Totaling fields

Concept Information

TOTAL command

You can total numeric fields or expressions in the active table. Totaling finds the arithmetic sum of one or more numeric fields, and is typically used to prove the completeness and accuracy of the data, and to produce control totals. The results are displayed in the Analytics display area.

Tip

Some character fields, such as invoice numbers, may contain numbers. To total this type of data, create a computed field that uses the VALUE( ) function to convert character data to numeric data, and then total the computed field.

Steps

  1. Select Analyze > Total.
  2. On the Main tab, do one of the following:

    Select the field(s) to total from the Total Fields list.

    Click Total Fields to select the field(s), or to create an expression.

    The order in which you select the fields is the order in which the columns appear in the results.

  3. If there are records in the current view that you want to exclude from processing, enter a condition in the If text box, or click If to create an IF statement using the Expression Builder.

    Note

    The If condition is evaluated against only the records remaining in a table after any scope options have been applied (First, Next, While).

  4. Click the More tab.

  5. Select the appropriate option in the Scope panel:

    • All
    • First
    • Next
    • While
    All This option is selected by default. Leave it selected to specify that all records in the view are processed.
    First Select this option and enter a number in the text box to start processing at the first record in the view and include only the specified number of records.
    Next Select this option and enter a number in the text box to start processing at the currently selected record in the view and include only the specified number of records. The actual record number in the leftmost column must be selected, not data in the row.
    While

    Select this option to use a WHILE statement to limit the processing of records in the view based on a particular criterion or set of criteria. You can enter a condition in the While text box, or click While to create a WHILE statement using the Expression Builder.

    A WHILE statement allows records in the view to be processed only while the specified condition evaluates to true. As soon as the condition evaluates to false, the processing terminates, and no further records are considered. You can use the While option in conjunction with the All, First, or Next options. Record processing stops as soon as one limit is reached.
     

    Note

    The number of records specified in the First or Next options references either the physical or the indexed order of records in a table, and disregards any filtering or quick sorting applied to the view. However, results of analytical operations respect any filtering.

    If a view is quick sorted, Next behaves like First.
  6. Click OK.