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Report Builder
User’s Guide


Aggregate Field Type

While all aggregate fields compute summary information, you can create seven different types of aggregate fields. Each type calculates a different type of information. Table 5–1 describes the aggregate field types.

Table 5–1: Aggregate Field Types
Option
Description
Count
Produces a count of all records unless you specify to ignore UNKNOWN or blank (zero) values. Count is the only aggregate you can apply to a LOGICAL field.
Total
Calculates the total of the values in a NUMERIC field.
Average
Calculates the average (mean) of the values in a NUMERIC field. By default, Report Builder includes all known values in the average and returns an UNKNOWN value if it encounters any UNKNOWN or blank records. However, you can specify to ignore any UNKNOWN or blank values.
Minimum
Calculates the minimum value based on the field’s data type.
Field Type
Minimum Value
NUMERIC
Lowest value
DATE
Earliest date
CHARACTER
First value in alphabetical order
Maximum
Calculates the maximum value based on the field’s data type.
Field Type
Minimum Value
NUMERIC
Highest value
DATE
Latest date
CHARACTER
Last value in alphabetical order
Std Deviation
Calculates the square root of the variance for NUMERIC fields.
Variance
Calculates the (average of NUMBER2) minus (average of NUMBER)2, where NUMBER is a numeric field and the average is computed based on the number of records totaled for numeric fields. Measures the degree to which individual field values vary from the average of all the values totaled.

By default, all aggregates except Count return UNKNOWN if any of the individual record values in the aggregated field is UNKNOWN, unless you specify to ignore all the UNKNOWN or blank values. This means that if one of the values you are aggregating is UNKNOWN, Report Builder returns UNKNOWN for the aggregate value. See the "Included Values" section later in this chapter for more information about ignoring UNKNOWN or blank values.


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