Returning the Maximum of Date1 and Date2 in Cognos 10.2 - business-intelligence

At my company we've recently moved from SSRS to a Cognos-based Reporting System, I don't have much experience with Cognos as a whole and am running into some issues that seem trivially easy to fix but I am struggling so far.
In our DB we segregate two kinds of contact date information [Date Emailed] and [Date Called], I'm attempting to combine both to get a [Date Contacted] field returned.
Is there a way for me in Cognos report builder to find the max of both of these data items?
I would have expected some kind of "c = MAX(a,b)" function like the below to be available but from what I've seen, apparently not.
[Date Contacted] = MAX([Date Emailed], [Date Called])
Also, we have no access to modify SQL or any Cognos related part except the Report Builder which makes this all the more fun.
I feel like the answer will be building a CASE statement to do this, but I'd rather stay away from CASE if I can.
Thanks,
Blu

I wonder if you could use _days_between to determine which is the newer date.
Something like this:
Case
(_days_between (X, Y) > 0 )
then (x)
// or Y; I can't remember whether the value returned is a negative or positive if the first parameter is greater than the second. The expression editor's help will say. Anyway, this is just to point you in a direction rather than me coming down from Mount Sinai.
case
(_days_between (X, Y) > 0 )
then
(x) // or Y;
Else (x or y but it doesn't matter as there's no difference )

Related

Confirm my attempt at converting Crystal reports selection criteria to Oracle SQL

I have to create selection criteria for an Oracle SQL query based on a snippet from Crystal Reports.
I have no experience with Crystal reports so I have been trying to figure it out searching the web, but seem to be just wasting my time - Could not find anything helpful for this kind of task on the web.
This is the selection criteria that was provided:
{MATL_USED_VW.MAT_ID} = {?Material ID} and
{#Use Date} in {?Previous Use}
//#UseDate = Date({MATERIAL_ACTIVITIES.MA_END})
The column data types are all date columns except for the numeric MAT_ID column
I think this would equate to the following:
where matl_used_vw.mat_id = :Material_id
and use_date in (:previous_use, :usedate)
This is just a swag based on assumptions.
Here's my assumptions on the symbols:
? - probably is a parameter or prompt for input
# - has something to do with formulas
// - is continuation of previous line
{} - encloses an object (text, date number or whatever)
I'm not sure of anything here, it's all just a guess.
If anyone could shed some light on this, I would really appreciate it!
Thanks for the help on this!
Here's the answer in case some other schmuck unfamiliar with Crystal reports needs a similar answer:
# is a Formula. In this case, to convert text to date.
? is a Parameter In this case it represents a range
// is a remark. Same as # or ‘ in other languages.
{} - encloses an object (text, date number or whatever)

Xpath - is it possible to use more than one axes per query?

.//*[preceding::*[text()='Taco Salad'] and following::*[text()='Fajita Salad']]
I have text on this page and both queries for .//*[text()='Taco Salad'] and .//*[text()='Fajita Salad'] return what I expected. But I am a bit confused how to try to combine these with following and preceeding to grab some of the options nodes that present in the middle.
Does anyone have any working examples of using two axes?
I found this thread: combining XPATH axes (preceding-sibling & following-sibling) and tried to model my axes after it, but they don't seem to be valid xapths. Am I missing something obvious?
Unfortunately you haven't really told us what you want to achieve. Yes, you can use multiple axes; you can combine them in various different ways, depending on what result you want. So you need to explain what result you want. Using "and" at the top level simply tests whether both operands of the "and" select something.
Your question "does anyone have any working examples" isn't going to help. Yes, we can give you thousands of working examples, but it's entirely possible that none of them does what you want.
Here are some possible ways of combining two axis steps X and Y:
X/Y - select X, and from there, select Y
X and Y - return true if both X and Y select something
X or Y - return true if either X or Y selects something
X | Y - return the union of what X and Y select
X intersect Y - return the intersection of what X and Y select
The nearest you have come to a requirements statement is "grab some of the options nodes that present in the middle". That's hard to interpret without seeing your source document. It also might turn out to be a query that's easier in XPath 2.0 than in 1.0, so you really need to tell us which version you are using.
A working example of combining axes in single xpath can be:
//*[following-sibling::*[#class="bottom-notice"] and preceding-sibling::*[#name="new-answer"]]
It looks for the element form to write the answer on this page.

Configure larger limit of columns on Format module

The Format module
The Format module is used to model and combine pretty printers with a syntactic extension that allows typed formats and it helps a lot when you are writing something like a code generator or a data structure printer.
The problem
However, there is a limit of 78 columns that is initialized on the margin of the formatter and will pull to the left anything that takes more than this limit.
I'm printing a lighter version of a Yojson.Basic.json program using the Format module, but when the input is too large, the output is collapsed, and that is not really "prettily".
Preview
Here is how it is is formatted when it is short:
Here is how it is formatted when the indentation becomes too large
I've been trying to exceed and configure this limit to 120 columns, but didn't have any success.
What have I tried?
Using Format.pp_set_margin ppf 120 to reconfigure
Using Format.pp_set_max_indent to a larger value
But they doesn't seem to have any effect and there is no documentation easily available about this limit. I've discovered it only by reading the source code.
What am I doing?
let string_of_cst program =
let ppf = Format.str_formatter in
(* I've enabled colors. *)
Format.pp_set_tags ppf colors;
Format.pp_set_formatter_tag_functions ppf with_colors;
(* [print_json] is my printer. *)
print_json ppf program;
(* Get string out of printer. *)
Format.flush_str_formatter ()
How can I configure a larger limit?
The issue is that the values for margin and max_indent are implicitly constrained to the cone 1 < max_indent < margin and the function set_max_indent silently fails and does nothing if this constraint is not respected.
To avoid this issue, in OCaml ≥4.08, it would be possible to use the new set_geometry function that requires to set both value simultaneously and fails with an exception if the required max_indent is greater than the margin.
Otherwise, you should always set both values at the same time, and always in the order
margin first, and max_indent second. If you don't know which value to chose for max_indent, margin - 10 is generally an alright choice.

Report Builder Expressions

Im new to Report Builder and having issues with some expressions that Im trying to implement in a report. I got the standard ones to work however as soon as I try any distinctions, I get error messages. Over the last couple weeks, Ive tried many combinations, read the expression help, google and looking at other questions at internet sites. To reduce my frustrations, I even would jump to other expressions and walk away hoping I would have different insight coming back.
Its probably something simple or something I dont know about writing expressions.
Im hoping that someone can help with these expressions; they are the versions I get the least errors with(usually just expression expected) and show what Im trying to accomplish.
=IIF((Fields!RECORDFLAG.Value)='D',COUNTDISTINCT(Fields!TICKETNUM.Value),0)
=IIF((Fields!TRANSTYPE.Value)='1' and (Fields!RECORDFLAG.VALUE)='A' or
'B',SUM(Fields!DOLLARS.Value),0)
=IIF((Fields!TRANSTYPE.Value)='1' and
(Fields!RECORDFLAG.VALUE)='P',SUM(Fields!DOLLARS.Value),0)
=Sum([DOLLARS] case when [RECORDFLAG]='P' then -1*[DOLLARS])
Thank You.
=IIF((Fields!RECORDFLAG.Value)=”D”,COUNTDISTINCT(Fields!TICK‌​ETNUM.Value))
The error message gives you the answer here - no false part of the iif() has been specified. Use =IIF((Fields!RECORDFLAG.Value)=”D”,COUNTDISTINCT(Fields!TICK‌​ETNUM.Value), 0)
=IIF((Fields!TRANSTYPE.Value)="1" and (Fields!RECORDFLAG.VALUE)="A" or "B",SUM(Fields!DOLLARS.Value),0)
This is not how an OR works in SSRS. Use:
=IIF((Fields!TRANSTYPE.Value)="1" and (Fields!RECORDFLAG.VALUE="A" or Fields!RECORDFLAG.Value = "B"),SUM(Fields!DOLLARS.Value),0)
The 0s are returned due to your report design. countdistinct() is an aggregate function - it's meant to be used on a set of data. However, your iif() is only testing on a per row basis - you're basically saying "if the current row is thing, count all the distinct values" which doesn't make sense. There are a couple of ways forward:
You can count the number of times a certain value occurs in a given condition using a sum(). This is not the same as the countdistinct(), but if you use =sum(iif(Fields!RECORDFLAG.Value = "D", 1, 0)) then you will get the number of times RECORDFLAG is D in that set. Note: this requires the data to be aggregated (so in SSRS, grouped in a tablix).
You can use custom code to count distinct values in a set. See https://itsalocke.com/aggregate-on-a-lookup-in-ssrs/. You can apply this even if you have only one dataset - just reference the same one twice.
You can change the way your report works. You can group on Fields!RECORDFLAG.Value and filter the group to where Fields!RECORDFLAG.Value = "D". Then in your textbox, use =countdistinct(Fields!TICKETNUM.Value) to get the distinct values for TICKETNUM when RECORDFLAG is D.

ORA-00907 Error when using Analytic Function in a Query (PS/Query, Peopletools 8.51.12)

Query's throwing an ORA-00907 Error when I try to paste a list of values into a criteria.
Background: I'm not a developer, I'm just an end user that's studied enough to where I can write queries using PS/Query within Peoplesoft,
for my company's implementation. I work with Peoplesoft's FSCM module
(Financials and Supply Chain Management), currently on Version FSCM
8.90.08.024, using I think Oracle 11g as the base database.
I'm mostly self-taught, and the technical experts we have are busy
with database/application stuff, or they aren't familiar with my
section's specific data needs.
I should point out that I'm unable to directly write SQL statements to
Query the database. I have to use a built-in program called "PS/Query"
(also known as Query Manager) with a GUI that writes the SQL for you
and saves it as a Query that you can run to the database to extract
data. This is relevant to my question only in that:
1. I cannot create or alter views/tables
2. I cannot perform any type of SQL Statement except "SELECT"
3. I can embed PL/SQL, MetaSQL and plain SQL into Expressions
4. At this point, Query Manager is the only option I have.
PS/Query is my only experience with SQL so far, aside from Oracle's
documentation and sites like this. From my research, it's considered
extremely confining by "actual" SQL programmers.The restrictions on it
require you to do things in a manner that violates what seem to be
best practices of SQL coding.
Query Request: I have a query I've been requested to write that pulls out spend (on Vouchers and POs) against certain system-defined
Category Codes. What I'm trying to do is pull in Voucher IDs, sum the
merchandise amounts on them by Vendor and Category Code, and display
the results. Or in other words, for every unique combination of
Vendor/Category, add up all the Voucher Amounts that have that
Vendor/Category combination.
Using the SUM (Fieldname) OVER (PARTITION BY fieldname, fieldname)
syntax.
So the end result should look something like...
Code Vendor Amount
123-45 Acme $5000.00
123-45 Apple $4200.00
123-46 Acme $750.00
With that said, here's the SQL that Query Manager is displaying to get the result set I showed above:
SELECT DISTINCT D.CATEGORY_CD, D.TN_DESCR1000, C.VENDOR_ID, E.NAME1, SUM ( A.MERCH_AMT_VCHR) OVER (PARTITION BY D.CATEGORY_CD, C.VENDOR_ID),E.SETID,E.VENDOR_ID
FROM PS_PO_LINE_MATCHED A, PS_PO_LINE B, PS_PO_HDR C, PS_ITM_CAT_TBL D, PS_VENDOR E, PS_PYMNT_VCHR_XREF F
WHERE A.BUSINESS_UNIT = B.BUSINESS_UNIT
AND A.PO_ID = B.PO_ID
AND A.LINE_NBR = B.LINE_NBR
AND B.BUSINESS_UNIT = C.BUSINESS_UNIT
AND B.PO_ID = C.PO_ID
AND D.CATEGORY_ID = B.CATEGORY_ID
AND D.EFFDT =
(SELECT MAX(D_ED.EFFDT) FROM PS_ITM_CAT_TBL D_ED
WHERE D.SETID = D_ED.SETID
AND D.CATEGORY_TYPE = D_ED.CATEGORY_TYPE
AND D.CATEGORY_CD = D_ED.CATEGORY_CD
AND D.CATEGORY_ID = D_ED.CATEGORY_ID
AND D_ED.EFFDT <= SYSDATE)
AND ( F.SCHEDULED_PAY_DT >= TO_DATE('2010-07-01','YYYY-MM-DD')
AND F.SCHEDULED_PAY_DT <= TO_DATE('2011-06-30','YYYY-MM-DD'))
AND D.CATEGORY_CD LIKE :1
AND E.VENDOR_ID = C.VENDOR_ID
AND A.BUSINESS_UNIT = F.BUSINESS_UNIT
AND A.VOUCHER_ID = F.VOUCHER_ID
ORDER BY 1
Underlying Issue: This works fine, but it can only prompt on one
Category Code at a time. Category Codes are 5 digits, a 3-digit
"Class" followed by a dash and then a 2-digit "subclass. I have a list
of 375 Category Codes I need to get this Query result for.
I've set up a prompt on this version that allows entry of a Wildcard
(So 123-%%), but that's still about a hundred separate runs of the
Query. Query Manager allows use of an "In List" expression type in
Criteria, but it requires you to manually enter each entry in the
list.
I'm trying to set it up to where I can paste a plaintext copy of the
Code list into an Expression, with proper quotes/commas, and have it
evaluate that to give me a combined list of all the NIGP codes
specified. The Prompt field created by Query Manager doesn't allow
pasting of lists (as far as I know).
Attempted Solution: I viewed the page at http://peoplesoft.ittoolbox.com/groups/technical-functional/peoplesoft-other-l/create-an-expression-in-psoft-90-query-to-paste-a-list-of-emplids-2808427 and I've tried some of the answers given there, but none of them worked. That page led to me trying this modified SQL (obviously the list of codes is truncated a bit for display here):
SELECT DISTINCT D.CATEGORY_CD, D.TN_DESCR1000, C.VENDOR_ID, E.NAME1, SUM ( A.MERCH_AMT_VCHR) OVER (PARTITION BY D.CATEGORY_CD, C.VENDOR_ID),E.SETID,E.VENDOR_ID
FROM PS_PO_LINE_MATCHED A, PS_PO_LINE B, PS_PO_HDR C, PS_ITM_CAT_TBL D, PS_VENDOR E, PS_PYMNT_VCHR_XREF F
WHERE A.BUSINESS_UNIT = B.BUSINESS_UNIT
AND A.PO_ID = B.PO_ID
AND A.LINE_NBR = B.LINE_NBR
AND B.BUSINESS_UNIT = C.BUSINESS_UNIT
AND B.PO_ID = C.PO_ID
AND D.CATEGORY_ID = B.CATEGORY_ID
AND D.EFFDT =
(SELECT MAX(D_ED.EFFDT) FROM PS_ITM_CAT_TBL D_ED
WHERE D.SETID = D_ED.SETID
AND D.CATEGORY_TYPE = D_ED.CATEGORY_TYPE
AND D.CATEGORY_CD = D_ED.CATEGORY_CD
AND D.CATEGORY_ID = D_ED.CATEGORY_ID
AND D_ED.EFFDT <= SYSDATE)
AND ( F.SCHEDULED_PAY_DT >= TO_DATE('2010-07-01','YYYY-MM-DD')
AND F.SCHEDULED_PAY_DT <= TO_DATE('2011-06-30','YYYY-MM-DD'))
AND D.CATEGORY_CD = '005-00' OR D.CATEGORY_CD IN ('015-00,'' '015-06,'' '015-10,'' '615-07'')
AND E.VENDOR_ID = C.VENDOR_ID
AND A.BUSINESS_UNIT = F.BUSINESS_UNIT
AND A.VOUCHER_ID = F.VOUCHER_ID
ORDER BY 1
And the SQL above is what's giving me the ORA-00907 error. Has anyone ran into this problem before? Massive wall of text, I know. My apologies. This is my first post here and I'm trying not to leave anything relevant out.
I've got the immediate problem that spurred this question fixed,but that request is just the tip of a very large iceberg, and at some point I need to figure out a way to be able to paste plaintext lists in as criteria using Query Manager, preferably in a way that plays nice with Analytic Grouping.
TL;DR version:
Using Peoplesoft Query Manager to do an Analytic SUM with grouping using OVER, PARTITION BY. When I try to paste a list into the criteria, it throws an ORA-00907 Error.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Ok, after a bit more tweaking with this, I've found what I think is the underlying issue.
The error, in this case, is two-fold. Part of it was my fault (I didn't check for Peoplesoft mangling the quotation marks I pulled from Word), and part of it was the way Query Manager interprets some kinds of functions (you have to wrap some stuff in a Case When statement to get it to evaluate properly).
First, the "My Fault" part:
Every time I was pasting in my list of test NIGP Codes, I was doing it from a file I kept saved in Microsoft Word.
Which has the probably-handy "replace straight quotes with smart quotes" feature. Peoplesoft goes bonkers when its presented a "smart quote", and will display them as upside-down question marks (there's probably a technical term, I don't know it).
So when I'd test suggestions (such as fixing the quote/comma order as suggested by #Rene Nyffenegger and #WayneH) I'd start with my base test query, add in the expressions and test it, saving it as a separate query. If they didn't work, I'd go back to the base query. That way I could iterate changes and save potential tests as different versions.
My mistake was in not saving the different versions, leaving the application and going back in. It's when you save the query, leave the page, go somewhere else in Peoplesoft, then go back to open Query Manager that it actually shows you that it's doing the character conversion. You can't see it unless you do that. Even though Query Manager is doing it. So it was throwing a character Query Manager wouldn't recognize, but not showing me the character it wouldn't recognize.
I got a new work PC recently, and I've now disabled the Smart Quotes auto-replace for future use.
Second, the "Query Manager: part:
On the version of this that I got to work, I made use of wrapping the "IN" function inside a Case statement. I've found that a lot of SQL functions, when used "plain" (as I'd define them by just copy-pasting from Oracle's definitions pages and filling in the appropriate variables) tend to give PS/Query (Query Manager) heartburn. But if you wrap them inside a CASE...WHEN...END statement that evaluates the result of the function and then build a criteria that selects based on certain values of that result, the function will work and properly display a result.
So for an example, set up this expression (like in the example from #qyb2zm302). I'm using different codes from what was in my original example, but they work the same (they're all five-digit, character-typed codes consisting of three digits, a dash, then two digits)
Case when E.CATEGORY_CD IN
('375-15', '375-30', '375-54', '375-60', '380-30','938-63')
then 'true'
else 'false'
end
And then set a criteria:
AND
Case when E.CATEGORY_CD IN
('375-15', '375-30', '375-54', '375-60', '380-30','938-63')
then 'true'
else 'false'
end
= 'true'
It'll run to completion and return any rows that have that Category Code.
If you don't want to do that, you can do like in #qyb2zm302's Method 2. The only downside to that in Query Manager is that you have to enter them into individual rows in the "List", and if you can only copy-paste 25 at a time.
Wrapping it in a Case Statement lets you paste it directly into an Expression, which is far better for larger lists.
Solutions:
The above is the code I went with that worked. It's simplifying a bit for brevity's sake, but it works.
In List works through the native Query Manager option as long as you manually-populate the list
D.CATEGORY_CD = '005-00' OR works as long as you wrap it in a Case Statement
D.CATEGORY_CD IN ('015-00','015-06','015-10','615-07') works as long as you wrap it in a Case Statement
Peoplesoft hates Smart Quotes. None of the above will work if you're copying quotation marks directly from Word, but you won't see it unless you save, leave and come back to the same query in edit mode
Formatting is important. All of the above require the proper comma/quotation formatting, as pointed out by Rene and Wayne. Meaning: ('xxx-xx', 'xxx-01','xxx-02') etc
Thanks to everyone who helped on this! I don't think I've head-desked this hard before on any question, but I guess that's part of the learning process. Since all the answers posted are valid and correct (or at least a portion of the larger "correct"), I'm going to flag them all.
The
D.CATEGORY_CD IN ('015-00,'' '015-06,'' '015-10,'' '615-07'')
part looks fishy to me
Since a '' within a string "evaluates" to a single ' the first string is
'015-00,'' '
followed by (the non-string)
015-06,
The following '' is probably the thing that the parser stumbles upon since it's pretty meaningless.
Edit try it with a D.CATEGORY_CD IN ('015-00', '015-06', '015-10', '615-07').
Following the link you posted, I see 2 methods for doing what you are trying to accomplish.
I also notice that you tried a 3rd method.
Method 1
Criteria > Add Criteria
Expression Type: Character
Length: 255
Expression Text: D.CATEGORY_CD IN ('015-00','015-06','015-10','615-07') AND 1
Condition Type: equal to
Constant: 1
Method 2
Criteria > Add Criteria
Field: D.CATEGORY_CD
Condition Type: in list
Value: 015-00','015-06','015-10','615-07
Method 3 (Your Method)
Criteria > Add Criteria
Field: D.CATEGORY_CD
Condition Type: equal to
Define Expression: '015-00' OR D.CATEGORY_CD IN ('015-00','015-06','015-10','615-07')
Question) Does the below exactly match the text you are putting the Expression box?
'015-00' OR D.CATEGORY_CD IN ('015-00','015-06','015-10','615-07')
If not, what are you putting in that box?
I think the D.CATEGORY_CD criteria are giving you the problems, I changed the double quotes to single quotes and then it still looked strange to me. I then notice the commas are inside your quotes and not between them, try making the one criteria line look like this:
before:
OR D.CATEGORY_CD IN ('015-00,'' '015-06,'' '015-10,'' '615-07'')
after:
OR D.CATEGORY_CD IN ('015-00', '015-06', '015-10', '615-07')
Also, the "IN" is an implied "OR" and I am not sure if you have parenthesis around the two D.CATEGORY_CD,
I would just put the one additional code into the IN criteria and remove the "D.CATEGORY_CD =" line:
before:
AND D.CATEGORY_CD = '005-00' OR D.CATEGORY_CD IN ('015-00', '015-06', '015-10', '615-07')
after:
AND D.CATEGORY_CD IN ('015-00', '015-06', '015-10', '615-07', '005-00')
Of course, you are already ordering by CATEGORY_CD, you could remove this criteria and pull all categories in one run (that is unless there are too many rows for excel), and then you might also want to include either VENDOR_ID or NAME1 in the ORDER BY clause.
Hope that helps you.

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