What Are Pivot Tables?
Pivot tables show data compiled into different layers to help breakdown data without the need to open multiple windows or export data to a spreadsheet.
Each layer in a pivot table represents filter criteria. Pivot tables can display from two to seven filter criteria. Two is the minimum because there must be one for each table edge. For example, you can use pivot tables to look at the health of drives, not just by library location, but also by drive type, firmware level, and many other attributes.
The format of a pivot table is dynamic in that you can change the way the data is organized simply by dragging and dropping (also known as pivoting) the layers from one area to another. Moving a layer within the same edge changes the nesting order. Moving a layer to the opposite edge (moving a layer from row to column edge, for example) adds the layer there.
Below is a sample pivot table:
- There is one column layer on the top edge of the table: Drive Health Indicator with Action, Evaluate, Monitor, Use, Unknown, and Total.
- There are three row layers on the left edge of the table: Library Complex Name, Library Number, and Drive Manufacturer. The layers are nested from left (outer) to right (inner). In this example, Library Complex Name is the outermost layer, and Drive Manufacturer is the innermost.
The values in each table cell are the result of the filter criteria intrinsic to each table layer, joined by "AND" statements. For example, in the table above the cell at the intersection of the SL8500_1, STK row and USE column has the value "4". This value is the result of the following filter criteria:
- Library Complex Is SL8500_2, AND
- Library Number Is 1, AND
- Library Manufacturer Is STK, AND
- Drive Health Indicator Is USE
The values in each pivot table cell are active links. These links provide access to additional details about the items included in the count.