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Compare to an adjacent cell
Many report readers are looking for what has gone up or down from one period to another. This example shows how to make this type of comparison, and how to make trends readily visible.

Load the sales data

Script
  1. adddata , actuals.csv

This is sample data that will be used to show how easy it is to show numbers as a comparison of other numbers. In this example, we'll be shown cell values as a percent of the cell to the left of it.

Name Region Position 01/06 02/06 03/06 04/06 05/06 06/06 07/06 08/06 09/06 10/06 11/06 12/06
Ted Burton Central Account Manager 33,900 62,100 106,200 37,100 115,600 151,700 58,500 102,400 177,700 83,000 133,600 210,400
Nell Gordon Central Sr. Account Manager 87,200 172,700 300,100 85,700 49,400 47,500 68,700 11,400 123,200 109,200 202,100 152,400
Bonnie Mills Central Account Manager 25,800 75,100 77,300 71,500 32,900 14,700 44,000 13,400 227,000 98,400 120,000 173,800
Juan Perez Central Account Manager 25,000 32,900 117,600 67,900 104,600 62,700 55,600 54,800 18,000 18,500 109,600 233,000
Jonathan Ryan Central Account Representative 0 0 0 0 0 0 16,600 32,000 34,800 6,700 4,800 84,800
Marcus Saul Central Account Manager 25,000 46,000 22,500 25,800 76,400 199,200 11,100 67,800 203,300 44,100 65,300 193,500
Jerry Wong Central Sr. Account Manager 99,000 159,700 63,200 7,200 169,700 286,200 83,700 231,600 251,700 155,600 208,000 314,900
Will Hill Federal Account Representative 16,200 15,700 22,300 13,500 43,100 29,900 11,900 46,600 44,200 32,000 6,100 122,600
Gil Jacobs Federal Account Manager 57,600 42,500 88,200 23,600 74,700 186,400 66,400 113,700 214,900 18,300 142,700 198,700
Larry Kelley Federal Account Manager 1,200 22,900 97,400 68,700 99,200 38,100 86,900 107,600 31,700 63,900 109,500 203,800

 

Compare to the previous month

Script (continued)
  1. Compare,ToRelativeCell,PercentOf,Actual,Row,,,-1,-1,0,-1,False,False,0,
  2. ChangeAlertTo,relativecell,-1,0,False,-1,False,15,True,sign,-1

The values have been converted to being a percent of the value to the left of it. As an optional step, alert colors are plus/minus 15% of cell to the left. If the percent was down by more than 15%, then it is red. If it was higher than 15%, then it is green. Within 15%, it is yellow if it is lower and blue if it is higher.

Name Region Position 01/06 02/06 03/06 04/06 05/06 06/06 07/06 08/06 09/06 10/06 11/06 12/06
Ted Burton Central Account Manager 183 171 35 312 131 39 175 174 47 161 157
Nell Gordon Central Sr. Account Manager 198 174 29 58 96 145 17 1,081 89 185 75
Bonnie Mills Central Account Manager 291 103 92 46 45 299 30 1,694 43 122 145
Juan Perez Central Account Manager 132 357 58 154 60 89 99 33 103 592 213
Jonathan Ryan Central Account Representative 193 109 19 72 1,767
Marcus Saul Central Account Manager 184 49 115 296 261 6 611 300 22 148 296
Jerry Wong Central Sr. Account Manager 161 40 11 2,357 169 29 277 109 62 134 151
Will Hill Federal Account Representative 97 142 61 319 69 40 392 95 72 19 2,010
Gil Jacobs Federal Account Manager 74 208 27 317 250 36 171 189 9 780 139
Larry Kelley Federal Account Manager 1,908 425 71 144 38 228 124 29 202 171 186