Horizontal dates

[dartmoor]

Am I being dull here? I am trying to run weekly dates on the horizontal axis
- say Aug 15th onwards. That is - Aug 15, Aug 22, Aug 29 etc. But I cannot.
I am clicking max, minor units, fixed, automatic, date axis buttons but I am
getting no where except going completely nuts.

I've bought a book. No help at all. Been on Microsoft Help. Nothing.
Lots of what to do but doesn't solve my problem. The previous Excel version
was much easier.

Am I alone with this query? Can anyone out there help? How do you put
weekly dates on a horizontal axis - without adding to my total frustration?
Arrgh!!

tim k

 

[David Biddulph]

Format Axis/ Scale
Type 15-Aug as your minimum, and 7 as the major unit.

You haven't told us what type of chart you are using, but XY is usually the
best bet.

 

[dartmoor]

I am still no where. This is a straightforward XY graph. Two sets of
numbers on the Y axis giving me two line plots horizontally. I want to plot
the rise and fall of these two lines weekly on the X axis starting Aug 15.
CAn I work this out. I cannot. Bring back the wizard!

Tim Kenny

 

[David Biddulph]

Another thing you didn't tell us what what version of Excel you are using.
If you are using Excel 2007 and having troubles with charts, the
recommendation would be to go back to Excel 2003.

 

[Jon Peltier]

You're not telling us what your problem is. What does your data look like?
Put your dates in the first column. Put the value you are evaluating in the
second column. Put a label in the cell above the Y values, but leave the
cell above the X values (the dates) completely blank. Select this data range
and insert a chart. Assuming you're using valid dates, an XY chart or a Line
chart will produce much the same results. The difference is that the Line
chart has a slightly nicer set of options for the dates on the axis.

You should have a series with Y values plotted against X values. Format each
axis so that the minimum, maximum, and major unit are what you want.

I guess from one of your messages that you're using Excel 2007. Microsoft
has broken the axis scale entry boxes for non-date axes so that you can no
longer enter a date. You'll have to figure out the number corresponding to
the dates you need. You can use a formula like this:

=N(DATEVALUE("8/15/2008"))

which will tell you that 8/15/2008 has a numerical value of 39675. Enter
this as your minimum if you're using an XY chart, and 7 for the major unit.
If you're using a Line chart with a date scale, then you can simply enter
the date for the minimum.

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Peltier Technical Services, Inc.
http://PeltierTech.com/WordPress/
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