Database Reference
In-Depth Information
The design principles for Excel are a little different, due to the limitation on
filters that a standard filter can only be along the top of the screen, and the
fact that slicers are inherently larger than the filters. The guidelines are the
following:
Slicers were intro-
duced in Excel 2010,
and give visual feed-
back about which of
the available entries
in the slicer have
data in the associ-
ated pivot tables or
charts. In addition,
a slicer can be con-
nected to multiple
tables and charts,
unlike the older
filters. Figure 10-6
shows a slicer next
to the tables it is
connected to.
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Keep filters along the top of the page.
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Keep data on one sheet visible to the user without scrolling when possible.
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Use slicers below the data on the sheet that are linked to all data points.
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Use slicers to the right of the sheet that are only linked to data on that
sheet.
IMPleMenTATIon eXAMPleS
In this section you learn how to implement a scorecard in Excel (using
PowerPivot) and in PerformancePoint. You also learn how to implement indica-
tors in PerformancePoint using your own images in place of the standard ones.
To follow along with the samples, you will need to install the samples, which
are available on this topic's web site on Wrox.com. (See Chapter 4 for guidance
with installing the database samples.)
IMPLEMENTING A SCorECArD IN ExCEL
After you have set up a data model for Excel, it is remarkably easy to create
something quite good looking in a fairly short amount of time. Luckily, set-
ting up this model is also fairly easy in the latest version of Excel. To do so,
open a new Excel workbook, and, on the PowerPivot tab, click the Manage
button. (See Chapter 5 for enabling PowerPivot if the tab is not visible). Click
the From Database button, choose SQL Server, and enter the location of
your SQL Server. Choose the VI_UNData database from the drop-down and
click Next. Choose Select from a List of Tables and then select the DimDate,
DimCountry, DimOECDStatistic, FactOECDPopulation, and FactUNData tables,
and click Finish. Your screen should look like Figure 10-8.
In order to use indicators, you first need to have a target, and you also need
to have a calculated measure on both the actual and the target.
