A selection is a named set of IDs of the same record type. It has a name and description, and is often used as input into a process or report as a means to specify which set of records should be acted on by that process. For example, the “Identify Prospects” process accepts a selection for use in prospect research. Because selections consist only of IDs (rather than output fields), they are optimized for peak processing speed.
A selection can be either static or dynamic. A static selection is a fixed set of IDs that does not change. For example, if a record that originally met the criteria of the query on which the selection is based changes so that it does not currently meet the criteria, the record ID is still included in the selection each time you use it. The selection contains the same records until you refresh it manually or with an automated process. A dynamic selection analyzes membership each time it is used in a function, so records may be added or removed from it each time you use it.
Many processes not only use selections as parameters, they also produce static selections as output because selections capture the records that were processed. For example, you can use a static selection of exceptions from a process as input when you use the process again.
To view a list of all the selections in your database, navigate to Analysis and click View selections.
There are several ways to create selections.
| • | You can use ad-hoc queries to create selections. The selections are either static or dynamic and contain the IDs of the rows that meet the query criteria. In many cases you create ad-hoc queries just to create selections from the results. For more information, refer to Create Selections from Queries. |
| • | Business processes throughout the program prompt you to create selections, or the program may create selections as part of processes. Selections you create from business processes have a query type of Other. For information about how to edit or set the active status of these selections, refer to Manage Selections with a Query Type of Other. |
| • | You can merge two selections of the same type together. For example, you can merge two constituent selections to create a selection of recipients for a communication. For information about how to merge selections, refer to Merge Two Selections. |