Figure 2-7: The PivotTable will be based on the Northwind database query named Product Sales for 1997.

After you have Excel open with a blank worksheet displayed, follow these steps:

1. Click the PivotTable button on the Insert ribbon to open the Create PivotTable dialog box.
2. Select the Use an External Data Source option.
3. Click the Choose Connection button to open the Existing Connections dialog box.
4. Click the Browse for More button to open the Select Data Source dialog box.
5. Navigate to and select the file Northwind.mdb as shown in Figure 2-8.
6. Click OK to display the Select Table dialog box. (See Figure 2-9.)
7. In the list, select Product Sales for 1997.
8. Click OK to return to the Create PivotTable dialog box.
9. Click OK to close the Create PivotTable dialog box and create the blank PivotTable, which is shown in Figure 2-10.

Figure 2-8: Navigate to and select Northwind.mdb.

Figure 2-9: Selecting the table to use for the PivotTable.

Figure 2-10: The blank PivotTable based on the Access query.

You can see that the four columns that were present in the Access query are listed in the Field List. Next you will add these fields to the blank PivotTable to achieve the data display you want. Because there are four fields, you have several ways to display these data. Follow these steps to create a PivotTable that displays total sales by category for each quarter:

1. Select the CategoryName field to add it to the Row Labels area.
2. Select the ShippedQuarter field to add it to the Row Labels area.
3. In the Row Labels area, click the arrow next to the ShippedQuarter field and select Move to Column Labels to move this field to the Column Labels area.
4. Select the ProductSales field to move it to the Values area.
5. In the Values area, click the down arrow next to the Sum of ProductSales field and select Value Field Settings from the popup menu to display the Value Field Setting dialog box.
6. 6. Click the Number Format button to open the Format Cells dialog box.
7. Select Currency format with no decimal places.
8. Click OK twice to close all dialog boxes.

The resulting PivotTable report is shown in Figure 2-11.

Figure 2-11: The final PivotTable after you have placed fields and applied basic formatting.

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1. Click the PivotTable button on the Insert ribbon to display the Create PivotTable dialog box (shown earlier in Figure 2-1).
2. Select the Use an External Data Source option, and click the Choose Connection button to open the Existing Connections dialog box (shown earlier in Figure 2-4).
3. Click the data source that you want to use.
4. Click OK.

At this point one of two things will happen, depending on the nature of the data source. If the data source contains a single table of data, Excel will create the blank PivotTable and display the PivotTable field list, and you can proceed with the PivotTable design. If, however, the data source contains more than one table, Excel will display the Select Table dialog box listing the available tables, as shown in Figure 2-6. You must click the table that you want to base your PivotTable on; then click OK to create the blank PivotTable and display the PivotTable Field List.

Figure 2-6: Selecting the table that you want the PivotTable to be based on.

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• Link your PivotTable to the external data without importing them into Excel.
• Import the external data into Excel and then treat them as an Excel list.

This section covers the procedures for linking to external data. Importing data is discussed in “Using Other External Data Sources.”
To create a PivotTable that is linked to external data:

1. Display the Create PivotTable dialog box.
2. Select the Use an External Data Source option.
3. Click the Choose Connection button. Excel displays the Existing Connections dialog box, shown in Figure 2-4.

Figure 2-4: Selecting an external data source for a PivotTable.

The information shown in the Existing Connections dialog box depends on how your specific system has been set up—it is very unlikely that your Existing Connections dialog box contains the same elements as Figure 2-4. You can use the drop-down Show list at the top of the dialog box to control which data connections are displayed: those defined in the current workbook, those available on the network, and those available on your computer.
At this point you can do one of two things:

• Click the desired data connection; then click Open.
• Click Browse to locate a data connection that is not listed.

The next steps that you follow depend on the specific data connection you have selected. Some data connections are ready for immediate use in a PivotTable, whereas others require additional input from you before they can be used.
Note, however, that Excel offers another way to create a PivotTable that is based on external data. The end result is the same, but you may prefer using this method in some cases. On the Data ribbon there is a section labeled Get External Data. This command is usually used for importing data into a workbook but can also be used to create a PivotTable:

1. Click the Existing Connections button to see a list of existing connection, as shown earlier.
2. Click OK and continue the process until the Import Data dialog box is displayed, as shown in Figure 2-5.
3. Select either the PivotTable Report or the PivotChart and PivotTable Report option.
4. Specify whether the PivotTable should go in the current worksheet or a new worksheet.
5. Click OK.

Figure 2-5: Importing data linked to a PivotTable.

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1. Click PivotTable on the Insert ribbon to display the Create PivotTable dialog box.
2. Make sure that the Select a Table or Range option is selected.
3. Click the Select button at the right end of the Table/Range field. The dialog box collapses to a single line.
4. Press Alt+Tab or click the Windows taskbar to activate the workbook that contains the data. The collapsed dialog box remains visible.
5. Select the data range for the PivotTable. Its address, including the workbook name, will be entered in the Create PivotTable dialog box.
6. Click the Select button in the dialog box to accept the selection and expand the dialog box.
7. Click OK to return to the original workbook with the PivotTable inserted.

When a PivotTable is linked to data in an external workbook, you can update it only if the linked data workbook is available. If this file has been moved, renamed, or deleted, you will not be able to update the PivotTable. Excel displays an error message when you attempt to do so. The original PivotTable data remains in place, however.

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• The first row contains the field or column names.
• The second and subsequent rows contain the data.
• There are no blank rows, although individual blank cells may be present.

If the cell pointer is anywhere in the data table when you open the Create PivotTable dialog box, Excel automatically determines the address of the entire table and enters it in the Table/Range field of the dialog box. If you want to explicitly tell Excel where the input data range is located, you can do one of the following:

• Select the data before you display the dialog box. The address of the data will be entered automatically in the appropriate place in the dialog box.
• Type the address of the data into the Table/Range field of the dialog box (see Figure 2-1).
• Use the Select button in the dialog box to select the data range

Figure 2-1: Specifying the data range in the Create PivotTable dialog box.

Actually, there is a fourth and preferred way to tell Excel where the data are—create a named range for the data. Using named ranges is more convenient than typing the address or selecting the data each time you want to refer to them. Named ranges also provide an advantage in that if you expand the range, perhaps to include additional data, the PivotTable report will automatically include the new data when it is refreshed. Here’s how to create a named range:

1. Select the data range.
2. Click the Define Name button in the Defined Names section of the Formulas ribbon. The New Name dialog box is displayed (see Figure 2-2).
3. Type the name for the range in the Name field. You should use something descriptive such as SalesData or SurveyResults. It’s best to avoid spaces, too; use an underscore if needed to separate words.
4. Click OK.

Figure 2-2: Defining a named range.

Then, when you are creating a PivotTable, simply enter the range name in the Table/Range field, as shown in Figure 2-3 for the range Name SalesData. Of course, if you enter a name that does not exist, it will not work. Excel displays an error message when you click OK. You’ll have to correct the range name you entered or use one of the other techniques to specify the source data range for your PivotTable.

Figure 2-3: Specifying the data range by entering a range name in the Create PivotTable dialog box.

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These raw data are organized differently from the data in the previous example. Each row in this table represents a specific category of video for a specific store. The number is the count of titles in stock for that category. The goal is to create a PivotTable report that presents this information in an easy-to-read form and to display summary information.
To begin, open the workbook VideoStoreRawData.xlsx. Make sure the cell pointer is on a cell in the table; it does not matter which one. Then click the PivotTable button on the Insert ribbon to display the Create PivotTable dialog box (shown earlier in Figure 1-2). Make sure the following options are selected:

• Select a table or range (and verify that the correct range, A4:C28, is entered in the Table/Range box)
• New Worksheet

Click OK to create the shell of the PivotTable and display the PivotTable Field List. The list contains Store, Category, and Titles. Select all three field names. Excel will:

• Move Store and Category to the Row Labels box.
• Move Sum of Titles to the Values box.
• Create the PivotTable.

The results are shown in Figure 1-8.

Figure 1-8: The initial PivotTable created for the video rental store data.

Although this is a perfectly legitimate PivotTable, it is not what you want. You can see that both the Store and Category fields are used as row headings—you want a report where Category is a column heading. This is easily fixed: In the PivotTable Field List, go to the Row Labels box and click the down arrow next to Category. From the context menu, select Move To Column Labels. The field will move to the Column Labels box and the PivotTable will change to the desired format, as shown in Figure 1-9. This is an example of pivoting the table so the data is arranged differently. If you are working along in Excel, be sure to save your workbook after creating the PivotTable and pivoting it. You’ll use this PivotTable again later in this chapter.

Figure 1-9: The final PivotTable has Store as a row field and Category as a column field.

In Figure 1-9, notice that Excel automatically creates totals for each category and each store, as well as an overall total.

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Figure 1-9

1. Make sure the PivotTable is active.
2. Click the PivotChart button on the Options ribbon. Excel displays the Insert Chart dialog box, shown in Figure 1-15. 

Figure 1-15: Selecting the type of chart for a PivotChart.

1. Select Column in the Templates list; then click the second chart template in the first row.
2. Click OK to create the chart.

The resulting chart is shown in Figure 1-16. Each store is represented by a bar in the chart, and within each bar the different categories are differentiated by color or shading.

Figure 1-16: A PivotChart based on the video rental data PivotTable.

Although the chart or the underlying PivotTable is active, Excel displays the PivotChart Filter Pane, also shown in Figure 1-16. You can use the Axis Fields and Legend Fields elements in this pane to filter the data so that the PivotChart displays only a subset of the data. Any filtering that you select here is applied to the PivotTable itself, and the chart automatically reflects this change in the PivotTable. For example, Figure 1-17 shows the PivotTable and chart after filtering has been applied to show only the Clarkville and Main Street stores.

Figure 1-17: The PivotTable and PivotChart can be filtered to show a subset of the data.

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• Select Microsoft Office Excel List or Database
• Select PivotTable

Then click the Next button to move to Step 2 of the wizard, shown in Figure 1-12. Here you specify the range where the data is located. If you placed the cell pointer in the table before starting the wizard, Excel will automatically select the range for you, A2:K44 in this example, as shown in Figure 1-11. Otherwise you can type the range into the Range box or select it with the mouse as follows:

1. Click the Select button (at the right end of the Range box). The dialog box collapses to a single line.
2. Drag the mouse over the desired data range. The range will be surrounded by an animated dashed border.
3. Click the Select button again. The dialog box expands to its normal size with the address of the selected data range entered in the Range field.

When you have the data range entered, click the Next button to move to the third and final step of the wizard, shown in Figure 1-13. In this dialog box you specify where to place the PivotTable, either on a new worksheet or an existing worksheet. You can also specify the table layout and set some options using the Layout and Options buttons, but that’s a topic for a future chapter. For now, just select the
New Worksheet option, and then click Finish to create the PivotTable report (see Figure 1-14).

Notice that the screen in Figure 1-14 looks identical to the one in Figure 1-3. That’s right—if you use the PivotTable and PivotChart Wizard to create a PivotTable, the result is just the same as if you had used the newer tools in Excel 2007. You then follow the same steps to define the PivotTable columns and rows or to create a multi-column report, as described in the previous two sections.

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• Select Microsoft Office Excel List or Database
• Select PivotTable

Then click the Next button to move to Step 2 of the wizard, shown in Figure 1-12. Here you specify the range where the data is located. If you placed the cell pointer in the table before starting the wizard, Excel will automatically select the range for you, A2:K44 in this example, as shown in Figure 1-11. Otherwise you can type the range into the Range box or select it with the mouse as follows:

1. Click the Select button (at the right end of the Range box). The dialog box collapses to a single line.
2. Drag the mouse over the desired data range. The range will be surrounded by an animated dashed border.
3. Click the Select button again. The dialog box expands to its normal size with the address of the selected data range entered in the Range field.

When you have the data range entered, click the Next button to move to the third and final step of the wizard, shown in Figure 1-13. In this dialog box you specify where to place the PivotTable, either on a new worksheet or an existing worksheet. You can also specify the table layout and set some options using the Layout and Options buttons, but that’s a topic for a future chapter. For now, just select the
New Worksheet option, and then click Finish to create the PivotTable report (see Figure 1-14).

Notice that the screen in Figure 1-14 looks identical to the one in Figure 1-3. That’s right—if you use the PivotTable and PivotChart Wizard to create a PivotTable, the result is just the same as if you had used the newer tools in Excel 2007. You then follow the same steps to define the PivotTable columns and rows or to create a multi-column report, as described in the previous two sections.

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