MS Access for the Business Environment: Create a PivotTable View in Access

About the Series …

This article continues the series,
MS Access for the Business Environment. The primary focus of
this series is an examination of business uses for the MS Access relational
database management system. The series is designed to provide guidance in the
practical application of data and database concepts to meet specific needs in
the business world. While the majority of the procedures I demonstrate will be
undertaken with Access 2002, many of the concepts that we expose in the
series will apply to numerous versions of MS Access.

For more information on the
series, as well as the hardware / software requirements to prepare for the
tutorials we will undertake, please see Tutorial
1: Create a Calculated Field with the
Expression Builder
.

Introduction to this Tutorial

This tutorial will introduce the
PivotTable in MS Access. Among numerous enhancements that appear in
Access 2002, one of the most exciting is the addition of PivotTable and PivotChart
views for the tables and queries of the database. PivotTables and PivotCharts provide
a means of interactive data analysis, thus broadening our business intelligence
toolset in Access; both allow us to organize and summarize information into
useful analysis presentations called views. We explore the PivotTable
view
in this lesson, and then expose the PivotChart view in Lesson
3: Create a PivotChart View in Access.

In this tutorial, we
will focus upon the creation and use of PivotTable views in Access. This lesson
will include:

  • Creation of a basic query upon which to base a PivotTable view.

  • A brief introduction to PivotTable Views, including navigation
    and features;

  • A practical walkthrough of the process of creating of a
    PivotTable view in an Access database.

  • An exploration of steps to take in modifying a PivotTable View

  • A brief discussion of formatting features.

Let’s begin by discussing the features of the PivotTable
view. Then, having an idea of the "end purpose," we will look at the
steps required to create a PivotTable view to meet a hypothetical business
need.

William Pearson
William Pearson
Bill has been working with computers since before becoming a "big eight" CPA, after which he carried his growing information systems knowledge into management accounting, internal auditing, and various capacities of controllership. Bill entered the world of databases and financial systems when he became a consultant for CODA-Financials, a U.K. - based software company that hired only CPA's as application consultants to implement and maintain its integrated financial database - one of the most conceptually powerful, even in his current assessment, to have emerged. At CODA Bill deployed financial databases and business intelligence systems for many global clients. Working with SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase and Informix, and focusing on MSSQL Server, Bill created Island Technologies Inc. in 1997, and has developed a large and diverse customer base over the years since. Bill's background as a CPA, Internal Auditor and Management Accountant enable him to provide value to clients as a liaison between Accounting / Finance and Information Services. Moreover, as a Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP) - a Certified Public Accountant recognized for his or her unique ability to provide business insight by leveraging knowledge of information relationships and supporting technologies - Bill offers his clients the CPA's perspective and ability to understand the complicated business implications and risks associated with technology. From this perspective, he helps them to effectively manage information while ensuring the data's reliability, security, accessibility and relevance. Bill has implemented enterprise business intelligence systems over the years for many Fortune 500 companies, focusing his practice (since the advent of MSSQL Server 2000) upon the integrated Microsoft business intelligence solution. He leverages his years of experience with other enterprise OLAP and reporting applications (Cognos, Business Objects, Crystal, and others) in regular conversions of these once-dominant applications to the Microsoft BI stack. Bill believes it is easier to teach technical skills to people with non-technical training than vice-versa, and he constantly seeks ways to graft new technology into the Accounting and Finance arenas. Bill was awarded Microsoft SQL Server MVP in 2009. Hobbies include advanced literature studies and occasional lectures, with recent concentration upon the works of William Faulkner, Henry James, Marcel Proust, James Joyce, Honoré de Balzac, and Charles Dickens. Other long-time interests have included the exploration of generative music sourced from database architecture.

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