HP 3000 Manuals HP 3000 Manuals
At a Glance
If you need to review some calculation terms, the following table may be
of help.
Some Calculation Terms
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| Arguments Arguments are the values used in a calculation. Arguments include: |
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| * items, standard items, and array items |
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| * functions and standard functions |
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| * function arguments |
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| * constants |
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| * parameters |
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| * column calculation results |
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| Calculated Items These are items created from a formula that you define. Once |
| created, calculated items can be used in a report just like an item |
| projected from a Final Access Table or an HP ALLBASE/BRW standard |
| item. |
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| Calculated items are split into two categories: |
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| * Table calculated items. These are calculated items that you |
| define from the Define Table Screen. They are calculated when |
| the table is built. |
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| * Layout calculated items. These are calculated items that you |
| define from the Define Lines screen. They are calculated |
| whenever a lineset on which they appear is printed. |
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| Calculations A calculation uses arguments and operators to produce a result. |
| Operators can perform mathematical or logical operations on |
| arguments. Arguments, operators, and results can be of several |
| types. |
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| Calculations can be either formulas or conditions. |
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| Column HP ALLBASE/BRW allows column calculations. These let you specify, |
| Calculations for all the occurrences of an item: the total, the average, the |
| number of occurrences, or the largest/ smallest value. Column |
| calculations do not use formulas, and therefore do not use the |
| Calculation Language. You select a column calculation using the |
| ColCalc field on the Define Lines screen. |
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| Column calculations are explained in Chapter 8. |
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Table 15-0. Some Calculation Terms (cont.)
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| Conditions A condition is a calculation that produces a Boolean result, that is, |
| a result that can be either TRUE or FALSE. For example: |
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| (CUSTOMER-NO = 000004) |
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| or |
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| ORDER-NO < "012" |
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| There are four types of condition in HP ALLBASE/BRW: |
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| * Relation conditions. You define relation conditions from the |
| Define Table screen. They determine whether or not to write a |
| record to a table. |
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| * Suppress line conditions. These are used to determine whether |
| or not to print a line. |
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| * Suppress lineset conditions. These are used to determine |
| whether or not to print a lineset. |
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| * Selection conditions. These are used in Selection Sets to |
| determine whether or not to select data for the report when |
| the report is run. |
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| Conditions are described in the section Formulas and Conditions. |
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| Expressions Expressions are calculations inside parentheses. The HP ALLBASE/BRW |
| Calculation Language lets you use expressions anywhere a single |
| argument can be specified. |
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| Formulas A formula is any calculation where the resulting type is Integer, |
| Real, String, Numeric, Date, or Time. A formula is always specified |
| as an expression, similar to the right side of an assignment |
| statement in PASCAL or BASIC. |
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| There are two types of formulas in HP ALLBASE/BRW: |
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| * Calculated Items |
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| * Functions |
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Table 15-0. Some Calculation Terms (cont.)
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| Functions A function is like a program procedure or subroutine. You can use a |
| function to avoid typing complicated formulas. Functions can be used |
| in formulas or conditions; however, functions cannot be used as |
| items. Each function must have at least one argument, and can have |
| up to nine. A function argument is a value that can be passed to the |
| function when it is run. There are three categories of functions: |
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| * Table functions. These are functions that you define from the |
| Define Table screen. A table function can only be used in |
| calculations for the table from which it is defined. |
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| * Layout functions. These are functions that you define from |
| the Define Lines screen. A layout function can only be used |
| in calculations defined in the report layout, that is, in |
| formulas created from the Define Lines screen, not in table |
| calculations. |
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| * Global functions. These are functions that you define with |
| the BRWSETUP program. A global function can be used in any |
| calculation in a report. |
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| See Chapter 17, for more information on how to define global |
| functions. |
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| See "How Calculated Items Work" in Chapter 19 , for a more |
| technical description of how calculated items and functions work and |
| how they affect performance. |
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| Operators and The term operator is used in the normal mathematical sense, that is, |
| Operations an operator is a mathematical or logical symbol that specifies an |
| operation to be performed on an argument or arguments. For example, |
| the * symbol in a calculation is an operator that tells HP |
| ALLBASE/BRW to multiply the PRICE by 10. Operations can also be |
| performed by functions. |
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| Types Arguments, operations, and calculation results can be one of the |
| following 6 types. |
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| Numeric Fixed-point decimal numbers |
| Integer Numbers with no decimal part |
| Real Floating-point decimal numbers |
| String Strings of characters |
| Time Values of hours, minutes, and seconds |
| Date Values of day, month, and year |
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| HP ALLBASE/BRW includes standard functions that affect one or more of |
| the above types, for example, the function YEAR_OF will extract the |
| year from any date value. |
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