Shortcuts

Debra Mednick
NPD Houseworld Senior Account Manager

Interested in saving time when you create customized NPD PowerView or Solution Folder reports each month? If so, you may want to set up Excel templates for your frequently-used reports.

This Shortcut presented by
NPD Houseworld Senior Account Manager Debra Mednick.

SAVING TIME WITH TEMPLATES

Using Solution Folders:

  • Export a Solution Folder report or entire Folder to Excel.

  • Format the Excel worksheet as desired – add colored shading, borders, enhanced fonts, etc. Also set print formats (print range, margins, headers/footers, etc.).

  • Save the worksheet/workbook. (The worksheet can be saved in a workbook with other exported data from either Solution Folders or PowerView.)

  • To update the formatted worksheet with new data:

    • Highlight the original data by placing your cursor in the upper left corner (highlights the worksheet in all black), then hit DELETE.

    • Next, export the new data worksheet (choose EXCEL) and then highlight the entire sheet (click in the upper left corner) and select EDIT, COPY, PASTE SPECIAL, FORMULAS. (This command will apply the new data to the pre-formatted worksheet and preserve all formats.)

    • Close the original export from Solution Folders.

  • Repeat for each worksheet.

Using PowerView 5.0:

  • Export one or multiple views of a report from PowerView 5.0.

  • Format the Excel worksheet as desired – add colored shading, borders, enhanced fonts, etc. Also set print formats (print range, margins, headers/footers, etc.).

  • Save the worksheet/workbook. (The worksheet can be saved in a workbook with other exported data from either Solution Folders or PowerView.)

  • To update the formatted worksheet with new data:

    • Open your Excel template file.

    • Highlight the original data by placing your cursor in the upper left corner (highlights the worksheet in all black), then hit DELETE.

    • Click in cell A1 to make that your active cell.

    • In PowerView, click on the EXPORT button. Select “Unformatted,” the type of view (Current View, All Views Vertically or All Views Horizontally) and the “To Current Cell” box to ensure the export “lands” in the open worksheet. Click on OK.

    • Go back to Excel and view the updated worksheet.

Note: The “automation” will work successfully if the subsequent reports from PowerView are in the same format. For example, if you create a report in PowerView, with “Type” in filter, then switch to “Data Filter,” the report will not line up. You may need to create several templates to accommodate report format variations.