FastTips for Excel 4.0 for Windows: Charting Q&A

Summary:

  Microsoft(R) Product Support Services Application Note (Text File)
                WE0605: CHARTING QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

                                                   Revision Date: 9/92
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1. Q. What are the new chart types available in version 4.0 of
      Microsoft Excel for Windows?

   A. Microsoft Excel 4.0 includes many new charting features. Among
      these are three new chart types and 22 new built-in charts. The
      three new chart types are 3-D bar, 3-D surface, and radar
      charts. The 3-D bar charts are three-dimensional versions of the
      current two-dimensional bar charts. The 3-D surface charts help
      show relationships between two sets of data. The radar charts
      help show relationships between individual pieces of data.

      Many of the charts found in Microsoft Excel 3.0 have been given
      new built-in formats in Microsoft Excel 4.0. For example,
      Microsoft Excel 3.0 has line charts that plot hi-lo-close
      information. Microsoft Excel 4.0 takes line charting one step
      further by offering a volume-high- low-close chart type.
      Microsoft Excel 4.0 also offers extensions to the bar, column,
      combination, pie, and 3-D pie charts.

2. Q. How do I use ChartWizard in version 4.0 of Microsoft Excel
      for Windows to help me create charts?

   A. Microsoft Excel 4.0 includes a new feature called the
      ChartWizard. This tool helps you easily create and modify
      charts. The ChartWizard tool, which looks like a miniature chart
      with a magician's wand above it, is the second button from the
      right on the Standard toolbar.

      To use the ChartWizard to create a chart:

      1. Select the range of data that you want to chart.

      2. Click the ChartWizard button. Your mouse cursor will
         change to a crosshair.

      3. Position the crosshair on the worksheet where you want to
         place the upper-left corner of the chart. To create your
         chart area, hold down the left mouse button while you drag
         the mouse down and to the left. Continue dragging the mouse
         until the dotted square is the size you want your chart to
         be, then release the mouse button.

      4. A dialog box verifying the range of cells you want to plot
         is displayed. By default, Microsoft Excel displays the range
         of cells that was highlighted before you clicked the
         ChartWizard tool.

      5. Follow the directions in each dialog box, and choose the
         Next button after you have made your selections. If you want
         help on a particular option, choose the Help button to
         display the appropriate Help topic.

      After you complete all five steps of the ChartWizard, Microsoft
      Excel 4.0 creates the chart with the options you selected. If
      the axes of the chart need to be switched or modified, or if you
      want to change the range of cells that Microsoft Excel 4.0 is
      plotting, select the chart by clicking it once, then click the
      ChartWizard tool on the Standard toolbar. Microsoft Excel 4.0
      then displays two screens that allow you to change these
      options.

      For more information on creating a chart with the new
      ChartWizard, please refer to Book 1, Chapter 12 of the
      "Microsoft Excel User's Guide."

3. Q. I have already created a chart and want to add new
      information from my worksheet. How can I do this without re-
      creating the chart?

   A. The easiest way to modify the range of cells plotted on a chart
      is to use the new ChartWizard tool in version 4.0 of Microsoft
      Excel for Windows.

      To change the range of cells that are plotted on your chart:

      1. If you are working with an embedded chart on the
         worksheet, click the chart once to select it. If you are
         updating a chart that was created as a document separate from
         the worksheet, activate the chart by choosing its name from
         the Window menu.

      2. Click the ChartWizard tool. (The ChartWizard tool is the
         second button from the right on the Standard toolbar.) A
         dialog box that prompts you for the range of information you
         want to plot is displayed.

      3. On the worksheet behind the dialog box, drag the mouse to
         select the entire range of data you want to chart. (The range
         you select generally includes the old information as well as
         the new; however, you are not required to do this. You can
         select any information you want.)

      4. After you select the range, choose the Next button. You
         can now change information on which cells represent your
         category (x-axis) information and which cells represent your
         value (y-axis) information. After you make your selections,
         choose the OK button; Excel then modifies your chart
         according to your new specifications.

      If you do not want to use the ChartWizard, you can manually
      modify the chart by choosing Edit Series from the Chart menu.
      For embedded charts, you must first double-click the chart to
      open it in its own window before you can access the Chart menu.
      For more information on modifying charts, please refer to Book
      1, Chapter 13 of the "Microsoft Excel User's Guide."

4. Q. Whenever I select my data and create a new chart, version
      4.0 of Microsoft Excel for Windows puts the information I want
      on the x-axis on the y-axis. How can I change this?

   A. The easiest method to modify information that Microsoft Excel
      4.0 places on the chart is to use the new ChartWizard.

      To switch the x and y axes:

      1. If you are working with an embedded chart on the
         worksheet, click the chart once to select it. If the chart
         was created as a separate document, activate it by choosing
         its name from the Window menu.

      2. Click the ChartWizard tool. (The ChartWizard tool is the
         second button from the right on the Standard toolbar.)

      3. In the dialog box that prompts you for the range of cells
         to be plotted, choose the Next button.

      4. Under Data Series In, select whichever option button is
         not currently selected, then choose the OK button. For
         example, if the Rows option button is selected, select the
         Columns option button.

      For more information on how Microsoft Excel plots charts, please
      refer to Book 1, Chapter 12, page 23 of the "Microsoft Excel
      User's Guide."