Also, in case I am not being clear, my unique identifier (label) is the company. Should I perhaps be thinking of using a couple of data files and somehow using the combination of the two for my exhibit?
-Kirk On Aug 25, 5:58 pm, Kirk <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Mark, > Thank you for your response. I have built several exhibits in the > past and was always able to organize my data as you suggest. What I > am struggling with here is that my data points are in essence the same > each quarter, exactly as you have listed in your response. Quarter > and Year are not separate data points at all , but actually integral > (unspoken, if you will) parts of what make each measure unique. Take > Revenue Amt for instance, I currently have 8 values for it - 1 for > each of the past 8 fiscal quarter. When I run my reports I get a > revenue number and I know that this is for FY 08 Q1 only because I > input those parms when running the report. Which gets me back to my > problem, how do I name my columns (properties) so that the implied, > but not explicitly captured, time components can be filtered on in > facets? Concretely, if I filter on Q1 how do I just return the Revenue > Amt values that represent Q1-08 and Q1-09? Add in all my other > measure and it complicates this even more. > Again,, thank you for taking the time to respond and forgive me if I > am being dense. It is just that my measures have the exact same name > each time and I just "know" what time period they came from. > Best, > Kirk > > On Aug 25, 4:50 pm, mleden <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Hi Kirk, > > > Can provide you with some general rules-of-thumb based on my > > experience. They actually apply irrespective of the technology, but > > from what I can tell with Exhibit, they also hold true with the SIMILE > > framework. > > > 1. Always decompose your data to its most atomic form. In your case, > > I would avoid the temptation to concatenate individual data. If I > > understand your requirements correctly, you'd end up with the > > following set of "columns": > > CUSTOMER > > YEAR > > QUARTER > > REVENUE AMOUNT > > REVENUE RANK > > GROSS PROFIT AMOUNT > > GROSS PROFIT RANK > > etc > > (The two "RANK" columns are questionable, since I presume that you can > > derive the ranking based on the value, but I leave that to you.) > > 2. When performance of the application becomes an issue -- and it's > > not a question of if but when -- you will need to "tailor" the dataset > > accordingly. For example, you could subset so that Exhibit only has > > to deal with the last 10 years. Having the source data in a database > > makes this a snap, but no matter what there are invariably ways to do > > this without impacting the application's functionality. > > > HTH, > > -Mark > > > On Aug 25, 11:19 am, Kirk <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Hi,My apologies in advance for the length of the question - I couldn't > > > figure out how to make it shorter. > > > > I am trying to create an exhibit of customer data for "higher-ups". I > > > have 8 > > > quarters of data so far, and will be appending more with each passing > > > quarter. The overall population of customers numbers 400-550, with > > > around > > > 200 of those buying product each and every quarter. > > > Each quarter's data is initially captured in excel and, beyond the > > > customers, consists of revenue and gp (gross profit) dollar amount > > > columns > > > and an ordinal ranking for that customer for each of the two > > > measures. It > > > is a requirement to be able to compare year over year (like quarter) > > > changes > > > in some, if not all, of the measures. I can either do that as formula > > > columns in my spreadsheet or as functions in my exhibit( thoughts?). > > > As you > > > can see I will basically have the same "properties" for each quarter: > > > rev$; > > > gp$; rev rank; gp rank; and then any formula columns I may use. > > > So, my question is, what is the best way to handle this? If I add the > > > values > > > as individual columns, I am concerned my dataset may eventually get > > > too > > > large. If, for each quarter, I add a column (property) like "Q4-09" > > > with a > > > value for each customer like "1 - 22,000,000 - 3 - 1,750,000" (rank - > > > rev > > > amount - rank - gp amount), how will the user "massage" the data? i.e. > > > compare, say Q4-08 to Q4-09. > > > Again, sorry for being so verbose, and sorry if I have been unclear. I > > > work > > > at a company that is rather backward when it comes to web technologies > > > and > > > would like to demonstrate the usefulness of the semantic web and the > > > tools > > > available. As you can see my conundrum is the similarity of each > > > quarter's > > > data. > > > Thank you in advance for any and all help you may offer. > > > Best Regards, > > > Kirk --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SIMILE Widgets" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/simile-widgets?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
