create pie chart in excel based on one column

Chart Source Data in the Pivot Tableīasically, we need the subcategories of the environmental category for our X axis labels, we want the corresponding defect totals for our Y values, and we need the environmental category label for the series name. Any attempt to enter a portion of the pivot table in the top portion of the Select Data Source dialog will convert the chart to a pivot chart and convert the source data range to the entire pivot table. Then we need to add the chart data one series at a time. For example, the selected range has to be nowhere near the pivot table when we insert the chart. We can still plot only part of the pivot table in a regular chart, but we need to take some special measures, as described in Making Regular Charts from Pivot Tables. Well, we could, but we’d have to filter the pivot table so only the information we wanted to chart was visible.Įven if we selected only the data we wanted to plot, Excel would automatically expand the data range to the extent of the pivot table, and hand us a pivot chart. One of the limitations of a pivot chart is that we can’t plot a subset of the data. Not bad, but our objective is to show only one category, say, Environmental. If we just make a chart from the pivot table, here is the result.

Doing this plots each category’s defect data in a different series, so each category is shown in a different format. The duplicate columns Main Category and Category were needed in order to have the categories (electrical, mechanical, etc.) in both the row area and column area of the pivot table. Here’s the pivot table from the dynamic chart article.

It’s the same data used in the dynamic chart article cited above. The data we’re using shows causes of failure in a system, broken down by categories and types of failure.

How about some code that makes a chart based on only part of a pivot table, and updates it on demand? The Pivot Table In Dynamic Chart using Pivot Table and VBA I showed how to update a non-pivot chart when a pivot table updates.

In Referencing Pivot Table Ranges in VBA I showed how to identify certain sections of a pivot table using VBA.

Create pie chart in excel based on one column