Excel 2007 - Custom error bars ??

[mc.linux]

Hi everyone!

I am sorry if this is a repeat of a common question, but so far I only
found contradictory information on this:
For scientific charting I depent on the "add custom error bars" function
which was running well in excel 2003: you could easily indicate a
column in your data as x/y errors in a chart.
Now I am running the trial version of excel 2007 - and the function is
gone! Does anyone know if this feature is implemented meanwhile in excel
2007 and how to use it?? Single values as general error bars are not
helpful for me and I am wondering what sense this reduced feature makes
at all.

I would be grateful for advice, because otherwise excel 2007 is
absolutely useless for me.

Mat

 

[Bruno]

Under the error bars menu, you have to click 'more options', first tab,
errordisplay, and then the fifth options.

I have a full version, in dutch, so I don't know the exact names in english.

 

[mc.linux]

Hi Bruno!

Thanks for your quick response. I tried the option you pointed out, but
my version of excel 2007 (English, trial) keeps crashing at the point
where I am pressing the left mouse button to drag the databox around my
error column.
Would that maneuver work on your version, I wonder?

Mat

 

[mc.linux]

... one other thing:

I noticed the fact that in my project, the data columns and the chart
are on different tabs. This may be the reason why my version crashed and
the other not. Under Excel 2003, the error bar>customize window keeps on
top while switching tabs, under Excel 2007 the window just disappears :-(

 

[Tushar Mehta]

In my case (Excel 2007 with whatever patches MS distributed through
its Update system), the custom error bars option works OK (*) as long
as the chart is on the same sheet as the data. It also works OK if
the error bars are created while the chart is on the same sheet as the
data and then moved to its own sheet or to another worksheet.

However, if the chart is anywhere but on the same sheet as the data,
the error bars consistently revert to a fixed length.

(*) Works OK is meant to be taken with many grains of salt. Any
attempt to add a vertical error bar always adds a horizontal error
bar. The latter has to be subsequently deleted.

... one other thing:

I noticed the fact that in my project, the data columns and the chart
are on different tabs. This may be the reason why my version crashed
and
the other not. Under Excel 2003, the error bar>customize window keeps
on
top while switching tabs, under Excel 2007 the window just disappears
:-(

Under the error bars menu, you have to click 'more options', first tab,
errordisplay, and then the fifth options.

I have a full version, in dutch, so I don't know the exact names in english.

Regards,

Tushar Mehta
Microsoft MVP Excel 2000-2008
www.tushar-mehta.com
Tutorials and add-ins for Excel, PowerPoint, and other products

 

[Christine]

Hi all,
I have a problem that you might have encountered as well: as a scientist, I
often have to plot different data using a similar table and chart. In excell
2003, I used to just copy the excell sheet containing the table and the
chart, and update the values in this new sheet. When doing that, the chart as
well as the value of the custom error bars where automatically updated. Now,
in excell 2007, I can copy the sheet, and change the values to update my
chart, but the error bars for this second chart are still using the reference
of the original sheet. So I have to change manually those reference, can be
painful when 20 graphs have to be done. Did anyone find out why and how to
solve this problem?
Thanks!