Building a single-query group report Building a two-query group report Building an across group report

Visual Index 3-3 Figure 3–5 Final output of the second mastermaster report example For more information on building this example, refer to Chapter 8, Building a MasterMaster Report .

3.1.5 Building a summary report

In this example, you will learn how to use the Summary Column tool to create a summary report. A summary report contains at least one column whose value or values consist of a summary of other data. A column that totals sales, a column that averages a list of commissions, and a column that shows the maximum amounts found in a series of purchase orders are all examples of summary columns. Figure 3–6 Final output of the summary report example For more information on building this example, refer to Chapter 9, Building a Summary Report .

3.2 Part 2: Building Group Reports

This part of the manual explains the different kinds of report layouts.

3.2.1 Building a single-query group report

In this example, you will build a simple group left report using one query. Group left and group above reports divide the rows of a report into sets, based on common values in one or more of the columns, such as the department number in the 3-4 Oracle Reports Users Guide to Building Reports preceding example. In the sample output below, notice that each department number prints only once. If the report above was not a group report, the department number would print once for each employee in the department rather than just once for the whole department. Figure 3–7 Final output of the single-query group report example For more information on building this example, refer to Chapter 10, Building a Single-Query Group Report .

3.2.2 Building a two-query group report

In this example, you will build a group above report using two queries. A two-query group report appears much the same as a single-query group report. Performance is the key issue when contrasting single-query and multiple-query group reports. In most cases, single-query reports will run faster than multiple-query reports. Multiple-query reports are, however, sometimes easier to understand conceptually and easier to maintain. For example, if you are in a situation where only a few users run the report and the report returns a relatively small number of records, you might want to use multiple queries to simplify maintenance and make the data model easier to understand. If you have many users and the report is quite large, then you should try to use a single-query report. Visual Index 3-5 Figure 3–8 Final output of the two-query group report example For more information on building this example, refer to Chapter 11, Building a Two-Query Group Report .

3.2.3 Building an across group report

In this example, you will build an across group report that prints the values of a database column across the page instead of down. Figure 3–9 Final output of the across group report example For more information on building this example, refer to Chapter 12, Building an Across Group Report .

3.2.4 Building a group left summary report