Reports
Introduction
You have updated the cost information in your project plan. When presenting such varied
information to clients, displaying them as visually appealing reports, enable better data
comprehension. In this lesson, you will create and use visual reports to represent project
information.
Sometimes, you may have to present your project report to clients. While preparing the
report, you realize it would be difficult for the clients to comprehend the plan, as it has a
number of columns that need to be presented in different views for clarity. As the number of
tasks increases, highlighting each task can also confuse your audience. Drawing a chart with
all the relevant information would be better.
The Visual Report - Create Report dialog box enables users to choose the type of visual
report required from the built-in list of templates, and also edit its contents.
Description
Show
report
templates
created in
New
Template
Edit
Template
Manage
Template
Save Data
Baseline Cost
Report
Baseline Work
Report
Budget Cost
Report
Budget Work
Report
Earned Value
Over Time Report
Resource
Remaining Work
Report
Resource Work
Availability
Report
Resource Work
Summary Report
You may want to modify certain features of the report to suit your current need. In this topic,
you will customize a visual report in Excel.
PivotViews
In Project, when a visual report is generated, it is displayed as a PivotChart and PivotTable.
The PivotTable contains data from the project plan. A PivotChart report is an interactive
chart that graphically represents the data in a PivotTable report. PivotChart reports can be
created only from an existing PivotTable report. Once a report has been created, you can
make changes to it by filtering the content or changing the layout.
PivotDiagrams in Visio
When a visual report is displayed in Visio, it is displayed as PivotDiagrams. This
is similar to the PivotTables and PivotCharts displayed in Excel. The
PivotDiagrams in Visio are mainly used for hierarchical data such as work
breakdown structures. You can also customize these diagrams and perform
calculations in them.
The PivotTable Field List Pane
The PivotTable Field List pane enables the user to specify the source data that is to be used
in the PivotTable and in the corresponding PivotChart.
Figure 2: The PivotTable Field List pane with options to specify source data.
Section
Choose
fields
to
add
to
report
View
Drag
fields
between
areas below
Description
A section that is displayed at the top of the pane;
it can be used for including and removing fields.
The layout of the PivotTable Field List pane can
be customized to suit individual requirements.
A drop-down menu that can be used to change
the layout of the PivotTable Field List pane.
A section that is displayed at the bottom of the
pane; it can be used for repositioning and
rearranging the fields. This section has areas that
allow you to drag-and-drop fields into each of
them.
Defer
layout
update
The Axis Fields and Legend Fields list boxes in the Drag fields between areas
below section of the PivotChart correspond to Row Labels and Column Labels list
boxes in the Drag fields between areas below section of the PivotTable
respectively.
Procedure Reference Customize the Visual Report Using the Field Picker
To customize the visual report using the field picker:
1. Display the Visual Report - Create Report dialog box.
2. Select the desired visual report template and click Edit Template.
3. In the Visual Reports - Fields Picker dialog box, add or remove the fields as
required.
4. Click Edit Template.
5. Save and close the report.
Procedure Reference Customize the Visual Reports Using the PivotTable Field List
Pane
To customize the visual report using the PivotTable Field List pane:
1. Display the desired report in Excel.
2. Click the chart region to display the PivotTable Field List pane.
3. Use the PivotTable Field List pane to edit the chart further.
a. From the View drop-down list, select the layout you want for the
PivotTable Field List pane.
b. In the Choose fields to add to report list box, select the elements that you
wish to add to the chart.
c. In the Drag fields between areas below section, drag the fields from one
box to another to filter the report accordingly.
4. Save and close the report.
You may have to use similar reports frequently for your presentations. Editing them at every
occurrence is time consuming. In this topic, you will create a custom visual report template.
The Visual Reports - New Template Dialog Box
The Visual Reports - New Template dialog box contains options to create a new visual
report template.
Figure 3: The Visual Reports New Template dialog box with options to create a new
visual report template.
Section
Description
Select
Application
Select
Data Type
6.
7.
8.
9.
References
1. Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification Preparation - (Second Edition),
by: Cynosure New Media, Inc.