Before you create the lookup, you need to decide which report you plan to run, because the lookup needs to relate to the report you're creating. You also need to decide the criteria for the lookup. The example we'll use is the Contact Directory report and the lookup will be based on City and State.

This procedure is a simple query chain. The first lookup examines the entire database and creates a temporary list of all the contacts in the specified state. The second lookup, by specifying Narrow Lookup, causes the query to look only at the temporary list, not the whole database, and then creates a new temporary list of contacts who are in the specified city within the specified state. This lookup is retained by the ACT! program until ACT! is closed or another new lookup is performed. It is called the Current Lookup and can then be used to filter a report.

What was used here was a simple query lookup. The ACT! program provides other methods of querying the database that are more complex. As a general rule, if you need to create a lookup that is based on a couple of field values, the method shown here is a good one to use. A more complex query is shown in a later procedure.