How to Quickly Find the Particular Saved Search that Triggered an Email With a Custom Subject Line in NetSuite

If you’re a NetSuite Admin, it is common that you need to make updates to saved searches. What happens if an end user receives an email alert from a saved search and needs it updated, but the subject of the email they received is not the title of the saved search? This can make it difficult for an admin to track down exactly which saved search is behind that email alert, especially if there are thousands of saved searches created in your NetSuite account. I have a solution for you and it’s surprisingly simple!

By default, the ‘Subject’ field of the email alert created from a saved search will inherit the name of the saved search itself. In this case, if the search is public (or you are the owner), you can simply enter the saved search name in the global search bar to track it down. Alternatively, if the saved search is not public and/or you are not the owner, you can use the Saved Search page (Lists >> Searches >> Saved Searches) and appropriate filters to find the saved search by its title.

Another route is available, though perhaps not widely known, if the email alert contains an attachment of the search results as an Excel file. Opening the file will display the name of the saved search on the Tab of the spreadsheet, as illustrated below. 

But how do you find the saved search behind an email alert with a custom subject – where the email subject is NOT the title of the saved search – and the results are not sent as an Excel file?

By creating an Analytics Audit Trail search, we can quickly find this elusive saved search! Although you can’t specifically search for the value of the Subject field of the email alert through a ‘Saved Search’ search, here’s the trick: you can search for the change made to that field in the audit trail by searching for the New Value. The custom subject of the email alert can be found within the audit trail of the saved search behind it. Let’s take a look.

Scenario

In this example, an end user received an email alert with the email subject “Projects Created Last Month” and needs the alert updated. Now, you need to find the saved search in order to make the updates. The only information you have is the subject of the email they received and the contents of that email. The results of the search were not sent as an Excel file. You verified that there are no saved searches with the exact title of the subject, so this indicates that the subject entered was custom.

Solution

Step 1: Create a new Analytics Audit Trail search

Step 2: Add the following under the Criteria Tab

1. Record Type = Search
2. Detail Name = Subject
3. New Value contains (Copy and Paste in the Subject of the email alert that the end user received)
   • Note: If the subject of the email contains search results fields, do not copy and paste that part of the subject. For example, if the subject was “Project Created Last Month” followed by the ID of a project, only copy and paste the “Project Created Last Month” text. This is because we are searching through saved search audit trails. The audit trail will not contain the result of the field that was entered into the subject field, it will only have the field ID itself.

Step 3: Add the following under the Results Tab

1. Record Type
2. Record Title
3. Record Owner
4. Detail Name
5. New Value

Step 4: Run the Search to see the Results

1. The Record Title column reveals the title of the saved search that sent the email alert that contained the subject “Projects Created Last Month”. Now we know the title of the search that we need to update!
   • Note: If the Subject of the email alert contains the same information as the subject entered for other saved search email alerts, the results may return multiple saved searches. If this happens, this at least boils it down to just a few searches that could be the one you’re looking for. Even if you have to look into a few different searches, this method still saves an admin time, rather than having to comb through many saved searches.

Conclusion

In this article, we covered a solution to quickly find a saved search that sent an email alert with a custom subject. Sometimes an admin needs to get a little creative with how they are using searches in order to pull certain information they are looking for. Analytics Audit Trail searches can be extremely helpful to admins in many different scenarios. In addition to saved searches, this search type can be applied to Financial Layouts, Reports and Report Schedules^[I]NetSuite (June 21, 2013). Audit Trail Search. Available at https://netsuite.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/30742 [Accessed January 12, 2021]..

The solution explained in this article is an example of a creative approach to find information that would traditionally be difficult. Since there isn’t a way to pull the ‘Subject’ field of a saved search email alert through a normal ‘Saved Search’ search, we pulled the information that was entered into that field through an Analytics Audit Trail search, because we know that information is logged in the audit trail.

One alternate method that some might suggest is checking the Internet Headers information located under the email properties for the search title. This method may prove to be difficult, however, as there is so much text to comb through to find that information. Although some may find success using this method, I personally have not, which is what led me to coming up with a different way to find that information.

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