The data has to be done right for the chart to come out right. In fact, the
original data must have come from two columns, and was then pivoted into the
2D grid. You can use a pivot table to get the data back into columnar
format. Type "Year" in the cell atop the year column, select the table, and
start the pivot table wizard (Data menu). Put Year in the Row area, and each
of the month fields in the Data area. The pivot table will look something
like this:

Year Data Total
2000 Sum of Jan 28
Sum of Feb 33
Sum of Mar 38
Sum of Apr 43
etc.
2001 Sum of Jan 29
Sum of Feb 34
Sum of Mar 39
Sum of Apr 44
etc.
2002 Sum of Jan 30
Sum of Feb 35
Sum of Mar 40
Sum of Apr 45
etc.

Copy the table, use paste special values to put it elsewhere, and change the
first two columns into a single column with dates (1/1/2000, 2/1/2000, etc).

While it seems wasteful to spend five minutes to get the data right, it will
save five hours of aggravation, plus the exercise will improve your pivot
table skills..

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


wrote in message
oups.com...
Yeah pretty much. I've converted all the data to columns using hlookups
and matches but I wondered if there was some secret method to make the
data usable in the table form. Sounds like there really isn't ... / Avi


James Silverton wrote:
Hello, !
You wrote on 10 Oct 2006 10:39:06 -0700:

a I do not have a problem getting the data into excel. I'm
a trying to determine how to make a line graph going from jan
a 1990 to present w/out having to first reformat the table
a into a single long column or row.

a Thanks / Avi

a James Silverton wrote:
?? Hello, !
?? You wrote on 10 Oct 2006 06:07:25 -0700:
??
a Is there a way to convert a two axis table into a chart
a without first putting all the data into one column?
??
a I have the following data from the Bureau of Labor
a Statistics (industrial building employees) ...
??
a Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
a 1990 191.8 191.1 191.8 195.8 199.7 204.8 206.0
a 207.9 208.1 206.3 200.6 192.6
??

I suspect you would have much better control over the final plot
is you did convert it into two columns even if you could write
an expression to concatenate the various months.

Good Luck!

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not