How to graph intermittent data?
 

I am creating a line graph from an excel spreadsheet. The x-axis has the days
of the month. I am plotting values from each day but some days there is no
value. When I create the cells, if I use 0 or "", in the cell, the line goes
to zero on those days. If I delete the cell (backspace) I get a break in the
line. The break is what I want. Is there some designator I can put in the
cell so I will automatically get the break?

Unfortunately you only get a break with a true blank. You've learned
that "" isn't blank at all, just a very short text value. If you use
NA(), the cell will contain the #N/A error, which results in the line
being interpolated across the gap, but you don't get a true gap.

Tushar Mehta (http://tushar-mehta.com) and Andy Pope
(http://andypope.info) have posted ways to get around this problem.

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


jmsmith5 wrote:

I am creating a line graph from an excel spreadsheet. The x-axis has the days
of the month. I am plotting values from each day but some days there is no
value. When I create the cells, if I use 0 or "", in the cell, the line goes
to zero on those days. If I delete the cell (backspace) I get a break in the
line. The break is what I want. Is there some designator I can put in the
cell so I will automatically get the break?

I'm trying the same thing jmsmith5. Funny that in [options] you can decide
what to do if the field is blank but not if you have #N/A or 0.

"Jon Peltier" wrote:

Unfortunately you only get a break with a true blank. You've learned
that "" isn't blank at all, just a very short text value. If you use
NA(), the cell will contain the #N/A error, which results in the line
being interpolated across the gap, but you don't get a true gap.

Tushar Mehta (http://tushar-mehta.com) and Andy Pope
(http://andypope.info) have posted ways to get around this problem.

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


jmsmith5 wrote:

I am creating a line graph from an excel spreadsheet. The x-axis has the days
of the month. I am plotting values from each day but some days there is no
value. When I create the cells, if I use 0 or "", in the cell, the line goes
to zero on those days. If I delete the cell (backspace) I get a break in the
line. The break is what I want. Is there some designator I can put in the
cell so I will automatically get the break?

You could email a request to , but if it doesn't
involve web services or VSTO, it'll be a real long shot.

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


Mike Punko wrote:
I'm trying the same thing jmsmith5. Funny that in [options] you can decide
what to do if the field is blank but not if you have #N/A or 0.

"Jon Peltier" wrote:


Unfortunately you only get a break with a true blank. You've learned
that "" isn't blank at all, just a very short text value. If you use
NA(), the cell will contain the #N/A error, which results in the line
being interpolated across the gap, but you don't get a true gap.

Tushar Mehta (http://tushar-mehta.com) and Andy Pope
(http://andypope.info) have posted ways to get around this problem.

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


jmsmith5 wrote:


I am creating a line graph from an excel spreadsheet. The x-axis has the days
of the month. I am plotting values from each day but some days there is no
value. When I create the cells, if I use 0 or "", in the cell, the line goes
to zero on those days. If I delete the cell (backspace) I get a break in the
line. The break is what I want. Is there some designator I can put in the
cell so I will automatically get the break?