Data Mining

Douglas C. Atkins, OCP

FASTER Staff: 1998 2010

Customer Takeaway Description

Best Suited for system administrators, fleet
managers, fleet analysts and supervisors
Morning Session. How to ask your
database the right questions / Using
FASTER, Excel and other query related tools
to get info out of FASTER

Agenda
Introductions and Credentials
Definition of Data Mining
Types of Results
Tools for Data Mining
Real-Life Examples
How, What, When, Who, Why
Build data queries to take home
Questions & Answers

Introductions and Credentials

Fleet Services Team Leader
FASTER Staff Member for 12 Years
All Script Requests / Conversions Go
through FS
Oracle OCP, MSSQL DBA Training
Worked with you and your staff learning
fleet during my tenure, never worked in the
industry, heres my fleet
Goal: Get some data out!

Data Mining: What Is It?

The process of extracting patterns from
data.
Knowing what to ask.
Knowing how to ask.
Knowing how to present the data.

Educating Our Consumers

There is a tendency for insufficiently
knowledgeable "consumers" of the results
to attribute "magical abilities" to data
mining, treating the technique as a sort of
all-seeing crystal ball.

Sample Set vs. Entire Population

The discovery of a particular pattern in a
particular set of data does not necessarily
mean that pattern is representative of the
whole population from which that data was
drawn. Hence, an important part of the
process is the
verification and validation of patterns
on other samples of data

Types of Results
Result Sets
Lists
All Assets in Company 001

Comparisons
Parts Obsolescence

Trends
Asset Historical Cost Per Meter by Month

Tools for Data Mining

FASTER
Excel
Access
Business Objects (Crystal Reports)
SQL (Structured Query Language)

FSQL: FASTER
TOAD, SQL Developer: Oracle or Microsoft
SQL Plus: Oracle
SQL Server Management Studio Express:
Microsoft

Database Connectivity
Name of your Database
FasterCS, FasterDB
TNSName

Windows Authentication
User Name and Password
DBA to Create Your Account
Select Permission Only
Report Account

Tools Require Connectivity

FASTER
OLEDB

Excel, Access, Query Developer Tools

OLEDB, ODBC

TOAD, SQL Plus, SQL Server Management

Studio
Native Drivers
Licensed Data Base Software

Lets Create an ODBC for use in class

ODBC Data Source

Administrator

ODBC Data Source

Administrator

ODBC Data Source

Administrator

ODBC Data Source

Administrator

ODBC Data Source

Administrator

ODBC Data Source

Administrator

ODBC Data Source

Administrator

Locating the Data

FASTER Data Dictionaries
http://customer.ccgsystems.com/download-cent
er/manuals-documentation/
(requires login/password)

Core FASTER Application

HTML View for Easy Navigation
Tables

FASTER Reports Data Dictionary

HTML View for Easy Navigation
Views and Stored Procedures

Lets look at the dictionaries

Real-Life Examples
Lists
FASTER Search and Query
FASTER Standard Reports
Custom Reports & Queries

How many assets are in the fleet?, in a

Department?, in a Class?, in a Shop?, are
Take Home Vehicles?, are Off-Road
Vehicles?
Lets look at some queries

Real-Life Examples
Comparisons
FASTER Search and Query, Standard Reports,
Custom Reports & Queries

Do I have enough technicians?, enough

Bays?, am I stocking the right parts?, do I
have adequate staffing in the parts room?
Are my vehicles being under/over utilized?,
are there vehicles that should be sending up
red flags (CPM/MPG)?, which ones need
replacing?
Lets look at some comparisons

Real-Life Examples
Trends
Cost of PM, by Asset Class, by Year
Lets Build It
Lets Analyze It
Lets Talk about How It Can Help Us Make a
Decision
Lets Take It Home

How to Build a Query

Select
The columns to be selected for the result set.
The select list is a series of expressions
separated by commas.
All, Distinct, *
Specific Column Names
Formulas

Select EHKey, EHCompany,

Select Count(EHKey),

How to Build a Query

From
Specifies the tables, views, and joined tables
used in DELETE, SELECT, and UPDATE
statements.
Select From faster.Eheader
Select From faster.Eheader JOIN faster.EPM on
(Eheader.EHUID = EPM.EPEHuid)
Inner (only matches)
Full Outer (All rows)
Left Outer (All matches, includes rows from left)
Right Outer (All matches, includes rows from
right)

How to Build a Query

Where
Specifies the condition for the rows returned by
a query. Defines the condition to be met for the
rows to be returned. There is no limit to the
number of conditions.
Select From Where
EHeader.EHUID = WHeader.WHEHUID and
Wheader.WHUID = WLabor.WLWHUID and
WLabor.WLRTY like PM%

How to Build a Query

Group By
Divides a table into groups. Groups can consist
of column names or results or computed
columns.
Select From Where
Group by EHeader.EHClass, EHeader.EHYear

How to Build a Query

Order By
Specifies the sort for the result set.
Select From Where Group By
Order By EHeader.EHClass, EHeader. EHYear

Our Query
Select EH
From EH
Where faster.EHeader,
Group BY EHeader.EHClass
Order BY EHeader.EHClass

Mining in Action
Lets build a query together

At the beginning of class

In the middle we
Now what can you do

Question & Answer

What does your Database

need to tell you?
Are you asking the right
questions?