XL97: Using Server Page Fields in PivotTables

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When you create a PivotTable using an external data source, Microsoft Excel has to process all data records returned to it from the external data source. If your database contains a large number of records, this may take a very long time to complete.

However, you can use server page fields to filter data before it is returned to the PivotTable in Excel to reduce the amount of time required to create the PivotTable. For example, you can use a server page field to return only records where the Country field is equal to "USA."

Using server page fields also helps reduce the amount of memory required to cache information used by the PivotTable.

To use server page fields in a PivotTable, follow these steps:

1. On the Data menu, click PivotTable Report.
2. In step 1 of the wizard, click "External data source," and then click Next.
3. In step 2 of the wizard, click Get Data. Use Microsoft Query to attach to your external database, select tables, and so on. After the data fields have been retrieved, click Next.
4. In step 3 of the wizard, drag field names into the Column, Row, Data, and Page areas of the diagram.
   
   NOTE: You must add at least one field name into the Page area; this is the field for which server page fields are created.
5. In the Page area of the diagram, double-click the field name for which you want to create server page fields.
6. In the PivotTable Field dialog box, click Advanced.
7. In the Page Field Options, click "Query external data source." Click OK twice.
8. In step 3 of the wizard, click Next.
9. In step 4 of the wizard, select a destination for the PivotTable, and then click Finish.

After your PivotTable has been created, you can click the drop-down list in the page field to retrieve data for the selected item. Each time you do this, Microsoft Excel performs the following steps:

1. Microsoft Excel queries the external data source again and retrieves the appropriate data for the selected page field.
2. The PivotTable memory cache is cleared and filled with new records.
3. The PivotTable is refreshed and redisplayed using the newly retrieved records.

Because of the way in which server page fields work, the "(All)" item is removed from the drop-down list. This is because only a subset of the data in the external data source is being returned to Microsoft Excel.

If you want to show all records, follow these steps:

1. Double-click the field name in the page field.
2. In the PivotTable Field dialog box, click Advanced.
3. Under Page Field Options, click "Retrieve external data for all." Click OK twice.