Which Office tool to express progress graphically

[christopher]

I want to create ~100 reports each month that detail progress on a set of 24
items. Progress is indicated on a scale of 1 to 9 and until now I've been
using a Word document containing 24 rows of numbers 1 through 9 and used
shading/highlighting of numbers to indicate the current rating.

This is item 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 [1 thru 4 shaded = 4 rating]
This is item 2: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 [1 thru 8 shaded = 8 rating]
Etc.

I hope that much is clear. Instead of manually shading rows of numbers, what
I'd rather do is to generate a horizontal bar graph so that I get a bar the
length of a current rating. To prepare the monthly reports, then, I'd enter
the rating number for each item and automagically generate a bar graph with
horizontal bars (rows); the end result would resemble what I've been doing
(crudely represented above). Does anyone have ideas as to the best way to
proceed with this project, using which Office tools (available to Mac Office
2004 and Windows Office 2003 users alike).

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Christopher:

This is a job for Excel's feature named "Charting".

Start Excel and look up "Charts" in the Help.

If you need more help, pop a question into the Excel group where the
specialists can get hold of it.

Cheers


On 14/10/07 9:04 AM, in article
C336B947.16C15%[email protected], "christopher"

I want to create ~100 reports each month that detail progress on a set of 24
items. Progress is indicated on a scale of 1 to 9 and until now I've been
using a Word document containing 24 rows of numbers 1 through 9 and used
shading/highlighting of numbers to indicate the current rating.

This is item 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 [1 thru 4 shaded = 4 rating]
This is item 2: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 [1 thru 8 shaded = 8 rating]
Etc.

I hope that much is clear. Instead of manually shading rows of numbers, what
I'd rather do is to generate a horizontal bar graph so that I get a bar the
length of a current rating. To prepare the monthly reports, then, I'd enter
the rating number for each item and automagically generate a bar graph with
horizontal bars (rows); the end result would resemble what I've been doing
(crudely represented above). Does anyone have ideas as to the best way to
proceed with this project, using which Office tools (available to Mac Office
2004 and Windows Office 2003 users alike).


--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[John Halloran]

I want to create ~100 reports each month that detail progress on a set of 24
items. Progress is indicated on a scale of 1 to 9 and until now I've been
using a Word document containing 24 rows of numbers 1 through 9 and used
shading/highlighting of numbers to indicate the current rating.

This is item 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 [1 thru 4 shaded = 4 rating]
This is item 2: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 [1 thru 8 shaded = 8 rating]
Etc.

I hope that much is clear. Instead of manually shading rows of numbers, what
I'd rather do is to generate a horizontal bar graph so that I get a bar the
length of a current rating. To prepare the monthly reports, then, I'd enter
the rating number for each item and automagically generate a bar graph with
horizontal bars (rows); the end result would resemble what I've been doing
(crudely represented above). Does anyone have ideas as to the best way to
proceed with this project, using which Office tools (available to Mac Office
2004 and Windows Office 2003 users alike).

A commonly used method of tracking progress on multiple projects is a
Gantt chart. Excel doesn't have a Gantt chart function built-in, but you
can create a stacked bar chart in Excel and modify it into a Gantt chart.

Mactopia has a page explaining it:


http://tinyurl.com/25mzmc


John

 

[John McGhie]

Hi John:

That's a GREAT tip! Hank you for that: I have always wondered how to do it


I have access to Project, so I always use Project myself, but I have always
thought I should be able to dash off a simple Gantt Chart in Excel.

Cheers

On 14/10/07 12:59 PM, in article
(e-mail address removed), "John Halloran"

I want to create ~100 reports each month that detail progress on a set of 24
items. Progress is indicated on a scale of 1 to 9 and until now I've been
using a Word document containing 24 rows of numbers 1 through 9 and used
shading/highlighting of numbers to indicate the current rating.

This is item 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 [1 thru 4 shaded = 4 rating]
This is item 2: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 [1 thru 8 shaded = 8 rating]
Etc.

I hope that much is clear. Instead of manually shading rows of numbers, what
I'd rather do is to generate a horizontal bar graph so that I get a bar the
length of a current rating. To prepare the monthly reports, then, I'd enter
the rating number for each item and automagically generate a bar graph with
horizontal bars (rows); the end result would resemble what I've been doing
(crudely represented above). Does anyone have ideas as to the best way to
proceed with this project, using which Office tools (available to Mac Office
2004 and Windows Office 2003 users alike).

A commonly used method of tracking progress on multiple projects is a
Gantt chart. Excel doesn't have a Gantt chart function built-in, but you
can create a stacked bar chart in Excel and modify it into a Gantt chart.

Mactopia has a page explaining it:


http://tinyurl.com/25mzmc


John

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[christopher]

Thanks to both Johns. I will need to embed the charts into Word documents
but reckon that perfecting the chart is the first step. Thanks much for the
link to the Mactopia article. I hadn't thought of what I want as a Gantt
chart, but that looks like a workable approach.
Chris

Hi John:

That's a GREAT tip! Hank you for that: I have always wondered how to do it


I have access to Project, so I always use Project myself, but I have always
thought I should be able to dash off a simple Gantt Chart in Excel.

Cheers

On 14/10/07 12:59 PM, in article
(e-mail address removed), "John Halloran"

I want to create ~100 reports each month that detail progress on a set of 24
items. Progress is indicated on a scale of 1 to 9 and until now I've been
using a Word document containing 24 rows of numbers 1 through 9 and used
shading/highlighting of numbers to indicate the current rating.

This is item 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 [1 thru 4 shaded = 4 rating]
This is item 2: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 [1 thru 8 shaded = 8 rating]
Etc.

I hope that much is clear. Instead of manually shading rows of numbers, what
I'd rather do is to generate a horizontal bar graph so that I get a bar the
length of a current rating. To prepare the monthly reports, then, I'd enter
the rating number for each item and automagically generate a bar graph with
horizontal bars (rows); the end result would resemble what I've been doing
(crudely represented above). Does anyone have ideas as to the best way to
proceed with this project, using which Office tools (available to Mac Office
2004 and Windows Office 2003 users alike).

A commonly used method of tracking progress on multiple projects is a
Gantt chart. Excel doesn't have a Gantt chart function built-in, but you
can create a stacked bar chart in Excel and modify it into a Gantt chart.

Mactopia has a page explaining it:


http://tinyurl.com/25mzmc


John