Sorting is typically only one of the tasks you perform when organizing data in a report. It is common for reports to present data that is organized into meaningful groups, especially reports that contain large amounts of data.Data groups contain related data rows. Organizing data in groups makes it easier to compare and analyze information.
A report that groups data provides a more effective way to view data. When you group data, you can:
Add subtotals, counts, averages, or other aggregate information at the beginning or end of each group.
Insert a page break before or after each group to start each data group on a new page.
Hide the details of each group to view a summary report.
In addition, Interactive Viewer performs the following actions when you group data:
Removes duplicate values for each group.
Sorts the values of each group. For example, a country group displays the countries in alphabetical order.
Generates a table of contents that displays the values of every group when you view the finished report in the viewers. The table of contents allows you to navigate to specific locations in the report. This feature is particularly useful when a report contains many pages.
How to group data
Select and right‑click the column that contains the values to group. Choose Group➛Add Group.
If the column you selected contains string or numeric data, Interactive Viewer groups the data by each unique value in the column. If the column you selected contains date‑and‑time data, additional grouping options appear.
Add subtotals, counts, averages, or other aggregate information at the beginning or end of each group.