monthly separation tick marks on x-axis

[Rab]

I'm plotting a number of data series on an x-y scatter chart. Values are
recorded daily over an 18 month period and are plotted against time on the
x-axis. To make the graph look neat I want to place tick marks at monthly
intervals at the first of each month. Because the number of days in the
month varies it is not possible to select an appropriate major unit in the
format axis box. As a result, if I select for example 31 as the major unit
then the monthly tick marks progressively move to a later date in the month -
starting from 01 August 05 and by March 07 my tick mark is placed at the
13th. Is there anyway to overcome this? Thanks.

 

[Barb Reinhardt]

Sure there is. What I'd do is create a series like this:

X Y
A1: 1/1/2007 0 <~~~or whatever your minimum value is for the chart
A2: =date(year(a1),month(A1)+1,day(a1)) 0

COPY DOWN

Create another series for your chart using these values.
Put Y error bars on the series at the size you need.

Use something like Rob Bovey's XYChart Labeler (www.appspro.com) to put
labels on this series. You labels could be the X part of your series.

Change the series marker to none.

It's kludgy, but it works.

 

[Jon Peltier]

This is where a Line chart is nicer than an XY chart. Create a line chart
with your data, then double click the X axis, click on the Scale tab, choose
Days as your Base Unit, 1 Month as your Major Unit, and the first of any
relevant month as the Minimum.

- Jon

 

[Kelly O'Day]

Rab:

I use custom axis to get my time series charts to look the way I want. This
"how-to" shows you the overall approach to custom axes.

http://processtrends.com/pg_charts_custom_axis.htm

My step chart example shows how to center the label name in the X axis tick
mark gap. http://processtrends.com/pg_charts_dummy_axis_series.htm

Once you master custom axes, you'll find a lot of it easy to spruce up your
XY charts.

Kelly

http://processtrends.com

 

[Rab]

Thanks for all the answers. I'll have a play around and see where I get to.

 

[Rab]

Barb, Kelly

Thanks. This method at first appears a bit cumbersome but is actually very
straight forward. Problem solved.

But...after however many versions of excel, why does it still fail to be
able to perform so many desirable functions in a simple way via the chart
wizzard? If I want to generate charts with different chart types for
different series, multiple y-axes etc it seems that there are a lot of
counter-intuitive things going on. Please sort it out microsoft!

Thanks again all for the useful advice.

Rab

 

[inquiry]

Barb, Kelly

Thanks. This method at first appears a bit cumbersome but is actually very
straight forward. Problem solved.

But...after however many versions of excel, why does it still fail to be
able to perform so many desirable functions in a simple way via the chart
wizzard? If I want to generate charts with different chart types for
different series, multiple y-axes etc it seems that there are a lot of
counter-intuitive things going on. Please sort it out microsoft!

Thanks again all for the useful advice.

Rab







- Show quoted text -

Try Multiple-Y Axes for Excel: www.OfficeExpander.com
There is a free demo program.
-Dave

 

[prince_mavs]

This is where a Line chart is nicer than an XY chart. Create a line chart
with your data, then double click the X axis, click on the Scale tab, choose
Days as your Base Unit, 1 Month as your Major Unit, and the first of any
relevant month as the Minimum.

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Tutorials and Custom Solutions
http://PeltierTech.com
_______

 

[Kelly O'Day]

prince

You can use Jon's suggestion of a time series line chart or you can use an
XY trend chart with a custom X axis that will let you label your X axis
dates exactly the way you want.

Here's a link to a tutorial on making custom XY axis.

http://processtrends.com/pg_charts_custom_axis.htm

I have several examples of XY trend charts with custom axis , look here:

http://processtrends.com/TOC_trend_charts.htm

Kelly

http://processtrends.com