Numeric Band

Use the Numeric Band tool, similar to the Auto Numeric Band, to create a Column comprising groups of numerical data but unlike Auto Numeric Band tool you can split a numeric column’s values range into uneven bands, which are not necessarily contiguous, and edit the band labels.

The value of this tool is its ability to simplify data; by setting the minimum and maximum values, you can limit your column to the range that you are interested in.

For example, when looking at a Column of quarterly profits it may be more useful to group them into five bands: very low, low, average, high, and very high rather than look at individual figures. Or when looking at a Column of Days since last order it may be more useful to group results into weekly and monthly lists.

Procedure

1. Drag the Numeric Band tool to the Workspace.
2. Choose the join operator.
3. Click the icon to the right of the New Numeric Band field. A new window opens.
4. In the Display Name field, enter a name for the numeric band.

If you save the tool as a template, this name will be used to display it in the Templates tab. The Display Name is also used in the Caption area if you insert the tool into a document.

5. If you want the new column to be automatically indexed, select the Index Column check box. You should only index columns when necessary. For example, when engineered columns have > 250 discrete values, indexing can start to improve query performance.

6. Optional setting: if you want to make the column permanent so that it can be viewed and selected in the Data Explorer, click the Optional expand icon. In the Table Column Name field, enter the name you want to use to display the column in the Data Explorer tab.
7. Configuring the following Settings fields:

Banding Source Column: Select a column that will provide the basis of the numeric band. The column details will be displayed in an editable grid below.

Filter Segment: Use this field to apply filters to the original column to create a subset of records.

Configuring Bands: here are two options available when configuring bands:

• If you want an equal split then check Equal, specify the number of bands and the column maximum and minimum values. The bands will be created automatically with equal sized bands, rather than equal number of records in each band. Note that if the column range (the difference between the specified minimum and maximum values) is not exactly divisible by the number of bands, then any difference will be divided across the bands resulting in bands that are not exactly the same size.
• If you would like to set the limits of each band yourself then select the Custom option. This will make the grid below editable and you can set the upper and lower limit of each band yourself. You can also edit the labels to be more descriptive.

Use the following buttons when configuring bands:

• Click Auto Fill to reset the band ranges back to the default.
• Click Auto Label to label the bands according to the specified interval, for example ‘18-30’.
• Click Clear to remove all labels and values from the grid.

• Data Engineering
  • Data Engineering Tools Overview
  • Aggregate Functions
  • Aggregate
  • Auto Numeric Band
  • Copy Values To
  • Days Between
  • Decode
  • Engine Cleanup
  • Expression
  • Engine Expressions
  • First or Last
  • Make Permanent
  • Numeric Band
  • Parametric Groups
  • Percentile
  • Prioritize List
  • Quantile Band
  • Rank By X