How to group data and assign cell names using Excel templates

Question

Hi all,
reading the article "Real Excel Templates 1.5" on the Tim Dexter's Blog, I found that I need hierarchical data for Excel templates. So only in this way I can group my data.
My hierarchy is composed by 3 levels:
lev 1 DESTINATION: is the higher level that groups SERVICES and COUNTRY
lev 2 SERVICES: is the level that groups the countries
lev 3 COUNTRY: is the lowest level with the COUNTRY, CALLS and CALLS_MINUTES details
An example of my hierarchy is this:
lev 1 INTERNATIONAL
lev 2 INTERNATIONAL FIXED
lev 3 Albania 90 438,15
lev 3 Armenia 1 16,95
lev 2 INTERNATIONAL MOBILE
lev 3 Albania Mobile 161 603,35
lev 3 Australia Mobile 6 34,38
lev 1 NATIONAL
lev 2 HELLAS LOCAL
lev 3 Hellas Local 186,369 707940,6
lev 2 HELLAS MOBILE
lev 3 Hellas Mobile Cosmote 31,33 43856,97
lev 3 Hellas Mobile Q-Telecom 2,398 4343,78
lev 2 HELLAS NATIONAL
lev 3 Hellas Long Distance 649 1499,55
lev 1 INTERNET
lev 2 INTERNET CALLS
lev 3 Cosmoline @Free 79 2871,3
So, my data template is the following (with exactly the hierarchy I want for my data):
<dataTemplate name="emp" description="destinations" dataSourceRef="GINO_DB">
     <dataQuery>
          <sqlStatement name="Q1">
               <![CDATA[SELECT 1 TOTAL_CALLS, 2 TOTAL_CALLS_MIN from dual ]]>
          </sqlStatement>
          <sqlStatement name="Q2">
               <![CDATA[SELECT dest.ID_DESTINATION, dest.DESC_DEST from ale.AAA_DESTINATION dest order by dest.ID_DESTINATION ]]>
          </sqlStatement>
          <sqlStatement name="Q3">
               <![CDATA[SELECT ser.ID_SERVICE,
ser.ID_DEST,
ser.DESC_SERVICE,
count.ID_COUNTRY,
count.ID_SERV,
count.COUNTRY,
count.CALLS,
count.CALLS_MIN
from ale.AAA_SERVICE ser, ale.AAA_COUNTRY count
where ser.ID_SERVICE= count.ID_SERV
and ID_DEST = :ID_DESTINATION
order by ser.ID_SERVICE ]]>
          </sqlStatement>
     </dataQuery>
     <dataStructure>
          <group name="G_TOT" source="Q1">
               <element name="TOTAL_CALLS" value="G_COUNTRY.CALLS" function="SUM()"/>
               <element name="TOTAL_CALLS_MIN" value="G_COUNTRY.CALLS_MIN" function="SUM()"/>
               <group name="G_DEST" source="Q2">
                    <element name="DESC_DEST" value="DESC_DEST"/>
                    <element name="DEST_CALLS_SUBTOTAL" value="G_COUNTRY.CALLS" function="SUM()"/>
                    <element name="DEST_CALLS_MIN_SUBTOTAL" value="G_COUNTRY.CALLS_MIN" function="SUM()"/>
                    <group name="G_SERV" source="Q3">
                         <element name="DESC_SERVICE" value="DESC_SERVICE"/>
                         <element name="SERV_CALLS_SUBTOTAL" value="G_COUNTRY.CALLS" function="SUM()"/>
                         <element name="SERV_CALLS_MIN_SUBTOTAL" value="G_COUNTRY.CALLS_MIN" function="SUM()"/>
                         <group name="G_COUNTRY" source="Q3">
                              <element name="COUNTRY" value="COUNTRY"/>
                              <element name="CALLS" value="CALLS"/>
                              <element name="CALLS_MIN" value="CALLS_MIN"/>
                         </group>
                    </group>
               </group>
          </group>
     </dataStructure>
</dataTemplate>
Not considering the CALLS and CALLS_MIN details (I focused only on the COUNTRY which is as the same level), with this data template, making tests on my excel template, I noticed that I can group ONLY two nested levels using the format XDO_GROUP_?group_name?
XDO_GROUP_?G_DEST?
XDO_GROUP_?G_SERV?
or
XDO_GROUP_?G_DEST?
XDO_GROUP_?G_COUNTRY?
or
XDO_GROUP_?G_SERV?
XDO_GROUP_?G_COUNTRY
If I try to group all the three level together in this order
XDO_GROUP_?G_DEST?
XDO_GROUP_?G_SERV?
XDO_GROUP_?G_COUNTRY
I don't have the output I would like to have.....
Practically, in my excel I have 3 rows with the following labels
DESTINATION (called XDO_?DESC_DEST? - =Sheet1!$A$3
SERVICE (called XDO_?DESC_SERVICE? - =Sheet1!$A$4
COUNTRY (called XDO_?COUNTRY? - =Sheet1!$A$5)
where
XDO_GROUP_?G_DEST? (=Sheet1!$A$3:$B$5)
XDO_GROUP_?G_SERV? (=Sheet1!$A$4:$B$5)
XDO_GROUP_?G_COUNTRY     (=Sheet1!$A$5:$B$5)
I noticed that if I don't use the last one (XDO_GROUP_?G_COUNTRY), my output is correct even if I don't have more than one country for each service....As soon as I put XDO_GROUP_?G_COUNTRY....I loose all the 2nd level and the most of times the 3rd level too....
So...I think that the problem is how I choose the excel cells when I assign the XDO_GROUP_?group_name?
Anybody had made some tests, or can help me ???? I'm becoming crazy.....
Any help will be appreciated
Thanks in advance
Alex

Answer 1

But how can I use tags XDO_GROUP_?? to group data correctly using hierarchial xml, I don't want to use flat XML.
Yep, I using Template Builder in Excel to run reports localy, and output is wrong
It's seems that groups couldn't define the level of nesting, I think...
How can I write it in XDO_METADATA sheet?
Though I have hierarchial XML and groups should define nesting level correctly.
I have no clue.....