Spotfire intersect first 'n' periods - function

Question

Is there a way to use an Over and Intersect function to get the average sales for the first 3 periods (not always consecutive months, sometimes a month is skipped) for each Employee?
For example:
EmpID 1 is 71.67 ((80 + 60 + 75)/3) despite skipping "3/1/2007"
EmpID 3 is 250 ((350 + 250 + 150)/3).
I'm not sure how EmpID 2 would work because there are just two data points.
I've used a work-around by calculated column using DenseRank over Date, "asc", EmpID and then used another Boolean calculated column where DenseRank column name is <= 3, then used Over functions over the Boolean=TRUE column but I want to figure the correct way to do this.
There are Last 'n' Period functions but I haven't seen anything resembling a First 'n' Period function.
EmpID Date Sales
1 1/1/2007 80
1 2/1/2007 60
1 4/1/2007 75
1 5/1/2007 30
1 9/1/2007 100
2 2/1/2007 200
2 3/1/2007 100
3 12/1/2006 350
3 1/1/2007 250
3 3/1/2007 150
3 4/1/2007 275
3 8/1/2007 375
3 9/1/2007 475
3 10/1/2007 300
3 12/1/2007 200

Answer 1

I suppose the solution depends on where you want this data represented, but here is one example
If((Rank([Date],"asc",[EmpID])<=3) and (Max(Rank([Date],"asc",[EmpID])) OVER ([EmpID])>=3),Avg([Sales]) over ([EmpID]))
You can insert this as a calculated column and it will give you what you want (assuming your data is sorted by date when imported).
You may want to see the row numbering, and in that case insert this as a calculated column as well and name it RN
Rank([Date],"asc",[EmpID])
Explanation
Rank([Date],"asc",[EmpID])
This part of the function is basically applying a row number (labeled as RN in the results below) to each EmpID grouping.
Rank([Date],"asc",[EmpID])<=3
This is how we are taking the top 3 rows regardless if Months are skipped. If your data isn't sorted, we'd have to create one additional calculated column but the same logic applies.
(Max(Rank([Date],"asc",[EmpID])) OVER ([EmpID])>=3)
This is where we are basically ignoring EmpID = 2, or any EmpID who doesn't have at least 3 rows. Removing this would give you the average (dynamically) for each EmpID based on their first 1, 2, or 3 months respectively.
Avg([Sales]) over ([EmpID])
Now that our data is limited to the rows we care about, just take the average for each EmpID.

Answer 2

#Chris- Here is the solution I came up with
Step 1: Inserted a calculated column 'rank' with the expression below
DenseRank([Date],"asc",[EmpID])
Step 2: Created a cross table visualization from the data table and limited data with the expression below