[R] easing out of Excel

[Paul Sorenson]

Thanks for the responses to this question, I fully realise it is a rather open question and the "open" pointers are the kind of thing I am looking for.

I will look into the lattice package and layout.

Regarding the HTML output, the current "tool chain" assets that I have have been refactored over time and are almost totally driven by config files so they suit my purposes very well.  I will look into other possibilities at a later date.

For those looking for a more rigorous specification of the problem, you are well justified in this.  I was deliberately fuzzy since managers just want "stuff" and I thought casting a wide net would pay off.  The problem is to summarise information which is nothing more than sales data.  The kinds of columns I am dealing with look like:

date, customer, invoice_no, product, amount, sales_region, etc etc.

Managers want to know things like:
	- which products are doing well
	- which regions are doing well
	- who are good customers
	- etc

To me these are simple aggregates and sorts, with visual presentations to match.

I figure a bit of effort, R can extract considerably more useful information from the data.

To be honest I am just evolving it as I go, using an existing spreadsheet as a basis.  I try something and if it is useful then great, if not, put it down to learning.

cheers