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Visualizing Complex Data Sets?
markmcb writes "A year ago my company began using SAP as its ERP system, and there is still a great deal of focus on cleaning up the 'master data' that ultimately drives everything the system does. The issue we face is that the master data set is gigantic and not easy to wrap one's mind around. As powerful as SAP is, I find it does little to aid with useful visualization of data. I recently employed a custom solution using Ruby and Graphviz to help build graphs of master data flow from manual extracts, but I'm wondering what other people are doing to get similar results. Have you found good out-of-the-box solutions in things like data warehouses, or is this just one of those situations where customization has to fill a gap?"
Just take the first 65k rows and dump them into excel and create a pivot table.
If you think that's worth looking at... how about this? http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1121
Into a matrix screensaver.
I record my sleeptalking
Large, highly complex data sets are best described on the back of four cocktail napkins or on a fixed white board in a shared conference room. ~
Invenio via vel creo
Bargain and SAP are not two words to be used together!
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Their priorities are different. I come from three generations of German VW assembly line workers (Wolfsburg plant). I grew up in the US. Last time I saw my now-retired uncle, he asked me about the (then) new VW Bug and why the Americans kept putting flowers in the dashboard-mounted gun rack. Explanation was pointless.