Make summary data easier to read by using a crosstab query

By using Design view to create your crosstab query, you can use as many record sources (tables and queries) as you want. However, you can keep the design simple by first creating a select query that returns all of the data that you want and then using that query as the only record source for your crosstab query. For more information about creating a select query, refer to the See Also section.

When you build a crosstab query in Design view, you use the Total and Crosstab rows in the design grid to specify which field's values will become column headings, which fields' values will become row headings, and which field's values to sum, average, count, or otherwise calculate.

1. The settings in these rows determine whether the field is a row heading, column heading, or summary value.

2. This setting displays the field's values as row headings.

3. This setting displays the field's values as column headings.

4. These settings produce the summary values.

Create the query

1. On the Create tab, in the Queries group, click Query Design.

   

2. In the Show Table dialog box, double-click each table or query that you want to use as a record source.

   If you use more than one record source, make sure that the tables or queries are joined on fields that they have in common. For more information about joining tables and queries, refer to the See Also section.

3. Close the Show Table dialog box.

4. On the Design tab, in the Query Type group, click Crosstab.

5. In the query design window, double-click each field that you want to use as a source of row headings. You can select as many as three fields for row headings.

6. In the query design grid, in the Crosstab row for each row heading field, select Row Heading.

   You can enter an expression in the Criteria row to limit the results for that field. You can also use the Sort row to specify a sort order for a field.

7. In the query design window, double-click the field that you want to use as the source of column headings. You can select only one field for column headings.

8. In the query design grid, in the Crosstab row for the column heading field, select Column Heading.

   You can enter an expression in the Criteria row to limit the results for the column heading field. However, using a criteria expression with the column heading field does not limit the number of columns returned by the crosstab query. Instead, it limits which columns contain data. For example, suppose you have a column heading field that has three possible values: red, green, and blue. If you apply the criterion ='blue' to the column heading field, the crosstab still displays a column for red and a column for green, but only the column for blue contains data.

   If you want to limit the values that display as column headings, you can specify a list of fixed values by using the query's Column Headings property. For more information, see the next section.

9. In the query design window, double-click the field that you want to use to calculate summary values. You can select only one field to use for summary values.

10. In the query design grid, in the Total row for the summary values field, select an aggregate function to use to calculate the values.

11. In the Crosstab row for the summary values field, select Value.

    You cannot specify criteria for or sort on a summary values field.

12. On the Design tab, in the Results group, click Run.

Specify fixed values for column headings

If you want to specify fixed values to use for column headings, you can set the query's Column Headings property.

1. Open the crosstab query in Design view.

2. If the property sheet is not visible, press F4 to display it.

3. In the property sheet, just above the General tab, make sure that the Selection type is Query Properties. If it is not, click an empty spot in the space above the query design grid.

4. In the property sheet, on the General tab, in the Column Headings property, enter a comma-separated list of values that you want to use as column headings.

   Some characters (such as most punctuation marks) are not allowed in column headings. If you use these characters in your list of values, Access substitutes an underscore (_) for each such character.

SQL syntax for a crosstab query

A crosstab query is expressed in SQL as a TRANSFORM statement. A TRANSFORM statement has the following syntax:

TRANSFORM aggfunction
selectstatement
PIVOT pivotfield [IN (value1[, value2[, ...]])]

The TRANSFORM statement has these parts:

Part	Description
aggfunction	An SQL aggregate function that operates on the selected data.
selectstatement	A SELECT statement.
pivotfield	The field or expression you want to use to create column headings in the query's result set.
value1, value2	Fixed values used to create column headings.

SQL view does not limit the number of tables or queries that you can use as record sources for a crosstab query. However, you can help keep the design simple by creating a select query that returns all of the data that you want to use in your crosstab query, and then using that select query as the record source. For more information about creating a select query, refer to the See Also section.

1. On the Create tab, in the Other group, click Query Design.

2. Close the Show Table dialog box.

3. On the Design tab , in the Views group, click View, and then click SQL View.

4. In the SQL object tab, type or paste the following SQL:

   TRANSFORM 
   SELECT 
   FROM 
   GROUP BY 
   PIVOT 
   ;
   

5. On the first line, after TRANSFORM, type an expression to use to calculate summary values; for example, Sum([Amount]).

   If you are using more than one table or query as a record source, include the table or query name as part of each field name; for example, Sum([Expense].[Amount]).

6. On the second line, after SELECT, type a list of fields or field expressions that you want to use for row headings. Separate the list items by using commas; for example, [Budget].[Dept_ID], [Expense].[Type].

7. On the third line, after FROM, type a list of the tables or queries that you are using as record sources; for example, Budget, Expense.

8. On the fourth line, after GROUP BY, type the same list of fields that you used in the SELECT clause, in step 6.

9. On the fifth line, after PIVOT, type a field name or expression that you want to use for column headings; for example, PIVOT [Budget].[Year].

Sometimes, rather than using every value of a field for row or column headings, you want to group the values of a field into ranges and then use those ranges for row or column headings. For example, suppose you use an "Age" field for column headings. Rather than using a column for each age, you may prefer to use columns that represent age ranges.

You can use the IIf Function in an expression to create ranges to use for row or column headings.

1. Open the crosstab query in Design view.

2. In the query design grid, in the Field row, right-click an empty column, and then click Zoom on the shortcut menu.

3. In the Zoom box, type a field alias, followed by a colon (:).

4. Type IIf().

5. Inside the parentheses that follow IIf, type a comparison expression that defines the first range of field values.

   For example, suppose you are creating ranges for an Age field, and you want each range to be twenty years. The comparison expression for the first range is [Age]<21.

6. Type a comma after the comparison expression, and then type a name for the range, enclosed in quotation marks. The name you supply is the crosstab heading for values that fall within the range.

   For example, after [Age]<21, type a comma and then type "0-20 years".

7. Type a comma after the range name (outside the quotation marks), and then do one of the following:

   • To create another range, type IIf() and then repeat steps 5, 6 and 7.

   • For the last range, type just a name for the range.

     For example, a complete nested IIf expression that separates an Age field into twenty-year ranges might look like this (line breaks were added for readability):

     IIf([Age]<21,"0-20 years",
      IIf([Age]<41,"21-40 years",
      IIf([Age]<61,"41-60 years",
      IIf([Age]<81,"61-80 years", "80+ years"))))
     

     Note: When Access evaluates the expression, it stops evaluating as soon as one of the IIf statements evaluates to true. You do not need to specify the lower end of each range, because any value that falls below the lower end of a given range would already have evaluated as true.

8. In the query design grid, in the Total row, select Group By.

9. In the Crosstab row, specify whether to use the ranges as row headings or column headings. Remember that you can specify from one to three row headings, and one column heading.

You may want your crosstab query to prompt for input when it is run. For example, suppose that you are using several row headings, one of which is Country/Region. Rather than always displaying data for every country or region, you may want your query to prompt for a name and then display data according to the user's input.

You can add a parameter prompt to any row heading field.

1. Open the crosstab query in Design view.

2. In the Criteria row for the row heading field for which you want to prompt the user for input, type question text enclosed in square brackets. The question text will appear as a prompt when the query is run.

   For example, if you type [Which country or region?] in the Criteria row, when the query runs, a dialog box appears that contains the question "Which country or region?," an input box, and an OK button.

   Tip: If you want your parameter to be flexible, concatenate your expression with wildcards, by using the Like operator. For example, instead of using [Which country or region?] as your criterion, you can use Like [Which country or region?]&"*" to make the parameter match a greater range of input. Using Like does not change the appearance of the parameter prompt.

3. On the Design tab, in the Show/Hide group, click Parameters.

4. In the Query Parameters dialog box, in the Parameters column, enter the same parameter prompt that you used in the Criteria row. Include the square brackets, but do not include any concatenated wildcards or the Like operator.

5. In the Data Type column, select the data type for the parameter. The data type should match the data type of the row heading field.

If the field that you use to calculate summary values in your crosstab query contains null values, those values are ignored by any aggregate function that you use. For some aggregate functions, your results can be affected. For example, to calculate an average, you add all of the values and divide the result by the number of values. But if the field contains any null values, those null values are not counted as part of the number of values.

In some cases, you may prefer to replace any null values with zeroes so that the values will be counted during aggregate calculations. You can use the Nz function to replace null values with zeroes.

Nz syntax

Nz ( variant [, valueifnull ] )

The Nz function syntax has these arguments:

Argument	Description
variant	Required. A variable of data type Variant.
valueifnull	Optional (unless used in a query). A Variant that supplies a value to be returned if the variant argument is Null. This argument enables you to return a value other than zero or a zero-length string. Note: If you use the Nz function in an expression in a query without using the valueifnull argument, the results will be a zero-length string in the fields that contain null values.

1. With the query open in Design view, in the query design grid, right-click the Value field.

2. On the shortcut menu, click Zoom.

3. In the Zoom box, surround the field name or expression with parentheses, and then type Nz in front of the parentheses.

4. Type , 0 just inside the right parenthesis.

   For example, if you used Nz with a field called "Hours Lost" to turn null values into zeroes, your finished expression would look like this:

Nz([Hours Lost], 0)

• Keep it simple    Crosstab queries can become difficult to read as the number of row combinations grows. Don't use more row headings than you need.

• Consider building your crosstab in steps    Don't limit yourself to using only tables. You can often start by building a totals query and then using that query as the record source for a crosstab query.

• Choose your column heading field carefully    Crosstab datasheets tend to be easier to read when the number of column headings stays relatively small. Once you have identified the fields that you want to use as headings, consider using the field that has the fewest distinct values to produce column headings. For example, if your query calculates a value by age and gender, consider using gender for column headings instead of age because gender typically has fewer possible values than age.

• Use a subquery in a WHERE clause    You can use a subquery as part of a WHERE clause in a crosstab query.

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