How Many Ways Can We Group Data?
By Nancy Dickson, March 2006
Group by Pivot and Paper Clip
Let’s say we want to group Black, Hispanic, and Native American student groups to
form a group called Disadvantaged Minorities in a Pivot.
Hold down the Shift Key (for multiple selection) and click the Black, Hispanic and Native
American labels. Then click on the paper clip icon on the toolbar (or you can click on the
Pivot Menu/Group Items).
Notice the asterisk in front of Black. Double click on that label and change it to
Disadvantaged Minorities.
Paper Clip Method Pros: fast and easy, can be done right in the Pivot without
rerunning query. Easy to ungroup by hitting paper clip again.
Paper Clip Method Cons: If new values of the grouped item show up in the data, they
are not automatically included in the appropriate group. Does not provide a separate
data element that persists with group categories.
Group by Grouping Column in Results
Here is an example where we have a bunch of cumulative transfer hours and we need
to create groupings. We would like to create a separate data element that indicates a
range. Groups will be less than 12, 12 to less than 25, 25 to less than 56, greater than
or equal to 56. We will add a grouping column in the Brio(Hyperion) Results Section.
The results look like this (see below). Click on the Uv Transfer Hours column to highlight
it, then right click and select Add Grouping Column.
Type in a name for the column… “Transfer Category” for instance. Click the New Group
button and enter the name for the first group, “Less Than 12 Hours” and click ok.
Continue to click the New Group button to create all the other groups. Highlight the first
group. Under the Available values, click the 0, then hold the shift key down and select
the 11.5. Click the double left arrow to move them over to the Items in Group: box.
Repeat for the other categories.
Results look like this and categories can be dragged into a Pivot.
Grouping Column Method Pros: Creates a separate data element in a point and click
way that does not require knowledge of any syntax.
Grouping Column Method Cons: If new values of the grouped item show up in the
data, they are not automatically included in the appropriate group, but its pretty easy to
right click on the group column, select a group and add values to it. Can’t use to group
by multiple criteria on multiple data elements.
Group by Computed Columns in Results
And now …. the Cadillac of grouping methods with associated learning price tag. Here
is an example of a complex grouping algorithm… one that requires tests on multiple
data elements. We need to group students by the AGECs they have completed AND by
the college they entered at the university they transferred to. In the Results Section, we
have both the AGEC type and the ASU College they entered and we are interested in
comparing students who entered into the special field indicated by their AGEC (AGEC-B
who enters a business program) with general AGEC completers who enter the same
special field. (AGEC-A who enters a business program).
The results look like this:
To make a Computed Column, right click anywhere in the results and select Add
Computed Column. In the Name: box enter the name for the new column. Then click
into the Definition box. We will use the if button to create the basic syntax for the if
statement and then fill in field names with the Reference button. You could type them…
but it’s easier to pick them with this button.
The syntax will end up like this:
if (Description == "AGEC-A" && (Uv_College_Code =="BA"
{"General AGEC to Business Program" };
if (Description == "AGEC-B" && (Uv_College_Code =="BA"
{"Business AGEC to Business Program" };
if (Description == "AGEC-A" && (Uv_College_Code =="ES"
{"General AGEC to Science Program" };
if (Description == "AGEC-S" && (Uv_College_Code =="ES"
{"Science AGEC to Science Program" }
|| Uv_College_Code =="BP" ) )
|| Uv_College_Code =="BP" ) )
|| Uv_College_Code =="TS" ) )
|| Uv_College_Code =="TS" ) )
Who knows that an equal is a double equal in Java Script (==)? You can pick it from the
bottom buttons. The && means “and” and can be picked from the bottom buttons. The ||
means “or” and can be picked from the bottom buttons. Notice that the “or” condition is
grouped with parenthesis so as to separate the “or” from the “and” condition. To be
neat, use the semicolon between if statements although in this case it makes no
difference in the outcome. The semicolon is a line separator. While in the definition box,
you can use the copy and paste shortcuts of Control – C and Control – V.
To move to the next line in the Definition box… hold the shift key and press enter. If
you press Enter, it closes the Computed Item box. To get the box back or to make
changes, highlight the column in the Results and click Modify Column…You can pull the
custom groups into a Pivot for further analysis.
The groups will look like this in a separate column in the Results…
Computed Column Method Pros: Can create very complex grouping logic based on
multiple columns, multiple criteria, or even multiple nested criteria. If you use this
method to group a numeric data element like transfer hours, the criteria does the work
of placing the numbers in the correct group. You don’t have to adjust a paper clip group
or a Grouping Column Item if a new number pops up in the Results.
Computed Column Method Cons: Syntax… even with the buttons to pick “If”, “and”
and “or” conditions and the Reference button to pick the fields used in computed
columns the syntax is picky. It is based on Java Script. To learn more about java script,
check out the java script reference in the Brio help. And don’t forget if you are trying to
work out some syntax and you keep getting…
Don’t spend too much time looking at line numbers which are not always meaningful,
before you highlight the syntax in the box, hit Control C and then paste it in a note to
[email protected] for troubleshooting.
Happy Grouping!