Creating a Column Element in Information Designer

  1. Click New and select Column.

    Response: A Column Element tab is opened.

  2. In the Data Sources tree, select the column (leaf node) that you want to include.

  3. Click Add >.

    Response: The selected element is added to the Source columns list on the Column Element tab.

    Comment: Repeat this step if you need to include more data to calculate your column element.

  4. If you want the column to be calculated, type the expression in the Expression field.

    Comment: For instance, if you have added two numerical columns you could calculate the sum by entering "%1+%2". More

  5. Select the Data type of the column element.

    Comment: It is recommended that you use conversion functions for mapping columns. See notes below.

  6. In the Description field, type your own description of the column.

  7. In the Filter section, click id_expand_icon.png to show the filtering controls. More

  8. In the Aggregation section, click id_expand_icon.png to show the aggregation controls. More

  9. In the Properties section, click id_expand_icon.png to show the column properties controls. More

  10. Click Save.

    Response: The column is saved in the library and is shown with an icon denoting its type in the Elements tree.

Note: If the column in the database is of the type Real, and you want to create a column element of the type Integer, then set the Data type (step 5 above) to Integer. Similarly, if the column in the database is of the type Unknown, you must manually choose an appropriate type before the column can be saved. It is also strongly recommended that you use a conversion function (for example ROUND) in the Expression field (step 4 above). Look for descriptions of available conversion functions in the manual for your database.

See also:

Column Elements Overview