• I don't know why people would mark this article down, but people are funny sometimes.

    Even though I probably won't use this technique (I can't think of a time when I've only had to report on a single contiguous year's data) I think this is a good article for the following reasons:

    1. The article does exactly what it sets out to do. It states what the parameters are, then addresses the problem as laid out. This is spackle, as Jeff said, not SQL wallboard or a SQL stud*.

    2. It encourages the reader to think about things in a new way. Too often (and I'm guilty of it too) we look at a problem and pressure-fit a solution from our repertoire. An article like this has a little twist in it that, if you're smart, you'll tuck away for one of those days when you're trying to do something new.

    * I think most of us aspire to SQL stud-hood.