10 Aggregating in pipes

By the end of this chapter you will be able to:

• Set up aggregate attributes on pipes
• Read aggregate attributes from pipes into a table

In this exercise you will create a report of total and average last billed amounts, aggregated by Region:

In your model, add a new table:

1. Hover over Customers in England, and press  Create New Table.
2. Give the new table the Name: Customer Summary by Region
3. Double-click on the new pipe to open the details form.
4. Go to the Sort/Group section:
   
   • Open the list of attributes, and drag the attribute Region into the list of Sort/Group attributes.
5. Go to the Aggregate Attributes section:
   1. Press  Add New to add a new aggregate attribute
   2. In the new aggregate attribute form:
      • Set the Aggregate Function to Count
      • Leave the Attribute blank
      • Set the New Attribute Name to CountRecords
      • Press  OK.
   3. Add another aggregate attribute:
      • Press  Show Attributes.
      • Drag the attribute BILLAMOUNT into the aggregate attributes list
      • Note that this already uses the attribute function Sum – leave this as it is.
      • Update the name of the aggregate value:
        • Double-click on the new aggregate attribute.
        • Update the Name to TotalLastBillAmount
        • Press  OK.
   4. Add another aggregate attribute:
      • Press  Show attributes for <table>
        
      • Drag the attribute BILLAMOUNT into the aggregate attributes list
      • Update the details for this new aggregate attribute:
        • Double-click on it
        • Update the Aggregate Function to Average.
        • Update the Name to AvgLastBillAmount
        • Press  OK.

Now you need to configure your output table:

1. Drag the attribute Region from the Sort/Group section of the pipe onto the table Customer Summary by Region.
2. Drag the aggregate attributes you added from the Aggregate Attributes section of the pipe onto the table Customer Summary by Region.
3. In the main pipe configuration form, press  OK.

Remember to save your model layout.

1. Run analysis on Customer Summary by Region
2. View the data in this table – check that the aggregated report has been generated correctly.