Oracle "Cross Tab" capability!!!!!

Cross Tab Question!!!!!

I am in the middle of a debateover whether to use a highly normalized
"tall and skinny" journal table in an accounting application or one that is
"short and fat". The later is preferred by some members of the development
team for its ability to easily sum a column. However a variety of entries may exist in the column and you lose a level of detail, flexibility, and extendability that the "tall and skinny" provides. I was playing with Access and some sample data in a table structure for the "tall and skinny" version and discovered the "cross tab query," which addresses some of the advantages of the "short and fat" version through a select statement. Does anyone know if Oracle has a select statement similar to
"TRANSFORM" in Access .

An example of the text of the select statement from Access is provided below:

TRANSFORM Sum([Vertical Journal].Amount) AS SumOfAmount SELECT [Vertical Journal].Transaction
FROM [Vertical Journal]
GROUP BY [Vertical Journal].Transaction PIVOT [Vertical Journal].SubJournal

I understand that at times it is prudent to denormalize for performance sake but I am concerned that hastily choosing that option will make the front end more difficult to develop initially and to maintain in the long run. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Andrew D. Flewelling Received on Wed Apr 08 1998 - 20:39:40 CDT