

Using a sample SQL Server database that contains arbitrary data about titles, genres, payments and customer information, a pivot table can be used to determine payment amounts from members. You can import data directly from a database and create a pivot table using Excel's import tool.

Excel 2019 includes a feature that lets you link a pivot chart to a pivot table, so you can both analyze data using the information summarized in a pivot chart and then display the results using a pivot chart for visual representation.

Some web pages provide structured data, but in many cases, you'll need to clean up data if you pull it from a web page and want to use it for pivot table analysis.Īlthough you might use pivot tables to analyze data, you can still add charts and graphs later. Structured data is common in many databases but pulling data from a source such as a web page will not have the same structure that can be used for pivot tables. You can pull records from a database, a CSV file, a JSON file, an XML file, Access or any entity that has structure so Excel 2019 can determine the rows and columns used to summarize data. Pivot tables can be created on complex or simple data, but they are usually beneficial when you have a long list of unorganized records that don't have any sort or normalization set. You can change the way a table is displayed with just a few clicks of your mouse with a pivot table, so it's mainly used as a way to quickly review information and get a high overview of what information a worksheet contains.
QUICK NOTES ON HOW TO USE PIVOT TABLES IN EXCEL UPDATE
Both pivot tables and charts will update data dynamically, but you can dynamically change the summary data in a pivot table while charts only change data changed in referenced cells. The other difference between a pivot table and a standard chart is that pivot tables are more interactive. With a pivot table, you can "pivot" your data so that you can summarize and review it with a different data set. With a standard chart, you must reorganize data so that you can change the way a graph displays data the way you need it to. A pivot table is meant to take a long list of data and summarize the results. Before you create a table, you should understand the difference between a pivot table and creating a basic chart.
