Search views

We can also make predefined filter and grouping options available, in the search box in the upper-right corner of the list view. Odoo considers these view elements also, and so they are defined in Views records, just like lists and forms are.

As you may already know by now, Views can be edited either in the Settings | Technical | User Interface menu, or from the contextual Developer Tools menu. Let's go for the latter now; navigate to the to-do list, click on the Developer Tools icon in the upper-right corner, and select Edit Search view from the available options:

Since no search view is yet defined for the To-do Items Model, we will see an empty form, inviting us to create the first one. Fill in these values and save it:

1. View Name: Some meaningful description, such as To-do Items Filter
2. View Type: Search
3. Model: x_todo_item
4. Architecture: Add this XML code:

<search>
 <filter name="item_not_done" 
         string="Not Done" 
         domain="[('x_is_done', '=', False)]" />
</search>

If we now open the to-do list from the menu, so that it is reloaded, we will see that our predefined filter is now available from the Filters button below the search box. If we type Not Done inside the search box, it will also show a suggested selection.

It would be nice to have this filter enabled by default, and disable it when needed. Just like default field values, we can also use context to set default filters.

When we click on the To-do menu option, it runs a Window Actions to open the To-do list view. This Window Actions can set a context value, signaling the Views to enable a search filter by default. Let's try this:

1. Click on the To-do menu option to go to the To-do list.
2. Click on the Developer Tools icon and select the Edit Action option. This will open the Window Actions used to open the current Views. In the lower-right corner, there is a Filter section, where we have the Domain and Context fields.

The Domain allows to set a fixed filter on the records shown, which can't be removed by the user. We don't want to use that. Instead, we want to enable the item_not_done filter created before by default, which can be deselected whenever the user wishes to. To enable a filter by default, add a context key with its name prefixed with search_default_, in this case {'search_default_item_not_done': True}.

If we click on the To-do menu option now, we should see the Not Done filter enabled by default on the search box.