Part Number Field

Use the part number field when you know the part number for the item you are searching.

The results of the search will show all the items that have the part numbers starting with the characters you enter.

Example:

If you type in the part number "DUB213" you will not only get item number DUB213 listed, you will also get DUB2130, DUB2131, DUB2132 . . . DUB2139.

Since the first three characters (the prefix) of a part number generally indicates the manufacturer of that product, you can type in only the prefix (if you know it), and the results will show all items for that manufacturer. Of course, you can also simply select the manufacturer from the Vendor drop down list to accomplish the same thing.

Example:

Type in only "DUB" in the part number field and you get a list of all products for Du-Bro.

The Part Number field may be used in conjunction with the Keyword and Category fields (see Combining Search Criteria below). The Part Number field overrides the Vendor Drop List (i.e.: if you enter something in the Part Number field, the Vendor Drop List selection will be ignored).

Vendor Drop List

If you wish to search for products by a specific manufacturer, simply open the drop list beside "Vendor:" and select the appropriate manufacturer. The search results will show all items listed for that particular manufacturer.

The Vendor Drop List may be used in conjunction with the Description and Category fields (see Combining Search Criteria below). The Part Number field overrides the Vendor Drop List (i.e.: if you enter something in the Part Number field, the Vendor Drop List selection will be ignored).

Category Drop List

You can also scan for products by category. The Category Drop List shows all the major categories of product that we sell. Although the list is long, we have tried to make the presentation of the list as logical as possible.

The results will show all items for the category selected, grouped by manufacturer.

The Category field may be used in conjunction with the Part Number, Vendor, and Keyword fields (see Combining Search Criteria below).

Category Code

The Category Code field is for the convenience of those who happen to know the category codes we use for products. It is included primarily for staff use. If a category is selected in the Category field, and a Category Code is entered, the Category Code will over-ride the Category selection.

Keyword

The Keyword field can have two different functions.

If no other criteria are entered (ie. Part Number, Vendor, or Category is not used or selected) the search will perform exactly as if it were a Quick Search. Refer to the Quick Search section at the bottom of this page for more information.

If it is used in combination with the other search fields, the keywords will only apply to the description field of the product listing.

• Up to four terms can be entered in the Keyword field and each should be separated by spaces
• Keywords entered do not have to be in any particular order
• The search will look only in the product Description field for matches to the terms entered
• It will search for "all" terms—results will be listed that have all terms entered in the description field.
• The results will show all items containing the keyword(s) in the product description field grouped by manufacturer.

The Keyword field may be used in conjunction with the Part Number, Vendor, and Category fields (see Combining Search Criteria below).

Combining Search Criteria

The different search criteria may be combined to narrow the number of search results search. The only exception to this is that the Part No. field and Vendor field cannot be combined. Since the first three characters of the Part Number field determine the manufacturer, specifying it twice would either be in conflict or redundant. The Part No. field overrides the Vendor field.

Combining a single vendor's name with a category, for instance, will result in only products of that category, manufactured by the chosen manufacturer being shown. If you put in a keyword and select a vendor, the results will consist of all products from that manufacturer that has the specified keyword in its description. Choosing a category and specifying a keyword will display all items in that category that also has the keyword in the description.

You can combine all three fields—Keyword, Vendor and Category—to narrow the results even further displaying only the items from a single manufacturer, in a single category, that contain the keyword(s) entered. It will accept up to four keywords.

Refining a Search

Once you have produced results from an Advanced Search or a Quick Search, you can refine the results using the search box at the top of the Search Results page. This works the same as the advanced search, however, it will search only the results that are produced from the initial search.

If, for example, you created a search in the Advanced Search page for all items in one specific Vendor, the Refine Search option would not let you choose any other vendors but would allow you to select any category of product that vendor carried. You could also use the Keyword field to help refine the search.

If you created a search in the Advanced Search for all items in a specific category, the Refine Search option would let you refine the search to any single Vendor carrying that category of product, and it would also give you a drop list of sub-categories with which to narrow the search.

This holds true for subsequent results as well. The refine search will work only on the latest set of results allowing you to narrow the search more each time. If you wish to start a completely new search, simply click on the "Advanced Search" option on the left hand menu.

Quick Search

The Quick Search function of our website is a great way to find the products you want fast. You can enter any or all of the following:

• The part number for a product or a portion of a part number as long as the characters are consecutive from the beginning of the part number.
• The vendors (manufacturer's) name or portion of the name
• A word or words that would appear in the category description
• A word or words that would appear in the description of the product

You can enter more than one word (a word defined as a group of characters) as long as they are separated by at least one space. The search results will contain all items that adhere to all of the criteria you enter—the more information you enter, the narrower the search. Each word (character group) that you enter will have to be found in at least one of either the part number, the vendor name, the category description, or the product description of the item that will appear in the results.

Remember though, the words or characters you enter must match the criteria exactly. If you enter DUBRO when the manufacturer's name is actually DU-BRO, it would not be found. However, DUB would work because that is the prefix for Du-Bro that would be found in the part number.

The Quick Search will search all products on our site as described above, but it will not search the general text of our website.