Tuesday, October 12, MIS Lecture Notes1 Midterm #1 Results Average Std. Dev Median Average Grade:B+ Good work! Most students have a solid understanding of the course material Exam solution will be reviewed in Wednesday’s session Extra credit points will be used for midterm and final grade determination

Tuesday, October 12, MIS Lecture Notes2 Administrative Details Midterm grades will be posted to administration by Monday 10/18 HW #7 due Tuesday 10/26 No lab or workshop this week due to Heinz School mid- semester break and Network NY Lecture on Tuesday 10/19 will focus on class project description and project management Lab on Thursday 10/21 will focus on reports Lab on Friday 10/22 will focus on project management using Microsoft Project98 HW #6 will not be collected

Tuesday, October 12, MIS Lecture Notes3 Reporting in the Relational Database Model The relational database model (RDBM) we have studied has the following key characteristics: –Normalized tables Primary key uniquely defines each record in a table All attributes are dependent on the primary key and not each other Focus on data integrity Multiple tables with minimum number of columns –Operational focus Short time frame Specific transactions that occur at a given time Queries are small in scope and complexity Business rules implemented through E-R diagrams and application-level code How can we summarize and present data in order to make tactical or strategic, as well as operational decisions?

Tuesday, October 12, MIS Lecture Notes4 Example Reporting Requirements for RDBM Tactical/Strategic What 10 buses have had the most repairs in the past year? What is the average number of gallons in gas fill-ups? What percentage of all brake inspections for Ford trucks have resulted in repairs? Operational What repairs have been performed between 6/1/99 and 7/30/99? What parts were used in each repair? What inspections have been performed on buses #30, 42 and 70?

Tuesday, October 12, MIS Lecture Notes5 Architecture of RDBM Reports Report Header - Information which identifies the report: title, organization, Group Header - Segment which identifies section of data that are similar according to grouping criterion Group Body: Rows of data corresponding to records in table/view that have same grouping criterion Group Footer: Segment which summarizes information in group e.g. though descriptive statistics Report Footer: Segment which summarizes information in entire report Page Footer: Information which appears at the bottom of every page: date/time/page #

Tuesday, October 12, MIS Lecture Notes6 Typical RDBM Reports Basic reports: –use a single table, or a table plus a code table, as input to the report –one report row per table record plus a summary row Example: report of buses currently in use –group by make –summarize by average odometer reading of all buses in make category

Tuesday, October 12, MIS Lecture Notes7 Typical RDBM Reports (cont’d) Complex reports: –use a data view/ complex query as input –apply grouping levels Example: report of employee usage by repair event (summarize total cost)

Tuesday, October 12, MIS Lecture Notes8 Typical RDBM Reports (cont’d) Reports/Subreports: –use one data view for information according to one criterion (main report) –use another data view for other information according to another criterion (subreport) Example: Monthly gasoline usage summary –Gas fill up summary (main report) –Gas tank levels (subreport)

Tuesday, October 12, MIS Lecture Notes9 Using the Report Wizard Select tables/queries Confirm relationships Select grouping levels Select sorting rules Specify summary information Select report format Preview

Tuesday, October 12, MIS Lecture Notes10 Scoping Out A Report What information do I want the report to contain? –List of data for particular tables and summary statistics (simple report) –Trends over time, across company divisions or for ranges of values –Spatial data as well as aspatial data How do I want the information organized? – Simple tabular or columnar representation –Grouped/sorted by criterion values –Cross-tabulations by multiple criteria –Report/subreport What will be the report’s look and feel? –Report header/footer? Group header/footer? –Font sizes/typefaces? –Formal (annual report) or informal (newsletter) How will the report be used? –Once or periodically? –Based on user input or hard-coded?

Tuesday, October 12, MIS Lecture Notes11 Putting the Report Together Create queries that group the data –Underlying data can be modified without having to open the report (useful on the road) –One query can be used for multiple reports –Confirm data accuracy without printing out the report Create a report template (perhaps with Access’ Report Wizard) –Save header/footer formats and titles –Preserve a consistent look and feel Create a report prototype for inspection by client –Are the data correct? –Is the look and feel acceptable? –Identify alternative ways to profile the data Revise, revise, revise! –Work by hand if Report Wizard can’t do what you want –Automate work with macros or Visual Basic for Applications where possible

Tuesday, October 12, MIS Lecture Notes12 Reporting in a Decision Support System DSS reports are often much more complex than reports in operationally-oriented databases: –Summarization of large volumes of data Use make-table queries for greater speed Frequent use of delete and update queries –Complex cross-tabulations Variety of date ranges: by year/quarter/month/week/day/shift/hour Multiple row headings Summarize across rows as well as down columns –Present data in a variety of formats Textual/Graphical/Spatial –Interface with other applications Word processor Spreadsheet Web