SQL for Elite!

John AshleyFinancial Systems Administrator

Moore & Van Allen PLLC

Mining the Enterprise Database

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Agenda♦Database Structures♦Major Tables & Indices♦SQL Basics♦Joins♦Query Examples♦Tips & Tricks

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Database Structures♦Elite Documentation

– Heavy SQL users, print a copy out to have handy

– See table structures in Query Analyzer or Management Studio’s Object Explorer

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Major Elite Tables & Indices♦ matter

– mmatter, mclient, mbillaty

♦ client– clnum, crelated

♦ timekeep– tkinit

♦ ledger– lindex, lmatter, llcode,

lbatch

♦ timecard– tindex, tmatter, ttk, tbatch

♦ cost– cindex, cmatter, ctk,

ccode, cbatch

♦ batch– bbatch

♦ trsttran– trindex, tmatter, tracct,

trbatch

♦ prohead– phindex, phmatter,

phbatch

♦ udf– udfindex, udjoin

♦ ap– apnum

♦ apaddr– apnum, apaddid

♦ apvo– vo_id, apnum, apaddid

♦ csd– cknum, baid, apnum

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SQL Basics♦SELECT

– Identifies the columns in the resulting output

♦FROM– Identifies the source tables

♦WHERE– Applies criteria to the output

♦GROUP BY– Applies grouping when using summary

functions

♦HAVING– Applies criteria based on GROUP BY

♦ORDER BY– Applies sorting to the output

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Aliases♦Alias a column or table within the SELECT

or FROM clause– SELECT matter.mmatter matnum …– SELECT matter.mmatter AS matnum …

♦Reference the columnsusing the table alias– Helpful when joining

the same table multipletimes in the same query

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Joins♦INNER JOIN

– Returns only records from two tables that match

♦LEFT OUTER JOIN– Returns all records from left

table and any records from the right table that match

♦RIGHT OUTER JOIN– Returns all records from the

right table and any records from the left table that match

– Usually best to rewrite as a LOJ

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Methods of Joining♦Join in the WHERE clause

– SELECT client.clname1, matter.mdesc1FROM client, matterWHERE client.clnum = matter.mclient

– Inner Join (=); Left Outer Join (*=), Right Outer Join (=*)

♦Join in the FROM clause– SELECT client.clname1, matter.mdesc1

FROM clientINNER JOIN matter ON client.clnum = matter.mclient

– Preferred Method◊ Easier to read◊ Helps avoid Cartesian joins◊ ANSI Standard

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Left Outer Join Sample♦Number of open matters by billing

attorney for all Senior PartnersInner Join Outer Join (correct)

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Querying Tip #1♦Build queries one table at a time

– Start with the specific population ◊ Information on Non-Terminated Associates

SELECT *FROM timekeepWHERE tktitle = ‘Associate’AND tktmdate IS NULL

◊ Note the number of records returned

– Add additional tables– Ensure record count remains constant

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Criteria in Outer Joins♦Use criteria within the join

– Often necessary with outer joins

Criteria in WHERE Criteria in FROM

66 records 67 records

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Limiting Result Sets♦Two options to limit your result set to a

specific number of records– Top 10 Members by worked hours for 2009

TOP SET ROWCOUNT

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UDF Fields♦UDF fields in Elite

can be set up for many different types of records– Each UDF has an

index and is tied to a UDF type (i.e. matter, client, timekeep, vendor, etc.)

– For validated fields, it is easy to find the index number by pulling up a record in the master file

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UDF Fields, cont.♦UDF list can be printed from Elite under

Setups / Other / User Defined Fields♦Alternatively, the code below will give you

a list of UDFs sorted by type and line #– Keep handy if you will be querying on UDFs

often

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UDF Fields, cont.♦UDF values are stored in

the udf table♦UDF validation descriptions

are stored in the udfval table

♦Example Query:– Firms that use Whitehill likely

have a matter udf called Total Hours Billing that displays the total hours on an invoice. How many open matters are set to display or not display Total Hours?

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Summary Tables♦Summary tables in Elite are used for

Inquiry.– matths

◊ Summary statistics by matter by period

– mattimhs◊ Summary statistics by matter by working timekeeper

by period

– timewahs◊ Summary statistics by working timekeeper by period

♦Make sure you pick the right column for the exact data that you need

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Summary Table Examples♦Year-to-date Collections for all matters of a

client– Collections will match Matter Inquiry in Elite

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Summary Table, cont.♦Top 10 Clients by worked hours for a

timekeeper

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periodt Table♦When querying across multiple periods, I

highly recommend using the periodt table.Not using periodt Using periodt

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Transaction Volume Samples♦It is often helpful to see how much data is

being processed within Elite over a given date range– Trust Volume Example – Number and absolute

dollar value of transactions by period

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Transaction Volumes, cont.♦Billing volume example – Number, amount

and average of invoices processed by billing operator

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Cost Write-down Sample♦Clients with more than $1,000 in cost

write-downs for the current period

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Time Card Sample♦ Latest time entry and

timekeeper by client– Use sub-queries

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Net Investment Sample♦ WIP & AR by client and

matter

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AP Voucher Sample♦This query will return any vouchers that

may be duplicates

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AP Voucher / Cost Sample♦This query will return all unbilled client

costs for a specific vendor

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Tips & Tricks♦Use a read-only login when using Query

Analyzer or SQL Server Management Studio– You don’t want to make any inadvertent

changes

♦Use UPPER-CASE for all SQL specific words– This makes queries much easier to read when

revisiting later

♦Use TOP clause to limit results when testing– SELECT TOP 100 *

FROM clientORDER BY clnum

– This is especially helpful when determining which columns to pull into result set

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Tips & Tricks♦Comment your code!

– use two dashes to comment out the remainder of a line

– use slash star ( /* ) to begin commenting and star slash ( */ ) to close comment

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Acknowledgements♦ILTA♦Moore & Van Allen♦ILTA Thomson Elite Listserv participants♦Elite

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Contact Info

John AshleyFinancial Systems Administrator

Moore & Van Allen PLLCjohnashley@mvalaw.com

704-331-3578