Specifications

PowerPivot for Excel CHAPTER 10 193
Linked Tables
If your data is in an Excel table already, or if you convert a range of data into an Excel table,
you can add the table to your workbook in the Excel window and then use the Create Linked
Table button to import the data into the PowerPivot window. You can nd this button on the
PowerPivot ribbon in the Excel window, as shown in Figure 10-3. After the data is available in
the PowerPivot window, you can then enhance it by dening relationships with other tables
or by adding calculations.
FIGURE 10-3 The Create Linked Table button
One of the benets of using an Excel table as a source for a PowerPivot table is the ability
to change the data in the Excel table to immediately update the PowerPivot table. Because
you cannot make changes to data in the PowerPivot window, a linked table is the quickest
and easiest way to edit the data in a PowerPivot table.It is also a great way to try out different
values in “what-if” scenarios or to use variable values in a calculation.
Another reason you might consider using a linked table is to support Time Intelligence func-
tions in PowerPivot’s formula language. Examples of Time Intelligence functions include TotalMTD,
StartOfYear, and PreviousQuarter. Often, source data includes dates and times but does not have
the corresponding attributes to describe these dates and times, such as month, quarter, or year.
You can create your own table in Excel with the necessary attributes, link it to PowerPivot, and
then use Time Intelligence functions to support analysis involving comparative time periods.
Copying and Pasting
If you do not need to change data after importing into PowerPivot, you can copy the data
from another Excel workbook and then in the PowerPivot window, click the Paste button
in the Clipboard group of the PowerPivot ribbon. The Paste preview dialog box displays to
shows the data to be pasted into PowerPivot. Although you cannot directly edit the data after
adding it to PowerPivot, you can replace it by pasting in fresh data or add to it by appending
additional data. To do this, you use the Paste Replace or Paste Append button, respectively.
Data Preparation
After importing data into tables, your next step is to prepare the data for analysis by dening
relationships between tables. You can also choose to enhance the data by applying lters and
modifying column properties.