Multiple series not plotting in their respective data ranges

[Guest]

I have a price comparison chart (line chart) that has multiple prices for
multiple dates.

Price 1 has a date range of 01/01/07 - 02/06/07.
Price 2 has a date range of 01/19/07 - 01/31/07 (a subset of the Price 1
range). When Price 2 plots, it starts at the left of the overall range
(01/01/07) and stops at 01/13/07 instead of plotting in the middle of the
chart starting at 01/19/07 and ending at 01/31/07.

Is this a bug or is there a parameter setting I need to tweak?

Thanks, Mike

 

[David Biddulph]

If you want to plot one variable (price) as a function of another variable
(date), you should be using XY (confusingly named scatter) chart, not line
chart. You can include a line as well as (or instead of) point markers.

 

[Jon Peltier]

A time scale axis does use numerical dates, as opposed to equidistant
labels, but all series are forced to use the same dates as the first series.
This is too bad, because a line chart's date axis can be formatted more
flexibly than an XY chart's X axis. What I often do is plot the first series
as a line chart, than make the others XY series. The actual X values (dates)
are plotted right on the time scale axis at their actual dates, not the
dates of the first series. Unfortunately, in Excel 2007, an XY series is not
properly charted on a line chart's date scale axis.

If one series is a subset of the other, you can arrange the data in three
columns, one with the dates, the next with the full data for the dates, and
the third with the values only on the relevant dates, with blank cells on
dates with no data.

- Jon

 

[Guest]

Thanks Jon...I'll give that a shot!

A time scale axis does use numerical dates, as opposed to equidistant
labels, but all series are forced to use the same dates as the first series.
This is too bad, because a line chart's date axis can be formatted more
flexibly than an XY chart's X axis. What I often do is plot the first series
as a line chart, than make the others XY series. The actual X values (dates)
are plotted right on the time scale axis at their actual dates, not the
dates of the first series. Unfortunately, in Excel 2007, an XY series is not
properly charted on a line chart's date scale axis.

If one series is a subset of the other, you can arrange the data in three
columns, one with the dates, the next with the full data for the dates, and
the third with the values only on the relevant dates, with blank cells on
dates with no data.

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

 

[Guest]

Hi David, I had actually tried a scatter chart but got the same result so I
flipped it back. Thanks for the reply though!

 

[David Biddulph]

In the XY chart, check the Source Data, and make sure that the values for
the X and Y axis series for each line are the ones appropriate to what you
are trying to plot.