At times, you might want to show only the "top" or "bottom" groups in a report: the fastest selling product lines, the least productive sales regions, the states that generate the most orders, and so on. Because this kind of group selection is so popular, the program includes the Group Sort Expert for setting it up easily:
There is one other element to consider when selecting the Top N or Bottom N groups: what will you do with the records from the remaining groups that is, those groups that do not fit your specified Top N or Bottom N criteria? You need to decide whether to eliminate those records from your report entirely, or to lump them all together into a single group. The program enables you to choose either option.
Note This procedure shows you how to select top or bottom N groups. Top or bottom percentages work the same way except that you define the percentage value instead of the number of groups.
To select the top or bottom N groups
Note A report must contain a summary value in order to perform a Top N or Bottom N selection. See Summarizing Grouped Data.
The Group Sort Expert appears with a tab for your group. If you have multiple groups, the program will display a tab for each of the groups.
The summary drop-down list on the right is for those cases in which you have multiple summaries within a single group section. For example, in an orders report, you might sum and average the orders for each customer and then display both the sum and the average in the same group section. In such a case, you would select the sum or the average from this drop-down list.
For example, suppose you had the following groups:
If you set your top N to be three, but you do not select "Include ties," your report will show Order 1, Order 2, and Order 3.
If, in the same scenario, you do select "Include ties," your report will show Order 1, Order 2, Order 3, and Order 4 even though N is set as three. In this way, the program accommodates the equal values of orders 3 and 4.
When the program runs the report, it will include only those groups that you specified.
Adding Percentages to a Report | Enhancing Report Presentation