Can't get simple chart to look right

[Jools]

I have some data which I can't show in a simple Excel chart no
matter how I try! Can someone please help. I'm using Excel
2003.

I just can't get the data in the right place and I can't get an
evenly-spaced date/time x-axis.

------------

The data is essentially the date/time when 3 people make phone
calls. At the bottom of this message is a sample of the data.

FOR THE X-AXIS I would like to show the date/time for the period
involved in a normal evenly-spaced way.

FOR THE Y-AXIS I would like three data series each going left to
right along the direction of the x-axis. Each data series would
show the date/time each person made a call. Each call woul dbe
shown by a point.

(a) The chart could show each phone call as a dot (or
alternatively as a column rising above the x-axis). The data
points could all rise to the same height.

(b) It would help with interpretation if the data points for
each person had a different height. So person A's calls are on
a line parallel to the x-axis, person B's calls are on a line
parallel to the x-axis but a bit further away from the x-axis,
etc.

(c) Better still might be a 3-D column chart where one person
had the front row (and the row goes along the x-axis), another
person had the row behind and the third person had the back row.




---------- SAMPLE DATA -------

data in format:
(a) name
(b) dd-mm-yyyy hh:mm

Christine 10-12-2008 11:08
Albert 10-12-2008 10:29
Albert 10-12-2008 10:24
Christine 10-12-2008 09:19
Christine 10-12-2008 09:15
Albert 10-12-2008 02:45
Albert 10-12-2008 02:41
Albert 10-12-2008 02:13
Christine 10-12-2008 01:52
Christine 10-12-2008 01:45
Albert 10-12-2008 01:41
Christine 10-12-2008 01:29
Albert 10-12-2008 01:25
Christine 10-12-2008 01:21
Albert 10-12-2008 01:13
Christine 10-12-2008 01:04
Albert 10-12-2008 00:48
Albert 10-12-2008 00:35
Christine 10-12-2008 00:23
Albert 09-12-2008 23:00
Albert 09-12-2008 22:53
Albert 09-12-2008 22:44
Albert 09-12-2008 22:15
Albert 09-12-2008 22:12
Bertrand 09-12-2008 21:39
Bertrand 09-12-2008 21:38
Bertrand 09-12-2008 20:38
Bertrand 09-12-2008 20:34
Bertrand 09-12-2008 20:31
Bertrand 09-12-2008 20:17
Bertrand 09-12-2008 20:16
Bertrand 09-12-2008 20:07
Albert 09-12-2008 18:19
Albert 09-12-2008 18:10
Albert 09-12-2008 17:19
Albert 09-12-2008 17:01
Albert 09-12-2008 16:51
Christine 09-12-2008 16:26

 

[AltaEgo]

On your final point, to get date and time evenly spaced on an x Axis, you
need to have it evenly spaced in your raw data. How to resolve this will
depend on your raw data. Possibly you may be able to solve your problem
using a pivot table to summarise data by date and a pivot chart to display.
John Peltier has a 'how to' on his website that may help:

http://peltiertech.com/WordPress/2008/06/11/grouping-by-date-in-a-pivot-table/


If the above does not help, ask your question again explaining your raw data
and your problem in a little more detail.

 

[Jools]

Hi Steve!

I'll follow up your reference about pivot tables. I hope it's
straightforward because my requirement (did you read it?) is
something very commonplace.

You said to post with more details if I neded more info but I
have posted with so many details below I can't think what else
would you need me to include! Can you give me an idea please.

Thanks.
Jools

 

[AltaEgo]

Jools,

If you use Excel to analyse data, the effort to learn how to create a pivot
table in Excel will repay itself many times over.

Getting a clear perception of the needs of somebody from a written question
can be difficult. Whoever answers your question does so based on what s/he
thinks you need. The clearer you can state your needs, the better quality
the answer you will receive. Sample data provides a "picture" for the
reader. For example, without looking at part (B) of the question below, how
easy would it be for you to answer the question?

A) "I need to sum sales by date. Summary figures should be rounded to the
nearest thousand dollars.

B) Sample data

Col A; Col B; Col C
Date; Region; Quantity ($ thousands)
1/1/2008; North; 345.1
1/1/2008; South; 546.6
....
1/2/2008; North; 123.7
....

Note that there are four regions and sales are recorded every workday
whether or not a zero amount is sold.