Create charts from Excel data

Protobi has a feature that lets users plot Excel data directly for chart creation. Protobi is most commonly used to show respondent-level survey data in SPSS or CSV format, but you might also want to plot other data from an Excel workbook.

Practical use cases:

• You have static data outside of your survey data (from a secondary source) that is ideal to show in Protobi's online view.
• Your team has a short deadline and recreating calculations in Protobi isn't an option.
• Your numbers are weighed or adjusted at an aggregate level only and cannot be recreated exactly at the respondent-level.

How to use Excel data in charts

1. Upload your Excel workbook

Upload an Excel workbook with your data as an .xlsx file to Protobi.

In project settings, go to project data and add a new grey document table. Give it a name, here we used aggregate_data.xlsx.

Upload your Excel into the new table.

It doesn't matter how many sheets your Excel workbook has and each sheet can have any number of tables.

Example Excel workbook:

2. Create a new element

The next step is to create an element that you will turn into a chart.

To add a new element, press on the plus sign within the tab where you want to add the new element.

Give your new element a name.

The element is blank, the next step is to add data to it.

3. Add Excel data to your element in Protobi

Protobi allows direct integration of Excel data by referencing files as resources and specifying data ranges.

Required settings

{
  // NOTE: Resources must be nested inside chartOptions
  "chartOptions": {
    "resources": {
      "aggregate_data.xlsx": {
        "url": "./direct/aggregate_data.xlsx",  // Must follow ./direct/ pattern
        "type": "xlsx"  // "xlsx" or "csv"
      }
    }
  },

  // IMPORTANT: Data must remain OUTSIDE chartOptions
  "data": {
    "source": "xlsx",
    "resource": "aggregate_data.xlsx",  // Must match resource name
    "range": "'Sheet1'!A1:E7",  // Cell range or named range
    "titleRow": true  // False if no headers
  }
}

Settings explained

1. Resources configuration

   • File reference: The key "aggregate_data.xlsx" serves as both the identifier and display name
   • URL pattern: Must use "./direct/{filename.xlsx}" format
   • File type: Always specify "xlsx" for Excel files

2. Data range specification

   • Source type: Use "xlsx" for Excel file sources
   • Resource matching: Must exactly match the resource key name
   • Range syntax:
     • Format: "'SheetName'!A1:Z100"
     • Include single quotes for sheet names with spaces or special characters
     • Note: Protobi can also reference named ranges
   • Header handling:
     • "titleRow": true → First row contains column headers
     • "titleRow": false → No headers in range

4. Turn your element into a chart

Change the chartType and options using the chartType dialog.

Here we chose to show the data as an unstacked bar chart.

5. Format the counts as percents

When Protobi imports data from Excel, it treats the numbers as raw counts (not percentages). By default, Protobi calculates percentages at render time by dividing counts by the basis.

You need to configure the element as follows:

Required settings

{
  "showPercent": false,  // Disables Protobi's automatic % calculation (shows raw counts)
  "valueFormat": "0.0%", // Formats the displayed counts as percentages (e.g., 0.35 → "35.0%")
  // NOTE: countFormat must be nested inside chartOptions	
  "chartOptions": {
    "countFormat": "0.0%"  // Ensures tooltips and exports also follow the % format
  }
}

Settings explained

1. showPercent: false

   • Tells Protobi not to convert counts into percents
   • The raw numbers from Excel will be displayed as-is

2. countFormat: "0.0%"

   • Formats the displayed counts as percents (multiplying by 100 and adding a %)
   • Example: If the count is 0.35, it will display as 35.0%

3. valueFormat: "0.0%" (Optional but recommended)

   • Ensures hover-over tooltips and axis ranges follow the same percent formatting

Charts that use Excel data work alongside charts with regular survey response data, so that some charts could be dynamic from respondent-level data and some charts could be static from Excel calculations.

6. Export your chart to PowerPoint

You can export the element from Protobi to PowerPoint as a native PowerPoint chart:

Advanced support

Our support team is ready to help you with your specific goals. Please contact us at support@protobi.com if you have any questions.