2 X-axes in MS Graph

[Guest]

I am trying to create a combination chart that has two y-axes and two x-axes
with different values. This is because we have 2 columnar series on the
bottom x-axis, with 5 data points to be shown for 2001-2005E, and then a line
series to go on the top x-axes, with roughly 1400 data points for daily
values over the same time period!

I know this can be done in Excel but I can't seem to assign the second
x-axis values in the datasheet in MS Graph. Does anyone know if this
functionality is one of the missing pieces in Graph, or can it be done?

 

[Bill Dilworth]

You've given yourself the answer without realizing it.

MS Graph is somewhat limited. Ummm. MS Graph is to limited as Everest is
to mountain. Oh well, it isn't meant to be the end-all, top-of-the-line
graphing program, it is just a helper app. It will graph out 99% of what is
needed in PowerPoint slides.

But, you said that Excel does what you want just fine. Why not cut and
paste the graph from Excel into PowerPoint?

Now, having said how, let's talk about if. If the graph is so complicated
that it needs to be done in excel, you may want to re-think its use. Either
present the information in a simpler format or break the information into
smaller units. I've seen many presentations bogged down by graphs that try
to incorporate all the data but don't clearly communicate anything. KISS
principle in presentations. Simple facts. Strait forward ideas. Images
(including graphs) that clearly illustrate.

Maybe MS Graph will be enough if you simply your displayed data. One thing
you may want to do is hand a copy of your graph to a co-worker (audience
peer) and ask them what it shows. If they ask more than 2 or 3 questions
without 'getting it' (the reason you are showing the graph), the graph may
be too complicated to use in a presentation.

--
Bill Dilworth
Microsoft PPT MVP Team
Users helping fellow users.
===============
Please spend a few minutes checking vestprog2@
out www.pptfaq.com This link will yahoo.
answer most of our questions, before com
you think to ask them.

Change org to com to defuse anti-spam,
ant-virus, anti-nuisance misdirection.
..
..

 

[Guest]

Thanks for that Bill. How I and my colleagues laughed when we read your
advice. Not because it was in any way bad (before I get banned from this
community), but because we work in an investment bank, where the trend seems
to be towards complicating things as much as possible (including insisting we
use MS Graph for all their complicated financial data!!).

But thanks for setting my mind at ease that MS Graph definitely doesn't do
the job on that score. I thought I must be missing something incredibly
simple if it gave you the option for 2 x-axes without the option for
different x-axes!

 

[Bill Dilworth]

Don't worry, it is rather difficult to get banned from a public forum. It
will never happen for simply disagreeing with anyone, after all, that is how
new knowledge is uncovered.

However, I'm sad that we do disagree with the idea behind charting in
PowerPoint. I view PowerPoint as a communication tool to get ideas and
thoughts from one mind to another. Too much information usually has the
exact opposite results. But then, I may not have understood the company's
end goal for using the complicated graphs.

Bill