<s>
XLeratorDB	B-Application
is	O
a	O
suite	O
of	O
database	O
function	O
libraries	O
that	O
enable	O
Microsoft	B-Application
SQL	I-Application
Server	I-Application
to	O
perform	O
a	O
wide	O
range	O
of	O
additional	O
(	O
non-native	O
)	O
business	B-General_Concept
intelligence	I-General_Concept
and	O
ad	O
hoc	O
analytics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
libraries	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
embedded	O
and	O
run	O
centrally	O
on	O
the	O
database	O
,	O
include	O
more	O
than	O
450	O
individual	O
functions	O
similar	O
to	O
those	O
found	O
in	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Excel	I-Application
spreadsheets	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
WestClinTech	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
that	O
developed	O
XLeratorDB	B-Application
,	O
claims	O
it	O
is	O
"	O
the	O
first	O
commercial	O
function	O
package	O
add-in	O
for	O
Microsoft	O
SQL	O
Server.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
a	O
full	O
year	O
of	O
research	O
,	O
development	O
and	O
testing	O
,	O
WestClinTech	O
introduced	O
and	O
recorded	O
its	O
first	O
commercial	O
sale	O
of	O
XLeratorDB	B-Application
in	O
April	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
2009	O
,	O
XLeratorDB	B-Application
became	O
available	O
to	O
all	O
Federal	O
agencies	O
through	O
NASA	O
's	O
Strategic	O
Enterprise-Wide	O
Procurement	O
(	O
SEWP-IV	O
)	O
program	B-Application
,	O
a	O
government-wide	O
acquisition	O
contract	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
XLeratorDB	B-Application
uses	O
Microsoft	B-Application
SQL	I-Application
CLR(Common Language Runtime )	O
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SQL	B-Language
CLR	I-Language
allows	O
managed	O
code	O
to	O
be	O
hosted	O
by	O
,	O
and	O
run	O
in	O
,	O
the	O
Microsoft	B-Application
SQL	I-Application
Server	I-Application
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SQL	B-Language
CLR	I-Language
relies	O
on	O
the	O
creation	O
,	O
deployment	O
and	O
registration	O
of	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
assemblies	O
that	O
are	O
physically	O
stored	O
in	O
managed	O
code	O
dynamic-link	O
libraries	O
(	O
DLL	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
assemblies	O
may	O
contain	O
.NET	B-Application
namespaces	O
,	O
classes	O
,	O
functions	O
,	O
and	O
properties	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
managed	O
code	O
compiles	O
to	O
native	O
code	O
prior	O
to	O
execution	O
,	O
functions	O
using	O
SQL	B-Language
CLR	I-Language
can	O
achieve	O
significant	O
performance	O
increases	O
versus	O
the	O
equivalent	O
functions	O
written	O
in	O
T-SQL	B-Language
in	O
some	O
scenarios	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
XLeratorDB	B-Application
requires	O
Microsoft	B-Application
SQL	I-Application
Server	I-Application
2005	O
or	O
SQL	O
Server	O
2005	O
Express	O
editions	O
,	O
or	O
later	O
(	O
compatibility	O
mode	O
90	O
or	O
higher	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
computer	O
science	O
,	O
a	O
function	O
is	O
a	O
portion	O
of	O
code	O
within	O
a	O
larger	O
program	B-Application
which	O
performs	O
a	O
specific	O
task	O
and	O
is	O
relatively	O
independent	O
of	O
the	O
remaining	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
used	O
in	O
database	O
and	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
applications	O
these	O
functions	O
generally	O
represent	O
mathematical	O
formulas	O
widely	O
used	O
across	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
fields	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Within	O
large	O
enterprise	B-Application
applications	I-Application
they	O
may	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
play	O
an	O
important	O
role	O
in	O
defining	O
business	O
rules	O
or	O
risk	O
management	O
parameters	O
,	O
while	O
remaining	O
virtually	O
undetected	O
by	O
end	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Within	O
database	B-Application
management	I-Application
systems	I-Application
and	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
,	O
however	O
,	O
these	O
kinds	O
of	O
functions	O
also	O
represent	O
discrete	O
sets	O
of	O
tools	O
;	O
they	O
can	O
be	O
accessed	O
directly	O
and	O
utilized	O
on	O
a	O
stand-alone	O
basis	O
,	O
or	O
in	O
more	O
complex	O
,	O
user-defined	O
configurations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
this	O
context	O
,	O
functions	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
business	B-General_Concept
intelligence	I-General_Concept
and	O
ad	O
hoc	O
analysis	O
of	O
data	O
in	O
fields	O
such	O
as	O
finance	O
,	O
statistics	O
,	O
engineering	O
,	O
math	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
XLeratorDB	B-Application
uses	O
three	O
kinds	O
of	O
functions	O
to	O
perform	O
analytic	O
operations	O
:	O
scalar	O
,	O
aggregate	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
hybrid	O
form	O
which	O
WestClinTech	O
calls	O
Range	O
Queries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
XLeratorDB	B-Application
there	O
are	O
some	O
functions	O
which	O
have	O
characteristics	O
of	O
aggregate	O
functions	O
(	O
operating	O
on	O
multiple	O
series	O
of	O
values	O
)	O
but	O
cannot	O
be	O
processed	O
in	O
SQL	B-Language
CLR	I-Language
using	O
single	O
column	O
inputs	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
AVG	O
does	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WestClinTech	O
documentation	O
notes	O
that	O
Range	O
Queries	O
specify	O
the	O
data	O
to	O
be	O
included	O
in	O
the	O
result	O
set	O
of	O
the	O
function	O
independently	O
of	O
the	O
WHERE	O
clause	O
associated	O
with	O
the	O
T-SQL	B-Language
statement	O
,	O
by	O
incorporating	O
a	O
SELECT	O
statement	O
into	O
the	O
function	O
as	O
a	O
string	O
argument	O
;	O
the	O
function	O
then	O
traps	O
that	O
SELECT	O
statement	O
,	O
executes	O
it	O
internally	O
and	O
processes	O
the	O
result	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
XLeratorDB	B-Application
functions	O
that	O
employ	O
Range	O
Queries	O
are	O
:	O
NPV	O
,	O
XNPV	O
,	O
IRR	O
,	O
XIRR	O
,	O
MIRR	O
,	O
MULTINOMIAL	O
,	O
and	O
SERIESSUM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	B-Application
SQL	I-Application
Server	I-Application
is	O
the	O
#3	O
selling	O
database	B-Application
management	I-Application
system	I-Application
(	O
DBMS	O
)	O
,	O
behind	O
Oracle	O
and	O
IBM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
While	O
versions	O
of	O
SQL	O
Server	O
have	O
been	O
on	O
the	O
market	O
since	O
1987	O
,	O
XLeratorDB	B-Application
is	O
compatible	O
with	O
only	O
the	O
2005	O
edition	O
and	O
later	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
all	O
major	O
DBMS	O
,	O
SQL	O
Server	O
performs	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
data	B-Application
mining	I-Application
operations	O
by	O
returning	O
or	O
arraying	O
data	O
in	O
different	O
views	O
(	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
drill-down	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
SQL	O
Server	O
uses	O
Transact-SQL	B-Language
(	O
T-SQL	B-Language
)	O
to	O
execute	O
four	O
major	O
classes	O
of	O
pre-defined	O
functions	O
in	O
native	B-Language
mode	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Functions	O
operating	O
on	O
the	O
DBMS	O
offer	O
several	O
advantages	O
over	O
client	B-Protocol
layer	O
applications	O
like	O
Excel	B-Application
:	O
they	O
utilize	O
the	O
most	O
up-to-date	O
data	O
available	O
;	O
they	O
can	O
process	O
far	O
larger	O
quantities	O
of	O
data	O
;	O
and	O
,	O
the	O
data	O
is	O
not	O
subject	O
to	O
exporting	O
and	O
transcription	O
errors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	B-Application
Excel	I-Application
,	O
a	O
component	O
of	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Office	I-Application
suite	I-Application
,	O
is	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
widely	O
used	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
applications	O
on	O
the	O
market	O
today	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
its	O
inherent	O
utility	O
as	O
a	O
stand-alone	O
desktop	O
application	O
,	O
Excel	B-Application
overlaps	O
and	O
complements	O
the	O
functionality	O
of	O
DBMS	O
in	O
several	O
ways	O
:	O
storing	O
and	O
arraying	O
data	O
in	O
rows	O
and	O
columns	O
;	O
performing	O
certain	O
basic	O
tasks	O
such	O
as	O
pivot	O
table	O
and	O
aggregating	O
values	O
;	O
and	O
facilitating	O
sharing	O
,	O
importing	O
and	O
exporting	O
of	O
database	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Excel	B-Application
's	O
chief	O
limitation	O
relative	O
to	O
a	O
true	O
database	O
is	O
capacity	O
;	O
Excel	B-Application
2003	I-Application
is	O
limited	O
to	O
some	O
65k	O
rows	O
and	O
256	O
columns	O
;	O
Excel	B-Application
2007	I-Application
extends	O
this	O
capacity	O
to	O
roughly	O
1million	O
rows	O
and	O
16k	O
columns	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Excel	B-Application
offers	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
an	O
extensive	O
library	O
of	O
specialized	O
pre-written	O
functions	O
which	O
are	O
useful	O
for	O
performing	O
ad	O
hoc	O
analysis	O
on	O
database	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Excel	B-Application
2007	I-Application
includes	O
over	O
300	O
of	O
these	O
pre-defined	O
functions	O
,	O
although	O
customized	O
functions	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
created	O
by	O
users	O
,	O
or	O
imported	O
from	O
third	O
party	O
developers	O
as	O
add-ons	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Excel	B-Application
functions	O
are	O
grouped	O
by	O
type	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Operating	O
on	O
the	O
client	B-Protocol
computing	O
layer	O
Excel	B-Application
plays	O
an	O
important	O
role	O
as	O
a	O
business	B-General_Concept
intelligence	I-General_Concept
tool	O
because	O
it	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
reinforces	O
this	O
positioning	O
with	O
Business	B-General_Concept
Intelligence	I-General_Concept
documentation	O
that	O
positions	O
Excel	B-Application
in	O
a	O
clearly	O
pivotal	O
role	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
operating	O
within	O
the	O
database	O
environment	O
,	O
XLeratorDB	B-Application
functions	O
utilize	O
the	O
same	O
naming	O
conventions	O
and	O
input	O
formats	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
most	O
cases	O
,	O
return	O
the	O
same	O
calculation	O
results	O
as	O
Excel	B-Application
functions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
XLeratorDB	B-Application
,	O
coupled	O
with	O
SQL	O
Server	O
's	O
native	O
capabilities	O
,	O
compares	O
to	O
Excel	B-Application
's	O
function	O
sets	O
as	O
follows	O
:	O
</s>
