Re: [libreoffice-users] Base Reports - Getting Monthly & YTD Averages

Hi :)
I don't know and i'm not an expert.  There are people on this mailing list
who are.  So, i'm just exploring some thoughts ...

Would it be sensible to average the whole time-interval rather than
averaging the averages?  Probably not but if it is then a Query could do it
easily.

Can't a Query create monthly averages?  If it can then would that make it
easier?

I'm not sure that using Calc is such a bad idea.  Base (and probably other
database programs too) can use a Calc spreadsheet as it's "external
back-end" (ie as it's original table of data).

I don't like the idea of building new database programs off Forms or
Reports though = i'd rather go back to the original data or to the Queries
built off that data.  But i gather that a lot of database experts do it so
it can't be as bad as i imagine.  It just strikes me as a somewhat brittle
route.  Does it "abstract problems away" or create a lot of potential
breaking points?

There is documentation at
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Publications#LibreOffice_Base_Handbook
and this is in the process of being massively updated to make a much newer
version.  If you are up for test-driving a chapter or so of the newer
version then you'd  be able to see the more up-to-date, but somewhat rough,
guide.

Joining the documentation team to "review" their new "reports" chapter is a
bit of a tangent though!
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Development
See what i mean!  It's joining the team and figuring out the work-flow
that'd be a couple of days of waiting for them to register you at the
document-tracker site (ODFAuthors).  It would be great though as it'd help
you grok it more thoroughly rather than just skating over the surface of
understanding.  Reviewing (or proof-reading) the chapter itself probably
wouldn't take a huge amount of time.

There is also an Faq but i think that is more for quick "one off" questions
where you need something broader
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Faq
It is probably worth a quick look though

Regards from
Tom :)


On 25 September 2014 22:59, Don Parris <parrisdc@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I have collected rainfall totals in Base and wanted to create a report
> showing the average for each month, as well as an overall average for the
> period of months in the report (YTD Average).  In other words, I want to
> (effectively) average the monthly averages.
>
> I created a query to get the Total, Average, Min and Max rainfall, by
> month.  In the report writer, I grouped my results on the month.  I then
> created a field in the page footer to show the overall total for the months
> shown, and that works great.  I used the "Accumulation" function to do
> this.  But when I try to get an overall average, I wind up getting the
> average for the first month (in the report), not for the year-to-date.
>
> I did try to add a field in the report footer, but that only changed the
> month used for the average.  Obviously, the functions capability is not the
> solution I am looking for.  Can anyone point me to a workable solution?
>
> Sure, I could probably get what I want more easily and quickly by linking
> in from Calc, but I may want this kind of data in other databases I create
> as well.
>
>
> Thanks!
> Don
>
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