Re: Exploding information to flatness

> Is there an acceptable way to 'blow' out information into a flat file
> from tables that are related? In this particular case, I'm trying to
> move related data from tables to an Excel spreadsheet. Here would be
> a simplified example:

If you are trying to "crosstabulate", you might want to look at any of these three methods:

First, in "Oracle, the Complete Reference", there's a chapter called "Turning a table on its side." In essence, it shows how to crosstabulate.

Second, in MS Access, there's something called a "crosstab query", with a corresponding wizard. This crosstabulates a numeric measure according to two other dimensions, from related data.

Third, in MS Excel, there's a thing called a "pivot table". This does roughly the same thing in Excel.

Crosstabulation, AFAIK, is used on numeric measures that are additive. I'm not sure crosstabulation is relevant
to your case. Still, it's a technique that's worth knowing, and you may be able to adapt it to your situation.

--
Regards,
    David Cressey
    www.dcressey.com