eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA]1 Voyager Access Reports Tips, Tricks, and a Secret or Two

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 2 Voyager, Access, and SQL (oh my!)

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 3 Topics Getting started: setup and configuration Navigation: the lay of the land Running "canned" reports Making changes: data and format Finding what you want Demo: creating a PO query SQL Tips Recipes, resources and requests

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 4 Getting Started Setup: follow the directions  Voyager (6.5) Reporter User's Guide, "Setting Up the Prepackaged Access Reports", starting on page 1-17  Good documentation  Call Ex Libris support if problems

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 5 Setup: Tablespace The "Build Database Links" examples show Tablespace in lowercase (yourdb); use uppercase (YOURDB)

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 6 Setup: ALL_TAB_COLUMNS Don't worry if you see this error - we'll fix it later

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 7 Setup: Make a Copy Make a backup copy of your configured Reports.mdb  Preserve your work when upgrading Voyager  Accidents do happen! Move this to "My Documents" or to a network drive, and be sure it gets backed up!

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 8 Setup: Compact & Repair Access databases can grow with every use, so maintenance is important If you do "Make table" queries, delete those tables when no longer needed Tools  Database Utilities  Compact and Repair Database

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 9 Navigation: The Lay of the Land Essential  Tables  Queries  Reports  Favorites Optional  Forms  Pages  Macros  Modules

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 10 Navigation: Tables Mostly links to Oracle tables, but some local data too Oracle (linked) table Access (local) table

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 11 Navigation: Queries This is where almost all work is done: designing and running queries to get data

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 12 Navigation: Reports Reports are the "fancy dress" versions of queries - an extra step, not always needed

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 13 Navigation: Favorites Favorites are shortcuts to tables, queries and reports Different names - but still just shortcuts to the same query

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 14 Navigation: The Rest Forms: for (re)linking tables Pages: create web pages from data (but not as simple as that sounds) Macros: automate some tasks without complex coding Modules: VBA functions and programs which support reports (like the UTF8to16 and Blob functions)

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 15 Queries vs. Reports Do you want the raw data (a query), or something nicely formatted (a report)? Each report must have an underlying query, but queries don't have to have reports Each query can be used by many reports: same data, different displays

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 16 Why Run a Query? Copy & paste into Excel Quickly sort and filter data to focus on a subset Use pivot tables to explore summary data (counts, totals, averages and more) Use "make-table" query to save results locally for re-use

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 17 Query Results: Query Options Total Current Right-click title bar for options

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 18 Query Results: Column Options Right-click column header Start & end date columns are hidden

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 19 Why Run a Report? Nicely formatted data, especially good for printing - or impressing the boss Reports can be shared electronically as "snapshots", so even users without Access can view them  Or install something like the free PDFCreator, which lets you "print" to PDF 

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 20 Report Results To make a snapshot, use the Export function

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 21 Making Changes: Queries Copy an existing query, then edit the copy Make one change at a time, then test Sanity-check your results - do the numbers and the data look right? Understand how parameters work, especially dates

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 22 Making Changes: Parameters Parameters add interactivity and allow queries to be used more flexibly Put prompting text in [square brackets]  ColumnName: [prompt for user info] Asks user for "start date" Redundant, unless you want to display it

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 23 Tip: Dates in SQL (BETWEEN) Dates are really dates + times  :22:  2/6/2008 = :00: BETWEEN #2/6/2008# AND #2/7/2008# means  Start: :00  End: :00  This is 24 hours, not 48 hours

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 24 Tip: Dates in SQL (>= AND <) You can also use >= (greater than or equal) and < (less than) - same result, but less ambiguous than BETWEEN >= #2/6/2008# AND < #2/7/2008# means  Start: :00:00  End: :59:59  This is 24 hours (minus one second)

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 25 Tip: Dates in SQL (DateAdd) If you don't want to think about adding a day every time you run a query, you can let Access do it for you automatically The Access DateAdd function can add (or subtract) any number of days/months/years to any date Either way, be consistent so you don't have to remember to add a day to this report, but not to that report....

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 26 Making Changes: Expression Builder Right-click on criteria to access the Expression Builder

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 27 Making Changes: Expression Builder Highlight element to change, navigate to desired function, and click Paste

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 28 Making Changes: Expression Builder Fill in the parameters (click Help to learn about the function) and click OK.

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 29 Making Changes: Reports Copy an existing report, then edit the copy Make one change at a time, then test Understand your query data before putting it into a report Experiment! You can't break anything (unless you start throwing things)

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 30 Report: Design View Label Textbox with formula Textbox with data Groups

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 31 Finding What You Want Data dictionary and class diagrams Ask the database Hack the data

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 32 Data Dictionary and Class Diagrams On SupportWeb under Documentation   Highly recommended: CARLI’s V6 Data Dictionary and Class Diagrams (via KnowledgeBase)  Builds on the Voyager documentation - for example, documents MARC data in bib_text table  eb_2007.zip eb_2007.zip

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 33 Data Dictionary: Sample OPERATOR  OPERATOR_ID: VARCHAR2(10)  FIRST_NAME: VARCHAR2(25)  MIDDLE_INITIAL: VARCHAR2(1)  LAST_NAME: VARCHAR2(25)  PASSWORD: VARCHAR2(12)  CREATE_DATE: DATE  CREATE_OPID: VARCHAR2(10)  MODIFY_DATE: DATE  MODIFY_OPID: VARCHAR2(10)

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 34 Class Diagram: Sample

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 35 Ask the Database The Oracle database has its own data dictionary, with full details about everything within the database Use the Access user_tab_columns query - though we need to fix it first

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 36 Ask the Database: user_tab_columns Change the criteria for OWNER to the name of your database Same as the tablespace name used for linking

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 37 Ask the Database: user_tab_columns Information about all columns in all tables

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 38 Ask the Database: user_tab_columns Example: find all the tables which (probably) use BIB_ID

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 39 Hack the Data "Hack" in its original (good) sense: in-depth exploration Create Voyager test records with every possible field filled out Use fake or easily identifiable data View your test record in Access to understand how fields in Voyager clients correspond to columns in the database

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 40 Hack the Data: Sample PO in Voyager

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 41 Hack the Data: Sample PO in Access Limit your query to just your test record and retrieve all columns, then explore the data

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 42 Demo: PO Query We want to know how many orders we placed last year. Desirable:  counts by vendor  counts by type (firm, continuation, etc.)  counts by month the PO was placed

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 43 Demo: PO Query - Guidelines Start simply Build on what you know works Test and review the data Use parameters for flexibility Experiment - you can't hurt the data

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 44 Demo: PO Query - Purchase Order

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 45 Demo: PO Query - Add Vendor Added VENDOR table, so we can get VENDOR_NAME

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 46 Demo: PO Query - Joining Tables Adding the VENDOR table automatically created a JOIN to PURCHASE_ORDER on VENDOR_ID Double-click for details

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 47 Demo: PO Query - Add PO Type Added PO_TYPE "lookup" table, so we can get textual PO_TYPE_DESC

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 48 Demo: PO Query - Add Criteria Start simply: one month instead of a whole year (remember to change later, to parameters)

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 49 Demo: PO Query - Review Data We have the basic data we need; now we can start refining our query to get exactly what we want

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 50 Demo: PO Query - Select Columns Remove unwanted columns Removed VENDOR_ID and PO_TYPE Kept PO_ID but won't show in results

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 51 Demo: PO Query - Format Data Add a new column for ORDER_MONTH; update criteria for full year (or parameters) Criteria are the equivalent of SQL's WHERE; Fields are SQL's SELECT

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 52 Demo: PO Query - Base is Done We now have the base data needed: all orders created in Use this for counts by vendor etc.

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 53 Demo: PO Query - Counts by Vendor Create a new query which uses the base query just created

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 54 Demo: PO Query - Counts by Vendor Turn on "Totals" for the query Right-click on column, or from View menu choose Totals

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 55 Demo: PO Query - Counts by Vendor Set "Group By" for desired columns Add Total column with Count(*) as an Expression, or use a specific column Two options, same results

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 56 Demo: PO Query - Counts by Vendor All done: counts of orders placed by vendor, for each month the vendor was used

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 57 Tip: Grouping & Counting SQL counts only what exists: rows, or non- NULL columns  COUNT(*): count all rows  COUNT(col): count all rows where col is not NULL Understand your data, think about what you're counting, and check the results

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 58 Tip: Grouping & Counting If I just count ENCODING_LEVEL, NULL values aren't included If I count rows (*), NULL values are included

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 59 Demo: PO Query - Behind the Scenes What does all that pointing & clicking do? It creates SQL: SELECT vendor_name,order_month,Count(*) AS Total FROM [eSWUG PO demo] GROUP BY vendor_name, order_month ORDER BY vendor_name, order_month ;

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 60 SQL Tips: Anatomy of a Query SELECT vendor_name,order_month,Count(*) AS Total FROM [eSWUG PO demo] WHERE vendor_name like 'A%' GROUP BY vendor_name, order_month ORDER BY vendor_name, order_month ; 1) Find it 2) Filter it 3) Group it 5) Sort it 4) Format & display it

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 61 SQL Tips: Access vs. Oracle Access "SQL" is a mixture of Access / VBA / SQL, and usually is not directly compatible with Oracle via sqlplus or other tools  Access / VBA functions like Format  Access dates with ##  Linking process treats some numbers like strings

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 62 Recipes Holdings with no items Circulation Transactions Blobs Pivot tables Make-table queries Joining tables Tables to avoid

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 63 Recipes: Holdings with no Items LEFT JOIN: everything in the left table, whether there's a match or not Then filter out the non-matches with IS NULL

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 64 Recipes: Circulation Transactions Circ transactions (charges & discharges) are in two places  CIRC_TRANSACTIONS (current charges, not yet discharged)  CIRC_TRANS_ARCHIVE (older charges, which have been discharged) For a complete picture, you need to look in both tables, generally via a UNION query This applies to renewals too (RENEW_TRANSACTIONS and RENEW_TRANS_ARCHIVE)

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 65 Recipes: Circulation Transactions Union queries can't be displayed via the Access Query Design view - only via SQL The same columns must be selected from each table, in the same order

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 66 Recipes: Circulation Transactions Create a UNION query for renewals  Compare the tables  Make a new query, set as Union, and type away

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 67 Recipes: Blobs Blob:  GetBibBlob([bib_id]) Field:  GetField(GetBibBlob([bib_id]),"245",1)  GetFieldAll(GetBibBlob([bib_id]), "650") FieldRaw:  GetFieldRaw(GetBibBlob([bib_id]),"245",1)  GetFieldRawAll(GetBibBlob([bib_id]), "650") Subfield:  GetSubfield(GetFieldRaw(GetBibBlob([bib_id]),"245",1),"b",1)

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 68 Recipes: Blobs GetFieldRaw has tag, indicators, and subfield codes; GetField has just text (the contents of the subfields) GetSubfield can only return a single subfield; for multiple or repeated subfields, use GetFieldAll  GetFieldAll(GetBibBlob(bib_id), "650", "z")

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 69 Recipes: Pivot Tables Run query, then right-click and choose Pivot Table View Drag fields to row, column, and detail areas

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 70 Recipes: Pivot Tables Click on the detail column heading (BIB_ID in this example)  PivotTable  AutoCalc  Count  PivotTable  Hide Details

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 71 Recipes: Pivot Tables Result: a way to explore your data interactively

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 72 Recipes: Make-Table Queries If a query takes a long time to run, or you need to refer to its data repeatedly, use a Make-Table query

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 73 Recipes: Make-Table Queries The query's data will be stored in a new table in your Access database. This table will be refreshed every time you run the query. Clean up when you're done!

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 74 Recipes: Joining Tables Start with the table for the main thing you want to know about Add only the tables needed to support your query  Limits (Criteria), like LOCATION  Bridging tables, like BIB_MFHD (to join BIB_TEXT and MFHD_MASTER) Make as few joins as possible Be aware of one-to-many relationships

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 75 Recipes: Tables to Avoid Some bridging tables are often inaccurate  BIB_ITEM, BIB_LOCATION Some "view" tables are overkill or can be misleading  BIBHISTORY_VW, SERIALS_VW The *BLOB_VW tables should never be used  AUTHBLOB_VW, BIBBLOB_VW, MFHDBLOB_VW  Per Alan Manifold, " BIBBLOB_VW is DEATH!"

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 76 Resources - Voyager Reports Many fine presentations from EndUser on SupportWeb  Updated BLOB functions  urdue.edu/BLOBfuncs% txt urdue.edu/BLOBfuncs% txt Voyager-L list Voyager Wiki  Share knowledge with the community!

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 77 Resources - Access Built-in help Access functions  Tutorials 

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 78 Resources - SQL Oracle 9i SQL Reference  west.oracle.com/docs/cd/B10501_01/server.920/a96540/toc.htm west.oracle.com/docs/cd/B10501_01/server.920/a96540/toc.htm W3Schools SQL Tutorial  SQL Tools (a good, free Oracle SQL client) 

eSWUG: Feb 6, 2008 [Andy Kohler - UCLA] 79 Resources - Me Andy Kohler (310)