Col N Categories

[hogi]

☑ cool new feature
☑ could help many users!

☐ removes a „bug“

☐ nice to have

☐ nobody needs it

What inspired this wish list request? 

Strange that that function is not available in the formula editor (statistical) or JSL... Maybe next...

What is the improvement you would like to see? 

- add a JSL function Col N Unique.

- [edit] add a unique entries to the new column formula  menu
- [edit] and in Graph builder, add  Statistics for Unique entries.
- and please (!),Add dense ranking to Ranking Tie and Col Rank functions 

[edit]:

a) missing entries should not be counted (see below)

b) alternative for the JSL function: option to count /not count missing entries

Why is this idea important?

In Semiconductor Industry, users often ask:
- how many wafers (in this list of devices)

- how many batches (in this list of wafers)

other JMP users need the functionality for:
- how many countries (list of covid affected people)

- how many companies (list of employees)

- how many cities (list of people)

It's incredible how difficult it is in JMP to get the answer !

It's surprising that just a few users complain about this deficiency
... and it's surprising how long it takes till the issue gets fixed !

more wishes submitted by  

[Sarah-Sylvestre]

Hi @hogi, thank you for taking the time to submit this idea and provide examples! We will review your request and keep you updated on its status. 

[hogi]

@XanGregg 
Please also add N Categories to the Summary Statistics of Graph Builder.

[hogi]

similar discussions in the community:

Add Counter for Unique Cases in Groups 

count unique 

Custom Function - how to reference the column 

Column reference in custom function 

count(distinct val) 
Formula for Number of Unique Categories in Column 

How Do I create a Column formula for N Categories? 

It's OK that users have to create their own workarounds for everyday tasks which are not yet available via standard function.
The danger: there are very slow workarounds out there. Then it's quite likely that new users will just copy them... and later complain about the poor performance of "JMP".

Much better:

If many users need a feature, just implement it directly in JMP/JSL.
Then the experts can find the fastest approach and provide it for all users.

[hogi]

maybe: please add an option to specify if Null/Missing/Empty is included in the counting or not.
Add function which can be universally used to check if object/variable is empty/missing 

without this option,
please: 
DON't COUNT MISSING ENTRIES

... then one can create one or the other mode via a transform column.