Pivot Tables How to Series by LACA 3/29/2016

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1 Pivot Tables How to Series by LACA 3/29/2016 Pivot Tables With PivotTable reports, we can look at information in different ways with just a few mouse clicks. Data swings into place, answering questions, telling us what the data means. From the EZ Query Download Student Address data extracted into Excel, we can see that students live in various cities. We have their grade levels too. With a Pivot Table we can see how many students, by grade, live in each of the cities. Pivot Table Prep The top 3 things that may cause problems Before we start to work with a PivotTable report, take a look at our Excel worksheet to make sure it is well prepared for the report. 1. When we create a PivotTable report, each column of our source data becomes a field that we can use in the report. Fields summarize multiple rows of information from the source data. The names of the fields for the report come from the column titles in our source data. Be sure that we have names for each column across the first row of the worksheet in the source data. EZ Query data comes with column titles already. In the picture above, the column titles City and Page 1 of 7

2 Grade become field names we will use. When we create a report, we'll know, for example, that the City field represents the City data from the worksheet. 2. The rows below the headings should contain similar items in the same column. For example, text should be in one column, numbers in another column, and dates in another column. We might find this problem with a Grade column in an elementary school, since it might contain KG (alpha) as well as numeric data (1, 2, etc.) We could use Find/Replace to replace KG with There should be no empty columns within the data that we are using for the PivotTable report. We also recommend that there be no empty rows; for example, blank rows that are used to separate one block of data from another should be removed. 4. The Workbook wasn t saved. This Data source reference is not valid, means the Excel document needs to be saved as an Excel document. Let s make a Pivot Table When the data is ready, place the cursor in A1 to include all the worksheet data in the report. Or we can select just the data we want to use in the report. On the Insert tab, in the Tables group, click PivotTable. The Create PivotTable dialog box opens. Select a table or range is already selected for us. The Table/Range box shows the range of the selected data. New Worksheet is also selected for us as the place where the report will be placed. Click OK. Tip: We could click Existing Worksheet if we want the report placed in the same worksheet. If we do so, we have to choose a particular cell to place it in. We won t do this today. This is what we see in the new worksheet after we close the Create PivotTable dialog box. Page 2 of 7

3 On one side is the layout area [1] ready for the PivotTable report and on the other side [2] is the PivotTable Field List. This list shows the column titles from the source data. As mentioned earlier, each title is a field: Status, City, Grade, etc. We create a PivotTable report by moving any of the fields to the layout area for the PivotTable report. First let s do this by selecting the check box next to the field name. We may also click and drag fields to build a report. Tip: If we click outside of the layout area the PivotTable Field List goes away. To get the field list back, click inside the PivotTable layout area. Page 3 of 7

4 Pivot Table Practice Let's start with finding out how many students live in each city. To get the answer, we need data about the City and one other field. Let s use grade. So select the check box in the PivotTable Field List next to the Grade field. When we select a field, Excel places it in a default area of the layout for us. Notice that Excel immediately gives a sum because the data in that column is numeric. That may not be what we want! See the Values section. Then click the City field. The data in the City field is automatically displayed as rows on the left side of the report. Fields without numbers will land on the left; fields with numbers will land on the right, regardless of the order in which we select them. Excel breaks down each city and gives us the total, but not by Grade. (Note it also defaults to SUM of grade, not COUNT. We will get to that in a minute) Page 4 of 7

5 Click and Drag Grade to the Row Labels. Yes, we can use it twice! Now we get a break down by City, by Grade and the SUM. Values If the data does not give us the Totals we wish, look at the definition in the Values area. We may prefer a count rather than a sum, or even an average. Click the down arrow and choose Value Field Settings and choose Count, Sum, Average or whatever we want. For the example above, it should be a COUNT of students in that grade, not the SUM. Page 5 of 7

6 Report Filter This enables us to further filter the data within the Pivot Table. Try adding Status to the Filter Area. It adds a new option at the top of the page. By clicking the filter, we can look at just Active (A) students or Inactive (I) students or any combination by toggling on the Select Multiple Items box. Note: we can use the filters on fields that are already in the Pivot Table, just like any Excel doc! Page 6 of 7

7 Why do they call it a Pivot Table? Let s try something else. Click and drag the City from Row Labels to Column Labels to change to the table view below. It pivoted from vertical to horizontal. Mystery solved! Starting Over To remove all the fields from the report so that we can start over, on the Ribbon, on the Options tab, in the Actions group, click the arrow on the Clear button, and then select Clear All. Page 7 of 7