By Charles Flock on
3/15/2011 7:07 PM
We demonstrate the kind of things that you can do in SQL Server using the XLeratorDB function library. Would you ever really need to build Pascal’s triangle in T-SQL? Probably not. But you really don’t need to build it in any programming language, yet when I search on ‘programming Pascal’s Triangle’ in Google I get about 139,000 results. Now there’s one more.
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By Charles Flock on
3/7/2011 10:10 PM
A look at the 32 new aggregate functions in XLeratorDB/statistics2008 v1.08.
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By Charles Flock on
2/14/2011 9:33 PM
We added 3 new date functions to XLeratorDB/financial that should make date calculations and date manipulations much easier and more EXCEL-like, and show you how to use them to calculate things like date of Easter.
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By Charles Flock on
2/13/2011 3:43 PM
We added 4 new functions to deal with growing annuities, where the initial payment increases by a fixed percentage each period, making it far simpler to answer questions like how much do I need to save for retirement?
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By Charles Flock on
2/13/2011 3:42 PM
In addition to the new multi-input aggregates available in XLeratorDB/financial 2008, we have added some new scalar functions that provide even greater flexibility for time-value-of-money calculations.
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By Charles Flock on
2/13/2011 3:41 PM
With the release of XLeratorDB/finance2008, the XLeratorDB/financial package makes innovative use of the multi-aggregate input capabilities of SQL Server 2008, improving performance in some calculations over 50-fold. In addition, there are some new functions that EXCEL wishes it had.
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By Charles Flock on
2/5/2011 10:12 PM
If, like me, you make a backup of your production database and restore that backup on a different machine for reporting, testing, development or any other reason, you need to make sure that your XLeratorDB licenses are properly synchronized.
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By Charles Flock on
1/8/2011 1:37 PM
Despite what Books-on-line and other Microsoft documentation tells you, it is possible to implement multi-input aggregates in SQL Server 2005, albeit with some restrictions.
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By Charles Flock on
12/13/2010 11:01 PM
A look at the PV calculation and why it’s easier to use a function even when we can replicate the calculation in T-SQL.
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By Charles Flock on
11/18/2010 6:09 PM
How a simple table-valued function led to a deep dive into the time value of money functions in EXCEL where we discover that the EXCEL IPMT and PPMT functions are broken for payments made at the beginning of the period—even in EXCEL 2010.
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By Charles Flock on
11/14/2010 7:33 PM
Finance version 1.06, with 19 new functions (not found in EXCEL) is now available.
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By Charles Flock on
10/14/2010 5:35 PM
We frequently get inquiries about whether or not XLeratorDB can perform a time weighted return calculation. The Modified Dietz function (MDIETZ and MDIETZ_q) is just such a calculation. However, we have come up with another technique using the RATE and FVSCHEDULE functions that performs a daily time-weighted return calculation that you may find useful.
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By Charles Flock on
10/8/2010 8:20 AM
We have changed 14 scalar functions to take advantage of the multi-input aggregate capabilities of SQL Server 2008 and improved performance more than twenty-five-fold.
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By Charles Flock on
9/29/2010 5:18 PM
A look at the numerical accuracy of SQL Server’s aggregate functions, the limits of floating-point math, and other interesting stuff we discovered while implementing multi-input aggregate functions in SQL Server 2008.
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By Charles Flock on
9/6/2010 3:24 PM
Information about the release of XLeratorDB/statistics version 1.06
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By Charles Flock on
9/3/2010 8:13 AM
Are Treasury Bonds really a risk free investment?
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By Charles Flock on
7/7/2010 5:12 PM
How do you know if a function is accurate?
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By Charles Flock on
6/27/2010 2:37 PM
We are pleased to announce the availability of XLeratorDB/developer at the startling price of $149.99
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By Charles Flock on
6/8/2010 5:04 PM
Using the SeriesInt function to create a Monte Carlo simulation analyzing a classic probability problem.
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By Charles Flock on
5/18/2010 8:19 PM
When is it time to admit that your favorite baseball team is not going to play in the post-season?
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By Charles Flock on
5/10/2010 5:59 PM
EXCEL 2010 [beta] documentation uses the phrase ‘the following functions have improved accuracy.’ But what does that actually mean in relation to the IPMT, PPMT, CUMPRINC, and CUMIPMT functions?
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By Charles Flock on
5/2/2010 4:12 PM
XLeratorDB/statistics version 1.05 contains eight new chi-squared functions that give you the flexibility to enter the expected results.
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By Charles Flock on
4/26/2010 5:22 PM
XIRR in EXCEL 2010 is greatly improved over 2007, but you won’t find it mentioned in the literature.
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By Charles Flock on
4/19/2010 5:49 PM
We’ve added monthly coupons to the bond functions, a new bond interest function, and some tweaks to XIRR
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By Charles Flock on
4/7/2010 6:23 PM
Wherein we delve deep into EXCEL’s YIELD function and discover the inconsistencies between the YIELD function and the PRICE function in EXCEL.
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By Charles Flock on
3/5/2010 9:09 PM
Using the FV function to calculate the value of your 401(k) when you retire.
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By Charles Flock on
2/3/2010 6:27 PM
As a follow up to our previous blogs documenting problems with the XIRR function in EXCEL and what an EXCEL XIRR of 2.98023E-09 really means.
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By Charles Flock on
2/2/2010 6:24 PM
Using the PV, IPMT, PPMT, and PMT functions in XLeratorDB/financial to create a loan amortization schedule in a SELECT statement in SQL Server.
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By Charles Flock on
1/21/2010 8:50 PM
With the latest release of XLeratorDB/math, we add functions for calculation of the matrix product, the matrix determinant, and the matrix inverse.
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By Charles Flock on
12/14/2009 8:12 PM
A look at the XLeratorDB JOINSTR function.
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By Charles Flock on
11/27/2009 4:36 PM
How a simple function like PRODUCT can profoundly change the capabilities of T-SQL
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By Charles Flock on
10/19/2009 5:34 PM
A brief description of the new functionality in Math release 1.02
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By Charles Flock on
10/15/2009 6:19 PM
A quick look at some business intelligence that you won’t get on most dashboards.
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By Charles Flock on
8/24/2009 3:50 PM
A brief introduction to some techniques that will allow you to run Monte Carlo simulations in your SQL Server database using XLeratorDB functions.
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By Charles Flock on
7/31/2009 4:07 PM
In this article we discuss the ease with which a string of delimited data can be converted to normalized data by using the XLeratorDB PARSE function.
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By Charles Flock on
7/14/2009 6:43 PM
If you use the EXCEL ODDFPRICE to calculate the price of a bond with an odd first coupon period, you should read this article to find out when those calculations are incorrect. Specifically, by using the EXCEL PRICE function you will discover the following three problems with the ODDFPRICE function...
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By Charles Flock on
6/30/2009 6:08 PM
A brief explanation on why the XLeratorDB implementation of this function is different than the EXCEL implementation.
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By Charles Flock on
5/20/2009 8:51 PM
In this blog I will demonstrate how to build a simple Black-Scholes options calculator by creating a table-valued function and using the XLeratorDB/statistics functions module.
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By Charles Flock on
5/8/2009 11:55 AM
Some notes on the release of the strings package and how it works in relation to EXCEL and to some existing built-in SQL functions.
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By Charles Flock on
4/8/2009 7:07 PM
Using the XLeratorDB/statistics module to calculate some baseball statistics
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By Charles Flock on
4/3/2009 5:28 PM
Some notes on the release of the engineering package and how it works in relation to EXCEL.
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By Charles Flock on
3/12/2009 7:19 PM
A brief discussion about the advantages of XLeratorDB over the combination of EXCEL and SQL Server, or, as we like to put it, a proof of the equation:
XLeratorDB > SQL Server + Excel
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By Charles Flock on
3/2/2009 2:16 PM
Some notes on the release of the statistics package and how it works in relation to EXCEL and in relation to existing SQL Server functions with the same or similar names.
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By Charles Flock on
2/24/2009 7:41 PM
One of the big problems that you may have in moving from the spreadsheet paradigm to the database paradigm is in ‘normalizing’ your data. In this article, I will attempt to explain what that means.
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By Charles Flock on
1/11/2009 4:39 PM
Build your own mortgage calculator using XLeratorDB/financial.
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By Charles Flock on
12/27/2008 5:35 PM
An introduction to the latest function package for SQL Server - Unit Conversions.
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By Charles Flock on
12/21/2008 2:31 PM
A graphical representation of the XNPV function mentioned in last week's blog. This illustrates the polynomial nature of the XNPV function illustrating why there can be more than one correct answer for XIRR.
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By Charles Flock on
12/15/2008 10:19 AM
Insight into the XIRR and XNPV functions as implemented in Microsoft Excel and in WestClinTech's XLeratorDB/financial.
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By Charles Flock on
11/21/2008 6:44 PM
What are the chances that any two people in the room have the same birthday?
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By Charles Flock on
11/18/2008 7:33 PM
Duration is one of those ubiquitous financial terms that is well defined but not well understood.
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