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Access SQL Transform Statement

write a function having a single signature that can vary what it returns when it is called and then use this function in a TRANSFORM statement's ORDER BY clause to get one value for sorting and in its PIVOT clause to get another value for the columns.

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abcsoulmate
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102 views

Access SQL Transform Statement

write a function having a single signature that can vary what it returns when it is called and then use this function in a TRANSFORM statement's ORDER BY clause to get one value for sorting and in its PIVOT clause to get another value for the columns.

Uploaded by

abcsoulmate
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Access SQL TRANSFORM Statement, Alternate PIVOT Ordering

A reader named Patrick left a comment on my earlier Access SQL


TRANSFORM Statement post asking whether it is possible to sort a
crosstab's column values using a column other than the one specified in
the PIVOT clause:
Great Post! Just found it. Is there a way to specify the sort of your series?
I have an Access chart report and its record source is the following:
TRANSFORM Avg(qryCWT_Last_3_Months.doc_pcnt) AS AvgOfdoc_pcnt
SELECT (Format([d_iss_month],"mmm"" '""yy")) AS Expr1
FROM qryCWT_Last_3_Months
GROUP BY (Year([d_iss_month])*12+Month([d_iss_month])-1),
(Format([d_iss_month],"mmm"" '""yy"))
PIVOT qryCWT_Last_3_Months.sof;
The SOF is my horizontal series. The table has a Primary Key named
SOF_ID. I dont need or want the PK to show up on the chart but I would
like the series to sort by PK rather than alphabetically. Any ideas?
I pointed out in my response that it is possible to sort a crosstab's column
values using a regular ORDER BY, however, the column given in the
ORDER BY must appear in one of the query's aggregate functions or
groupings (GROUP BY or unconstrained PIVOT), otherwise you get an
error 3122.
There are a couple of ways around this, though. One way is to write and
call some code to pre-select the unique set of values on which you want
to sort, along with their associated values, which you want to appear in
the columns, and use the latter to construct a SQL TRANSFORM having a
constrained and explicitly ordered PIVOT clause (i.e., a PIVOT with an IN
statement). This can even be done in a generic fashion, but it's a pain in
the ass to write and use.
Alternatively, you can game the system with just a little bit of code and
get the same thing for less. This simpler approach takes advantage of the
fact that JET's evaluation of whether or not an ORDER BY column or
expression appears in an aggregate function or grouping is based on
expression signatures, not on what the expressions actually do. Unlike
SQL Server, which uses various rules to ensure determinism (particularly
as it relates to indexes on computed columns), JET simply compares
the signature of the expressions and assumes that the same signature
returns the same value. However, even having made that assumption, JET
still treats query expressions as volatile, which means it calculates query
expressions each time they are needed - it does not cache expression
results.

Taken together, these things mean that we can write a function having a
single signature that can vary what it returns when it is called and then
use this function in a TRANSFORM statement's ORDER BY clause to get
one value for sorting and in its PIVOT clause to get another value for the
columns. All we need is a little state in the form of a local static variable.
Here's one way to write that function:
Function AorB(ByVal A As Variant, ByVal B As Variant) As Variant
Static LastA As Variant
If LastA <> A Then
AorB = A
LastA = A
Else
AorB = B
LastA = Empty
End If
End Function

And here's Patrick's crosstab query modified to use this function to


produce columns showing SOF sorted by SOF_ID:
TRANSFORM Avg(qryCWT_Last_3_Months.doc_pcnt) AS AvgOfdoc_pcnt
SELECT (Format([d_iss_month],"mmm"" '""yy")) AS Expr1
FROM qryCWT_Last_3_Months
GROUP BY (Year([d_iss_month])*12+Month([d_iss_month])-1), (Format([d_iss_month],"mmm""
'""yy"))
ORDER BY AorB(qryCWT_Last_3_Months.sof_id, qryCWT_Last_3_Months.sof)
PIVOT AorB(qryCWT_Last_3_Months.sof_id, qryCWT_Last_3_Months.sof);

The function AorB will be called twice for each source row. The first time
in the context of the ORDER BY, so it returns the first value (SOF_ID), and
the second time in the context of the PIVOT grouping, so it returns the
second value (SOF).
I should point out that I've never actually used this technique in a
production system, and am not sure whether it works in versions of
Access prior to 2003 (though I think it should). So, if you decide to use it,
you should test very thoroughly and be very careful. Good luck.

COMMENTS

Not bad!
A while ago, I came across a *neat* site run by a guy called "Peat" which
shows you how to do crosstabs in pure "vanilla" SQL.
Here's the link http://www.advogato.org/person/peat/diary.html?start=15

( If you're around, Peat please forgive me for posting your example, but
it's just "soooo good"! )
Here it is SELECT lakename,
COUNT(CASE WHEN year = 1996 THEN depth ELSE NULL END) AS
SY1996,
COUNT(CASE WHEN year = 1997 THEN depth ELSE NULL END) AS
SY1997,
COUNT(CASE WHEN year = 1998 THEN depth ELSE NULL END) AS
SY1998
FROM crosstab
GROUP BY lakename
"Lakename" is the row-variable and SY1996, SY1997, SY1998 are the
column variables.
Very good stuff!
- Andy
;
Andy Elvey | 2006.02.23 10:57 AM

Cool articles but I couldn't get the AorB() working.


Any suggestions?
tblCols:
id month
0 dummy
1 jan
2 feb
3 mar
4 apr
5 may
6 jun
tblData:
name month val
Joe feb 2
Joe jan 1
Joe mar 3
Joe apr 4
Bob feb 12
Bob jan 11

Bob mar 13
Bob apr 14
qryCross2 results:
name 1 apr feb jan mar
Bob 11 14 12 13
Joe 4 2 1 3
qryCrossAorB:
TRANSFORM First(qryData.val) AS val
SELECT qryData.name
FROM qryData
GROUP BY qryData.name
ORDER BY AorB(qryData.id,qryData.month)
PIVOT AorB(qryData.id,qryData.month);
qryData:
SELECT tblData.name, tblData.month, tblCols.id, tblData.val
FROM tblData INNER JOIN tblCols ON tblData.month = tblCols.month
ORDER BY tblData.name, tblData.month;
DEBUG:
A: 1 B:jan AorB: 1 LastA: 1
A: 1 B:jan AorB:jan LastA:
A: 2 B:feb AorB: 2 LastA: 2
A: 2 B:feb AorB:feb LastA:
A: 2 B:feb AorB: 2 LastA: 2
A: 2 B:feb AorB:feb LastA:
A: 3 B:mar AorB: 3 LastA: 3
A: 3 B:mar AorB:mar LastA:
A: 3 B:mar AorB: 3 LastA: 3
A: 3 B:mar AorB:mar LastA:
A: 4 B:apr AorB: 4 LastA: 4
A: 4 B:apr AorB:apr LastA:
A: 4 B:apr AorB: 4 LastA: 4
A: 4 B:apr AorB:apr LastA:
Rich | 2006.05.17 11:38 PM

Hi Rich,
Thanks for the heads-up. After much trial and error, I've discovered a
couple of things about this that I probably should have discovered when I
first wrote it up.
The first thing is that the evaluation order of the ORDER BY and PIVOT
expressions can vary. Who knew? It certainly didn't vary in my earlier

tests of Patrick's query. Worse, it varies in different ways depending on


whether the corsstab query's data source is a saved query (as in your
example), or an actual table (I created one based on the results of your
qryData query), or a sub-SELECT within the crosstab query.
The second thing is that the evaluation of the expressions in the ORDER
BY and PIVOT clauses are sometimes repeated for a single row, resulting
in an odd number of calls to AorB.
Needless to say, both of these things are bad for a routine like AorB,
which uses a simple toggle and expects a determinate one-at-a-time
evaluation of source rows.
After fooling around some, I found that the indeterminate evaluation of
rows can be resolved using something more advanced than a binary
toggle in AorB, like a key collection; however, the indeterminate
evaluation of the ORDER BY and PIVOT, and the occassional repeated
evaluation of their expressions for the same rows, cannot be resolved.
Bummer. Live by the hack, die by the hack, I guess.
Given you're working with a limited and known set of potential column
headings, the only thing I can suggest for your query is to explicitly
specify the column headings in the appropriate order:
TRANSFORM First(qryData.val) AS val
SELECT qryData.name
FROM qryData
GROUP BY qryData.name
PIVOT qryData.month in ("jan", "feb", "mar", "apr", "may", "jun", "jul",
"aug", "sep", "oct", "nov", "dec")
Thanks again for pointing this out. Good luck.
ewbi.develops | 2006.05.18 02:57 PM

Very interesting. Could you help on this : I do crosstabs in access from a


"facts table" using transform and i would like to keep the result of the
transform query INTO a new empty table. Any clue ?
Thanks

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