Data Table Problem Between Versions

  • Thread starter Thread starter RWN
  • Start date Start date
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RWN

I have a chart created in xl97 on w98se back in August '03.
The X axis are dates (Jan 1/03->Aug 17/03) with daily entries.
The Major/Minor units are 7 & 1 (days).
The chart displays a data table that reflects the values for every 9th
day. I admit I don't remember doing anything to cause this and assume
that XL is "smart" enough to scale the table depending on the range it
has to display.
Worked just fine.
Now, I've recently acquired another machine running w2kPro with Off2k
(xlV9)
When I transferred the file (the machines are networked) the table is
garbage.
It appears as though it is trying to display an entry for all the data
points.
I've checked all the settings (I think!) for the chart and they are
identical, which makes me wonder if there is some difference in versions
that I'm not seeing, or a bug.

Any ideas (or links)?
 
Instead of using a data table, you can create a table on the worksheet
below the chart, and include that in the print area.

Enter your start date, and in the cell to the right, create a formula to
calculate the next date that you want in the table, e.g. =B25+14
Copy this formula across as far as required to calculate for the full
date range.
In the cell below the first data, enter a lookup formula to extract data
from the original data set, e.g.: =VLOOKUP(B25,Sheet1!$A$2:$B$230,2,0)
Copy this formula across to the last calculated date.
 
Thanks Debra, I'll save it for future reference.
However, what I was really asking was, is there a difference in the way
the two versions of XL handle data tables?
Again, I copied the workbook from one ver. to the other and I got
different results.

This isn't a "big deal", but I found that the way xl97 handled it was
handy.
 
I think the difference in your case is that later versions of Excel
handle the dates on that axis in a different manner (and not everyone
thinks newer is better). Can you double click the X axis and change the
number of categories between labels on the Scale tab?

- Jon
 
Jon;
I can do that but it makes no difference (that's if I understand you
correctly - I rarely use charts).
What I have is about 198 days of data.
I have the "Major" units as 7 days and "Minor units" = 1 day.
The graph is fine, all points correct and the X axis labels are the
right values.

Under xl97 it graphed fine and the data table handled the dates
("yy/mm/dd") by displaying the "yy/mm/" on one line then dropping to a
second line and displaying the day.
The value of the data point ("Series1") was displayed under that and xl
had scaled it so that the points were 12 days apart which suited me (and
my endocrinologist (sp)) just fine (these are blood glucose readings
that take up four positions max 99.9 -although 3 positions is more
preferable:-).
I remember thinking that this was "pretty smart" of the app. as I was
wondering how it would handle the whole range of numbers. Again, I don't
use charting much and did this to give myself a little education on
charting while doing something useful.
When I copied/opened it in xl2k it is attempting to display the full 198
points in the series vs scaling it as it did under '97.
This displays as thin "slivers" in the table (I can understand why!).
I can live without it, but it seems a step backwards (or I'm a little
backwards, one or the other:-))

Thanks for your time.
 
Rob -

If you want, send me the file, and I'll see if I can come up with an
alternative axis format that will suit you. Include a screen shot (gif,
not bmp) of the old version, if you still have access to '97.

- Jon
 
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