I've got a customer who wants reproducible/historical re****ting. The
problem is that the underlying data changes.
I tried to explain that this can't be done (can it?), but he doesn't
understand.
To illustrate the situation - Let's say a teacher wants to track
spelling test scores for her students.
The below are scores for students A, B, and C (for January, February,
March)
A: {70,80,85}
B: {70,65, 80}
C: {100,90,100}
So, I can generate a historical re****t that charts the class average
and student trend - that's pretty easy.
Now, in April, we find that the school board has mandated that the
British spelling of words is ok, so now the cumulative scores (for
January, February, March)
A: {90,80,85,100}
B: {80,65, 80,80}
C: {100,90,100,75}
He wants a re****t showing the January average as (70+70+100)/3 = 80,
when really it is (90+80+100)/3 = 90.
Now imagine that there are actually thousands of data points changing
like this...
Now also imagine that we add and remove students on a regular basis...
He and his office manager get frustrated when I explain that the
re****ts are not simple - in their mind it is. They have determined
the solution is to get a re****t writer and buy Crystal Re****ts...
I've tried to explain that the problem is that the re****t
specification is unclear (basically - they don't understand what they
want). The situation is ok for now, I'm just trying to plan for when
they figure out that buying Crystal Re****ts won't change their
situation (except they are done several thousand dollars)...
Any tips?
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