Basic line graph question

**jtradr** · 07-16-2012, 03:17 PM

Hi All,

Thanks in advance for any help with what is probably an insanely basic question.

I need to make a bunch of line charts from a spreadsheet in which the data is not evenly spaced. I select line graph and then select data. I go to the legend entries and select the cells manually and separate them by commas. It's a bit laborious but it is only 30 data points so not so bad. Then I go to the Horizontal Axis and select the dates manually separating by a comma.

The problem is randomly some of the charts will stop at a certain data point. For instance this data is from Jan 2010 to June 2012. The X axis is labeled all the way to june 2012 but the line stops in july 2011. I have gone back to check to make sure all the cells I need are selected and they are. I can't get the graph to complete.

Also sometimes on other charts I select the dates for the X axis and they just stop on a random month.

Anyone know what I am missing? Thanks again.

**stubbsj** · 07-16-2012, 03:29 PM

Can you post an example file?

**jtradr** · 07-16-2012, 03:44 PM

Not sure why my post didn't show up. Thank you for responding, do you want the whole spreadsheet? Or a picture of the chart?

**stubbsj** · 07-16-2012, 04:05 PM

Normally, it is best to provide a sample spreadsheet. That way you protect any sensitive or proprietary information. Either will do.

Jim

**jtradr** · 07-17-2012, 11:47 AM

I copied the spreadsheet but of course now I can't seem to replicate the issue. You can see in the chart marked une cumul that it ends 5/1/2012 on the horizontal axis but the data points end in april '12. I have selected all the data from 1/10 to 6/12 however. Sometimes this happens in the middle of 2011 and I have half a chart despite having selected all the data.

Thank You

Let me know if the attachment works. It's my first time using this forum.

**stubbsj** · 07-17-2012, 01:24 PM

Hi -
I took a look at your file. I agree, something is wrong. For example, it is not displaying the June'12 data point even though it is identified as a data point in the series. Unfortunately, I'm not a chart whiz and I don't know how to help.

Maybe someone else can step in and figure this out.

**Andy Pope** · 07-18-2012, 04:33 AM

In that chart the number of data values in column O does not match the date values in column C.

Save yourself a world of pain and build a contiguous range for charting.

**jtradr** · 07-18-2012, 06:58 AM

So you are saying that the quantity of dates does not equal the quantity of data points? That is not intentional if so.

I am thinking after all this (because it continues to happen) to go and reorder all my rows in all the spreadsheets but it is such a massive job.

I know I can sort the rows by name but then can I sort them by date and keep the alphabetical order? I will have to try. Thank you for the help