Microsoft Excel 2016 PowerPivot

Excel® PowerPivot 2016 101

Define Slicers

Slicers are an interactive tool that is used to reduce the amount of data that is displayed in PivotTables and
PivotCharts that are connected to the slicers. They are also used to analyze data and create what-if scenarios.
Slicers allow the data in the PowerPivot table to be filtered, grouped and sorted.

Slicers exist in both Excel® and in PowerPivot. PowerPivot allows one set of slicers to control multiple
PivotTables and PivotCharts.

To define a new slicer, choose the Analyze tab from the PivotTable Tools tab. In the Filter group, there is a
button that allows you to insert slicers. Once you click the button, an Insert Slicers dialog box will display
showing the fields that you can choose to create a slicer on. You choose the fields and click OK. The slicers
that you chose are created. Figure 5-2 are examples of slicers. As you can see, slicers are a list of fields that
you can choose from. Once you choose the values to include in your table, your PivotTable will be updated
based on the choices on the slicers.

Figure 5-2 Sample Slicers

Slicer Tools Options
Once slicers have been defined, a contextual tab, Slicer Tools Options will be available. See Figure 5-
3.

Figure 5-3 Slicer Tools Options

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102 Excel PowerPivot 2016
Slicer

The Slicer group allows you to change the name of the slicer.

 Slicer Settings allows you to change the sort order, determine if rows with no data
will display or not and control if a header will display.

 Report Connections manages which PivotTables the slicer is connected to.

Figure 5-4 Slicer Group

Slicer Styles

The images displayed give you a preview of the way your slicers can look. To see all choices
at one time, click the line with the arrow under it. To change the colors and shading of the
slicers, click on one of the displayed images. The changes are immediately applied to your
slicers. If you don’t like the look, choose another one. It does not change any of the data that
is displayed – only the formatting.

Figure 5-5 Slicer Styles

Arrange

Bring Forward will bring the selected slicer forward one level or bring it in front of all slicers.

Send Backward will send the selected slicer backward one level or send it to the back of all
slicers.

Selection Pane will display all slicers that have been defined. This pane makes it easier to
select the slicers, change their order or change their visibility.

Align changes the placement of your slicers on the page. There are many options available to
align your slicers.

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Excel® PowerPivot 2016 103
Group will join the slicers that have been selected so that they are formatted and treated as a
group.
Rotate will turn or flip the selected slicer.

Figure 5-6 Slicer Arrange

Buttons
Columns controls how many columns your buttons will display in. Height and Width changes
the size of each of the buttons that are displayed.

Figure 5-7 Slicer Buttons

Size
Size controls the overall size of the slicer. You can either enter numbers or use the up and
down arrows to adjust the size.

Figure 5-8 Slicer Size

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104 Excel PowerPivot 2016
Exercise 5-2 Create Slicers
For this exercise, we will continue with the PivotTable that was updated in exercise 5-1. Slicers will be added
to the PivotTable with the KPI. You will use the brand name and product subcategory fields to create slicers
for this PivotTable.
1. Click Analyze on PivotTable Tools.
2. In the Filter group, click Insert Slicer. The dialog box will display showing the tables and field names

that are available to be used for slicers.
3. In the DimProduct table, click BrandName and ProductSubcategory.

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4. Click OK. The slicers have been added to your PivotTable.

5. Click and hold on the ProductSubcategory slicer. Drag the slicer to the right so it is not covering your
data.

6. Repeat the same steps for the BrandName slicer.
7. In order to choose more than one value, hold down CTRL and click the second one. In the

ProductSubcategory slicer, click Car Video and Digital Cameras. Notice how the BrandName slicer
updates based on the values that you chose on the ProductSubcategory slicer.
8. Clear the ProductSubcategory slicer by clicking the red X on the slicer.
9. In the BrandName slicer, choose Adventure Works, Contoso and Litware. Notice how the
ProductSubcategory slicer updates based on the values that you chose on the BrandName slicer.

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106 Excel PowerPivot 2016

Define Hierarchies

A hierarchy is a list of columns that are considered a single item when used in a PivotTable. It appears as a
single object in the field list. Hierarchies make it easier for users to select and navigate common paths of data
when creating PivotTables. For example, if you have geographic data, you may want to create a hierarchy that
starts with state, and then goes to city and zip code.
Creating a hierarchy is easy. There are two ways to create a hierarchy. In the diagram view of the model, you
choose your fields, right-click and choose create hierarchy. The other way to create the hierarchy is to right-
click on the table name and choose hierarchy. You can then drag the fields you would like to this new
hierarchy. You can use this hierarchy in your PivotTable. After the hierarchy is defined, you can still add new
fields if needed.

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Exercise 5-3 Create Hierarchies

For this exercise, you will continue with the PivotTable that was created in the previous exercises. You will
be defining a hierarchy for dates and for products. You will use two different ways to create the hierarchies.
These hierarchies will then replace the fields that were used in the previous exercises. Note: This exercise
may take several minutes for Excel® to respond.

Create Dates Hierarchy

1. Launch Excel®.

2. Click Blank workbook.

3. Click File > Open

4. Locate the file in the Class Files\Lesson5 folder. Click Exercise 5-3. Click Open.

5. Click Power Pivot.

6. Click Manage Data Model.

7. Click Diagram View.

8. Locate the DimDate table. Drag the bottom of the table down to expand it. This will make it easier to
view the fields.

9. Press and hold CTRL and click the following columns: CalendarYear, CalendarQuarter and
CalendarMonth.

10. With the three columns selected, right-click on CalendarYear and choose Create Hierarchy. At the
bottom of the table you will see the label Hierarchy1. Change Hierarchy1 to Dates.

11. Right-click on the column FullDateLabel.

12. Select Add to Hierarchy > Dates. You have now created a multilevel hierarchy that includes year,
quarter, month and individual days.

Create Products Hierarchy
13. Right-click on the DimProduct table.
14. Click Create Hierarchy. At the bottom of the table you will see the label Hierarchy1. Change Hierarchy1

to Product Categories.

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15. In the same table, drag the ProductCategory, ProductSubcategory and ProductName fields to the

Product Categories hierarchy.
Use Hierarchies in your PivotTable.
16. Go back to your PivotTable in Excel®.
17. In PivotTable Fields, in the Rows drop zone, click ProductSubcategory > Remove Field.
18. In the Rows drop zone, click BrandName > Remove Field.
19. In the Columns drop zone, click CalendarYear > Remove Field.
20. In the DimDate table, the Dates hierarchy will be displayed. Click on Dates and drag it to the columns

drop zone.
21. To change the order of the fields, click Dates > Move Up.
22. In the DimProduct table, the Product Categories hierarchy will be displayed. Click on Product

Categories and drag it to the rows drop zone.
When you explore the data now, it is easy to see the benefits of using hierarchies. You can independently
expand and close different areas of the PivotTable, providing more control over how available space is used.

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Index Excel® PowerPivot 2016 109

Calculated Column, 89, 90, 91 Glossary, 110
Measure, 19, 93, 95
Hierarchy, 23, 24, 106, 107
Data Analysis Expressions. See DAX
Data Model Key Performance Indicators. See KPIs
KPI, 11, 19, 93, 99, 100
Clipboard, 17 KPIs. See KPI
Create, 16, 25, 30, 33, 36
Define, 15 PivotChart
External Data, 17 Analyze, 67, 74
Find, 19 Create, 64, 66
Formatting, 18 Design, 75, 77
Manage, 10, 16, 39 Fields, 64
Refresh, 18, 40 Format, 78, 82
Relationships, 12, 15, 56, 72
Sort and Filter, 19 PivotTable
DAX, 8, 84, 93 Analyze, 50, 58
Context, 89 Create, 18, 44, 46
Date and Time Functions, 85 Design, 61, 63
Filter Functions, 87 Fields, 44
Informational Functions, 87
Logical Functions, 86 Prerequisites, 6
Math and Trigonometric Functions, 87
Operators, 84 Slicer, 11, 54, 71, 101, 104
Statistical Functions, 86 Slicer Tools Options, 101
Text Functions, 85
Time Intelligence Functions, 88 View
Data View, 20
Enable PowerPivot, 9 Diagram View, 15, 22

Filter, 54 Workspace, 10

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Glossary

Azure Marketplace Filter
Online market for buying and selling data and Change the display of the data to remove values
applications. that you do not want to see.

Business Intelligence Hierarchy
Analyze data and convert this analysis into A list of columns that are related and treated as
knowledge. one item.

Measure Key Column
Expression computed at aggregate levels instead of Unique value used to match against another table
a row-by-row basis. to retrieve a record.

Calculated Column KPI – Key Performance Indicator
Use DAX and the data in the columns of the tables Graphical display of data versus a goal.
to create a new column.
Relational Database
Connection Database of related information, usually stored in
Data link between PowerPivot and a data source. tables of rows and columns.

Data Model Relationship
Set of tables with relationships. A field in common between two tables.

DAX – Data Analysis eXpression Slicer
Language used in PowerPivot to create Graphical way to filter data.
formulas/expressions to manipulate columns and
rows of data.

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