You associate crosstab columns, rows, and cell values with columns in a database table or other data source.
To associate data with a crosstab:
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If you are defining a new crosstab, the Define Crosstab Rows, Columns, Values dialog box displays after you specify the data source.
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Specify the database columns that will populate the columns, rows, and values in the crosstab, as described below.
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To build a dynamic crosstab, make sure the Rebuild columns at runtime check box is selected.
For information about static crosstabs, see Creating static crosstabs.
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Click Next.
To define the crosstab, drag the column names from the Source Data box in the Crosstab Definition dialog box (or Wizard page) into the Columns, Rows, or Values box, as appropriate.
If you change your mind or want to edit the report later, select Design>Crosstab from the menu bar and drag the column name out of the Columns, Row, or Values box and drop it. Then specify a different column.
The process is illustrated using the following dynamic crosstab. The columns in the database are Rep, Quarter, Product, and Units. The crosstab shows the number of printers sold by Quarter:
Specifying the columns
You use the Columns box to specify one or more of the retrieved columns to provide the columns in the crosstab. When users run the crosstab, there is one column in the crosstab for each unique value of the database column(s) you specify here.
To specify the crosstab's columns:
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Drag the database column from the Source Data box into the Columns box.
Using the printer example, to create a crosstab where the quarters form the columns, specify Quarter as the Columns value. Because there are four values in the table for Quarter (Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4), there are four columns in the crosstab.
Specifying the rows
You use the Rows box to specify one or more of the retrieved columns to provide the rows in the crosstab. When users run the crosstab, there is one row in the crosstab for each unique value of the database column(s) you specify here.
To specify the crosstab's rows:
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Drag the database column from the Source Data box into the Rows box.
Using the printer example, to create a crosstab where the printers form the rows, specify Product as the Rows value. Because there are three products (Cosmic, Galactic, and Stellar), at runtime there are three rows in the crosstab.
Columns that use code tables
If you specify columns in the database that use code tables, where data is stored with a data value but displayed with more meaningful display values, the crosstab uses the column's display values, not the data values. For more information about code tables, see Displaying and Validating Data
Specifying the values
Each cell in a crosstab holds a value. You specify that value in the Values box. Typically you specify an aggregate function, such as Sum or Avg, to summarize the data. At runtime, each cell has a calculated value based on the function you provide here and the column and row values for the particular cell.
To specify the crosstab's values:
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Drag the database column from the Source Data box into the Values box.
InfoMaker displays an aggregate function for the value. If the column is numeric, InfoMaker uses Sum. If the column is not numeric, InfoMaker uses Count.
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If you want to use an aggregate function other than the one suggested by InfoMaker, double-click the item in the Values box and edit the expression. You can use any of the other aggregate functions supported in the Report painter, such as Max, Min, and Avg.
Using the printer example, you would drag the Units column into the Values box and accept the expression sum(units for crosstab).
Instead of simply specifying database columns, you can use any valid InfoMaker expression to define the columns, rows, and values used in the crosstab. You can use any InfoMaker expression function in the expression.
For example, say a table contains a date column named SaleDate, and you want a column in the crosstab for each month. You could enter the following expression for the Columns definition:
Month(SaleDate)
The Month function returns the integer value (1-12) for the specified month. Using this expression, you get columns labeled 1 through 12 in the crosstab. Each database row for January sales is evaluated in the column under 1, each database row for February sales is evaluated in the column under 2, and so on.
After you have specified the data for the crosstab's columns, rows, and values, InfoMaker displays the crosstab definition in the Design view.
For example, to create the dynamic crosstab shown as the Dynamic crosstab example, you would:
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Drag the quarter column from the Source Data box to the Columns box.
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Drag the product column from the Source Data box to the Rows box.
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Drag the units column from the Source Data box to the Values box and accept the expression sum(units for crosstab).
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Select the Rebuild columns at runtime check box.
In the Design view, the crosstab looks like this:
Notice that in the Design view, InfoMaker shows the quarter entries using the symbolic notation @quarter (with dynamic crosstabs, the actual data values are not known at definition time). @quarter is resolved into the actual data values (in this case, Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4) when the crosstab runs.
The crosstab is generated with summary statistics: the rows and columns are totaled for you.
At this point, the crosstab looks like this in the Preview view with data retrieved:
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Because quarter was selected as the Columns definition, there is one column in the crosstab for each unique quarter (Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4).
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Because product was selected as the Rows definition, there is one row in the crosstab for each unique product (Cosmic, Galactic, and Stellar).
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Because sum(units for crosstab) was selected as the Values definition, each cell contains the total unit sales for the corresponding quarter (the Columns definition) and product (the Rows definition).
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InfoMaker displays the grand totals for each column and row in the crosstab.
Typically you specify one database column as the Columns definition and one database column for the Rows definition, as in the printer crosstab. But you can specify as many columns (or expressions) as you want.
For example, consider a crosstab that has the same specification as the crosstab in Viewing the crosstab, except that two database columns, quarter and rep, have been dragged to the Columns box.
InfoMaker displays this in the Design view:
This is what you see at runtime:
For each quarter, the crosstab shows sales of each printer by each sales representative.
