How to create percentages

You create percentage items to analyze a worksheet in a new way. For example, you might want to display monthly sales figures as a percentage of the annual sales figures.

Worksheets can also contain percentages created by other Discoverer users, or created by the Discoverer manager.

To create a percentage:

1. Display the worksheet that you want to analyze.

2. Choose Tools | Percentages to display the "Edit Worksheet dialog: Select Items tab: Calculations tab".

   
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   The Calculations tab lists existing calculations, percentages, and totals available in the worksheet. Active percentages are marked with a tick symbol (or check mark) in the Available list and are also displayed in the Selected list.

3. Click New and select New Percentage from the drop down list to display the "New Percentage dialog".

4. (optional) If you want to change the default name of the new percentage, enter the name in the What do you want to name this percentage? field.

5. Use the Which data point do you want to base your percentage on? drop down list to specify which item to create a percentage for.

   The drop down list displays numeric items currently displayed on the worksheet. If there is only one numeric item on the worksheet, this item is selected by default.

6. Use the Calculate as a percentage of radio buttons to choose where to display the percentage, as follows:

   • Select the Grand total of all values radio button to calculate the values as a percentage of the whole column.

   • Select the Subtotal at each change in radio button, then choose the item on which to group the data from the drop down list below.

     For example, if the worksheet data is grouped by region, select region here to calculate a percentage sub-total for each region.

7. Use the Do you want to calculate percentages within each page? radio buttons to choose whether to calculate percentages for each page, or for all pages.

8. Use the Which totals do you want to be shown? check boxes to specify how to display grand totals and subtotals.

   The options available depend on whether you have selected the Grand total of all values radio button, or the Subtotal at each change in radio button.

   • (optional) If you selected the Grand total of all values radio button, select the Show grand total and grand total percentage check box to calculate total values at the bottom of the worksheet.

     You can also specify a label for the total, and click Format Heading and Format Data to specify how it looks on the worksheet.

   • (optional) If you selected the Subtotal at each change in radio button, select the Show subtotal and subtotal percentage check box to calculate subtotal values for each data sub-group.

   • (optional) If you selected the Subtotal at each change in radio button, select the Show the percentage of the grand total for each subtotal option to display the sub-group total as a percentage of the total value for all groups.

9. Click OK to save the details and display the Percentages dialog.

10. Click OK to close the Calculations tab and return to the worksheet.

Discoverer calculates the percentages and displays them on the worksheet.

Notes

• You can also create a new percentage in the following ways:

  • Select the worksheet item for which you want to create a percentage, then select the New Percentage option on the Standard toolbar and choose one of the percentage types available.

    
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  • If the Available Items pane is displayed, select the New Percentage option on the Available Items toolbar (for more information, see "Available Items pane").

  • If the Available Items pane is displayed, display the Calculations tab, right-click on My Percentages, and select New Percentage.

• If you use the Show the percentage of the grand total for each subtotal option, the grand total value includes all items displayed on the worksheet and also items in the page items area (if any). In other words, the subtotal percentages might not add up to 100% unless you display all page items on the worksheet.