Intervals of values


For the moment the intervals are only defined for numerical values (not for date and time values).

An interval can only be assigned to a cell belonging to a column defined as a value (so an interval can’t be assigned to key columns).

An interval is a range of possible values for a cell. If you know that the value of you cell for Calendar Year 2006 must be somewhere between 100 and 500, you can specify it in NBi with the following syntax:

<row>
  <cell>CY 2006</cell>
  <cell>[100;500]</cell>
</row>

You can use open or closed left and right bounds to specify if the bounds are contained or not in your interval. The sample here under assigns a range starting just after 100 and ending at 500 (included).

<row>
  <cell>CY 2006</cell>
  <cell>]100;500]</cell>
</row>

Infinite

Some intervals cover all the values greater than one million or lower than -200. In this case, the lower (or upper) bound is defined as the positive or negative infinite. To represent an infinite value in NBi, you can use the syntax -INF or +INF

Following intervals are valid:

<row>
  <cell>CY 2006</cell>
  <cell>[1000000;+INF]</cell>
</row>
<row>
  <cell>CY 2006</cell>
  <cell>[-INF;-200]</cell>
</row>

Note that for infinite the notion of open or closed bound is not relevant.

Special intervals

For readability of your test it’s sometimes useful to use a more readable syntax to define a few specific intervals. Following short-cuts are understood by NBi

Description Standard interval literal short-cut numeric short-cut
Greater than 0 ]0;+INF] (absolutely-positive) (+)
Greater or equal to 0 [0;+INF] (positive) (0+)
Less than 0 [-INF;0[ (absolutely-negative) (-)
Less or equal to 0 [-INF;0] (negative) (-0)

In an embedded result-set or an external CSV file, you can freely mix the previous notations.

<row>
  <cell>CY 2006</cell>
  <cell>(positive)</cell>
</row>
<row>
  <cell>CY 2007</cell>
  <cell>(0+)</cell>
</row>
<row>
  <cell>CY 2008</cell>
  <cell>[0;+INF]</cell>
</row>

You can also avoid the usage of the -INF or +INF by using the short-cut version making usage of symbols greater and less than.

Description numeric short-cut
Greater than 500 (>500)
Greater or equal to 500 (>=500)
Less than 500 (<500)
Less or equal to 5000 (<=500)

The two notations bellow are identical to represent all values greater than 500.

<row>
  <cell>CY 2006</cell>
  <cell>]500;+INF]</cell>
</row>
<row>
  <cell>CY 2006</cell>
  <cell>(>500)</cell>
</row>

Usage of following symbols (between brackets) is also understood by NBi: < , <= , > , >= . Note that for symbols < , <= you’ll need to make usage of the CDATA container to avoid misunderstanding with an opening xml element.