Using Multilevel Categories


Excel lets you categorize your categories. This sounds redundant, but a quick example illustrates the technique. Suppose you want to plot the data shown in Figure 20-20. (Figure 20-21 shows the resulting chart.) The series are months, and the categories are the sales offices located in different cities. The city sales are further classified by state, however. To create this multilevel chart, you simply select the data, including both columns of category information, and plot in the usual manner. Excel recognizes the second category column and creates the appropriate subcategories.

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Figure 20-20: This worksheet uses multilevel categories; city sales offices are grouped by state.

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Figure 20-21: A multilevel category chart uses two or more sets of category names to label the category axis.

The capability to create multilevel charts appeared first in Microsoft Excel 97, just before the Excel version that introduced PivotCharts. PivotCharts-charts derived from PivotTables-are a superior alternative to multilevel charts, but they require you to create a PivotTable and that in turn requires you to set your data up in a particular manner. To create a PivotTable from the data shown in Figure 20-20, for example, you need to organize your worksheet like this:

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After creating the PivotTable, you could generate the PivotChart shown in Figure 20-22. If the information you need to plot is relatively simple and you already have it organized in a manner not conducive to PivotTable creation, you're probably better off using the multilevel charting capability.

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Figure 20-22: PivotCharts like this are an alternative (and in most cases superior) way to plot multilevel data.

Note 

For more information about creating PivotTables and PivotCharts, see Chapter 22, "Analyzing Data with PivotTable Reports."




Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Inside Out
MicrosoftВ® Office ExcelВ® 2007 Inside Out (Inside Out (Microsoft))
ISBN: 073562321X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 260

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