Report Desk: Understanding SumValuesInGroup Aggregates

Report Desk: Understanding SumValuesInGroup Aggregates

Release Date: 10/18/2022
Elliott Version: 8.6 and Higher

Background

The Sum aggregate is useful for calculating the sum of a value in all report rows.  For example, a detail line in a report might contain a column for Quantity On Hand.  You might use the Sum aggregate in a Group Header, Group Footer, or Report Footer to add up the Quantity-On-Hand value for all the detail rows in a group or in the entire report.

Using the Normal Sum Aggregate

To use the Sum aggregate, select a column that represents a numeric value (in a report footer, for example) and press the Info icon in the grid:


That brings up the Update Aggregates dialog, where you can select the Sum aggregate:

Now, when you save the report and run it, you will get a value in that column in the Report Footer that sums the detail lines:

In this case, the report designer was attempting to sum the Sales-Amt for the two items in the Report Footer.  But you can clearly see that the amount should be 114.00 instead of 142.00.  What is going on here?

It turns out that there are a total of four detail lines (underlined in blue).  The Sum aggregate actually added the 14.00 amount 3 times (once for each detail line) and the 100.00 amount 1 time (once for each detail line).  Clearly, that is not a total that makes any sense.

Using SumValuesInGroup1 Aggregate in a Report Footer
What is happening in the above example is that the amount in the Group Header is being added to the sum each time a detail line is displayed instead of each time a Group Header is displayed.  We have added some new aggregates to solve this problem.

In the footer line, click the Info icon to bring up the Updates Dialog box.  Notice that you have an option in the drop down for an aggregate called SumValuesInGroup1 :

When you use this aggregate, it will only add to the sum each time Group Header 1 is displayed.
The report will have the correct totals:

The aggregate SumValuesInGroup1 only appears in the Update Aggregate dialog because this functionality is only necessary when processing Report Footers.  There will be a separate SumValuesInGroup aggregate for each Report Group (SumValuesInGroup1, SumValuesInGroup2, etc.).

JEG
Programs: EL860RD, SYRPTUDR, UDRDesign




    • Related Articles

    • How to Investigate or Debug Report Desk Problem by Using Registry Keys

      Release Date: 01/25/2025 Version: 8.6 & Up Report Desk is based on the PSQL relational engine. It sends a SQL statement to PSQL engine to retrieve data. Sometimes, you don't get the result back that you expected, so what next? For example, when you ...

    • How to Investigate or Debug Report Desk Problem by Using SQL Statement

      Released Date: 1/25/2025 Version: 8.6 & Higher Report Desk is based on the PSQL relational engine. It sends a SQL statement to the PSQL engine to retrieve data. Sometimes, you don't get the result back as you expected, so what next? For example, when ...

    • Report Desk: Documentation Roadmap

      Release Date: 4/28/23 Version: 8.6 Setup and Configuration The following articles explain initial setup and ongoing maintenance of Report Desk: Report Desk: Setup and Configuration : Initial installation and ongoing maintenance. Elliott V8.6 ...

    • Developing a New Elliott V8.6 Report Desk User Defined Report (UDR)

      'Release Date: 6/20/2018 Version: 8.6 & Up This document is written for licensed Elliott Software developers. It is not relevant for regular Elliott users. Overview With proper licensing, Elliott developers can follow these three steps to create a ...

    • Data Structures for Report Desk Defaults and Enforcements

      Release Date: 9/19/2022 Version 8.6 and Higher In Report Desk, users can save their input values, as well as output option in templates and re-use them in the future. On the first Report Desk screen, the system prompts you to input the selection of ...