Pivot table formats

[Darby]

I have some pivot tables reports using some of the canned formats in Excel
2003. In the table options I have the "preserve formatting" box checked. I
would like to tweak the format of these reports slightly. I have noticed
that when I change the format of some sections of the report, the format
changes survive a refresh of the report while others do not. It seems fairly
arbitrary to me which sections of the report retain the changes and which do
not.

For example, in one report, the format change will hold for one row heading
but not for another row heading.

Does anybody know how to determine what makes the format change survive the
refresh? And is there anyway to get the changes to "stick" in the areas
where they do not?

[Debra Dalgleish]

Check that you have Enable Selection turned on. (From the Pivot toolbar,
choose PivotTable>Select, and click on Enable Selection)

Then, before formatting cells, use the selection feature to select the
cells. For example, move the pointer to the top of a column in the pivot
table (just above the column's heading cell). When the black arrow
appears (like the one that appears when the pointer is over a column
button), click to select the column in the pivot table.

Or, use the commands on the Pivot Table>Select menu, e.g. select the
entire table, then choose to Select Data.

Then apply the formatting, and it may stick


Darby wrote:
> I have some pivot tables reports using some of the canned formats in Excel
> 2003. In the table options I have the "preserve formatting" box checked. I
> would like to tweak the format of these reports slightly. I have noticed
> that when I change the format of some sections of the report, the format
> changes survive a refresh of the report while others do not. It seems fairly
> arbitrary to me which sections of the report retain the changes and which do
> not.
>
> For example, in one report, the format change will hold for one row heading
> but not for another row heading.
>
> Does anybody know how to determine what makes the format change survive the
> refresh? And is there anyway to get the changes to "stick" in the areas
> where they do not?
>
>


--
Debra Dalgleish
Excel FAQ, Tips & Book List
http://www.contextures.com/tiptech.html

[Darby]

Thanks for the idea. Unfortunately it doesn't solve the problem. The real
odd thing is that I can select one heading column and have the format stick,
while if I select the one next to it, it doesn't stick. Seems odd to me.

"Debra Dalgleish" wrote:

> Check that you have Enable Selection turned on. (From the Pivot toolbar,
> choose PivotTable>Select, and click on Enable Selection)
>
> Then, before formatting cells, use the selection feature to select the
> cells. For example, move the pointer to the top of a column in the pivot
> table (just above the column's heading cell). When the black arrow
> appears (like the one that appears when the pointer is over a column
> button), click to select the column in the pivot table.
>
> Or, use the commands on the Pivot Table>Select menu, e.g. select the
> entire table, then choose to Select Data.
>
> Then apply the formatting, and it may stick
>
>
> Darby wrote:
> > I have some pivot tables reports using some of the canned formats in Excel
> > 2003. In the table options I have the "preserve formatting" box checked. I
> > would like to tweak the format of these reports slightly. I have noticed
> > that when I change the format of some sections of the report, the format
> > changes survive a refresh of the report while others do not. It seems fairly
> > arbitrary to me which sections of the report retain the changes and which do
> > not.
> >
> > For example, in one report, the format change will hold for one row heading
> > but not for another row heading.
> >
> > Does anybody know how to determine what makes the format change survive the
> > refresh? And is there anyway to get the changes to "stick" in the areas
> > where they do not?
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> Debra Dalgleish
> Excel FAQ, Tips & Book List
> http://www.contextures.com/tiptech.html
>
>