In the past here at Chandoo.org and at many many other sites, people have asked the question “How can I display a number Multiplied or Divided by 10, 100, 1000, 1000000 etc, but still have the cell maintain the original number for use in subsequent calculations“.
Typically the answer has been limited to “It can’t be done” or “It can only be done in multiples of 1000”.
Well thanks to a tip I picked up from Kyle who responded to a post here at Chandoo.org they are all wrong.
It is possible to Multiply or Divide any cell contents by any power of 10 using Custom Number Formats !
That is:
How does this work:
When using custom number format we have two possibilities to modify the display number
- Use a Comma to divide by 1000; or
- Use a % to Multiply by 100
So using a combination of these any power of 10 can be obtained.
So using the correct combination of , and % can result in any power of 10 multiplier we require.
The problem is that using a % adds a % to the number!
The trick which Kyle added is that adding a Ctrl J to the Custom Number format allows us to hide the % signs on a second row of text, then by adjusting the cell to have word wrap and adjusting the row height the second row is not visible.
The Ctrl J must be added after the ,’s and before the %’s
So using the examples above the table is:
The Ctrl J adds a Carriage Return, chr(10), to the Format String.
Finally after applying the Custom Number Format the Cell must be edited to enable Word Wrap.
Select the Cells with the custom Formats, Ctrl 1, Alignment
You can see the hidden % symbols if you increase the Row Height.
Combination with Regular Custom Formats
These Custom Number Formats can of course still be combined with regular Custom Number Formats, just make sure that the Ctrl J is inserted before the % signs:
No Loss of the Cells Value
It is also worth noting that the original number is still maintained internally in the cell and that cells dependent on the cells don’t have to adjust for the display value.
Multi Line Formats
By extension we can now use this technique to add multiple Lines of Text to a Custom Number Format
Downloads
You can download a file containing all the above example here: Download Here
Other Links to Custom Number Formats
Here:
http://chandoo.org/wp/2008/02/25/custom-cell-formatting-in-excel-few-tips-tricks/
http://chandoo.org/wp/2011/11/02/a-technique-to-quickly-develop-custom-number-formats/
http://chandoo.org/wp/2011/08/19/selective-chart-axis-formating/
http://chandoo.org/wp/2011/08/22/custom-chart-axis-formating-part-2/
http://chandoo.org/wp/tag/custom-cell-formatting/
Elsewhere
http://www.ozgrid.com/Excel/CustomFormats.htm
http://peltiertech.com/Excel/NumberFormats.html
Thanx
Just a quick final Thank You to Kyle for highlighting this Custom Number Format feature/trick last week
I look forward to your comments below:
13 Responses to “Using pivot tables to find out non performing customers”
To avoid the helper column and the macro, I would transpose the data into the format shown above (Name, Year, Sales). Now I can show more than one year, I can summarize - I can do many more things with it. ASAP Utilities (http://www.asap-utilities.com) has a new experimental feature that can easily transpose the table into the correct format. Much easier in my opinion.
David
Of course with alternative data structure, we can easily setup a slicer based solution so that everything works like clockwork with even less work.
David, I was just about to post the same!
In Contextures site, I remember there's a post on how to do that. Clearly, the way data is layed out on the very beginning is critical to get the best results, and even you may thinkg the original layout is the best way, it is clearly not. And that kind of mistakes are the ones I love ! because it teaches and trains you to avoid them, and how to think on the data structure the next time.
Eventually, you get to that place when you "see" the structure on the moment the client tells you the request, and then, you realized you had an ephiphany, that glorious moment when data is no longer a mistery to you!!!
Rgds,
Chandoo,
If the goal is to see the list of customers who have not business from yearX, I would change the helper column formula to :
=IF(selYear="all",sum(C4:M4),sum(offset(C4:M4,,selyear-2002,1,columns(C4:M4)-selyear+2002)))This formula will sum the sales from Selected Year to 2012.
JMarc
If you are already using a helper column and the combox box runs a macro after it changes, why not just adjust the macro and filter the source data?
Regards
I gotta say, it seems like you are giving 10 answers to 10 questions when your client REALLY wants to know is: "What is the last year "this" customer row had a non-zero Sales QTY?... You're missing the forest for the trees...
Change the helper column to:
=IFERROR(INDEX(tblSales[[#Headers],[Customer name]:[Sales 2012]],0,MATCH(9.99999999999999E+307,tblSales[[#This Row],[Customer name]:[Sales 2012]],1)),"NO SALES")
And yes, since I'm matching off of them for value, I would change the headers to straight "2002" instead of "Sales 2002" but you sort the table on the helper column and then and there you can answer all of your questions.
Hi thanks for this. Just can't figure out how you get the combo box to control the pivot table. Can you please advise?
Cheers
@Kevin.. You are welcome. To insert a combo box, go to Developer ribbon > Insert > form controls > combo box.
For more on various form controls and how to use them, please read this: http://chandoo.org/wp/2011/03/30/form-controls/
Thanks Chandoo. But I know how to insert a combobox, I was more referring to how does in control the year in the pivot table? Or is this obvious? I note that if I select the Selected Year from the PivotTable Field List it says "the field has no itens" whereas this would normally allow you to change the year??
Thanks again
worked it out thanks...
when =data!Q2 changes it changes the value in column N:N and then when you do a refreshall the pivottable vlaues get updated
Still not sure why PivotTable Field List says “the field has no itens"?? I created my own pivot table and could not repeat that.
Hi, I put the sales data in range(F5:P19) and added a column D with the title 'Last sales in year'. After that, in column D for each customer, the simple formula
=2000+MATCH(1000000,E5:P5)
will provide the last year in which that particular customer had any sales, which can than easily be managed by autofilter.
Somewhat longer but perhaps a bit more solid (with the column titles in row 4):
=RIGHT(INDEX($F$4:$P$19,1,MATCH(1000000,F5:P5)),4)
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