On Mon, 11 Dec 2006 07:02:03 -0500, "Jon Peltier"
wrote:

What VBA does is applies the tweaking automatically. You need to come up
with a template or a set of tweaks that make people happy enough with the
chart. I don't know what you mean by set the settings once and for all,
unless you want a more totally VBA approach that dumps the data into an
Excel template and plots it in a protected chart. Otherwise, human nature
dictates that people are going to tweak.

If you decide to use VBA, you could start with some recorded macros, then
examine the code and remove duplicate items and stray mouse actions.

Yes, I know they will try to tweak it but I would like to make the
charts as good as possible before they start ruining it agian.

What I mean is, I would like to save the settings for bars, lines etc
(thickness, borders, colours) in the user-defined chart so I could be
sure that they have the correct settings every time, even if they
change the chart-type or add more serie.

Seems like I have to use a VBA-approach. Btw, do you know if 2007
handles this any differently?

--
Fredrik E. Nilsen

Excel 2007 handles chart formatting in VBA nominally the same as in 2003,
although you may find some minor differences.

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


"Fredrik E. Nilsen" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 11 Dec 2006 07:02:03 -0500, "Jon Peltier"
wrote:

What VBA does is applies the tweaking automatically. You need to come up
with a template or a set of tweaks that make people happy enough with the
chart. I don't know what you mean by set the settings once and for all,
unless you want a more totally VBA approach that dumps the data into an
Excel template and plots it in a protected chart. Otherwise, human nature
dictates that people are going to tweak.

If you decide to use VBA, you could start with some recorded macros, then
examine the code and remove duplicate items and stray mouse actions.

Yes, I know they will try to tweak it but I would like to make the
charts as good as possible before they start ruining it agian.

What I mean is, I would like to save the settings for bars, lines etc
(thickness, borders, colours) in the user-defined chart so I could be
sure that they have the correct settings every time, even if they
change the chart-type or add more serie.

Seems like I have to use a VBA-approach. Btw, do you know if 2007
handles this any differently?

--
Fredrik E. Nilsen

On Tue, 12 Dec 2006 17:29:47 -0500, "Jon Peltier"
wrote:

Excel 2007 handles chart formatting in VBA nominally the same as in 2003,
although you may find some minor differences.

Thanks again, but I guess I was a bit unclear. What I meant was: Do
you know if 2007 handles user-defined charts any differently?

--
Fredrik E. Nilsen

I suspect for backwards compatibility there may be similar functionality, at
least through VBA. In the UI, there is a new chart template capability,
which I haven't had the chance to try out. Are you planning to upgrade?

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


"Fredrik E. Nilsen" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 12 Dec 2006 17:29:47 -0500, "Jon Peltier"
wrote:

Excel 2007 handles chart formatting in VBA nominally the same as in 2003,
although you may find some minor differences.

Thanks again, but I guess I was a bit unclear. What I meant was: Do
you know if 2007 handles user-defined charts any differently?

--
Fredrik E. Nilsen

On Tue, 12 Dec 2006 22:35:22 -0500, "Jon Peltier"
wrote:

I suspect for backwards compatibility there may be similar functionality, at
least through VBA. In the UI, there is a new chart template capability,
which I haven't had the chance to try out. Are you planning to upgrade?

The customer in this project is considering to upgrade. They make
several reports every day with lots of charts in each report. One of
their main goals is to achieve consistant formatting througout all the
charts, without spending too much time and without letting the users
have to format it manually.

If this is easier with 2007, it may be an argument for upgrading.

--
Fredrik E. Nilsen

They should not at this time upgrade only because of charting. There are
other features which may make the upgrade attractive (more rows and columns,
enhanced formatting, the new table feature, and more), but charting has not
progressed beyond Excel 2003.

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


"Fredrik E. Nilsen" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 12 Dec 2006 22:35:22 -0500, "Jon Peltier"
wrote:

I suspect for backwards compatibility there may be similar functionality,
at
least through VBA. In the UI, there is a new chart template capability,
which I haven't had the chance to try out. Are you planning to upgrade?

The customer in this project is considering to upgrade. They make
several reports every day with lots of charts in each report. One of
their main goals is to achieve consistant formatting througout all the
charts, without spending too much time and without letting the users
have to format it manually.

If this is easier with 2007, it may be an argument for upgrading.

--
Fredrik E. Nilsen

On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 13:05:23 -0500, "Jon Peltier"
wrote:

They should not at this time upgrade only because of charting. There are
other features which may make the upgrade attractive (more rows and columns,
enhanced formatting, the new table feature, and more), but charting has not
progressed beyond Excel 2003.

Thanks for clearifying. I know about some of the other features but
these are not their main concern. The most important reasons are the
other office-programs (Word, Outlook, PowerPoint). Easier and more
consistant formatting of charts could be something that make their
decision easier.

--
Fredrik E. Nilsen