Microsoft® Office Excel 2003 Inside Out

Using a PivotTable to Consolidate Ranges

In a PivotTable used to consolidate data in separate Excel ranges, each source range can be displayed as an item on the page axis. By using the drop-down list on the page axis, you can see each source range at a glance, as well as the table that consolidates the ranges.

Consolidation via PivotTable is often a simple alternative to wrestling with the Data, Consolidate command, especially in cases where the data to be consolidated resides in separate workbooks, or where the worksheets of a given workbook are not identically structured. (For information about Data, Consolidate, see "Consolidating Worksheets".) For example, Figure 30-38 shows a workbook similar to the one that served as an example for Data, ...