FORMAT.OVERLAY

Macro Sheets Only

Equivalent to choosing the Overlay command from the Format menu in Microsoft Excel version 4.0. Formats the overlay chart according to the arguments you specify.

Syntax

FORMAT.OVERLAY(type_num, view, overlap, gap_width, vary, drop, hilo, angle, series_dist, series_num, up_down, series_line, labels)
FORMAT.OVERLAY?(type_num, view, overlap, gap_width, vary, drop, hilo, angle, series_dist, series_num, up_down, series_line, labels)

Type_num is a number specifying the type of chart.

Type_num Chart

1 Area

2 Bar

3 Column

4 Line

5 Pie

6 XY (Scatter)

11 Radar

14 Doughnut

View is a number specifying one of the views in the Data View box in the Overlay dialog box. The view varies depending on the type of chart.

Overlap is a number from -100 to 100 specifying how you want bars or columns to be positioned. It corresponds to the Overlap box in the Overlay dialog box. Overlap is ignored if type_num is not 2 or 3 (bar or column chart).

• If overlap is positive, it specifies the percentage of overlap you want for bars or columns. For example, 50 would cause one-half of a bar or column to be covered by an adjacent bar or column.
• If overlap is negative, then bars or columns are separated by the specified percentage of the maximum available distance between any two bars or columns.
• If overlap is omitted, it is assumed to be 0 (bars or columns do not overlap), or it is unchanged if a value was previously set.

Gap_width is a number from 0 to 500 specifying the space between bar or column clusters as a percentage of the width of a bar or column.

• Gap_width is ignored if type_num is not 2 or 3 (bar or column chart).
• If gap_width is omitted, it is assumed to be 50, or it is unchanged if a value was previously set.

Several of the following arguments are logical values corresponding to check boxes in the Overlay dialog box. If an argument is TRUE, Microsoft Excel selects the corresponding check box; if FALSE, Microsoft Excel clears the check box. If an argument is omitted, the setting is unchanged.

Vary corresponds to the Vary By Categories check box. Vary is not available for area charts.

Drop corresponds to the Drop Lines check box. Drop is available only for area and line charts.

Hilo corresponds to the Hi-Lo Lines check box. Hilo is available only for line charts.

Angle is a number from 0 to 360 specifying the angle of the first pie slice (in degrees) if the chart is a pie chart. If angle is omitted, it is assumed to be 0, or it is unchanged if a value was previously set.

Series_dist is the number 1 or 2 and specifies automatic or manual series distribution.

• If series_dist is 1 or omitted, Microsoft Excel uses automatic series distribution.
• If series_dist is 2, Microsoft Excel uses manual series distribution, and you must specify which series is first in the distribution by using the series_num argument.

Series_num is the number of the first series in the overlay chart and corresponds to the First Overlay Series box in the Overlay dialog box. If series_dist is 1 (automatic series distribution), this argument is ignored.

Up_down corresponds to the Up/Down Bars check box. Up_down is available only for line charts.

Series_line corresponds to the Series Lines check box. Series_line is available only for stacked bar and column charts.

Labels corresponds to the Radar Axis Labels check box. Labels is available only for radar charts.

Related Functions

DELETE.OVERLAY Deletes the overlay on a chart

FORMAT.CHART Formats a chart

List of Command-Equivalent Functions