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Pie Chart¶
See how categories contribute to a whole, with each slice sized proportionally to its share.
What is a Pie Chart?¶
A pie chart divides a circle into slices, one per category, sized by count or value. It makes it easy to see which categories dominate and how they compare as parts of a whole.
Pie charts work best with a manageable number of categories. When you have many categories, consider using the Maximum Number of Slices option to combine the smallest into an "Others" group, keeping the chart readable.
When to Use a Pie Chart¶
- When you want to show proportions or percentages of a whole
- When you need to compare the relative sizes of categories
- When you want to communicate simple breakdowns to stakeholders
- When your data has a manageable number of categories (roughly 2 to 10 slices)
Example Output¶
A typical pie chart shows one slice per category, with larger slices representing categories that account for a greater share of the total. Labels show category names and percentages by default.
What the sheet records about your settings¶
The User input box in the top left of the worksheet does not only echo the columns you picked. Under a Settings heading it also states the options that produced the chart below it, so a sheet opened a year later says what it was built from rather than leaving you to guess which boxes were ticked.
This matters most where the choice leaves no other trace. Two Pareto charts drawn from the same data, one grouping the small categories into an "Others" bar and one dropping them, look like two different data sets unless the sheet says which was done.
Two rules decide what appears:
- Every selector and checkbox is printed on every run, whether or not you changed it from the default. A reader who sees nothing cannot tell a default from a setting the product does not report, so the box states all of them.
- A value you had to type is printed only when you typed it, and so is a setting that only means something once another box is ticked. Its absence is the answer.
The worksheet is protected¶
Under the last block in column A, in small italic text, the sheet carries one note:
This worksheet is protected to prevent accidental changes. To unprotect it, select the Review tab and then Unprotect Sheet.
Every analysis worksheet Quantum XL writes is protected, and every one carries this note. The wording is the same on all of them. Protection is there so that a click or a stray keystroke cannot overwrite a number the chart is drawn from, or move a chart off its anchor.
Three things are still allowed while the sheet is protected: formatting cells, formatting columns, and formatting rows. So you can widen a column, change a number format, or restyle a heading without unprotecting anything. Editing a value, editing a chart, and everything else are blocked.
For those, unprotect the sheet from Excel's Review tab, exactly as the note says. The protection carries no password, so Unprotect Sheet takes it straight off without asking for one.
Under Settings, this tool records:
| Row | What it reads |
|---|---|
| Maximum slices | the number you set, or No limit |
| Group into Others | On or Off |
| Others caption | the caption text, printed only when grouping is on |
| Sort slices | Descending or Ascending |
| Display report | On or Off |
| Overlay datasets | On or Off |
Learn More¶
- How-To: Step-by-step tutorials for different scenarios
- Preparing Your Data: Data types, layouts, and the behavior matrix
- Options: All chart settings and customization options