User guide

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Page 105
visualise | communicate | ENGAGE The InstantAtlas Excel Data Manager
g the InstantAtlas Area Profile Template User Guide
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configuration file of the report using the InstantAtlas Designer) will be
displayed in the report for this area. In the example workbook, data values
have not been entered for three features in the base geography.
The Data Manager must not contain any Excel error codes such as
‘#DIV/0!’. These error codes may be present if values in the worksheet are
the result of a formula. The result of formulas can be used to generate
data though it is considered safer to copy and paste these as ‘values’.
Numbers should not have a comma as the thousand place separator (e.g.
12,000). If they do have a comma, you can change this by doing the
following:
1. Select the range of cells containing the data values so that they
are highlighted
2. Click the ‘Format’ menu, ‘Cells’, ‘Number’
3. In the ‘Format Number’ dialog, ensure the ‘Use 1000 Separator’
checkbox is not checked. Click ‘OK’.
InstantAtlas reports will by default display your data values with the
decimal places setting for the cells in your workbook. To change the
number of decimal places you can do the following:
1. Select the range of cells containing the data values so that they
are highlighted
2. Click the ‘Format’ menu, ‘Cells’, ‘Number’
3. In the ‘Format Number’ dialog, ensure the ‘Category’ is set to
‘Number’ and then edit the number of decimal places. Click ‘OK’.
We recommend that you avoid data values with excessive precision
(7.34167683947). There are two main considerations when you choose
the number of decimal places for an indicator:
1. The number of decimal places necessary for interpretation by the
end-user of the dynamic report (long numbers are more difficult to
visualise/interpret)
2. The performance of the dynamic report (long numbers mean larger
data files and potentially a reduction in the speed of the report)
You should round values with an excessive number of decimal places as
described above.
Adding further themes/indicators/time periods
Simply add further data in the columns to the right of the existing data.
Make sure you enter the names, links, indicator type and time period labels
in rows 1-5 and that you merge cells in rows 1-2 as required. If you run out
of columns (the limit in Excel 97-2003 is 255, from Excel 2007 onwards the
limit is 16,384 columns), simply do the following:
1. Insert a new worksheet into your workbook
2. Copy columns A and B from the previous worksheet
3. Paste the contents into columns A and B of your new worksheet
4. Start adding data in columns C onwards
5. Rename the worksheet to a name starting with ‘iadatasheet’ to
make it an active datasheet