SQL databases are usually big complex beasts. An end user knows they have the information in the system, but it often proves too complex to extract it in a useable form.
We can use a number of tools to provide a company with data in a form they can use.
What do I mean by “flattening” the data?
A database designer works to “normalise” a database. This means removing any repeating data from a table and placing it in its own table.
For example a stock record:
Stock Code |
Stock Description |
Stock Category |
Stock Category Description |
Stock Category Discount Level |
Stock price |
Would be normalised into two tables:
Stock Code |
Stock Description |
Stock Category Code |
Stock price |
Stock Category Code |
Stock Category Description |
Stock Category Discount Level |
By “joining” these two tables, they can appear as one, but when a change is required on a discount level, only one record needs to be amended, instead of all of the stock table.
This is a simple example, but it highlights the most frequent issue facing an amateur report writer. “How can I include the details from both tables on a single report?”
We would ask if the report writer needs to know how? If we provide a “view” of the data, we can offer the report writer the data joined correctly and displaying the fields they need.