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copied!<p>Sometimes a report can be generated by a single query. Sometimes some procedural code has to be written. And sometimes, even though a single query CAN be used, it's much better/faster/clearer to write a bit of procedural code.</p> <p>Case in point - another developer at work wrote a report that used a single query. That query was amazing - turned a table sideways, did some amazing summation stuff - and may well have piped the output through hyperspace - truly a work of art. I couldn't have even conceived of doing something like that and learned a lot just from readying through it. It's only problem was that it took 45 minutes to run and brought the system to its knees in the process. I loved that query...but in the end...I admit it - I killed it. ((sob!)) I dismembered it with a chainsaw while humming "Highway To Hell"! I...I wrote a little procedural code to cover my tracks and...nobody noticed. I'd like to say I was sorry, but...in the end the job ran in 30 seconds. Oh, sure, it's easy enough to say "But performance matters, y'know"...but...I loved that query... ((sniffle...)) Anybody seen my chainsaw..? >;-></p> <p>The point of the above is "Make Things As Simple As You Can, But No Simpler". If you find yourself with a query that covers three pages (I <em>loved</em> that query, but...) maybe it's trying to tell you something. A much simpler query and some procedural code may take up about the same space, page-wise, but could possibly be much easier to understand and maintain.</p> <p>Share and enjoy.</p>

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