Pivot Table with Duplicate Field Names

  • Thread starter Thread starter Michael Bayuk
  • Start date Start date
M

Michael Bayuk

My thanks to Dave Peterson who suggested the use of Outlook Express and
Microsoft Newsgroups to post this message.



I have an Excel list with 28 columns. Column headings include such items as
Name, Hire Date, Termination Date, Next Review Date, Hourly Rate, Increase,
Future Rate, Worked Hours, Total Hours, Location1, Hours1, Location2,
Hours2,...Location8, Hours8. I would prefer to manage this list where the
information for each employee is contained on only one row. The Location
and Hours number (i.e., Location2, Hours2) is irrelevent except to provide
for certain employees working at more than one location during the year. My
goal is to generate one pivot table from an efficient list that lists all of
the detail for each employee by location. Thus, certain employees will
appear more than once if they work at multiple locations.



For example, the column headings of the pivot table results would look
something like this:



Location Name Review Date Hourly Rate Increase
etc... Hours





The following alternatives that I know would generate such a pivot table are
unacceptable for various reasons:



1) Insert additional multiple rows for those employees who work at
multiple locations and thus eliminate the multiple Location Hours columns.
Managing (i.e., inserting/deleting/copying information from row to row, then
editing it) such multiple rows by non-expert Excel data entry persons to a
protected worksheet would be a disaster.



2) Insert (and hide) all of the other detail columns before each pair of
Location/Hours with formulas equal to the detail in the original columns,
and use the Multiple Consolidation Ranges type of pivot table. This would
needlessly increase the file's size and calculation time for the hundreds of
employees listed.



I tried unsuccessfully to group the Locations. Perhaps there is a way to
group the Locations so that they will roll up under one field "Locations"
with the corresponding field "Hours"? Perhaps there is another alternative?



Please help!



MikeB
 
Frank,

Thanks again for your tip. Unfortunately, this added step results in not
having the dynamic (automatic) update capabilities that I need, as my source
data is external and updated regularly, and my pivot table would be used in
generating projections. Ideally, I'm looking for a dynamic solution that
allows me to have the repetitive columns "Location" and "Hours", yet produce
one efficient pivot table that treats each Location and Hours column as
though they were the same. I had hoped that they could be grouped, but I
have been unsuccessful in grouping them. Alternatively, I had thought about
some sort of formula, perhaps an array formula, that would work here. Any
more thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Mike
 
Hi Michael
if you send me an example sheet with some rows of your source data
(10-20 rows are sufficient) I'll set up some formulas for you, which
will automatically copy the data to another sheet (using OFFSET, ROW
and COLUMN). I'm just a little bit lazy to create a test example on my
own <vbg>

Mail: frank[dot]kabel[at]freenet[dot]de
 
Hi Mike
please don't attach files to the NG (send them per private mail ->
therefore I gave you my private mail)!
I'll take a look at your file and sent it back to you per private
email. Is your email address in this NG valid if not please send me an
email to which I can respond

--
Regards
Frank Kabel
Frankfurt, Germany

Michael said:
Frank,

I attached an example that shows my preferred source data and sample
preferred pivot table (based on alternatively having to make
undesirable changes to my preferred source data). I could easily
copy or create formula links for the location/hours information in
such a way that all of Loc2/Hrs2 would be placed directly below the
Loc1/Hrs1 data, followed by Loc3/Hrs3, etc; however, I'm looking for
an elegant dynamic solution that would essentially work the same way
that my sample pivot table works, but using the preferred source
data, not the undesirable alternative-layout source data.

Thanks again.

Mike

Frank Kabel said:
Hi Michael
if you send me an example sheet with some rows of your source data
(10-20 rows are sufficient) I'll set up some formulas for you, which
will automatically copy the data to another sheet (using OFFSET, ROW
and COLUMN). I'm just a little bit lazy to create a test example on
my own <vbg>

Mail: frank[dot]kabel[at]freenet[dot]de

--
Regards
Frank Kabel
Frankfurt, Germany

Michael said:
Frank,

Thanks again for your tip. Unfortunately, this added step results
in not having the dynamic (automatic) update capabilities that I
need, as my source data is external and updated regularly, and my
pivot table would be used in generating projections. Ideally, I'm
looking for a dynamic solution that allows me to have the
repetitive columns "Location" and "Hours", yet produce one
efficient pivot table that treats each Location and Hours column as
though they were the same. I had hoped that they could be grouped,
but I have been unsuccessful in grouping them. Alternatively, I
had thought about some sort of formula, perhaps an array formula,
that would work here. Any more thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Mike
Hi Michale
you first have to create a format with which the pivot table
feature can work with (that is a database structure). John
Wlakenbach has instructions how to do this (either manually or
with a macro) http://j-walk.com/ss/excel/usertips/tip068.htm

--
Regards
Frank Kabel
Frankfurt, Germany

Michael Bayuk wrote:
My thanks to Dave Peterson who suggested the use of Outlook
Express and Microsoft Newsgroups to post this message.



I have an Excel list with 28 columns. Column headings include
such items as Name, Hire Date, Termination Date, Next Review
Date,
Hourly
Rate, Increase, Future Rate, Worked Hours, Total Hours, Location1,
Hours1, Location2, Hours2,...Location8, Hours8. I would prefer to
manage this list where the information for each employee is
contained on only one row. The Location and Hours number (i.e.,
Location2, Hours2) is irrelevent except to provide for certain
employees working at more than one location during the year. My
goal is to generate one pivot table from an efficient list that
lists all of the detail for each employee by location. Thus,
certain employees will appear more than once if they work at
multiple locations.



For example, the column headings of the pivot table results would
look something like this:



Location Name Review Date Hourly Rate
Increase etc... Hours





The following alternatives that I know would generate such a pivot
table are unacceptable for various reasons:



1) Insert additional multiple rows for those employees who
work at multiple locations and thus eliminate the multiple
Location Hours columns. Managing (i.e.,
inserting/deleting/copying information from
row to row, then editing it) such multiple rows by non-expert
Excel data entry persons to a protected worksheet would be a
disaster.



2) Insert (and hide) all of the other detail columns before each
pair of Location/Hours with formulas equal to the detail in the
original columns, and use the Multiple Consolidation Ranges type
of pivot table. This would needlessly increase the file's size
and calculation time for the hundreds of employees listed.



I tried unsuccessfully to group the Locations. Perhaps there is a
way to group the Locations so that they will roll up under one field
"Locations" with the corresponding field "Hours"? Perhaps there
is another alternative?



Please help!



MikeB
 
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