Using PivotCharts to Display Data Graphically

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PivotCharts are new to Access 2002, and they’re even easier to use than PivotTables. Although Access 2002 retains the older MS Graph component to provide backward compatibility, you should use the new PivotChart feature for all your charts and graphs, as PivotCharts are both easier to use and more powerful than the older MS Graph charts and graphs.

PivotCharts are even more flexible than PivotTables because of the handy By Row/By Column toolbar button that lets you easily swap the fields used for series and categories, the broad selection of chart types, and the numerous formatting options. Because both PivotTables and PivotCharts are usually views of forms, you can use the same form for a PivotTable and a PivotChart, applying the appropriate formatting in PivotTable and PivotChart view. This flexibility gives PivotCharts a great advantage over the older MS Graph charts—with PivotCharts, users can slice and dice their data in either a tabular or a graphical view, without having to modify the form’s design or create multiple forms or reports to get different views of the data.

In this section, you’ll learn the basics of creating powerful, easy-to-read PivotCharts.

Understanding PivotCharts

A PivotChart analyzes data visually in a variety of chart formats, such as pie charts or bar graphs, with the flexibility of rearranging the data as desired. Figure 12-20 shows a newly created PivotChart without its field list, with Filter Fields, Data Fields, Series Fields, and Category Fields drop zones.

PivotCharts, like PivotTables, consist of several elements that are used to analyze the data they display in various ways, as described here:

Field. A field is a column of data. A PivotChart field can summarize multiple rows of a data source such as a table or a query—for example, a salesperson’s results for a specific month. A PivotChart has series fields, category fields, data fields, and (optionally) filter fields.

Series field. A series field is a field placed in the series area. Series field values are displayed according to the chart type. In a bar graph, for example, the series fields are represented by bar color and the month names are given in the legend, as shown in Figure 12-21.

figure 12-20. a newly created pivotchart has drop zones for filter, data, series, and category fields.

Figure 12-20. A newly created PivotChart has drop zones for filter, data, series, and category fields.

figure 12-21. the bar graph’s legend displays the values in the series field names.

Figure 12-21. The bar graph’s legend displays the values in the series field names.

Category field A category field is a field placed in the category area. As with series fields, the exact placement of the category data depends on the chart type. In a bar graph, such as the one shown in Figure 12-21, category values are the Salespersons groups listed along the bottom of the graph.

Filter field A filter field is a field placed in the filter area (the upper left corner of the PivotChart). Filter fields are used to filter the data displayed in the PivotChart. For example, the PivotChart shown in Figure 12-21 uses the value 1995 from the OrderYear field to display only the 1995 data.

Data field A data field (a field in the data area) contains summarized data from the PivotChart’s data source. Data fields usually summarize numeric data, using the Sum function, but data can also be summarized using the Count function to count text or date items. In the PivotChart shown in Figure 12-21, the data is summed from the Price field.

Data area The data area of a PivotChart displays the data fields, usually in summarized form, such as a sum of currency values or a count of employees. In the PivotChart shown in Figure 12-21, the data consists of the bars representing sales by employee for each month.

Field list Clicking the arrow to the right of a field displays a drop-down list from which you can select items to display or hide, enabling you to filter the data—for example, to display data only for specific employees. Figure 12-22 shows the drop-down list for the Employee category field, with only certain employees selected.

figure 12-22.you can select check boxes in a field’s drop-down list to display only certain data.

Figure 12-22. You can select check boxes in a field’s drop-down list to display only certain data.

note


To see the Help topics for PivotCharts, type PivotChart in the Ask A Question box on the main menu.

Exploring the PivotChart Toolbar

When a PivotChart is open, a special toolbar is available. The PivotChart toolbar is shown in Figure 12-23.

figure 12-23. the pivotchart toolbar has special tools for working with pivotcharts.

Figure 12-23. The PivotChart toolbar has special tools for working with PivotCharts.

tip


If the PivotChart toolbar isn’t visible, right-click the gray background of any open toolbar and choose PivotChart on the shortcut menu, or choose View, Toolbars and select PivotChart.

You’ll recognize some of the tools on the PivotChart toolbar from working with forms and reports. The specialized buttons for working with PivotCharts are described in the following list. Many of these tools are more useful for PivotTables than for PivotCharts, because they’re primarily useful with tabular data, not visual data. The only buttons you’re likely to use frequently are the Chart Type, Show Legend, and Field List buttons.

Chart Type. Offers a choice of chart types.

Show Legend. Hides or displays the chart legend.

By Row/By Column. Swaps the series and category fields

Sort Ascending. Sorts chart data in ascending order.

Sort Descending. Sorts chart data in descending order.

AutoFilter. Filters fields by selected data items.

Show Top/Bottom Items. Shows only the top or bottom items in a group, by number or percentage.

AutoCalc. Lets you quickly apply a summary function. (Sum, Count, Min, Max, and Average are the most widely used.)

Refresh. Refreshes chart data from the chart’s record source.

Field List. Displays the Chart field list.

Properties. Displays the PivotChart properties sheet.

PivotCharts can also be displayed on the Web as data access pages and can be viewed and manipulated by users who have the Microsoft Office Web Components installed. See Chapter 18, "Working with Data Access Pages," for more details about using PivotCharts in data access pages.



Microsoft Access Version 2002 Inside Out
Microsoft Access Version 2002 Inside Out (Inside Out (Microsoft))
ISBN: 0735612838
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 172
Authors: Helen Feddema

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