LabCom User Guide
Excel Data

Receiving Monthly Summary Spreadsheets

Some system users have requested data in Excel format that can be used to look at trend analysis and be used to prepare reports for end clients.

Where approved by the lab this clients are sent regular (normally monthly) spreadsheets with their test data for the last few months on it.

These Excel spreadsheets are set up with filter so that they can be manipulated to examine different trends.

Basic Spreadsheet Operation

Spreadsheets are specific to a client normally they contain the last 3 or 4 months of test data for one site. On occasions however they can contain data for a group of sites.

The top of the font page of the spreadsheet has a set of filters set up. Clicking on the heading box allows a subset of data to be picked. Typically this will be a particular, product, or supermarket of location. Several different criteria can be chosen at once.

How to Set the Y Axis

Normally the 'Y' axis of Excel graphs are set automatically to show the relevant range in as much detail as possible. However there are occasions where you wish to work to a standardised scale. For example to stop a background level an element look like a major quantity.

Firstly open graph in Excel.

Click and hold the right mouse button while the mouse is over the 'Y' Axis, this will give a pop up menu from which you should choose "Format Axis". (Double clicking on the 'Y' Axis has the same effect.

Click on the 'Scale' tab of the 'Format Axis' Box that pops up. On the 'Maximum' line uncheck the auto box and then type in the required Maximum (currently 8000 in the example above) on the text box on the right.

Click OK to view this change.