Microsoft Office 2000/Visual Basic Programmer's Guide

Building Custom Reports for External Data in Excel

Excel makes an excellent reporting tool for data stored in an external data source because it provides so many features for analyzing data and presenting it in different configurations. You can import data into Excel from an Access database, a SQL Server database, or any OLE DB data source. Once you get your data into Excel, you can sort, filter, and perform calculations on it. You can also save it as a Web page.

Data in Excel can be static or dynamic, depending on whether it's linked to the data source. You can display data in Excel in the following ways:

• In a list in a worksheet. A list presents data in rows and columns, like a table. A list can display static or dynamic data.
  
  
• In a chart. A chart can be embedded in a worksheet, or it can exist on a chart sheet. A chart is dynamically linked to a list in Excel; the list may or may not be dynamically linked to an external data source.
  
  
• In a PivotTable report or PivotChart report. A PivotTable report is dynamically linked to either a list in Excel, an external data source, or another PivotTable report. A PivotChart report, in turn, is dynamically linked to a PivotTable report. PivotTable reports are discussed in greater detail later in this chapter, in "Working with PivotTable and PivotChart Reports."
  
  
• In a Web page. A Web page can display static data or dynamic data, depending on whether it's linked to the data source.

The following sections describe different ways to create custom list reports in Excel.