Category: Excel

PivotTable Introduction: Step by Step

Concept

PivotTables are one of the most powerful tools in Excel’s data management arsenal. Surprisingly, it is also one of the most overlooked tools. A PivotTable enables the reviewer to statistically analyze data in various flexible formats. By pivoting bits of data into place you are able to create new views of worksheet data in seconds.

Figure 1 PivotTable report example

Preparation:

To create a PivotTable you must start with a database. For Excel’s purposes a database can be defined as:

A table, where the first row contains the column headings (field names), each row contains data, and is devoid of blank rows or columns.

First, review your data and, if necessary cleanup the data. This will include deleting unnecessary blank rows. It may also include inserting blank rows between titles and summaries.

Execution

Click here to open ‘PivotTable Intro.XLS ‘ and follow below instructions.

To insert a PivotTable report

  1. Place cursor on one of the data values of the table.
  2. On the Insert tab, click PivotTable. The Create PivotTable dialog appears.
  3. Confirm the settings and click OK. A new sheet is displayed, and the PivotTable Field List pane appears at right.
  4. Drag the fields in the pane into the appropriate area at bottom.
  • Row: Region, Product
  • Column: Market
  • Value: Quantity

To update the PivotTable

After editing the original database, you must manually update the PivotTable to reflect those editions.

  1. Click on one of the values in the PivotTable.
  2. On the Analyze tab, in the Data group, click Refresh.

Tip Double + Click on a PivotTable value to Quick query the data. Excel will copy the supporting records onto a new sheet for your review. This data is not dynamic. To prevent unintentional editing it is recommended that you delete this sheet, following your review.

Slicers

Slicers, new to version 2010,  enable you to filter select records to display. In earlier versions of Excel, this is accomplished using Filters. 

To Filter the PivotTable report using Slicers

  1. Click on one of the values in the PivotTable, to display the PivotTable Ribbon tools.
  2. On the Analyze tab, in the Filter group, click Insert Slicer. The Insert Slicers dialog appears.
  3. Check the field(s) you wish to create filters for and click OK. The Slicer pane(s) is added to the worksheet.
  4. Click on item(s) in the Slicer pane to display only those records.

Review

  • When generating a PivotTable, the source data must be in a ‘clean’ table.
  • Slicers can be used to enhance the report layout.
  • Double + Click a data point to quickly query the data.

Office 2010: Mark as Final

Here’s a quick Office tip that applies to Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

MarkAsFinal

The Mark as Final feature enables you to protect a document to discourage editing. This simple seal of protection can easily be removed by the reader, should it be determined editing is necessary.

Note, this option is not designed to prevent edits, only to ward against unintentional editing. To render the document un-editable use other alternatives (for example, saving the file password protected or distributing a PDF version of the file).

To Apply Mark as Final

  1. On the File tab, scroll down to Info, click Protect and select Mark as Final. A dialog will appear indicating “the file will be marked as final and saved.”
  2. Click OK to confirm.

When backstage view is active, a notice appears in the status bar, indicating, “An author has marked this … as final to discourage editing.”  The Application title bar also indicates that the file is Read-only.  Reading, printing, and viewing options continue to function, but all editing features are disabled.

To remove the Mark as Final setting and restore edit functions repeat step 1, above. Alternatively, you can click the Edit Anyway button displayed on the info bar in the backstage view .

Cheers!
hɔuᴉnb

Comments and questions are always welcome!

Excel: Using Conditional Formatting to Highlight an Entire Row

Conditional Formatting a Row

Conditional Formatting makes it easy to visually highlight cells, based upon conditions (criteria) that you set. The conditional formats are dynamic, so as the data is edited, the criteria is tested, and the formats reapplied.

In a prior post, I mentioned how you can format an entire row or record based upon criteria found in one of that row’s fields.  Here’s the step by step example, using the Charity Guest List data, used in the prior post.

Let’s demonstrate the COUNTIF using the first scenario. Count the number of guests who have donated more than $100

CountIF..click to zoom in
Rows conditionally formatted gold where donation is greater than or equal to $100

The intent is to format gold, those rows where the value in column D is $100 or greater.

A copy of this spreadsheet can be found here, on Google Drive. The file will open in a browser window/tab, in view mode. Click CTRL + S (PC) or select FILE, SAVE AS to download the file.  

  1. Open the file in Excel.
  2. Select the donation data, cells A3:D15.
  3. On the Home tab, in the Styles group, click the Conditional Formatting drop-down and select New Rule. The New Formatting Rule dialog will appear.
  4. Select Use a formula to determine which cells to format.
  5. In the Edit the Rule Description section, click in the Format values where this formula is true, field, then type or select the first criteria value, the donation in cell D3, followed by the criteria, ‘>=100’ (no quotes).
    Note if using your mouse to select the cell, Excel will add ‘$’ to indicate absolute references. It is important that you remove the absolute reference indicator before the row number.
  6. Click the Format button. The Format Cells dialog appears.
  7. Click Fill tab, and select a Background Color.
  8. Click OK. The dialog should look like this:
    Conditional Format Dialog
  9. Click OK.

A few more notes on Conditional formats.

  • To edit or delete the conditional formats: On the Home tab, in the Styles group, click Conditional Formatting and select Manage Rules.
  • You can create multiple rules and order how they should be applied.

Experiment: change some contributions in the spreadsheet and see how the conditional formatting reformats the row.

Cheers!
hɔuᴉnb

Comments and questions are always welcome!

Excel: CountIF Function

COUNTIF:

If you ever find yourself trying to perform a count on a select subset of items in a larger range, then you have reason to use the COUNTIF function. Continue reading “Excel: CountIF Function”

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