Problems Generating Graphs/Charts

[brad.goldberg]

Hey All,

I have a form with a bunch of pull downs on it. The pull down options
are stored in seperate tables for each, so adding options at a later
point will be hassle free.

My problem is when I try to generate a graph in a report. If I try to
make a pie chart showing %'s that each choice from a particular pull
down is chosen for example, I can't get access to label the chart with
the actual names of the options. Instead it names each section of the
graph 1, 2, or 3 for example. I've tried all the labeling/chart options
(I beleive) and cannot pull them up. It does seem however that the
numbers displayed coorespond to the order the options appear in the
pull down. How can I get it to show the actual options in the legend or
the chart instead!

So frustrating please help!

Thanks,

Brad

 

[Rick Brandt]

Hey All,

I have a form with a bunch of pull downs on it. The pull down options
are stored in seperate tables for each, so adding options at a later
point will be hassle free.

My problem is when I try to generate a graph in a report. If I try to
make a pie chart showing %'s that each choice from a particular pull
down is chosen for example, I can't get access to label the chart with
the actual names of the options. Instead it names each section of the
graph 1, 2, or 3 for example. I've tried all the labeling/chart
options (I beleive) and cannot pull them up. It does seem however
that the numbers displayed coorespond to the order the options appear
in the pull down. How can I get it to show the actual options in the
legend or the chart instead!

So frustrating please help!

Always build your charts in forms, then copy them to reports when finished. The
difference is that you can double-click a chart on a form to bring up the chart
designer interface while the form is in normal view. In a report you can only
do this from design view.

When you invoke the chart designer while a form is in normal view you see the
chart with YOUR data rather than with sample data and that greatly simplifies
tweaking the design.

 

[brad.goldberg]

Hey Rick,

Good thought, I didnt know you could do that, does make things easier.
HOWEVER, this does not solve my problem. When I have the graph open and
I look at the datasheet for the graph all I see are numbers for the
data, such as 1, 3, or 4 depending on which pull down option was
selected for a particular record. How can I get these numbers to be
replaced with the actual pull down value. These numbers represent names
of locations which are chosen from the pull down. When I graph I see
these numbers (which represent the position of the location choice in
the pull downs table. I can't see to figure this out.

Any ideas anyone?

 

[Rick Brandt]

Hey Rick,

Good thought, I didnt know you could do that, does make things easier.
HOWEVER, this does not solve my problem. When I have the graph open
and I look at the datasheet for the graph all I see are numbers for
the data, such as 1, 3, or 4 depending on which pull down option was
selected for a particular record. How can I get these numbers to be
replaced with the actual pull down value. These numbers represent
names of locations which are chosen from the pull down. When I graph
I see these numbers (which represent the position of the location
choice in the pull downs table. I can't see to figure this out.

Any ideas anyone?

You used a lookup field didn't you? This is the primary reason why they are
discouraged. They cause confusion because they display something different from
the value they hold.

Your query needs to include the lookup table where the text values are stored so
you can choose that field instead of the numeric field from your table.

 

[brad.goldberg]

Thanks Rick,

Problem was I was trying to generate a graph directly from my main
table. Didn't even think to use a query, as soon as I did it all made
sense and worked. Thanks for the insight.

Brad