Filtering and Sorting

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Using Filters to Find What You Need

Filters help you quickly find specific information in your sheets by showing only rows that match your criteria. This is especially helpful when working with large datasets.

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Creating Basic Filters

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Filter Operations by Column Type

Different column types support different filtering operations:

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Basic Filters

These fundamental filters are available across most column types:

• Equals (=): Matches values that are exactly the same as your input

  • In text fields: Case-sensitive exact match
  • In numeric fields: Exact numeric match

• Not Equal (!=): Shows all values except those that exactly match your input

  • Useful for excluding specific values from your results

• Contains: Text includes the specified substring

• Starts With: Text begins with the specified characters

• Ends With: Text ends with the specified characters

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TEXT Column Filters

• Contains: Text includes the specified substring
• Equals: Text matches exactly (case-sensitive)
• Does not equal: Text does not match exactly
• Starts with: Text begins with the specified characters
• Ends with: Text ends with the specified characters
• Is empty: Cell has no content
• Is not empty: Cell has any content

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NUMBER Column Filters

• Equals: Value matches exactly
• Does not equal: Value does not match
• Greater than: Value exceeds specified number
• Less than: Value is below specified number
• Between: Value falls within a specified range
• Is empty: Cell has no value
• Is not empty: Cell has any value

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DATE Column Filters

• On: Date matches exactly
• Before: Date is earlier than specified
• After: Date is later than specified
• Between: Date falls within a range
• Is empty: No date entered
• Is not empty: Any date present

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BOOLEAN Column Filters

• Is true: Shows only items marked as true/yes
• Is false: Shows only items marked as false/no

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SELECT Column Filters

• Is: Matches a specific selected option
• Is not: Excludes a specific selected option
• Is any of: Matches any option in a list
• Is all of: Matches all options in a list (MULTI_SELECT only)
• Is empty: No option selected
• Is not empty: Any option selected

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Advanced Filters

In addition to the basic filter operations, Raycaster provides powerful advanced filtering capabilities:

• Like (~~ ): Matches text using SQL-like pattern matching with wildcards
  • Example: ~~%data science% would match any text containing “data science”
• Case Insensitive Like: Similar to Like but ignores letter case
  • Example: This would match “DATA SCIENCE”, “data science”, or “Data Science”
• In List: Checks if a value is contained within a specified list of options
  • Example: Check if a company is in a list of target accounts
• Is Null: Shows only rows where the cell has a null value (different from empty)
  • Note: This is useful for finding rows with missing data that need attention

These advanced filters are especially useful for complex data analysis and can be combined with basic filters to create highly specific data views.

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Combining Filters

For more complex filtering needs, you can combine multiple filter conditions:

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Filter Logic Examples

Example of combining filters with AND logic:

• Column “Industry” contains “biotech” AND
• Column “Funding” is greater than “5000000” AND
• Column “Country” equals “United States”

This would show only biotech companies in the United States with more than $5M in funding.

Example of combining filters with OR logic:

• Column “Industry” contains “biotech” OR
• Column “Industry” contains “pharma” OR
• Column “Industry” contains “medical devices”

This would show companies from any of these three industries.

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Clearing Filters

To remove filters and return to viewing all data:

1. Click the “Filter” button in the toolbar to open the filter panel
2. Click “Clear All” to remove all filters
3. Alternatively, click the “X” next to individual filters to remove them selectively

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Sorting Data

Sorting helps you organize your data in a meaningful order, making it easier to analyze and understand patterns.

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Basic Sorting

To sort by a single column:

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Combining Filters and Sorts

Filters and sorts work together to help you pinpoint exactly the data you need:

1. First apply filters to narrow down to the specific data subset you’re interested in
2. Then apply sorting to organize that filtered data in a meaningful way
3. Both filters and sorts remain active until you clear them

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Example Combined Workflow

A typical workflow might look like:

1. Filter companies to only show those in the pharmaceutical industry
2. Further filter to include only those with funding over $10M
3. Sort these filtered companies by employee count (descending)
4. Add a secondary sort by founded date (newest first)

This gives you a view of the largest, newest pharmaceutical companies with significant funding.