Which is faster?

[wes via AccessMonster.com]

Is it faster to ...

format the data in the query - then run the report

or

run the query - then format the data in the report

Wes

--
Message posted via http://www.accessmonster.com

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per wes via AccessMonster.com:

Is it faster to ...

format the data in the query - then run the report

or

run the query - then format the data in the report

Dunno, but what I read long ago (can't remember the reasoning...) was that
formatting is best done as close to the end result as possible.
--
PeteCresswell

[Larry Linson]

It makes no "sense" to talk about formatting the data other than at the
point of display. The result of applying a Format statement to a _numeric_
variable is the text string of characters that you see. It would be
inefficient, at least in most cases, to store/retrieve the text strings
representing numbers.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP

"wes via AccessMonster.com" <u17141@uwe> wrote in message
news:5d105f5b29b10@uwe...

Is it faster to ...

format the data in the query - then run the report

or

run the query - then format the data in the report

Wes

--
Message posted via http://www.accessmonster.com

[David W. Fenton]

"Larry Linson" <bo*****@localhost.not> wrote in
news:X_pQf.7588$wH5.2247@trnddc02:

It makes no "sense" to talk about formatting the data other than
at the point of display. The result of applying a Format statement
to a _numeric_ variable is the text string of characters that you
see. It would be inefficient, at least in most cases, to
store/retrieve the text strings representing numbers.

Well, except for cases where you need to operate on the formatted
values instead of the original. Of course, that would also be slow,
if, for instance, you're sorting on a value passed through the
Format() function. But sometimes it is necessary (though sorting is
not a good example of something that has to be done in the query).

--
David W. Fenton http://www.dfenton.com/
usenet at dfenton dot com http://www.dfenton.com/DFA/

[Larry Linson]

"David W. Fenton" wrote

It makes no "sense" to talk about formatting
the data other than at the point of display. The
result of applying a Format statement to a
_numeric_ variable is the text string of
characters that you see. It would be inefficient,
at least in most cases, to store/retrieve the text
strings representing numbers.

Well, except for cases where you need to operate
on the formatted values instead of the original.
Of course, that would also be slow, if, for instance,
you're sorting on a value passed through the
Format() function. But sometimes it is necessary
(though sorting is not a good example of some-
thing that has to be done in the query).

For the life of me, I just can't remember a single occasion where I "needed
to operate on the formatted values instead of the original". I can think of
some occasions where it would definitely not be beneficial... sorting on a
formatted number (which, of course, results in a text string) gives you an
alphabetic sort rather than a numeric one, sorting on Weekday name could
lead to some interesting sequences, etc..

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP

[samwise2u via AccessMonster.com]

So I guess the short answer would be to format data in the report?

--
Message posted via http://www.accessmonster.com

[Randy Harris]

samwise2u via AccessMonster.com wrote:

So I guess the short answer would be to format data in the report?

I'm not sure there is an answer that is always best. Personally, I do
computations in the query whenever possible but always do the formatting
in the report.

--
Randy Harris
tech at promail dot com
I'm pretty sure I know everything that I can remember.

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per samwise2u via AccessMonster.com:

So I guess the short answer would be to format data in the report?

I twist that slightly and say:

"Format data in the report unless you have a specific need to do it earlier".
--
PeteCresswell

[Larry Linson]

"(PeteCresswell)" <[e-mail]> wrote

I twist that slightly and say:

"Format data in the report unless you have
a specific need to do it earlier".

I might go even a bit farther and say "Format the data in the report unless
you have a _compelling_ need to do it earlier."

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP