On Wed 21 Jul 04, 1:36 AM, David Hummel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: > On Wed, Jul 21, 2004 at 12:00:39AM -0700, Jeff Newmiller wrote: > > > > A headcount is not the same as a roster... neither Peter's nor > > Michael's version was counting anything. > > I assumed what Peter was after was a list of unique SSN's for "race = 0" > students in Fall_2003 and Spring_2004. Unfortunately, I'm being forced to use MS Access at work. In Access, a roster always gives you a headcount (but a headcount doesn't necessarily give you a roster). So a roster is good too.
Actually, Access is kind of neat, but it has a major drawback. You can build fairly complex queries with a graphical interface. You can also build them using SQL. But the GUI is very convenient. Until you hit something the GUI can't do, like this. I've been told the GUI query builder can't accomplish this task because the database is designed poorly, as Jeff pointed out. But these are actually text files written by a mainframe that are sent to the state to report various things about our college. They weren't meant to be part of a database. That was my idea. :) The downside of using Access (other than the obvious) is that you tend to rely on the GUI interface when you should be concentrating on your basic SQL skills to prepare yourself for the inevitable time when you HAVE to use SQL because the GUI can't do it (like now - there's no GUI for unions). Pete -- In theory, theory and practise are the same. In practise, they aren't. GPG Instructions: http://www.dirac.org/linux/gpg GPG Fingerprint: B9F1 6CF3 47C4 7CD8 D33E 70A9 A3B9 1945 67EA 951D _______________________________________________ vox-tech mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.lugod.org/mailman/listinfo/vox-tech
