no solution to calculated fields wrong subtotals problem as stated on page 119 of pivot tables data crunching book

[Unregistered]

After many hours of learning how to do calculated fields in my pivot table, I hit a major setback when I read in Pivot Tables Data Crunching that there is no solution to the example given on page 119 of calculated fields giving the wrong subtotal or total.

The work-around given on page 119 takes away the effectiveness of pivot table calculated fields since it says to eliminate subtotals and totals and then calculate your own totals.

Now I concerned that my calculated fields may give wrong sub-totals and totals. I have to manually recheck my totals and subtotals of calculated fields since I cannot rely on the accuracy of calculated fields.

 

[MrExcel]

Yes, in my opinion, the calculated items feature was poorly implemented by Microsoft.

See the section on grouping text fields (bottom of page 97 through the middle of page 99). This is a more effective method to achieve the desired result.

Bill

 

[gepa]

Bill,

Pages 97-99 shows how to group text fields but it doesn't define what a text field is. Can grouping be done for data columns also? Or is grouping only for row items? Can the group feature do all that calculated fields are supposed to do plus have correct totals and subtotals? Thanks

George