Part IV: Managing and Analyzing Data
- Select the Create Links to Source Data check box to make Excel create an out-
line with external references.
- Click OK to begin the consolidation.
Excel creates the consolidation, beginning at the active cell. Notice that Excel created an
outline, which is collapsed to show only the subtotals for each product. If you expand the
outline (by clicking the number 2 or the plus-sign symbols in the outline), you can see the
details. Examine it further, and you discover that each detail cell is an external reference
formula that uses the appropriate cell in the source file. Therefore, the consolidated results
are updated automatically when values are changed in any of the source workbooks.
Figure 28.8 shows the result of the consolidation, and Figure 28.9 shows the detail informa-
tion (with the outline expanded).
FIGURE 28.8
The result of consolidating the information in three workbooks
