Comparing one month's EOM data to previous month EOM data in same row

Hi,

I need to do a calculation so I can subtract previous months hours (4/31/2023) data from this month's hours (5/31/2023) data. This is how data is organized. This just a small example of how it is. Without changing the structure of dataset how can i get all the 4/31 data on the same row as the 5/31 data? I have been trying to use rank and window but haven't had any luck. Also tried some formulas to create a previous month column but still stuck on this.

Facility

Date

Engine

Hours

Facility 1

4/31/2023

Engine A

34564

Facility 1

4/31/2023

Engine B

76574

Facility 1

4/31/2023

Engine C

4567

Facility 2

4/31/2023

Engine A

34566

Facility 2

4/31/2023

Engine B

45667

Facility 2

4/31/2023

Engine C

23455

Facility 1

5/31/2023

Engine A

54652

Facility 1

5/31/2023

Engine B

65433

Facility 1

5/31/2023

Engine C

22344

Facility 2

5/31/2023

Engine A

12334

Facility 2

5/31/2023

Engine B

455654

Facility 2

5/31/2023

Engine C

34455

Best Answer

  • ColemenWilson
    edited October 2023 Answer ✓

    You'll want to filter out rows of data that are not the "last day" of data. You can then use the LAST_DAY() function on the date to get the last day of the month (not necessary, but optional). Then you just need to do a lag offset of 1 because your data would look like this:

    So if you partition by Facility and Engine and lag 1 row you'd get the value for the last day of the month for the previous period.

    If I solved your problem, please select "yes" above

Answers

  • I would use a lag function in an ETL to get the previous value. You'll want to use the rank and window tile, sort on your date field, use an offset of 1 and partition by facility and engine I would assume.

    If I solved your problem, please select "yes" above

  • Thats what have been trying but can't seem to get data to carry over correctly. Ill keep trying. Any other options?

  • marcel_luthi
    marcel_luthi Coach
    edited October 2023

    How have you configured your Rank and Window tile? You should be able to do:

    • Function of LAG 1 on the Hours
    • Order by Date ASC
    • Partition by Engine and Facility

    As @ColemenWilson suggested, unless there are other columns in your structure that could cause multiple entries for each month.

  • Yeah im trying that but for some reason the values I get in this new rank and window column are the values in the same month one record above. So for some reason its not grabbing previous month and just previous record of same month

    Facility 1

    5/31/2023

    Engine A

    54652

    New Column

    Facility 1

    5/31/2023

    Engine B

    65433

    54652

    Facility 1

    5/31/2023

    Engine C

    22344

    65433

    Facility 2

    5/31/2023

    Engine A

    12334

    22344

    Facility 2

    5/31/2023

    Engine B

    455654

    12334

    Facility 2

    5/31/2023

    Engine C

    34455

    455654

  • ColemenWilson
    edited October 2023

    You need to partition on both facility and engine. This is an optional step that is needed in your use case. You'll see in the image below that you can partition on multiple columns:

    If I solved your problem, please select "yes" above

  • When I used on offset of 30 I started getting some results. I need to go back 30 days to get end of last month data. Problem is some locations might report on 5/28 and some might be 5/29 and then next month might be 6/29 or 6/30. I cant just set it as 30 or wont capture all the data. Any suggestions on how to maybe have a range or some way to match up max values if arent exactly 30 days apart. Trying to think about how can use a Max date

  • ColemenWilson
    edited October 2023 Answer ✓

    You'll want to filter out rows of data that are not the "last day" of data. You can then use the LAST_DAY() function on the date to get the last day of the month (not necessary, but optional). Then you just need to do a lag offset of 1 because your data would look like this:

    So if you partition by Facility and Engine and lag 1 row you'd get the value for the last day of the month for the previous period.

    If I solved your problem, please select "yes" above