Chart is squeezing the lines for no reason

[misterno]

Here is the chart in original format. Dates are intended to be only between Nov1-Mar31 for 5 years

So the chart looks like this

http://i.hizliresim.com/AJvoaQ.jpg

So to get rid of the blank dates in between, I choose text axis instead of dates axis , so here is the result

http://i.hizliresim.com/B21VYG.jpg


But now the lines are squeezed to the left of the chart. How do I make it spread all the way and look normal?

[MrShorty]

I cannot be certain what is going on based solely on the pictures (a sample file would be more informative). Based on what your description, the "date" axis version looks normal for a line chart with a date axis, and the "text" axis version looks normal for a text axis when the category axis range includes several blank entries towards the end of the range. Is that the case here -- you have included several "empty" cells in the chart's source range?

If that is the case, and I understand what you want to do, you need to remove those blank/empty/unwanted cells from the chart's source ranges. In these cases, the first strategy suggested is to use "dynamic named ranges". This is an old and frequently discussed technique, so I will defer to others who have written about it:
http://www.excel-easy.com/examples/d...med-range.html
http://peltiertech.com/dynamic-charts/
Or put "dynamic named ranges" into your favorite internet search engine.

[misterno]

I cannot be certain what is going on based solely on the pictures (a sample file would be more informative). Based on what your description, the "date" axis version looks normal for a line chart with a date axis, and the "text" axis version looks normal for a text axis when the category axis range includes several blank entries towards the end of the range. Is that the case here -- you have included several "empty" cells in the chart's source range?

If that is the case, and I understand what you want to do, you need to remove those blank/empty/unwanted cells from the chart's source ranges. In these cases, the first strategy suggested is to use "dynamic named ranges". This is an old and frequently discussed technique, so I will defer to others who have written about it:
http://www.excel-easy.com/examples/d...med-range.html
http://peltiertech.com/dynamic-charts/
Or put "dynamic named ranges" into your favorite internet search engine.

To make you clear, I am trying to display only nov-mar for the last 5 years but no gap in between in the chart.

Dynamic is for dataset which keeps changing, my data does not change

I do not have a problem with data, my problem is displaying. Excel chart squeezes the line to the left when I change axis options from date axis to text axis

but if I do not change it then it shows big gaps in between. The gaps are due to April thru October dates which I do not want to show

[MrShorty]

So that it should be like the text/category axis example, without the blank space to the right, is that correct? I think a text axis is the way to go. Assuming the blank space is caused by empty cells in the source data range, using dynamic named ranges should be a strategy for removing that blank space from the chart.