Count | Sample Values |
|---|---|---|---|
| ManagerApproval | Event | 156 | NULL |
| CostCenter | Case | 89 | NULL |
| Department | Case | 89 | NULL |
| ApprovalComments | Event | 203 | NULL |
Insights: Several attributes contain "NULL" values, indicating incomplete data. The 89 cases missing CostCenter and Department data suggest a data extraction issue for these attributes. The 203 events with NULL ApprovalComments may be legitimate (comments are optional), but the 156 events missing ManagerApproval require investigation as this may be a required field. This analysis helps prioritize data quality improvements.
Example 5: Finding Invoice Amounts
Scenario: You need to locate all references to a specific invoice amount of "15,750.00" across your accounts payable process to investigate a disputed charge.
Settings:
- Search Text: 15750
- Search Mode: Contains
- Include Case Attributes: Enabled
- Include Event Attributes: Enabled
- Case Sensitive: Enabled
Output:
| Attribute Name | Attribute Type | Match Count | Sample Values |
|---|---|---|---|
| InvoiceAmount | Case | 3 | 15750.00 |
| TotalAmount | Event | 3 | $15,750.00 |
| PaymentValue | Event | 2 | 15750.00 USD |
| LineItemTotal | Event | 8 | Item subtotal: 15750.00 |
Insights: The amount 15,750 appears in 3 different invoices (case-level), with a total of 8 line items across various events. The discrepancy between 3 invoices and 8 line items suggests some invoices have multiple line items totaling this amount. This comprehensive search helps you identify whether you're dealing with one invoice or multiple invoices with the same amount.
Example 6: Case-Insensitive Customer Search
Scenario: You want to find all cases involving customer "TechStart Inc" but the customer name might be entered with different capitalizations across your system.
Settings:
- Search Text: techstart
- Search Mode: Contains
- Include Case Attributes: Enabled
- Include Event Attributes: Enabled
- Case Sensitive: Disabled
Output:
| Attribute Name | Attribute Type | Match Count | Sample Values |
|---|---|---|---|
| CustomerName | Case | 28 | TechStart Inc, TECHSTART INC, Techstart Inc. |
| BillingEntity | Case | 28 | TechStart Inc |
| ContactName | Event | 45 | John Smith - TechStart, Sarah Lee (TechStart Inc) |
| EmailDomain | Event | 156 | techstart.com |
Insights: With case-insensitive search, you found all 28 cases for TechStart regardless of how the name was capitalized. The variation in naming (with/without "Inc", different capitalization) reveals data standardization issues. The EmailDomain matches show even more touchpoints (156 events) since any email from techstart.com was caught. This helps you create comprehensive filters while also identifying data quality improvements needed.
Output
The Find Text In Attributes calculator displays results in a searchable table with the following columns:
Attribute Name: The name of the attribute containing the search text.
Attribute Type: Indicates whether this is a Case attribute (applies to entire cases) or Event attribute (applies to individual activities).
Match Count: The number of times the search text appears in this attribute. For case attributes, this represents the number of cases. For event attributes, this represents the number of events.
Sample Values: Example values showing how the search text appears in this attribute, displaying up to 3 unique values.
Interactive Features
Click on a row: Drill down to see all specific cases and events containing the search text in that particular attribute.
Sort capabilities: Click column headers to sort by attribute name, match count, or attribute type.
Export functionality: Export the search results to Excel or CSV for documentation or further analysis.
Create filter from results: After finding relevant attributes, you can create targeted filters to isolate cases containing specific text patterns.
Usage Tips
- Use "Contains" mode with partial text for exploratory searches when you're unsure of exact values
- Use "Exact Match" mode when searching for specific codes or identifiers
- Disable case sensitivity when searching for names or text that might have inconsistent capitalization
- Start with broad searches to understand data structure, then refine with more specific criteria
- Review sample values to understand how the search text appears in context before drilling down
The calculator is particularly valuable during initial data exploration, allowing you to quickly understand where specific information is stored across your process attributes without manually checking each field.
This documentation is part of the mindzie Studio process mining platform.