Excel dynamic chart from a Pivot Table and static data - excel

I have data for three years. This years data 15/16 is updating each week. The previous two years data is complete and is static (no longer updating).
I can make a chart with all three years on a different series but I have to manually change the range each week to update the chart.
How can I make a chart that will map the two previous years and the current weekly data to one chart. Pulling data from this years pivot and the weekly totals from the last two years which are static data?
Thanks
Update:
After trying the suggestion to add "=iferror" as blank ("") the graph plots the rest of the year but the future dates appear as 0 on the graph, how can this be removed but keep the mapping for the rest of the year, so the graph is dynamic?

Easiest way to get a chart that updates automatically is to convert all of your data to a table (select your current table, go to the ribbon > Table, select "New"). Then have your chart read the data from the new table, and it will automatically update any new data points that are added, no need to manually adjust the data being grabbed each week. You just pull down the bottom right corner of the new table, and it incorporates the new data, and sends it to the chart.
That will take care of all the static information. This next step will take care of the dynamic data, might get a little tricky.
Basically, set up the next rows in the table to read directly from the pivot table (fill in the cell to say "=b20", "=c20", etc). If there's no data for a particular week, you'll have to either manually drag the new formula down week by week, filling in the table as you go (which, helpfully, will continue updating the chart)... or you can maybe try something with an "=iferror" function, where it fills in a "" if the cell is empty. Not so certain about that last option, but it's worth a try.
Let me know you need any clarification!

Related

Pivot Chart - 3 date columns, how to show counts of the dates by month?

My goal is to have a count of three different dates by month in a bar chart. Currently we are using a count if formula then building the chart above that, would like a cleaner solution. I have three columns, Open, Action, and closed dates. Adding all three to the axis doesn't produce the right results. I'm stuck. Is there something in the pivot that I can change? I'm pulling the data in via Power Query, is there something there I can change? Many thanks :-)
Ideal state
Recent Action and Closed dates are not show up, that seems to be the real issue. Why and how to fix it?
Sample of data
Created a date table in Power Query.
Also in Power query, duped my data then deleted all but the columns I didn't need.
Unpivoted the three date columns.
Joined the new date to the date table.
Graphs fine.

Excel Pivot Table difference in columns of "shown as" values

Is there a way to let a pivot table calculate the difference between 2 columns automatically when the values are shown as a % of the parent column total?
Now I need to to manually but the table is dynamic and number of competitors may vary. Function seems so easy but can't find it after googling etc...
See example picture below of what I want to achieve.
(Column F automated by the pivot table is the goal)
If trying to solve this with PivotTables, you've got a couple of options:
Use a 'Traditional' PivotTable that's based on a range. This will give you percentage differences, but you can't get percentage point differences like you're asking for without using external formulas.
Use a 'OLAP' PivotTable that's based on data you've added to the Excel Data Model. This will give you both percentage differences and percentage point differences, without having to resort to using external formulas.
In both cases, I recommend that you unpivot your data first, so that it is in what's known as a Flat File. Currently you're using a cross-tabulated data source (i.e. your source has columns called Year 1, Year 2), and the type of percentage comparisons across years you want to do doesn't work if your data is a crosstab. Basically, PivotTables aren't meant to consume cross-tabulated data.
Instead, you really want your data laid out so that you have a column called Amount and a column called Year, and then you can use the Show Values As options available from the right-click menu to show as percentage differences across years. To transform your data into a flat file, see my answers at convert cross table to list to make pivot table
That said, you can still use the GETPIVOTDATA function on your existing (unpivoted) data layout in a way that is somewhat more robust to changes in your PivotTable structure than just subtracting one reference from the other:
But again, I recommend transforming your data into a Flat File. Then you can additionally do the following:
Using a 'Traditional' PivotTable:
You can kinda solve your problem entirely within a self contained 'Traditional' PivotTable if you drag the Amount column to the Values area, put the Year column in the Columns area, put your Competitors in the Rows area, and choose one of the percentage Show Values As options you'll see when you right-click a cell in the Values area.
I say kinda, because without using external formulas (or without calculating the percentages back in your source data), you can only get it to show percent increases (see far right column), not percentage point increase like you want (see far left column). That said, I think percent increase is less confusing. But I guess it depends on what you want to show. If you want to show say change in market share from one year to the next, then percentage points make sense.
Of course, you could always use the GETPIVOTDATA function to do the additional math for you like we did earlier, like I've done on that left hand side.
Using an OLAP PivotTable based on the DataModel
Calculating percentage point increases likely requires using PivotTables built using the Data Model. See my answer at https://stackoverflow.com/a/49973465/2507160 that explains a little about the Data Model (although it doesn't answer this specific question).
Here's the result:
Here's the measures I used to do this:
Total Year 1:
=CALCULATE(SUM(Table2[Value]),ALLSELECTED(Table2[Competitor]),Table2[Year] = "Year 1")
Total Year 2:
=CALCULATE(SUM(Table2[Value]),ALLSELECTED(Table2[Competitor]),Table2[Year] = "Year 2")
% Year 1:
=CALCULATE(SUM(Table2[Value]),Table2[Year] = "Year 1")/[Total Year 1]
% Year 2:
=CALCULATE(SUM(Table2[Value]),Table2[Year] = "Year 2")/[Total Year 2]
p.p. Diff:
= [% Year 2] -[% Year 1]
You can add Calculated Fields to Pivot Tables, of varying levels of complexity. Finding the difference between two fields is about as simple as it gets.
The example below is borrowed from contextures.com, where there are many more examples more further information.
To add a calculated field:
Select a cell in the pivot table, and on the Excel Ribbon, under the PivotTable Tools tab, click the Options tab (Analyze tab in
Excel 2013).
In the Calculations group, click Fields, Items, & Sets, and then click Calculated Field.
Type a name for the calculated field, for example, RepBonus.
In the Formula box, type =Total * 3%
Click Add to save the calculated field, and click Close.
The RepBonus field appears in the Values area of the pivot table, and in the field list in the PivotTable Field List.
(Source)
EDIT:
#jeffreyweir - I'm not gonna lie, I don't know off the top of my head how to make this work (and don't have time to experiment) but by the looks of these options, isn't a calculated field with a "straight subtraction" of existing fields (ie., 3$-2%=1%) very possible with Difference from? (as opposed to % Difference from which is also an option but for a different result).
In fact, automatic year-over-year difference reporting should be readily possible with the <previous> and <next> comparison operators...?
                                 (Click to Embiggen)
     
Also, did you see the link where I got the example? Kind of a hoakey site but it has some more complex pivot table instructions.

How do I make a pivot table just for x and y data (for use in a scatter plot)?

I've been looking for a way to create a dynamic graph that I can filter by whatever month I want using the pivot table's filter feature. The x-values for my data set are time.
I know that I could just create a graph for all my data and then use Excel's auto filter feature for my x and y data (filtering x to limit the months displayed on the graph), but I have too many values, so the auto filter doesn't display all the months of the year, so there goes that idea.
Here's what I want my pivot table to display:
A column listing all my x-values (time)
A column listing all my y-values
A filter for my x-values (time)
So yeah, basically the same thing as my input except I can filter it and it'll dynamically update a scatter plot I make.
Is there a way to do this?
What version of Excel do you have? I haven't tried it with the volume of data you seemingly have, but in 2013 or later, if you format your data as a Table (Home > Format as Table), you can add Slicers and Timelines (Under the Design menu when a cell within the table is selected). This gives you a user friendly pane that lets you select a date range. Not sure if you will run into the same issue with having too many date values, but it is worth a shot.

Creating bar graph of event occurrences for each month of several years in excel

I have a long list of dates (about 2000) in an excel spreadsheet and I want to see how many of these dates lie within particular years (and roughly which part of the year also if possible). I know how to make basic graphs in excel, but I'm not sure how to make a bar graph that uses dates. Any suggestions?
I can obviously split events in day, month, and year and then use count to count the amount of each year, but this would not show the placement of the event within the year in the final graph.
20/03/2000
2/04/2000
3/04/2000
26/05/2000
7/06/2000
20/06/2000
22/06/2000
10/07/2000
12/07/2000
22/07/2000
2/08/2000
8/08/2000
11/08/2000
14/08/2000
15/08/2000
12/09/2000
15/09/2000
20/09/2000
25/09/2000
2/10/2000
22/10/2000
24/10/2000
25/10/2000
27/10/2000
1/11/2000
10/11/2000
13/11/2000
16/11/2000
18/11/2000
20/11/2000
25/11/2000
27/11/2000
3/12/2000
6/12/2000
20/12/2000
21/12/2000
22/12/2000
4/01/2001
7/01/2001
11/01/2001
24/01/2001
25/01/2001
2/02/2001
4/02/2001
9/02/2001
12/02/2001
13/02/2001
20/02/2001
21/02/2001
2/03/2001
11/04/2001
19/04/2001
20/04/2001
21/04/2001
24/04/2001
27/04/2001
28/04/2001
2/05/2001
3/05/2001
5/05/2001
12/05/2001
13/06/2001
20/06/2001
25/06/2001
3/07/2001
5/07/2001
18/07/2001
20/07/2001
21/07/2001
22/07/2001
25/07/2001
4/08/2001
5/08/2001
9/08/2001
10/08/2001
11/08/2001
12/08/2001
13/08/2001
31/08/2001
11/09/2001
12/09/2001
17/09/2001
3/10/2001
10/10/2001
18/10/2001
21/10/2001
23/10/2001
4/11/2001
5/11/2001
17/11/2001
22/11/2001
23/11/2001
27/11/2001
29/11/2001
3/12/2001
I cannot check this in earlier versions of Excel, but in Excel 2016, if you build a Pivot Table with your data and drop the date in the Rows - you get your data grouped in Years, Quarters, and Months. If you also drop the date into Values, then you get the Count of values in each year, quarter, and month.
Then a pivot chart looks like this ...
A less magical way to do it
Applies to Excel 2013 and up
From your single column of dates, build a pivot table.
Put the date in Rows. Put Count of date in Values.
Select any one of the dates. Right Click and choose "Group...", or choose "Group Selection" from the Analyze ribbon.
Click on each of Months, Quarters, and Years.
Filter how you would like.
Select PivotChart from the Analyze Ribbon.
You can create a scatter graph as suggested in the comment. Consider your data set and see if there is any other quality that could be added to the chart, which could be plotted on the value axis. For example the number of people attending the event, or the duration of the event in seconds, or something like that, so that the graph contains more information. In the following screenshot, the blue dots are just the 1's from column B plotted on the time line. The orange dots plot another data aspect on the vertical axis.
If you create a pivot table of the dates and drag the date into the Sums area you will get a count of each day, make sure this is sorted. Then a chart will show the number of records for each day. You will need to copy and past values from the pivot to a new sheet to be able to make a scatter diagram from the output of the pivot table (in Excel 2010). But once it is a scatter diagram the events will be in the "correct" places.
If you wanted to group it by month instead you could use a formula to create a column of year & month and then do the pivot and chart on that column. For example the formula below will give you 201605 for May 2016.
=YEAR(A2)&RIGHT(100+MONTH(A2),2)
Weeks would be a bit trickier, but I suppose you could divide the date by seven and then INT it to get a 7 day grouping. These wont show the actual events occurance within the period but would let you see which periods have the most events.If you are looking for things like more events at the beginning of the month or something you might need to try different "groupings" like weekly.

Draw an Excel Line Chart of my account balance

I made a table with my earnings and cash disbursements. And I list the account balance.
Now I want to draw the account balance in a line chart. But the problem is that there isn't a value on every day. So the line between to entries is different because different time lies between two entries. Sometimes three days, sometimes 22 days, ...
How can I realize, that the line is constant after a value and the line only change on a day, with a new value?
Edit (from comment): I'm using Excel 2007
Like the others have said, to get the true time difference between your points to show up, you have to use a scatter plot instead of the Excel line graph.
To display the true state of your balance at in-between dates (i.e., no sloping lines), you'll need to do some transformation of your data. It amounts to creating two new columns of data with duplicate points for each balance: one at the date the account balance reached that level, and one at the date the balance left that level.
I suggest the following:
To populate your Balance column, in the first cell (I'm starting my table at E2) enter
=B2
where B2 is the address of the first balance in your original table. In the next cell down enter
=IF(E2<>E1,E2,OFFSET(B$2,COUNT(E$2:E2)/2,0))
Fill down this formula as far as you need to.
Then in the first cell of the Date column of your new table (I'm starting at D2) enter
=A2
where A2 is the first date in your original table. In the next cell down enter
=IF(E3=E2,OFFSET(A$2,COUNT(E$2:E3)/2,0),D2)
Fill down this formula. Then use this new table as your source data for the scatter plot. Here's a screen capture of a sample:
Are you using an XY-Scatter Plot. A line chart adds in the missing days automatically. Make sure your x-axis is formatted as date.
If you insist on using XY-Scatter Plot then you can put in days for each day, if that day doesn't have data then for the y-axis put in =NA().
I think the chart you need is a step line chart based on your description. The answer of #Excelll above has already pointed out a way to do this in Excel. But here I've another solution that could avoid manually adding some rows to your data. You could use the Funfun Excel add-in to create step line chart. Here is an example that I draw.
As you could see there is some code in the Excel. The Funfun Excel add-in allows you to use JavaScript code directly in Excel so that you could use powerful libraries like HighCharts.js or D3.js to draw charts that could be difficult in Excel alone. In this example, I used HighCharts.js. And it's quite easy to plot this chart since HighCharts.js iteself supports step line chart, so all you need to do is add the step option in your code like the code below.
series: [{
name: "Balance",
data: balance,
step: true,
showInLegend: false
}]
Another advantage of the chart that I showed you comparing to other solution is that you get real time interval in your x-axis. As you mentioned, you may not take record of your balance everyday, the x-axis in the example above shows irregular time interval.
The Funfun also has an online editor in which you could explore your JavaScript code and result. You could check the detail of how I made the example chart in the link below.
https://www.funfun.io/1/#/edit/5a4e478f1010eb73fe125cb2
Once you are satisfied with the result you achieved in the online editor, you could easily load the result into your Excel using the URL above. But of course, first you need to add the Funfun add-in into your Excel by Insert - Office Add-ins. Here are some screenshots showing how you load the example into you Excel.
Disclosure: I'm a developer of Funfun
Excel is really rubbish at charting this kind of thing. In my experience, the best way to chart it is to start with an X-Y plot rather than a line graph, and select the option where it joins the points with a line.
You may also need to add a new column showing "days since start", and use that as the X axis instead of the date - I can't remember whether Excel 2007 can deal with dates properly or not. Try it and see.
Finally, if you include any cells in your chart that are not yet populated (eg because you want to make the chart from the whole column even though you only have a few entries so far), you need to have the empty cells populated with "#N/A" otherwise it will plot them as 0.

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