Chapter 35: Introducing Power Pivot
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Activate the Power Pivot window, and click the From Other Sources button on the Home
tab. This will activate the same Table Import Wizard dialog box illustrated in Figure 35.18.
Select the Text File option and then click the Next button.
The Table Import Wizard will ask for all the information it needs to connect to the target
text file. In this screen, you’ll need to provide the following:
Friendly Connection Name The Friendly Connection Name field allows you to specify
your own name for the external source. You typically enter a name that is descriptive and
easy to read.
File Path Enter the full path of your target text file. You can use the Browse button to
search for and select the file from which you want to pull this information.
Column Separator Select the character used to separate the columns in the text file.
Before you can do this, you’ll need to know how the columns in your text file are delim-
ited. For instance, a comma-delimited file will have commas separating the columns. A
tab-delimited file will have tabs separating the columns. The drop-down list in the Table
Import Wizard includes choices for the more common delimiters: Tab, Comma, Semicolon,
Space, Colon, and Vertical Bar.
Use First Row as Column Headers If your text file contains header rows, be sure to select
the check box next to Use First Row as Column Headers. This ensures that the column head-
ers are recognized as headers when imported.
You’ll get an immediate preview of the data in the text file. As with other data sources
we’ve covered here, you can filter out any unwanted columns simply by removing the check
mark next to the column names. You can also use the drop-down arrows next to each col-
umn to apply any record filters.
Clicking the Finish button will immediately start the import process. Upon completion,
the data from your text file will be part of the Power Pivot data model. As always, be
sure to review and create relationships to any other tables that you’ve loaded into Power
Pivot.
Loading data from the clipboard
Power Pivot includes an interesting option for loading data straight from the clipboard,
that is, pasting data you’ve copied from some other place. This option is meant to be used
as a one-off technique to get useful information into the Power Pivot data model quickly.
As you consider this option, keep in mind that there is no real data source. It’s just you
manually copying and pasting. There is no way to refresh the data, and there is no way to
trace back where you actually copied the data from.
Imagine that you received a Word document showing a list of branches in a table. You’d
like to include this static list of branches in your Power Pivot data model, as shown in
Figure 35.20.