Data Prep "Ditto"

Janet_21505
Janet_21505 Altair Community Member
edited April 2020 in Community Q&A
​Is the Ditto function in Data Prep only able to fill down?  I have a situation in which I would like to fill "UP".

------------------------------
Janet Grimsley
VP, Business Intelligence
The Fauquier Bank
Warrenton VA
(540) 349-0215
------------------------------
Tagged:

Answers

  • Baba_Majekodunmi_703
    Baba_Majekodunmi_703
    Altair Employee
    edited April 2020
    Hi @Janet Grimsley,

    I've seen @Stephen Smay  do some really cool things in this arena with using appends and sorts. @Stephen Smay what do you think?


    ------------------------------
    Baba Majekodunmi
    Solutions Consultant
    Altair Engineering Inc.
    Manassas VA
    978-275-9325
    ------------------------------
    -------------------------------------------
    Original Message:
    Sent: 04-20-2020 04:53 PM
    From: Janet Grimsley
    Subject: Data Prep "Ditto"

    Is the Ditto function in Data Prep only able to fill down?  I have a situation in which I would like to fill "UP".

    ------------------------------
    Janet Grimsley
    VP, Business Intelligence
    The Fauquier Bank
    Warrenton VA
    (540) 349-0215
    ------------------------------
    "
  • CPorthouse
    CPorthouse
    Altair Employee
    edited April 2020
    Short answer is yes.  Ditto will only fill in blanks with a previous value.

    One of the easiest workarounds would be to add a column that contains the row number and then do a reverse sort on that column and then apply the ditto function.

    There is currently an enhancement request to add directional control (up or down) to the ditto function and is currently targeted for version 16.1 of Data Prep Studio but I do not have a date available and is always subject to change.

    ------------------------------
    Chris Porthouse
    Senior Implementation & Integration Engineer
    Altair
    ------------------------------
    -------------------------------------------
    Original Message:
    Sent: 04-20-2020 04:53 PM
    From: Janet Grimsley
    Subject: Data Prep "Ditto"

    Is the Ditto function in Data Prep only able to fill down?  I have a situation in which I would like to fill "UP".

    ------------------------------
    Janet Grimsley
    VP, Business Intelligence
    The Fauquier Bank
    Warrenton VA
    (540) 349-0215
    ------------------------------
    "
  • Steve Caiels_21881
    Steve Caiels_21881
    Altair Employee
    edited April 2020
    *Edit - Sorry Chris, I didn't see your reply!


    Hi Janet,

    The big difference between Ditto in Classic and Data Prep is that Data Prep Studio also has it as a table function.

    It requires a few steps, so if it can be done with Footers and 'cleared by' templates, then that would probably be best.  However . . . . 

    Step 1.  Don't use the option in the report extraction, you'll get something like this . . . 
    image
    Step 2 : Right click anywhere and select Column->New Row Number Column
    Step 3 : Transform -> Sort on descending Row Number
    Step 4 : Right Click the Value column and select Replace->Ditto
    Step 5 : Optionally re-sort on ascending Row number and delete the row number column
    image

    Regards,
    Steve.

    ------------------------------
    Steve Caiels
    Professional Services
    Altair
    ------------------------------
    -------------------------------------------
    Original Message:
    Sent: 04-20-2020 04:53 PM
    From: Janet Grimsley
    Subject: Data Prep "Ditto"

    Is the Ditto function in Data Prep only able to fill down?  I have a situation in which I would like to fill "UP".

    ------------------------------
    Janet Grimsley
    VP, Business Intelligence
    The Fauquier Bank
    Warrenton VA
    (540) 349-0215
    ------------------------------"
  • Janet_21505
    Janet_21505 Altair Community Member
    edited April 2020

    Short answer is yes.  Ditto will only fill in blanks with a previous value.

    One of the easiest workarounds would be to add a column that contains the row number and then do a reverse sort on that column and then apply the ditto function.

    There is currently an enhancement request to add directional control (up or down) to the ditto function and is currently targeted for version 16.1 of Data Prep Studio but I do not have a date available and is always subject to change.

    ------------------------------
    Chris Porthouse
    Senior Implementation & Integration Engineer
    Altair
    ------------------------------
    -------------------------------------------
    Original Message:
    Sent: 04-20-2020 04:53 PM
    From: Janet Grimsley
    Subject: Data Prep "Ditto"

    Is the Ditto function in Data Prep only able to fill down?  I have a situation in which I would like to fill "UP".

    ------------------------------
    Janet Grimsley
    VP, Business Intelligence
    The Fauquier Bank
    Warrenton VA
    (540) 349-0215
    ------------------------------
    "

    I like your thought process Chris!  Thanks for the concept!

    ------------------------------
    Janet Grimsley
    VP, Business Intelligence
    The Fauquier Bank
    Warrenton VA
    (540) 349-0215
    ------------------------------
    -------------------------------------------
    Original Message:
    Sent: 04-21-2020 06:54 AM
    From: Chris Porthouse
    Subject: Data Prep "Ditto"

    Short answer is yes.  Ditto will only fill in blanks with a previous value.

    One of the easiest workarounds would be to add a column that contains the row number and then do a reverse sort on that column and then apply the ditto function.

    There is currently an enhancement request to add directional control (up or down) to the ditto function and is currently targeted for version 16.1 of Data Prep Studio but I do not have a date available and is always subject to change.

    ------------------------------
    Chris Porthouse
    Senior Implementation & Integration Engineer
    Altair
    ------------------------------

    Original Message:
    Sent: 04-20-2020 04:53 PM
    From: Janet Grimsley
    Subject: Data Prep "Ditto"

    Is the Ditto function in Data Prep only able to fill down?  I have a situation in which I would like to fill "UP".

    ------------------------------
    Janet Grimsley
    VP, Business Intelligence
    The Fauquier Bank
    Warrenton VA
    (540) 349-0215
    ------------------------------
    "
  • Janet_21505
    Janet_21505 Altair Community Member
    edited April 2020

    I like your thought process Chris!  Thanks for the concept!

    ------------------------------
    Janet Grimsley
    VP, Business Intelligence
    The Fauquier Bank
    Warrenton VA
    (540) 349-0215
    ------------------------------
    -------------------------------------------
    Original Message:
    Sent: 04-21-2020 06:54 AM
    From: Chris Porthouse
    Subject: Data Prep "Ditto"

    Short answer is yes.  Ditto will only fill in blanks with a previous value.

    One of the easiest workarounds would be to add a column that contains the row number and then do a reverse sort on that column and then apply the ditto function.

    There is currently an enhancement request to add directional control (up or down) to the ditto function and is currently targeted for version 16.1 of Data Prep Studio but I do not have a date available and is always subject to change.

    ------------------------------
    Chris Porthouse
    Senior Implementation & Integration Engineer
    Altair
    ------------------------------

    Original Message:
    Sent: 04-20-2020 04:53 PM
    From: Janet Grimsley
    Subject: Data Prep "Ditto"

    Is the Ditto function in Data Prep only able to fill down?  I have a situation in which I would like to fill "UP".

    ------------------------------
    Janet Grimsley
    VP, Business Intelligence
    The Fauquier Bank
    Warrenton VA
    (540) 349-0215
    ------------------------------
    "

    Steve, wow, wow, wow.....love the "out of the box" thinking.  I should have thought of that.  Thanks!

    ------------------------------
    Janet Grimsley
    VP, Business Intelligence
    The Fauquier Bank
    Warrenton VA
    (540) 349-0215
    ------------------------------
    -------------------------------------------
    Original Message:
    Sent: 04-21-2020 07:09 AM
    From: Janet Grimsley
    Subject: Data Prep "Ditto"

    I like your thought process Chris!  Thanks for the concept!

    ------------------------------
    Janet Grimsley
    VP, Business Intelligence
    The Fauquier Bank
    Warrenton VA
    (540) 349-0215
    ------------------------------

    Original Message:
    Sent: 04-21-2020 06:54 AM
    From: Chris Porthouse
    Subject: Data Prep "Ditto"

    Short answer is yes.  Ditto will only fill in blanks with a previous value.

    One of the easiest workarounds would be to add a column that contains the row number and then do a reverse sort on that column and then apply the ditto function.

    There is currently an enhancement request to add directional control (up or down) to the ditto function and is currently targeted for version 16.1 of Data Prep Studio but I do not have a date available and is always subject to change.

    ------------------------------
    Chris Porthouse
    Senior Implementation & Integration Engineer
    Altair

    Original Message:
    Sent: 04-20-2020 04:53 PM
    From: Janet Grimsley
    Subject: Data Prep "Ditto"

    Is the Ditto function in Data Prep only able to fill down?  I have a situation in which I would like to fill "UP".

    ------------------------------
    Janet Grimsley
    VP, Business Intelligence
    The Fauquier Bank
    Warrenton VA
    (540) 349-0215
    ------------------------------
    "
  • Mahmoud
    Mahmoud
    Altair Employee
    edited April 2020
    Hi Janet,
    There is no fill up function in DPS or Classic.  You may use the recno(), rowno() functions along with the sort to fill up empty cells.
    It is not a straight forward technique, but might work in certain situations.


    Regards

    Mo

    ------------------------------
    Mahmoud Abdolrahim
    Senior Implementation & Integration Engineer
    Datawatch Corporation
    MA
    (978) 935-3840
    ------------------------------
    -------------------------------------------
    Original Message:
    Sent: 04-20-2020 04:53 PM
    From: Janet Grimsley
    Subject: Data Prep "Ditto"

    Is the Ditto function in Data Prep only able to fill down?  I have a situation in which I would like to fill "UP".

    ------------------------------
    Janet Grimsley
    VP, Business Intelligence
    The Fauquier Bank
    Warrenton VA
    (540) 349-0215
    ------------------------------
    "