I want to ask a general question ? What is the use of a pivottable ? Why is
it called "pivot" ? Actually, I can do the analysis on the originaltable
.
Thanks
Hi Carlson,
a Pivot table is a very useful tool to analyse data columns. The name
stems from the technical field: a pivot is a turnpoint, a kind of axis
you can turn something around to inspect it from "different angles".
In this sense a pivot table is a mechanism to "turn" columns to
"view" (i.e.) analyse the information they provide from "different
angles".
For example:
Table 1
column A: names of countries/regions
column B: names of sales representatives
column C: sales volume
The pivot table for table1 is an Excel structure (a new table) in
which you can chose dynamically, on-the-fly, how the data of table 1
should be grouped:
....total sales volume in respect to countries,
....in respect to sales reps
or
.... who sold how much in each country
The best way: make your own experience by setting up a regular excel
table, build a pivot table for it and play around - since the pivot
table is a distinct new Excel object you can not "destroy" your
original data set ;-)
Here some links:
- Using Pivot Tables and Pivot Charts in Microsoft Excel :
http://peltiertech.com/Excel/Pivots/pivotstart.htm
- Excel Pivot Tables Tutorial : What is a Pivot Table and How to Make
one:
http://chandoo.org/wp/2009/08/19/excel-pivot-tables-tutorial/
Have fun
Michael
