Worksheet Properties dialog: Aggregation tab

Use this tab to control how Discoverer populates cells for aggregated values (sometimes referred to as roll-up values) for the current worksheet.

For more information, see:

"What are aggregated values in Discoverer"

"What are linear and non-linear totals"

"About choosing aggregation options"

"Examples of worksheet aggregation in Discoverer"

If Discoverer cannot compute an aggregated cell value, how should the cell be populated?

Use these options to specify how you want Discoverer to populate cells for aggregated values. If you clear the Use the aggregation behavior selected by the Discoverer manager check box, the radio button options beneath become active.

Use the aggregation behavior selected by the Discoverer manager

Use this check box to control whether you specify how Discoverer calculates aggregated values, or whether you accept the default Discoverer behavior specified for you by the Discoverer manager, as follows:

Select this check box if you want the Discoverer manager to specify how Discoverer calculates aggregated values. The radio button options show which aggregation behavior the Discoverer manager has specified for you.

Note: This is the recommended option. To avoid getting non-meaningful results, do not clear this check box unless you are advised to do so by the Discoverer manager.
Clear this check box if you want to specify how Discoverer calculates aggregated values by selecting one of the radio button options. If you clear this check box, make sure that you get the worksheet results that you expect if you select a different aggregation option to the default aggregation option.

Aggregation options

If you clear the Use the aggregation behavior selected by the Discoverer manager check box, use these options to manually control how Discoverer populates cells for aggregated values.

(Oracle9i specific) Show the aggregated value calculated by the database. The database uses the same aggregation method as Discoverer

Use this radio button if you are using an Oracle9i database and you want Discoverer to compute an aggregated value by adding up data points and applying the calculation to the result. For an example, see "Example 1: Example of a Rank calculation using an Oracle9i database".

Note: This field is only displayed when you are using an Oracle9i database. This field is not displayed for scheduled workbook results sets.
Show values that cannot be aggregated as: <Non-aggregable label> option, set on the Sheet Format tab

Use this radio button if you have an Oracle8i database and you want Discoverer to display the non-aggregable label (e.g. N.A.) for certain specific non-linear calculations that cannot be aggregated. For an example, see "Example 2: Example of a weighted margin calculation using an Oracle8i database".

The non-aggregable label is the display text that you specify on the "Worksheet Properties dialog: Sheet/Crosstab Format tab" (i.e. choose Edit | Worksheet Properties).

Note: You typically will not use this option if you are using an Oracle9i database.
Show the sum of the values displayed in the contributing cells

Use this radio button when you want Discoverer to compute an aggregated value by simply adding up a series of data points. For an example, see "Example 3: Example of a weighted margin calculation using an Oracle8i database".

Notes

To find out which database version you are using, choose Help | About Discoverer to display the About OracleBI Discoverer page, and look at the Enterprise Edition Release number.
For an example of a Discoverer worksheet that includes repeated values, see "Example 4: Example showing how Discoverer does not aggregate repeated values using an Oracle9i database".

Notes on aggregation when sharing worksheets between Discoverer Desktop and Discoverer Plus Relational/Viewer users

This section explains how Discoverer computes aggregated values if you share Discoverer worksheets with other Discoverer Desktop or Discoverer Plus Relational/Viewer users.

Note: If a potential fan trap situation exists, make sure that Discoverer users specify the same fan trap settings (for more information, see "Options dialog: Advanced tab").

About sharing a Discoverer worksheet between Discoverer Plus Relational users

To make sure that a Discoverer worksheet contains the same aggregated values regardless of which Discoverer Plus Relational user opens it, do one or both of the following:

explicitly set the aggregation option on the Aggregation tab (i.e. clear the Use the aggregation behavior selected by the Discoverer manager check box and select one of the radio button options)
make sure that the Discoverer manager has specified the same default Aggregation option (i.e. the EnhancedAggregationStrategy preference) on all Discoverer middle-tier machines being used

About sharing a Discoverer worksheet between Discoverer Plus Relational and Discoverer Desktop users

If you want to share a Discoverer worksheet between Discoverer Plus Relational and Discoverer Desktop, note the following:

if a worksheet created in Discoverer Plus Relational against an Oracle8i database is opened in Discoverer Desktop, Discoverer Desktop displays the same aggregated values
if a worksheet created in Discoverer Plus Relational (and the Show the aggregated value calculated by the database. The database uses the same aggregation method as Discoverer option is selected) against an Oracle9i database is opened in Discoverer Desktop, Discoverer Desktop displays the non-aggregable label by default
if a worksheet created in Discoverer Desktop is opened in Discoverer Plus Relational, Discoverer Plus Relational uses the same aggregation behavior as specified in Discoverer Desktop