What is olap pivot table

The vision for the Excel data model is that ordinary Excel users can instantly and automatically create a ready-to-go data model OLAP database. Instead, a pivot table data cache is created from the data source. The pivot table then takes its data from the cache. It is possible to construct the cache directly from an external data source. You may wonder why a different type of pivot table is needed when you create a pivot table from a data model rather than a single Excel table.

In the above diagram you can see that both the regular pivot table and the OLAP pivot table look identical. The difference between them is that the OLAP pivot table obtains its data from a Data Model created from one or more related tables.

The ability to select fields from more than one related table is one of the biggest advantages of working with OLAP pivot tables. The regular pivot table obtains its data from a pivot table data cache created from a single table residing in an Excel worksheet or external data source. The PivotTable data cache can be thought of as a non-standard OLAP implementation that is restricted to a single table data source. In contrast, when data resides in a data model it can be retrieved directly from the data model using an industry-standard query language called MDX Multi-Dimensional eXpressions.

Excel worksheets are limited to approximately one million rows. Data Models can contain about two thousand million data rows. While it is true that a regular pivot table can also overcome the million-row limitation in this way, the PivotTable Data Cache is still restricted to 2. Business Intelligence is a very broad term that was first used in to describe how the banker Sir Henry Furnese prospered by receiving and acting upon information before his contemporaries. Two of his rules were:.

This is the only up-to-date Excel book currently published and includes an entire session devoted to the new Dynamic Arrays features. Power Pivot causes great confusion. This simple 2-minute overview completely de-mystifies Power Pivot and its associated technologies. This lesson discusses the Power Pivot window and how it differs from the regular Excel window.

A sample file is included. This article explains both designs. Business databases are OLTP databases. This article discusses how OLTP databases are structured. Includes sample file.

Sample Files Free Basic Skills tutorials. We will learn about creating an OLAP cube a little later. During the preparation of an OLAP cube, Excel will connect to a data source and then read data from it. Once the cube has fed itself with the data points that it needs, it can act as a standalone data source.

The data residing in the OLAP cube can then be presented in an Excel spreadsheet using a pivot table. In that sense, the OLAP cube acts as the data source for the pivot table normal pivot tables will typically have their source data residing in an excel spreadsheet.

Whenever a fresh copy of the data is requested by the pivot table, the OLAP cube fetches the latest information from the data source, refreshes itself and then continues to service all the requests. For all its data processing abilities, the pivot table relies upon the OLAP cube.

The physical separation of the Pivot Table from the source data, achieved via an OLAP cube, allows the source data to be placed anywhere in the network and be updated real-time independent of the pivot table. If the network connection is fast enough, the user will never know the difference but will surely appreciate the compactness. One major advantage that an OLAP cube provides the data miner is that it can pack a lot more data than an ordinary excel spreadsheet would.

The other advantage is that you can use a variety of data sources including txt, csv , asc and others. Create a new directory and place the file with the raw data in it. Now open up a fresh workbook using Excel Select a new data source. Press Ok. Provide a name to the data source and select the type of driver that you want to use for the purpose. In our case, since we are using a.

Three clicks on the Ok button bring you back and opens up the Query Wizard. The left hand box has a list of the data sources in the directory that we selected in the previous step. You can use more than one data source at a time, though in our case, we will be sticking to just one. Move all the items or the ones that you like to the box on the right and press next.

Fortunately for us, we still have access to Excel and we choose the third option — the one to create the OLAP cube. Press ok and move onto the next step where we specify the field that we would like to summarize. Think of this as the data field in a pivot table. In our case, it is sales since we would like to analyze sales across product, regions and date ranges. Specify the fields that we would like to use to make the OLAP cube. Press Ok and the application will provide a new form asking for the path where to store the OLAP query.

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Hi All Please note that at the Chandoo. When starting a new post, to receive a quicker and more targeted answer, Please include a sample file in the initial post. JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Thread starter PP Start date Apr 30, PP Active Member. Dear Chandoo Community, Thank you always for your help. Today, I have 1 problem. I would like to start using Cube functions instead of Pivot Table. Thanking you in advance AVK Active Member.

AVK Sure. Data source is on the worksheet.