Hello,

I'm working with a large amount of data I'd like to plot in an xy
scatterchart (1e6 to 4e6 datapoints).

I'm building the chart in VB by creating multiple series of the maximum 32k
size.

Is there a way to build the all the series without having the chart refresh
until done? In the worst case, I have 128 series to plot.

In otherwords, I'd like to refresh the chart on demand, and only when desired.

Thanks,
Jeff

The maximum points allowed in a chart is 0.25e6 points. Even this many are
too many in 99% of the cases I've seen; that's almost the number of pixels
in a full page chart.

You could try setting Application.ScreenUpdating to False at the start of
your procedure and True at the end, which doesn't always affect charts the
way you'd expect. Also build the chart on a sheet that is not the active
sheet, to reduce Excel's compulsion to update the display. I'm not sure
setting Application.Calculation to manual would help in this case.

If you're using 2007, charts with lots of points are a disaster anyway, and
charts redraw themselves at the slightest provocation. 2003 and earlier
behave much more nicely.

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


"schuhjm" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
newsA88D935-0973-4179-BF45-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hello,
>
> I'm working with a large amount of data I'd like to plot in an xy
> scatterchart (1e6 to 4e6 datapoints).
>
> I'm building the chart in VB by creating multiple series of the maximum
> 32k
> size.
>
> Is there a way to build the all the series without having the chart
> refresh
> until done? In the worst case, I have 128 series to plot.
>
> In otherwords, I'd like to refresh the chart on demand, and only when
> desired.
>
> Thanks,
> Jeff

Thanks, I'll try ScreenUpdating.

I've been scrolling the page so the chart's are out of view, which
helps tremendously, but it's still slow. It will plot all 4e6 points
however

Just so you don't think I'm a bit foolish in the data size, I'm trying
to plot a timebased dataset with 1e6 points on 4 channels. I've
strung together 32 maximum sized series for each of the 4 series.
(People still want to pick up every spike on a general graph.).

I'll probably revert to what I started with, a single condensed graph,
with an additional detailed plot with pan and zoom buttons.

jeff


On Apr 19, 6:42 am, "Jon Peltier" <jonxlmv...@SPAMpeltiertech.com>
wrote:
> The maximum points allowed in a chart is 0.25e6 points. Even this many are
> too many in 99% of the cases I've seen; that's almost the number of pixels
> in a full page chart.
>
> You could try setting Application.ScreenUpdating to False at the start of
> your procedure and True at the end, which doesn't always affect charts the
> way you'd expect. Also build the chart on a sheet that is not the active
> sheet, to reduce Excel's compulsion to update the display. I'm not sure
> setting Application.Calculation to manual would help in this case.
>
> If you're using 2007, charts with lots of points are a disaster anyway, and
> charts redraw themselves at the slightest provocation. 2003 and earlier
> behave much more nicely.
>
> - Jon
> -------
> Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
> Tutorials and Custom Solutions
> Peltier Technical Services, Inc. -http://PeltierTech.com
> _______
>
> "schuhjm" <schu...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>
> newsA88D935-0973-4179-BF45-(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> > Hello,
>
> > I'm working with a large amount of data I'd like to plot in an xy
> > scatterchart (1e6 to 4e6 datapoints).
>
> > I'm building the chart in VB by creating multiple series of the maximum
> > 32k
> > size.
>
> > Is there a way to build the all the series without having the chart
> > refresh
> > until done? In the worst case, I have 128 series to plot.
>
> > In otherwords, I'd like to refresh the chart on demand, and only when
> > desired.
>
> > Thanks,
> > Jeff

You're not getting all 4 million points into a single chart.

Excel 2003 (same as 2002, 2000, 97)
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ex...992911033.aspx

Data points in a data series for 2-D charts 32,000
Data points for all data series in one chart 256,000

Excel 2007
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ex...CH101030621033

Data points in a data series for 2-D charts 32,000
Data points for all data series in one chart 256,000

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



<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:53e1955b-ad9b-42f4-8a19-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Thanks, I'll try ScreenUpdating.
>
> I've been scrolling the page so the chart's are out of view, which
> helps tremendously, but it's still slow. It will plot all 4e6 points
> however
>
> Just so you don't think I'm a bit foolish in the data size, I'm trying
> to plot a timebased dataset with 1e6 points on 4 channels. I've
> strung together 32 maximum sized series for each of the 4 series.
> (People still want to pick up every spike on a general graph.).
>
> I'll probably revert to what I started with, a single condensed graph,
> with an additional detailed plot with pan and zoom buttons.
>
> jeff
>
>
> On Apr 19, 6:42 am, "Jon Peltier" <jonxlmv...@SPAMpeltiertech.com>
> wrote:
>> The maximum points allowed in a chart is 0.25e6 points. Even this many
>> are
>> too many in 99% of the cases I've seen; that's almost the number of
>> pixels
>> in a full page chart.
>>
>> You could try setting Application.ScreenUpdating to False at the start of
>> your procedure and True at the end, which doesn't always affect charts
>> the
>> way you'd expect. Also build the chart on a sheet that is not the active
>> sheet, to reduce Excel's compulsion to update the display. I'm not sure
>> setting Application.Calculation to manual would help in this case.
>>
>> If you're using 2007, charts with lots of points are a disaster anyway,
>> and
>> charts redraw themselves at the slightest provocation. 2003 and earlier
>> behave much more nicely.
>>
>> - Jon
>> -------
>> Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
>> Tutorials and Custom Solutions
>> Peltier Technical Services, Inc. -http://PeltierTech.com
>> _______
>>
>> "schuhjm" <schu...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>
>> newsA88D935-0973-4179-BF45-(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>> > Hello,
>>
>> > I'm working with a large amount of data I'd like to plot in an xy
>> > scatterchart (1e6 to 4e6 datapoints).
>>
>> > I'm building the chart in VB by creating multiple series of the maximum
>> > 32k
>> > size.
>>
>> > Is there a way to build the all the series without having the chart
>> > refresh
>> > until done? In the worst case, I have 128 series to plot.
>>
>> > In otherwords, I'd like to refresh the chart on demand, and only when
>> > desired.
>>
>> > Thanks,
>> > Jeff
>

You can do some rough signal conditioning. Divide your data into small
chunks, enough to fill a fraction of the 32k maximum, and plot three points
from each chunk: min, max, and mean. Pick the number of points per data
chunk for what fits the data best. This approach will show any peaks,
assuming you don't have two within a chunk, without bogging down Excel.

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


<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:53e1955b-ad9b-42f4-8a19-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Thanks, I'll try ScreenUpdating.
>
> I've been scrolling the page so the chart's are out of view, which
> helps tremendously, but it's still slow. It will plot all 4e6 points
> however
>
> Just so you don't think I'm a bit foolish in the data size, I'm trying
> to plot a timebased dataset with 1e6 points on 4 channels. I've
> strung together 32 maximum sized series for each of the 4 series.
> (People still want to pick up every spike on a general graph.).
>
> I'll probably revert to what I started with, a single condensed graph,
> with an additional detailed plot with pan and zoom buttons.
>
> jeff
>
>
> On Apr 19, 6:42 am, "Jon Peltier" <jonxlmv...@SPAMpeltiertech.com>
> wrote:
>> The maximum points allowed in a chart is 0.25e6 points. Even this many
>> are
>> too many in 99% of the cases I've seen; that's almost the number of
>> pixels
>> in a full page chart.
>>
>> You could try setting Application.ScreenUpdating to False at the start of
>> your procedure and True at the end, which doesn't always affect charts
>> the
>> way you'd expect. Also build the chart on a sheet that is not the active
>> sheet, to reduce Excel's compulsion to update the display. I'm not sure
>> setting Application.Calculation to manual would help in this case.
>>
>> If you're using 2007, charts with lots of points are a disaster anyway,
>> and
>> charts redraw themselves at the slightest provocation. 2003 and earlier
>> behave much more nicely.
>>
>> - Jon
>> -------
>> Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
>> Tutorials and Custom Solutions
>> Peltier Technical Services, Inc. -http://PeltierTech.com
>> _______
>>
>> "schuhjm" <schu...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>
>> newsA88D935-0973-4179-BF45-(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>> > Hello,
>>
>> > I'm working with a large amount of data I'd like to plot in an xy
>> > scatterchart (1e6 to 4e6 datapoints).
>>
>> > I'm building the chart in VB by creating multiple series of the maximum
>> > 32k
>> > size.
>>
>> > Is there a way to build the all the series without having the chart
>> > refresh
>> > until done? In the worst case, I have 128 series to plot.
>>
>> > In otherwords, I'd like to refresh the chart on demand, and only when
>> > desired.
>>
>> > Thanks,
>> > Jeff
>

I've already tried searching the data to pull out points with
transitions greater than a given noise level, but that was pretty time
intensive as I was looking at each point in comparison to it's
immediate neighbors, and it wasn't terribly effective.

Haven't considered the simple min/max function. That might work even
if plotting min/max separately (only 12 series total).

Thanks

Jeff

On Apr 19, 10:44 am, "Jon Peltier" <jonxlmv...@SPAMpeltiertech.com>
wrote:
> You can do some rough signal conditioning. Divide your data into small
> chunks, enough to fill a fraction of the 32k maximum, and plot three points
> from each chunk: min, max, and mean. Pick the number of points per data
> chunk for what fits the data best. This approach will show any peaks,
> assuming you don't have two within a chunk, without bogging down Excel.
>
> - Jon
> -------
> Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
> Tutorials and Custom Solutions
> Peltier Technical Services, Inc. -http://PeltierTech.com
> _______
>
> <Yah...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:53e1955b-ad9b-42f4-8a19-(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> > Thanks, I'll try ScreenUpdating.
>
> > I've been scrolling the page so the chart's are out of view, which
> > helps tremendously, but it's still slow. It will plot all 4e6 points
> > however
>
> > Just so you don't think I'm a bit foolish in the data size, I'm trying
> > to plot a timebased dataset with 1e6 points on 4 channels. I've
> > strung together 32 maximum sized series for each of the 4 series.
> > (People still want to pick up every spike on a general graph.).
>
> > I'll probably revert to what I started with, a single condensed graph,
> > with an additional detailed plot with pan and zoom buttons.
>
> > jeff
>
> > On Apr 19, 6:42 am, "Jon Peltier" <jonxlmv...@SPAMpeltiertech.com>
> > wrote:
> >> The maximum points allowed in a chart is 0.25e6 points. Even this many
> >> are
> >> too many in 99% of the cases I've seen; that's almost the number of
> >> pixels
> >> in a full page chart.
>
> >> You could try setting Application.ScreenUpdating to False at the start of
> >> your procedure and True at the end, which doesn't always affect charts
> >> the
> >> way you'd expect. Also build the chart on a sheet that is not the active
> >> sheet, to reduce Excel's compulsion to update the display. I'm not sure
> >> setting Application.Calculation to manual would help in this case.
>
> >> If you're using 2007, charts with lots of points are a disaster anyway,
> >> and
> >> charts redraw themselves at the slightest provocation. 2003 and earlier
> >> behave much more nicely.
>
> >> - Jon
> >> -------
> >> Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
> >> Tutorials and Custom Solutions
> >> Peltier Technical Services, Inc. -http://PeltierTech.com
> >> _______
>
> >> "schuhjm" <schu...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>
> >>newsA88D935-0973-4179-BF45-(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> >> > Hello,
>
> >> > I'm working with a large amount of data I'd like to plot in an xy
> >> > scatterchart (1e6 to 4e6 datapoints).
>
> >> > I'm building the chart in VB by creating multiple series of the maximum
> >> > 32k
> >> > size.
>
> >> > Is there a way to build the all the series without having the chart
> >> > refresh
> >> > until done? In the worst case, I have 128 series to plot.
>
> >> > In otherwords, I'd like to refresh the chart on demand, and only when
> >> > desired.
>
> >> > Thanks,
> >> > Jeff

It might be quicker to read the data into VBA arrays, process the data
there, and return much smaller arrays to Excel for charting.

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


<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:5d4a3c12-0694-4721-bf2e-(E-Mail Removed)...
> I've already tried searching the data to pull out points with
> transitions greater than a given noise level, but that was pretty time
> intensive as I was looking at each point in comparison to it's
> immediate neighbors, and it wasn't terribly effective.
>
> Haven't considered the simple min/max function. That might work even
> if plotting min/max separately (only 12 series total).
>
> Thanks
>
> Jeff
>
> On Apr 19, 10:44 am, "Jon Peltier" <jonxlmv...@SPAMpeltiertech.com>
> wrote:
>> You can do some rough signal conditioning. Divide your data into small
>> chunks, enough to fill a fraction of the 32k maximum, and plot three
>> points
>> from each chunk: min, max, and mean. Pick the number of points per data
>> chunk for what fits the data best. This approach will show any peaks,
>> assuming you don't have two within a chunk, without bogging down Excel.
>>
>> - Jon
>> -------
>> Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
>> Tutorials and Custom Solutions
>> Peltier Technical Services, Inc. -http://PeltierTech.com
>> _______
>>
>> <Yah...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>>
>> news:53e1955b-ad9b-42f4-8a19-(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>> > Thanks, I'll try ScreenUpdating.
>>
>> > I've been scrolling the page so the chart's are out of view, which
>> > helps tremendously, but it's still slow. It will plot all 4e6 points
>> > however
>>
>> > Just so you don't think I'm a bit foolish in the data size, I'm trying
>> > to plot a timebased dataset with 1e6 points on 4 channels. I've
>> > strung together 32 maximum sized series for each of the 4 series.
>> > (People still want to pick up every spike on a general graph.).
>>
>> > I'll probably revert to what I started with, a single condensed graph,
>> > with an additional detailed plot with pan and zoom buttons.
>>
>> > jeff
>>
>> > On Apr 19, 6:42 am, "Jon Peltier" <jonxlmv...@SPAMpeltiertech.com>
>> > wrote:
>> >> The maximum points allowed in a chart is 0.25e6 points. Even this many
>> >> are
>> >> too many in 99% of the cases I've seen; that's almost the number of
>> >> pixels
>> >> in a full page chart.
>>
>> >> You could try setting Application.ScreenUpdating to False at the start
>> >> of
>> >> your procedure and True at the end, which doesn't always affect charts
>> >> the
>> >> way you'd expect. Also build the chart on a sheet that is not the
>> >> active
>> >> sheet, to reduce Excel's compulsion to update the display. I'm not
>> >> sure
>> >> setting Application.Calculation to manual would help in this case.
>>
>> >> If you're using 2007, charts with lots of points are a disaster
>> >> anyway,
>> >> and
>> >> charts redraw themselves at the slightest provocation. 2003 and
>> >> earlier
>> >> behave much more nicely.
>>
>> >> - Jon
>> >> -------
>> >> Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
>> >> Tutorials and Custom Solutions
>> >> Peltier Technical Services, Inc. -http://PeltierTech.com
>> >> _______
>>
>> >> "schuhjm" <schu...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>
>> >>newsA88D935-0973-4179-BF45-(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>> >> > Hello,
>>
>> >> > I'm working with a large amount of data I'd like to plot in an xy
>> >> > scatterchart (1e6 to 4e6 datapoints).
>>
>> >> > I'm building the chart in VB by creating multiple series of the
>> >> > maximum
>> >> > 32k
>> >> > size.
>>
>> >> > Is there a way to build the all the series without having the chart
>> >> > refresh
>> >> > until done? In the worst case, I have 128 series to plot.
>>
>> >> > In otherwords, I'd like to refresh the chart on demand, and only
>> >> > when
>> >> > desired.
>>
>> >> > Thanks,
>> >> > Jeff
>

Hi Jon,

I just noticed your reference to the chart specifications. (256k datapoints
per chart)

Since I can generate an overall chart with all my data as below, I assume
there is some internal interpolation, or data compressing occuring, otherwise
I wouldn't be getting what I see I wouldn' think.

I gather if there is background compression occuring, that's a substantial
part of the time involved.

Data Content:
4 "channels" plotted
Each channel is 32 sequential time based series
Each series is 32000 data points 1/32 of total time base

Jeff

Excel would not do any decimation of the data for you.

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


"schuhjm" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:4E817C57-43FA-4048-8432-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi Jon,
>
> I just noticed your reference to the chart specifications. (256k
> datapoints
> per chart)
>
> Since I can generate an overall chart with all my data as below, I assume
> there is some internal interpolation, or data compressing occuring,
> otherwise
> I wouldn't be getting what I see I wouldn' think.
>
> I gather if there is background compression occuring, that's a substantial
> part of the time involved.
>
> Data Content:
> 4 "channels" plotted
> Each channel is 32 sequential time based series
> Each series is 32000 data points 1/32 of total time base
>
> Jeff