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Building a Pivot Grid

A Pivot Grid is a cross-tabular report. You drag fields into zones to summarize cost across two dimensions at once, for example WBS down the side and fiscal year across the top, with cost in the cells. Use it for analysis and roll-ups.
This page is part of the Report Designer guide.

Build it

1

Create the report

On the landing page, click Create New Report and choose Pivot Grid.
2

Choose your projects

Select one or more project snapshots.
3

Start from a template or scratch

The Quick Start section offers preset templates for common layouts. Pick one to get a head start, or click Start from Scratch.
4

Place fields into zones

Use the Pivot Field Manager to drag fields into four zones (see below). Drag within a zone to reorder, drag to another zone to move, or click the X to remove.
5

Set data field aggregation

Click the summary-type badge on a Data field to choose how it is summarized: sum, avg, count, min, max, diffRow (difference across rows), or diffCol (difference across columns).
6

Configure display settings

Open Display Settings to set layout, totals, captions, and interaction options (see below).
7

Add a header, then save

Add a title, subtitle, and description, then click Save.

The four zones

ZoneWhat it does
Row FieldsGroups data into rows down the left side
Column FieldsGroups data into columns across the top
Data FieldsThe values calculated and shown in the cells (sum, average, count, and so on)
Filter FieldsDropdown filters above the grid that narrow the data
Rename any field for display by clicking its name and editing the caption. This does not change the underlying data.
Pivot Field Manager showing the Row, Column, Data, and Filter zones with fields placed

Display settings

Layout

SettingChoicesWhat it does
Show Totals PriorNone, Rows, Columns, BothPut totals before the data instead of after
Row Header LayoutTree, StandardTree is compact and hierarchical; Standard is flat and tabular
Data Field AreaColumn, RowWhen you have several Data fields, where their headers appear

Totals

SettingWhat it doesDefault
Show Row TotalsSubtotal rows for each group level (applies when Row Header Layout is Standard)On
Show Column TotalsSubtotal columns for each level in the column headersOn
Show Row Grand TotalsThe grand-total row at the bottomOn
Show Column Grand TotalsThe grand-total column on the rightOn

Total captions

  • Subtotal Label: customize the subtotal label; use {0} for the group name (placeholder is {0} Total).
  • Grand Total Row Label: customize the grand-total row label (placeholder is Grand Total).
  • Grand Total Column Label: customize the grand-total column header.

Display

  • Word Wrap: wrap long header text instead of cutting it off (default off).
  • Alternating Rows: zebra striping for readability (default off).

Interaction

SettingWhat it doesDefault
Allow SortingUsers can click headers to sortOn
Allow FilteringUsers can filter through header dropdownsOn
Show Filter FieldsShow the filter field area above the gridOn
Show Column FieldsShow the column field areaOn
Show Row FieldsShow the row field areaOn
Show Data FieldsShow the data field area in the field panelOn

Fiscal Year prefix

As with the Data Grid, the fiscal-year prefix is detected automatically when all projects match, and offered as a Show Fiscal Year Prefix toggle when you mix fiscal and calendar projects. Pivot Display Settings: Layout, Totals, and Interaction options

Performance: apply filters early

Like the Data Grid, the Pivot Grid runs on the server. Reduce the data it has to crunch:
Use Filter Fields and pick fewer projects. A pivot over one WBS branch and one cost class is far quicker than the entire project across every dimension. Add filters before expanding everything.
  • Fewer Row and Column fields means a smaller cross-tab to compute.
  • Expand sections on demand rather than expanding all at once on a large pivot.
  • Results are cached for up to 30 minutes for the same projects, fields, and filters.

Pitfalls to avoid

  • Putting a very high-cardinality field on Columns (for example, monthly periods across many years) creates a huge, slow grid. Filter the time range, or move it to Rows.
  • Choosing the wrong summary type. Cost fields almost always want sum. count counts rows, not money. avg/min/max can mislead if your data has Budget, Actual, and Earned rows mixed together; consider splitting those with calculated fields first (see the Budget vs Actual recipe).
  • Expecting row totals with Tree layout. Some subtotal options apply only to the Standard row header layout.
  • Assuming a saved view remembers filters. It remembers layout, not filters.

Where to go next

Building Charts

Pie, bar, stacked, line, area, and trellis charts.

Calculated Field Cookbook

Ready-to-use formulas and how to fix wrong results.