Re: Phrasing question in documentation

Subject: Re: Phrasing question in documentation
From: Lauren <lauren -at- writeco -dot- net>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2015 18:51:19 -0700

Isn't Crystal Reports like this? I don't remember.

This does not sound confusing to me at all. If the user knows that a week ends on a specific date, they will expect a group by week report to show all data for the week that ends after the start date. They will not expect the report to break in the middle of the week because the date of the start date is in the middle of the week. The group by days report should show each date in the range.

If it confuses you, then it may confuse another user. You could provide a note that states the entire week will be shown even if the start date is in the middle of the week. My online banking reports only show specific days in a range and not a group by week report.

To better illustrate the difference of group by week to group by day, consider group by month. If I want to know all of my expenses for a range of months and I pick a start date in the middle of the month, I will still expect totals for each month and without a break in the months at the start or end of the range when full months are not included. Programmers usually accommodate this type of range selection by using month names. So, no matter what range is selected, the entire month will be used. For weekly ranges, programmers can sometimes use the selector of "week ending" to specify the start and end dates of ranges.

Lauren


On 8/31/2015 7:43 AM, Joe Weinmunson wrote:

...Two examples:
A) I run a report with a Start Date of Thursday, Feb 5 and tell the program
to group payments by weeks. I get a list of payments made in different
formats (Checks, Visa, MC, direct debit, etc.) for the week of 2/2â2/8,
2/9â2/15, 2/16â2/22, etc. See, the "start date" I chose, 2/5 falls in the
week of 2/2 through 2/8.
B) I run the report with the same Start Date of Thursday, Feb 5, but this
time I tell the program to group payments by days. I now get the list of
payments in the same format, but for Monday 2/2, Tuesday 2/3, 2/4, 2/5,
2/6, and Weekend (2/7â2/8).


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References:
Phrasing question in documentation: From: Joe Weinmunson

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