Walter Blood

True to the form of any good language, FOCUS includes more than one way to connect multiple data sources to use their combined data for reporting, graphing, or charting. The most common connection is JOIN, which in its many variations—JOIN to UNIQUE, JOIN to MULTIPLE, DEFINE-based JOIN, WHERE-based or conditional JOIN, and recursive JOIN—allows data in one file to be connected and correlated with data in a second file. The JOIN command establishes the conditions of the connection between two files.

Transform column data display with ACROSS.

One of the most powerful phrases in the FOCUS language—ACROSS—allows you to generate a matrix of data in the simplest and most direct way, comparing any two or more dimensions. For instance:

And when you use this construction, there are a number of aspects of the ACROSS column processing and display that you might wish you could change. Well, most likely, you can!

The FOCUS language supports a remarkable range of functionality, all centered around a single aggregating or detail-generating pass through the data. It includes sorting, selection, virtual field creation (both at retrieval time and prior to output time), text insertion, and subtotaling and grand totaling within the sort. Verb object prefixes allow you to modify the data. Functions can be applied both in expressions and directly to verb objects. There is a range of styling that opens the door for the artist in every one of us.