Of course, you can format any chart’s data points with VBA, according to any conditions you want. But some things are easier to do and less complicated to maintain if you use Excel’s built in worksheet functions. I have covered worksheet-based conditional formatting of charts in Simple Conditional Charts and Simple Conditional Charts – 2. But it’s good to write up more examples of suitable formulas to match the formatting criteria, to help people see when they can use this technique.

To illustrate my answer to Dean’s question, I generated the following data. Columns A and B have the original X and Y data, which I sampled from normal distributions. The mean values for X and Y are computed in A1 and B1. Columns C through F contain the Y values for each of the quadrants, determined by a simple set of formulas.

The formulas in C3 through F3 are as follows, and are filled down to row 14:

C3: =IF(AND($A3>=$A$1,$B3>=$B$1),$B3,NA())
D3: =IF(AND($A3<$A$1,$B3>=$B$1),$B3,NA())
E3: =IF(AND($A3<$A$1,$B3<$B$1),$B3,NA())
F3: =IF(AND($A3>=$A$1,$B3<$B$1),$B3,NA())

Here is a chart of the original data, using A2:B14 as the chart’s source data range:

Here is the chart showing the data by quadrant, with one series per quadrant, using column A for all X values and columns C through F for the Y values of the four series:

Peltier Technical Services, Inc., Copyright © 2011.
 
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
 

Let’s use some simple data to illustrate.

Here is a standard stacked column chart.

When we apply data labels to the chart, we get a label for each column segment in the stack, but no labels for the total of each stack.

We only need to add a series to the chart that encodes the totals. Column E has the totals for each stack.

Construct the chart as a stacked column chart, with the Totals column stacked on top.

Change the Totals column series to a line chart type series.

Add data labels to the Totals series.

Move the labels to the Above position (right click on the labels and choose “Format” to open the format dialog).

Hide the Totals series by formatting it to show no lines and no markers.

Nicely done, without being too sneaky: just one hidden series.

Peltier Technical Services, Inc., Copyright © 2011.
 
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
 

To address this situation, I’ve decided I need a new category of blog posts: You Asked For It.

In this first installment, I’ll answer a question from the comments about Clustered-Stacked Column Charts. Janez asked how to make a chart that has a column chart with composite values (e.g., 1, 2) growing like stalagmites from the bottom, and clustered constituent values (1a, 1b, 2a, 2b) hanging like stalagtites from the top. I’m not sure this is the best way to represent this information, but I’ll show this chart and I’ll show my preferred approach.

I made up some simple data:

The chart begins its life as a simple clustered column chart. I’ve changed the gap width to 100.

The A and B series are moved to the secondary axis. I’ve also added data labels to these two series, positioned the labels in the central position, and edited the text of the labels.

I’ve changed the secondary axis gap width to 200, which for two series matches it up with the primary axis 100 gap width with one series. I’ve also removed the secondary Y axis, so all bars are measured on the same basis. Finally I’ve added custom data labels to the Total series as well. This is my preferred way to display this kind of data.

So what if we still want the opposing columns? Take the second chart, and add a secondary category axis. The axis is added at the top of the chart, and the secondary series hang from it. They hang down to their values on the secondary Y axis, so the bar lengths do not encode the values: the space between the bars and the zero at the bottom of the chart represents the values. (I’ve temporarily changed the primary axis gap width so that the primary series are not totally obscured.)

Format the secondary Y axis so that it is plotted in reverse order, and so the secondary category axis does not cross at the maximum value.

That’s almost done. Let’s adjust both axis scales to run from zero to 140, so the bar lengths are scaled the same and they no longer overlap. The gap widths for primary and secondary series are 100 and 200.

This needs a little help. I’ve hidden the secondary category axis labels, and I’ve hidden the lines for both Y axes. I’ve hidden unneeded Y axis labels using custom number formats [<=80]General;;; and [<=60]General;;; and I’ve added labels to the Total series.

I think the preferred version of the chart (the third one in this post) is better for a few reasons. First, I think it’s less confusing or disorienting if all of the bars start at the same baseline and stretch in the same direction. Second, it’s more evident that the A and B columns are somehow related to the Total columns. Third, the resolution is better: the full Y axis scale is 80. The bottom chart’s fully Y axis scale of 140 squashes all of the bars and reduces resolution. Finally the first chart is a little less complicated to create and maintain.

Peltier Technical Services, Inc., Copyright © 2011.
 
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.