I just tried to replicate this problem in 2003, and I couldn't. I made an XY
chart with around 50 points, with X and Y both determined by =RAND(). I
shrunk the chart so 0 to 1 on the Y axis was 1/2 inch, to get a lot of
points aligned or nearly aligned horizontally. Whenever I hovered over any
point, I got the chart tip for that point, without any offset that I could
discern. I don't think it happens in 2007, either, because I'm sure I would
have noticed. Maybe in one of the earlier betas, but not in the later stages
or in the commercial version.
- Jon
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Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Tutorials and Custom Solutions
Peltier Technical Services, Inc. -
http://PeltierTech.com
_______
"Bas V" wrote in message
...
I have noticed that the selection cursor, when hovering over a scatter plot
in the Windows version of Excel (2003 and 2007 versions), will display the
value of the data point the cursor is supposedly pointing at. This is a
handy feature, however, there appears to be a bug that directly impacts
accuracy of measurements taken from charts when using this feature.
I wrote "supposedly," because the data values displayed when hovering the
mouse over a data set in the chart are for a datapoint about 5-8 pixels to
the right, not the one at the tip of the arrow! This is an offset effect
that is peculiar to Excel charts.
I have tried this on several machines with different graphics cards, all
running WIndiows XP SP2 and two versions of Excel (2003 and 2007); all
with
the same results. I have also tried it using a freeware utility called MB
Ruler, which provides a loupe to see the cursor hotspot magnified, so you
can
see the effect very clearly.
The offset is not there for selecting cells in the worksheet or using
other
features of the windows desktop, such as task bar buttons; it only happens
with the Excel charts. It appears that the charts, as displayed on a
Windows
machine, are actually the thing that is offset slightly from where the
program thinks they are.
This problem is reportedly not present on the Excel 2004 for the
Macintosh.
This problem has been verified to exist with other users and there does
not
apper to be a solution for it. Perhaps MS needs to fix it.
--
Bas V