Learn Excel 2007 Expert Skills with The Smart Method

Lesson 5-1: Create a one dimensional pivot table report from a table
Inthislesson,youlljumpstraightintothedeependandcreateasimple onedimensionalpivottable.Theresahugeamounttolearnaboutpivot tablesbutitwillbefuntodosomeusefulworkwithonestraightaway. Heresthesamplefilewelluseinthislesson:

Thisisthetypeofworksheetthatpivottablescanworkwellwith becausethecolumnscontainrepeatingdata. Thesamplefilecontainsover2,000rowsoftransactionaldatalistingsales duringthe18monthperiodfromOctober2007toMarch2009inclusive. Youcanseefromthedatathattheworksheetcontainsdetailsoforders soldbyaDVDwholesaler,alongwiththetitlessuppliedoneachorder. Order136438wasplacedon1stOct07andwasorderedbySilverScreen Video.TheorderwassoldbyFrankLeeandtherewerefouritemsonthe order.TwoofthefilmsorderedwereintheDramagenreandtheother twowereintheBiographyandComedygenres. Abusinessmaywishtoaskseveralquestionsaboutsalesduringthis periodsuchas: WhatweremysalesbyGenre? HowmanyunitsdideachEmployeesell?

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Pivot Tables, Ranges, Named Ranges and Tables
YoucancreateaPivotTable thatisassociatedwithaRange, aNamedRangeoraTable. Thefatalflawofnamedranges isthattheyonlyexpandand contractwhenrowsareinserted ordeletedandNOTwhendata isaddedtotheendofthe range.Youdiscoveredawork aroundtothisproblemin: Lesson46:Createdynamic formulabasedrangenamesusing theOFFSETfunction. Fortunately,Excel2007hasthe fantasticnewTablestructure. Tablesarewonderfultouseas adatasourceforPivotTables becausetheyaretrulydynamic. Youlearnedeverythingthereis toknowabouttablesin:Session One:Tables,Rangesand Databases.

Inthislesson,youlluseapivottabletoanswerbothquestionsinless than10seconds!

Open Transactions-1 from your sample files folder.

ThisworksheetcontainsalargetablenamedData(seesidebarfor moreonusingtableswithPivotTables).Thetablelookslikea regularrangebecauseithashaditsFilterswitchedoffandthe TableStylesettoNone.

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Click anywhere inside the table. Click InsertTablesPivot Table.

Thefirstscreenofthewizardappears. Noticethat,becauseyouclickedinsidethetable,ithas automaticallydetectedthetablesnameofData.

Transactions-1

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Session Five: Pivot Tables

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Drilling down into pivot table data
WheneverExcelshowsatotal, itispossibletodrilldownto seethetransactionsthatwere usedtocalculatethetotal. Whenyoudoubleclickona total,(suchasthetotalsalesfor actionmoviesincellC5),anew worksheetopensshowingthe sourcetransactions. Youllhavetomanuallydelete thisworksheetafterviewing thetransactionlist.

Click the OK button.

AnemptypivottableisshownonscreenandthePivotTableField Listappearsontherightofthescreen. ChecktheGenre,QtyandTotalcheckboxes(inthatorder)onthe PivotTableFieldList. Simplybyclickingonthreefieldsyouhaveansweredthefirst question: WhatweremysalesbyGenre?

Format the values shown in column C of the pivot table so that they show two decimal places with a comma separator.
1. 2. 3. 4. RightclickonanyvalueincolumnC. ClickNumberFormat...ontheshortcutmenu. ClickNumberintheCategorylist. ClicktheUse1000Separatorcheckbox.

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Activating a pivot table
Pivottablesarealittlelike chartsinthatyoucannotwork upontheirdesignunlessthey areactivated. Toactivate,yousimplyclick anywhereinsidethepivot table. Whenthepivottableis activated,thePivotTableField Listappearsalongwiththe PivotTableToolstabonthe Ribbon.

5. ClicktheOKbutton.

Clear all check boxes and then select the Employee and Qty check boxes.
Onceagain,withverylittleeffort,youhaveansweredthesecond question: HowmanyunitsdideachEmployeesell?

Name the pivot table: Transactions.

1. 2. 3. ClickinsidethePivotTable. ClickPivotTableToolsOptionsPivotTable PivotTableName. TypeTransactionsintothePivotTableNamebox.

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Name the pivot table worksheet: Pivot Table.

Save your work as Transactions-2.

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