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Getting the Data You Want
Getting specific data--the data that you want to see--from your company's database involves four basic steps:
- Open the workbook that contains the data you want. If several workbooks exist, you open the one that contains the specific data you want. For example, from a set of workbooks created for a fictitious video store retail chain, you can open the sales workbook to check monthly profits, and then open another workbook to see how your store renovation program is progressing. Click to learn more about Opening an Existing Workbook and Viewing Scheduled Workbooks.
- As part of the process to open a workbook, select from choices, called Parameters, that define the precise data you want to see in the workbook. One Parameter might be the name of cities where your company has stores. To see profits from New York and Los Angeles, there's no reason to display data from every other city. So, when opening a workbook you choose those two cities, and the workbook opens with exactly the data you want. While working with that data you can always get the sales figures from the rest of the cities as well. Click to learn more about Finding Specific Data When a Workbook Opens.
- Reduce the amount of data by using Conditions. Conditions filter data and display only the data that meets the Conditions. For example, a Condition might be "find all the stores that did not meet their sales goals in the first quarter and that had fixed expenses greater than 40% of revenues." Discoverer compares the worksheet's data to the Condition, and then displays only the data that meets the Condition. Click to learn more about Finding Specific Data When a Workbook Opens.
- Create a new workbook, if necessary. If none of the workbooks meet your requirements you can create a new one, customized for displaying exactly the right combination of data. To create a new workbook, you must have the appropriate database privileges. Please see your Discoverer Administrator. Click to learn more about Creating a New Workbook.
