Excel *may* not be the right tool, not because it cannot do what you
want but because of certain strange restrictions in its charting
module.
One of the restrictions that might come back to bite you is that the
string describing the values in a series cannot be longer than about
250 characters. So, if you remove a lot of cells from a range, the
length will keep on expanding. For example, start with Sheet1!$A$1:$A
$10 and remove A3. That will yield Sheet1!$A$1:$A$2,Sheet1!$A$4:$A$10.
Now, remove A8 to get Sheet1!$A$1:$A$2,Sheet1!$A$4:$A$7,Sheet1!$A$9:$A
$10. You get the idea. Can you work around it? Sure, but it will
take additional programming -- and may include restrictions on how
easily the chart can be updated with new data (if that is an issue).
Would I recommend you do this on your own? What you want to do is a
very interesting and intriguing idea, but ultimately, it depends on how
comfortable you are with programming, with object oriented programming,
with event programming, with XL. And, of course, how you value the
time-cost trade-off.
For example, I recently completed a quick project for a pharmaceutical
company. It involved creation of a custom-radar chart -- something for
which I already have instructions and code on my web site
(
http://www.tushar-mehta.com/excel/so...adar/index.htm).
However, the company wanted a professionally implemented system that
was fully automated from both the Windows desktop and the Windows
scheduler. New incoming data would be in CSV files with the final
output being an image of the chart left in the clipboard. Could
someone in that organization have done it? I am sure the answer should
be yes. Yet, it was obviously more cost-effective for them to work
with me.
--
Regards,
Tushar Mehta
www.tushar-mehta.com
Excel, PowerPoint, and VBA add-ins, tutorials
Custom MS Office productivity solutions
In article .com,
says...
Thanks Tushar.
"Exclude" in this context means to remove the point from the data
series and redraw the charts. We are attempting to deal with errant
points that are annomalies in our data series. The series includes
serveral hundred/thousand points which originate in an engineering
application and are used to produce approx 700 charts. Because of the
volume, our Engineers would prefer to visually remove the points in
question rather than wade through the data series.
Jon's suggestion works in that it allows me to intercept the event.
However, I am exactly in the state you predicted and with my limited
Excel VBA experience, I am beginning to wonder if Excel is the right
tool or to your point, is this a project that requires a experienced
"commercial" developer.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Best Regards
R. Hiltz