Data Off Of Chart Question

[Robert11]

Hello,

Using Excel 2007 and XP.

I have some tabular data arranged next to a column that has dates starting
from July 1, and labeled vertically downward to Dec. 31.
However, although they are for this year, there is no year that I have
indicated.

When I chart the data, the only way I can get it to show up is to do the
Default chart and automatic for the horiz (date) axis.

If I try to set the min and max limits for the axis (whic I would like to
do), the data points do not appear.
I'm assuming that they are there, somewhere, but off the chart.

Questions:

What year is Excel probably assuming for my data ?

How can I find out the data number (the number of days from wherever it
starts from) it is working with ?
- for the dates I have in my data column ?
- for the chart itself ?

Hope I've explained this well enough.
Probably a common problem for new users like me.

How also does one avoid this "problem" ?

Thanks,
Bob

 

[Bernard Liengme]

Let's begin by finding what type of data your really have
Click on the cell displaying July 1
What do you see in the Formula Bar?
If it is a real date you will see 7/1/2009 if your region is USA or 1/7/2009
in the rest of the world, and the cell has been formatted to display in as
mmm d
But if you see July 1 then you have text
Tell us what you see and we can proceed from there
best wishes