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alt="Ontheweb"/> You can find the sample file for this chapter on this book’s companion website at www.dummies.com/go/excelpowerpivotpowerqueryfd2e in the workbook named Chapter 2 Samples.xlsx.

      The Customers data set contains basic information, such as CustomerID, Customer Name, and Address. The InvoiceHeader data set contains data that points specific invoices to specific customers. The InvoiceDetails data set contains the specifics of each invoice.

      To analyze revenue by customer and month, it’s clear that you first need to somehow join these three tables together. In the past, you would have to go through a series of gyrations involving VLOOKUP or other clever formulas. But with Power Pivot, you can build these relationships in just a few clicks.

Snapshot of using Power Pivot to analyze the data in the Customers, InvoiceHeader, and InvoiceDetails worksheets.

      FIGURE 2-2: You want to use Power Pivot to analyze the data in the Customers, InvoiceHeader, and InvoiceDetails worksheets.

      Preparing Excel tables

      When linking Excel data to Power Pivot, best practice is to first convert the Excel data to explicitly named tables. Although not technically necessary, giving tables friendly names helps track and manage your data in the Power Pivot data model. If you don’t convert your data to tables first, Excel does it for you and gives your tables useless names like Table1, Table2, and so on.

      Follow these steps to convert each data set into an Excel table:

      1 Go to the Customers tab and click anywhere inside the data range.

      2 Press Ctrl+T on the keyboard.This step opens the Create Table dialog box, shown in Figure 2-3.FIGURE 2-3: Convert the data range into an Excel table.

      3 In the Create Table dialog box, ensure that the range for the table is correct and that the My Table Has Headers check box is selected. Click the OK button.You should now see the Table Design tab on the Ribbon.

      4 Click the Table Design tab, and use the Table Name input to give your table a friendly name, as shown in Figure 2-4.This step ensures that you can recognize the table when adding it to the Internal Data Model.

      5 Repeat Steps 1 through 4 for the Invoice Header and Invoice Details data sets.

Snapshot of giving a name for the newly created Excel table.

      FIGURE 2-4: Give your newly created Excel table a friendly name.

      Adding Excel Tables to the data model

      After you convert your data to Excel tables, you’re ready to add them to the Power Pivot data model. Follow these steps to add the newly created Excel tables to the data model using the Power Pivot tab:

      1 Place the cursor anywhere inside the Customers Excel table.

      2 Go to the Power Pivot tab on the Ribbon and click the Add to Data Model command.

      Although the Power Pivot window looks like Excel, it’s a separate program altogether. Notice that the grid for the Customers table offers row numbers but no column references. Also notice that you cannot edit the data within the table. This data is simply a snapshot of the Excel table you imported.

      Additionally, if you look at the Windows taskbar at the bottom of the screen, you can see that Power Pivot has a separate window from Excel. You can switch between Excel and the Power Pivot window by clicking each respective program on the taskbar.

      

If your Windows taskbar combines taskbar buttons, the Power Pivot button may be hidden with the Excel group of buttons. Click or mouse over the Excel icon on the taskbar to reach the Power Pivot button.

Snapshot of the Power Pivot window shows all the data that exists in your data model.

      FIGURE 2-5: The Power Pivot window shows all the data that exists in your data model.

Snapshot of each table you add to the data model is placed on its own tab in Power Pivot.

      FIGURE 2-6: Each table you add to the data model is placed on its own tab in Power Pivot.

Because the data you just imported into Power Pivot comes from an Excel table within the current workbook, Power Pivot will consider these linked tables. So, even though the data shown in Power Pivot is a snapshot at the time you added it, the data automatically updates when you edit the source table in Excel. Linked tables are the only kind of data source that automatically refreshes as the data within changes.

      Creating relationships between Power Pivot tables

      At this point, Power Pivot knows that you have three tables in the data model but has no idea how the tables relate to one another. You connect these tables by defining relationships between the Customers, Invoice Details, and Invoice Header tables. You can do so directly within the Power Pivot window.

      

If you’ve inadvertently closed the Power Pivot window, you can easily reopen it by clicking the Manage command button on the Power Pivot Ribbon tab.

      Follow these steps to create relationships between your tables:

      1 Activate the Power Pivot window and click the Diagram View command button on the Home tab.The Power Pivot screen you see shows a visual representation of all tables in the data model, as shown in Figure 2-7. You can move the tables in Diagram view by simply clicking and dragging them.The idea is to identify the primary index keys in each table and connect them. In this scenario, the Customers table and the Invoice Header table can be connected using the CustomerID field. The Invoice Header and Invoice Details tables can be connected using the InvoiceNumber field.FIGURE 2-7: Diagram view allows you to see all tables in the data model.

      2 Click and drag a line from the CustomerID field in the Customers table to the CustomerID field in the Invoice Header table, as demonstrated in Figure 2-8.

      3 Click and drag a line from the InvoiceNumber field in the Invoice Header table to the InvoiceNumber field in the Invoice Details table.

Snapshot of click and drag a line between the fields in your tables.

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