Combining Multiple Records

When importing data, you may want to combine all the members of a team into a single box. This can be done manually after importing data or during the import process by combining all records that share a common field value.

For example, importing the data shown in the following table can be displayed in a multi-record box or in individual boxes, as shown below. A third option is to display multiple records in a multi-column box.

Click to enlarge

ID

ReportsTo 

Name

Title

Function

1

 

Lynn Brewer

CEO

 

2

1

Larry Stevens

Manager Sales

 

3

2

Claire Chancellor

Sales Associate

Sales

4

2

Bill London

Sales Associate

Sales

5

2

Joanne Banks

Sales Associate

Sales

6

2

Patrick Gaines

Sales Associate

Sales

Combining all sales associates would yield:

this chart…

rather than  this.

To combine records into multi-record boxes:

1        In the Import Wizard - Verify Hierarchy dialog box select the Combine button to display the Combine dialog box.

Click to enlarge

2        Select the Combine Records checkbox.

3        Use the Combine using: selector to select a field (For example, the ReportsTo field in the example above).

4        Select the Only combine boxes with no subordinates checkbox to limit creation of multi-record boxes to the bottom level of your organizational chart. If you select this option, you can also set the Include subordinates with no peers checkbox to create multi-record boxes that contain only one record.

5        Optionally, you can use the Criteria tab to restrict multi-record box creation to include only boxes that meet specific criteria (i.e. Title = Sales Associate).

6        Click OK to exit the Combine dialog box.

7        Click OK.

Notes: To manually create multiple record boxes see Multi-Record Boxes in Working with Charts: Advanced Charting. Another approach to combining records is to use a shared Position ID field value to combine records, as shown below.

PositionID

Reports To 

Name

Title

1

 

Larry Stevens

Manager Sales

5

1

Claire Chancellor

Sales Associate I

5

1

Bill London

Sales Associate II

5

1

Joanne Banks

Sales Associate II

5

1

Patrick Gaines

Sales Associate I