I am trying to create a bar chart layout but with lines replacing the bars so
the lines are seen to run vertically. This gives the impression of a line
chart rotated thro 90 degrees.
It's a shame Excel doesn't provide such a format, isn't it? In my
opinion there shouldn't be a "column chart" and a "bar chart": instead
all charts should have a "rotate through 90 degrees" option.
How will you present the finished item? If it's a picture in a
presentation, or a printed page, perhaps you could simply use a line
chart with the *text* rotated through 90 degrees. I've done this, and
apart from having to crane my neck all the time while developing it, the
final product is quite satisfactory.
If you will be viewing it using Excel, and don't want to get a sore
neck, try some of the following:
http://www.google.com/search?q=excel+dot-plots
These techniques use scatter charts with some modification, to produce
sideways line charts (don't worry if the examples have no lines, only
dots; that's a trivial thing to fix)