Comparing Previous Total to New Total for Flag

[mark929]

I'm trying to compare a previous report total to the current or refreshed total. For instance, the user opens the report and sees the previous day's total before the report is refreshed. Once the report is refreshed, I'm trying to flag any change in the totals. I don't need to flag the change difference, only that there was a change from the previous day's total.

I plan to flag this with a font color change. And while I know how the change the font color when a condition is met, I'm not really sure how to designate the old total from the new total since the field name is the same.

Oversimplified example: If (old total) <> (new total) then red

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Mark

 

[lbass]

You can't compare a previous instance with a new instance. You could, however, bring in both day's data, group by day, and then compare the results within the same report. If you want help with this approach, you should supply more information about what you are summarizing, e.g., is it some kind of cumulative total?

-LB

 

[mark929]

LB, thanks for your reply. The totals are not cumulative, and most days there is no change. The overall total rarely changes. I'm looking for a change in the categories. Example below:

Monday
Cat1 = 10
Cat2 = 10
Cat3 = 10
Total= 30

Tuesday
Cat1 = 11
Cat2 = 9
Cat3 = 10
Total= 30

Unfortunately, the date table from which these records are pulled is updated daily with all records from the previous day overwritten. There is a historical data table, but it is updated in 2-week increments, instead of daily. If there were some way to hold the previous day's totals in a separate report, perhaps a sub-report might work.

I'm open to other ways of flagging any changes. Any other thoughts suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[lbass]

I don't think there is a way to keep a subreport from updating within CR. I guess you could export your report to another application each day, e.g., Excel or import to Access, and then use the current day's and previous day's exports as your datasource for the comparative report.

-LB

 

[mark929]

Thanks LB... I'll give it a try. Surely there's a way to make this work. Thanks again for your replies.

Mark