Timescale in Charts

Hi, I have created a line chart where the x-column is dates and the other
column (y-axis) is my data. However, the data is not put into this second
column at regular intervals - I might go for, say, a month without entering
any data, but then again I may go through a few weeks where I am entering
data every day.

This problem isn't really urgent to me as my line chart works fine, but just
as a bonus I would like to see the data displayed proportionately over time
(for example if difference between the 1st data point and last data point
was exactly one year, I would like the midpoint of the graph to be 6
months). I have tried changing the options and reading the books etc but
haven't had any joy so far.

Any help appreciated,

Sally

Hi Sally,

I know this issue, too.

The only way I found was to set up a list of dates chronological (e. g.
every day - regardless if you have any data for each of the days) in the
first column and enter the data for the relevant days besides the date in the
second column.
Leave those cells in the second column empty, where you have no data for the
date.

Now your date-axis should be correct and in good proportion.

This solution should solve this issue quick and easy...

Best wishes from Germany,
Eric

"Sally" wrote:

> Hi, I have created a line chart where the x-column is dates and the other
> column (y-axis) is my data. However, the data is not put into this second
> column at regular intervals - I might go for, say, a month without entering
> any data, but then again I may go through a few weeks where I am entering
> data every day.
>
> This problem isn't really urgent to me as my line chart works fine, but just
> as a bonus I would like to see the data displayed proportionately over time
> (for example if difference between the 1st data point and last data point
> was exactly one year, I would like the midpoint of the graph to be 6
> months). I have tried changing the options and reading the books etc but
> haven't had any joy so far.
>
> Any help appreciated,
>
> Sally
>
>
>

If Excel recognizes the data as dates, you will automatically get a
Date-Scale axis, and the horizontal spacing will be proportional to the
elapsed time between measurements.

When you double click on the X axis, under the Scale tab, does it say "Time
(X) Axis Scale"? If not, you don't have a Time Scale axis. To fix, first
examine the data. Select a cell with a date. No matter the format, if Excel
knows it's a date, the formula bar will display it in this format: 1/1/2006.
If it is not displayed this way, you need to re-enter the data or try to get
Excel to recognize it. Make sure the cells are formatted as something
numeric, preferably a date format. There are at least two ways to convert
the cells to an Excel date. 1: copy a blank cell, select the cells to
convert, from the Edit menu, use Paste Special with the Operation - Add
option. 2: select the cells, on the Data menu select Text to Columns, choose
either delimited or fixed width, and make sure the items aren't split, and
in step 3 choose the Date column format.

If the dates are okay, select the chart, choose Chart Options on the Chart
menu, and on the Axes tab, under Category Axis, choose Time-Scale.

If you have a date axis, double click on it, make sure the Base Unit is in
Day(s), and set other appropriate limits.

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Peltier Technical Services
Tutorials and Custom Solutions
http://PeltierTech.com/
_______

"Sally" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi, I have created a line chart where the x-column is dates and the other
> column (y-axis) is my data. However, the data is not put into this second
> column at regular intervals - I might go for, say, a month without
> entering any data, but then again I may go through a few weeks where I am
> entering data every day.
>
> This problem isn't really urgent to me as my line chart works fine, but
> just as a bonus I would like to see the data displayed proportionately
> over time (for example if difference between the 1st data point and last
> data point was exactly one year, I would like the midpoint of the graph to
> be 6 months). I have tried changing the options and reading the books etc
> but haven't had any joy so far.
>
> Any help appreciated,
>
> Sally
>