Accumulation Techniques for Reporting
with WebFOCUS
Kyle Hachey
Systems Engineer
Copyright 2007, Information Builders. Slide 1
Workshop Objectives
 Use WebFOCUS to produce report totals
 Row and Column Totals
 Prefix Operators for Counts, Percentages, Minimums, etc.
 Use Compute to combine selected columns
 Produce section totals at break points
 Subtotal and Recompute
 Review report message options
 Calculate new summary values with RECAP
 Apply conditions to operations with WHEN
Copyright 2007, Information Builders. Slide 2
Providing Totals in Reports
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WebFOCUS enables you to produce commons types of
totals in reports:
 Totals for numeric values in rows
 Totals for numeric values in columns
 Totals for sort breaks in a report
 Grand totals at the end of a report
Copyright 2007, Information Builders. Slide 3
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The Compensation and Bonus Estimates Report
The payroll manager from the Human Resources department needs a
report that displays compensation and bonus estimates for each region
and a grand total.
Developer
Studio
Copyright 2007, Information Builders. Slide 4
Performing Numeric Operations
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Prefix operators are mathematical functions that are
added to the fieldname in a verb phrase.


Can only be applied to column fields.
Cannot be applied to sort fields (BY or ACROSS).
Copyright 2007, Information Builders. Slide 5
Performing Numeric Operations (continued)
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Numeric operations include:
 Calculate the average (or mean) of the values of a
column


Determine the minimum or maximum value of a column.

Sum and count numeric values.
Calculate the percentage of a column value to the
column total.
Copyright 2007, Information Builders. Slide 6
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Prefix Operators
Prefix Operator
Function
CNT
Count the number of values for a field.
CNT.DST
Count the unique occurrences of field values in a sort
group.
DST
Determines the total number of distinct values in a single
pass of a data source.
SUM
Add the values of a field.
AVE
Calculate the average (mean) value for a field.
MIN
Identify the lowest value of a field.
MAX
Identify the highest value of a field.
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Copyright 2007, Information Builders. Slide 7
Prefix Operators (continued)
Prefix Operator
Function
ASQ
Compute the average sum of the squares for
standard deviation in statistical analysis.
ST
Provide the aggregate value for a sort group in
section headings and footings.
TOT
Provide the aggregate value of a field (used
primarily in page headings and footings).
PCT
Calculate the percentage of a column value to the
column total.
RPCT
Determine the percentage of a column value to the
row total.
PCT.CNT
Calculate the percentage of a COUNT to the total
count.
FST
Select the first instance of a field. *
LST
Select the last instance of a field. *
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The Total Compensation Estimate Report
The payroll manager from the Human Resources department needs a
Total Compensation Estimate report that displays the employee count,
salary, benefits and combined salary and benefits for each division.
Developer
Studio
Copyright 2007, Information Builders. Slide 9
Review: Providing Totals in Reports
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To add all numeric verb objects for a row
total, use:
To total selected fields only, use:
To generate a grand total at the end of a
report, use:
Copyright 2007, Information Builders. Slide 10
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The Compensation and Bonus Estimates Report
The payroll manager from the Human Resources department needs a
Compensation and Bonus Estimates report that displays totals at key
break points, such as division and department.
Developer
Studio
Copyright 2007, Information Builders. Slide 11
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Review: Section Totals
Type of Function
At specific sortfield
only.
At specific sortfield and
all sortfields above it.
To Add Numeric Values
To Recalculate Computed
Fields
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Customized Formatting
Copyright 2007, Information Builders. Slide 13
Customized Formatting
Message Option
Effect
Page Heading
Creates a message at the top of each page.
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By default, the message appears left justified above first line of text for each page.
Page Footing
Creates a message at the end of each page.
By default, the message appears left justified below last line of text for each page.
Options include FOOTING BOTTOM, which displays the footing at the extreme
bottom of each page.
Section Heading
(Subheading)
Creates a message above a sort group when the sort values change.
Section Footing
(Subfooting)
Creates a message below a sort group when the sort values change.
Report Heading
Creates a one-time message at the top of the first page of the report.
By default, the message appears left justified above each section of the sort
group.
By default, the message appears left justified below each section of the sort
group.
By default, the message appears left justified above first line of text for the report.
Report Footing
Creates a one-time message at the bottom of the last page of the report.
By default, the message appears left justified below the last line of text for the
report.
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The Sales Metrics for All Products
Management would like a message in a report that displays the bonus for
a Manufacturing Plant, if the plant’s profit exceeds 14 percent.
Developer
Studio
Copyright 2007, Information Builders. Slide 15
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Using Recap
Command
Evaluation Point
DEFINE
Evaluated as each record that meets the selection
criteria is retrieved from the data source.
COMPUTE
Evaluated at the Internal Table level after all the data
that meets the selection is retrieved and sorted.
RECAP
Evaluated at the Internal Table level, after totals are
accumulated and formats are applied prior to
presentation.
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Review: Handling Messages
To display a numeric field’s grand total in a
heading, footing, subhead or subfoot, use:
To use subtotal values in a calculation, use:
To display a RECAP value in a customized text
line, use:
To control conditions under which summary lines
appear for each sort field value, use:
To minimize the width of a report by suppressing a
sort field from displaying, use:
<TOT.field
RECAP
RECAP and
SUBFOOT
WHEN
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Workshop: Review
 Use WebFOCUS to produce report totals
 Row and Column Totals
 Count the number of column values with the prefix operator CNT.
 Use Compute to combine selected columns
 Produce section totals at break points
 Subtotal and Recompute
 Review report message options
 Calculate new summary values with RECAP
 Apply conditions to operations with WHEN
Copyright 2007, Information Builders. Slide 18