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 stream

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

In your model, add a new stream:

1. Hover over Customers in England, and press  Add a new Stream
2. Give the new Stream 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 sorting/ grouping attributes
5. Go to the Aggregate Attributes section:
   1. Press  to add a new aggregate attribute
   2. In the new aggregate attribute form:
      • Set the Stream Function to Count
      • Leave the Attribute blank
      • Set the New Attribute Name to CountRecords
      • Press 
   3. Add another aggregate attribute:
      • Press  Show the list of 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 
   4. Add another aggregate attribute:
      • Press  Show the list of Attributes
      • Drag the attribute BILLAMOUNT into the aggregate attributes list
      • Update the details for this new aggregate attribute:
        • Double-click on it
        • Update the Stream Function to Average
        • Update the Name to AvgLastBillAmount
        • Press 

Now you need to configure your output Stream:

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

Remember to save your model layout.

1. Run analysis on Customer Summary by Region
2. Have a look at the data in this stream – check that the aggregated report has been generated correctly