scatter plots and "label" as ("X" value1, value2)

[Guest]

Hi -
I have three columns of data as follows:
Name Value1 Value2
a 1 2
b 3 4
c 5 6

when i do a scatter plot, i can move the cursor to a specific item - let's
say for "b" above - and it shows ("3" 3,4). What I need is for it to show
("b" 3,4). I know that you can have all labels explicitly shown on the
chart, but i have over a thousand data points and doing that would make the
chart useless. I need to be able to find the label of some data points
though, and would like to use the cursor to see the name for that data point.
There must be a way to do this, but i have been looking and using "help" to
no avail.

Please help, and i will be eternally grateful.
-shabnam

 

[Tushar Mehta]

The only way I know is through a programmatic solution. For a ready-
made add-in that comes close see Hover Chart Label
http://www.tushar-mehta.com/excel/software/chart_hover_label/index.html

--
Regards,

Tushar Mehta
www.tushar-mehta.com
Excel, PowerPoint, and VBA add-ins, tutorials
Custom MS Office productivity solutions

 

[Jon Peltier]

An alternative programmatic solution in this case would be to add each
point to the chart as a separate series, using the first cell in the
particular row as the series name, the second cell as the X value, and
the third cell as the Y value.

Of course you are limited to 255 series per chart, not thousands, so
this may not be as complete a solution as you'd like.

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

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply. I used the link and the add-in that you had suggested.
I still see ("Value1" Value 1, Value 2). I am selecting one column as my X
value and another as Y value. should i be doing something else too in order
for the add-in to know where to find the "label"?

I cannot put the labels in the "name" series when i use the wizard for the
scatter plot. That has some real crazy results in which ALL the names show
up as the legend for one single data point.
Thanks again.
-shabnam