Written in response to various requests for an utility of this nature, the PivotChart Drill-down add-in does just what the name implies. For a PivotChart corresponding to a PivotTable with multiple row fields, it allows one to start with a summary of the leftmost field (maximum zoom so to say) and with each click drill down to the next more detailed level.
This add-in has undergone limited testing in both Excel 2003 and Excel 2007. Please treat it as alpha software. You are strongly urged to not rely on it for any business decision but to test the add-in to ensure it works as intended. Your comments on problems as well as suggestions for improvements are indeed solicited.
The zip file contains three files. The XLAM file is the add-in for Excel 2007. The XLA file is the add-in for Excel 2003. The XLS file contains the example used in the document below.
To install the add-in, unzip the files inside the downloaded file to a directory of your choice.
For installation instructions see common installation instructions. In Excel 2003 load the TM PivotChart Drill-down add-in. In Excel 2007, load the TM PivotChart Drill-down (Ribbon UI) add-in.
Currently, the only available help is what's on this page.
In Excel 2003, once the add-in is loaded into Excel, select any chart, then select TM | PivotChart Drill-down | Enable.
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In Excel 2007, select any PivotChart then select the TM contextual tab | PivotChart Utilities group | and enable the PivotChart Drill-down checkbox.
Figure 1b
This enables the drill down capability for a chart that meets the following criteria: It is a PivotChart, it is on a sheet by itself, and it plots a single data series.
For the rest of the below, we will use the data source (Table 2a) to create a PivotTable shown fully expanded (Figure 2b). The PivotTable has 3 row fields (the columns Location, Modality, and Technologist) and one data field (Sum of column 'Scans').
 Table 2a |
 Figure 2b |
The example workbook contains two PivotCharts based on this table. In addition, the workbook contains a second PivotTable and one PivotChart based on this table.
When one selects a PivotChart's sheet, the chart is reset to show the highest level of the data. So, in the above example, it would show information broken down by the Location column, i.e., show totals for the values Campus and Satellite.
 Figure 3a |
 Figure 3b |
Clicking on any of the segments drills down to the next level for that segment. So, clicking on the Campus segment would show the totals for the Modality values corresponding to that location.
 Figure 4a |
 Figure 4b |
One can continue drilling down all the way to the most detailed segment, which in the current example would correspond to scans by technologist for Location=Campus and Modality=MR.
 Figure 5a |
 Figure 5b |
Click on any segment when the chart is fully drilled down to reset the chart to the beginning (Figure 3a and 3b).
The software automatically adds a data label to each shown segment. This includes a name and the value of the point. In addition, for a pie PivotChart is shows the percentage represented by each segment.
The color choices are simply those available in the Excel color palette. Each new segment shown uses another color.
