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About crosstabs
336 DataWindow .NET
Two types of crosstabs
There are two types of crosstabs:
•Dynamic
• Static
Dynamic crosstabs
With dynamic crosstabs, DataWindow Designer builds all the columns and
rows in the crosstab dynamically when you run the crosstab. The number of
columns and rows in the crosstab match the data that exists at runtime.
Using the preceding crosstab as an example, if a new printer was added to the
database after the crosstab was saved, there would be an additional row in the
crosstab when it is run. Similarly, if one of the quarter’s results was deleted
from the database after the crosstab was saved, there would be one less column
in the crosstab when it is run.
By default, crosstabs you build are dynamic.
Static crosstabs
Static crosstabs are quite different from dynamic crosstabs. With static
crosstabs, DataWindow Designer establishes the columns in the crosstab based
on the data in the database when you define the crosstab. (It does this by
retrieving data from the database when you initially define the crosstab.) No
matter what values are in the database when you later run the crosstab, the
crosstab always has the same columns as when you defined it.
Using the preceding crosstab as an example, if there were four quarters in the
database when you defined and saved the crosstab, there would always be four
columns (Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4) in the crosstab at runtime, even if the number
of columns changed in the database.
Advantages of
dynamic crosstabs
Dynamic crosstabs are used more often than static crosstabs, for the following
reasons:
• You can define dynamic crosstabs very quickly because no database
access is required at definition time.
• Dynamic crosstabs always use the current data to build the columns and
rows in the crosstab. Static crosstabs show a snapshot of columns as they
were when the crosstab was defined.
• Dynamic crosstabs are easy to modify: all properties for the dynamically
built columns are replicated at runtime automatically. With static
crosstabs, you must work with one column at a time.