Information Technology

Most people who use Excel regularly know how to create a pie or bar chart from their data. In-cell graphing is an interesting method by which you can highlight the data graphically using the standard 'rept' function. The graph can be shown in the neighboring Excel worksheet cell. For example, if you have input the names of your students and the percentage marks that they scored in a semester, you can use the in-cell graphing method to display graphically a bar chart next to percentage marks. You can also use 'conditional formatting' to show the bar chart in different colors based on the percentage marks. You could use a blue color to indicate all students having obtained greater than 90% marks and a red colored in-cell bar chart displaying all students who got less than 50% marks.

You can not only create bar charts but also 'dot' charts. The length of the charts can be varied easily using an arithmetic function. You can also display the values, that is, add a label at the end of the in-cell graph by using the straightforward Ampersand (&) function. If you have data whose values are negative, you can also create an in-cell graph. For example, people who buy and sell shares in the stock market would have made some losses and some gains. The in-cell graph method to show the negative and positive values at the same time creates a 'dashboard' which can tell the user at a glance whether a loss has been booked or a profit made.

Interestingly, you can also use the in-cell graphing method to create 'Gantt' charts which represent graphically the duration of tasks against the progress of time. The standard method using the 'stack bar chart' in Excel 2003 or 2007 is cumbersome in comparison to using the simple 'rept' function with an additional logic and the effects are dramatic and useful. Gantt charts created using in-cell graphing have sometimes been defined as 'insta Gantt charts'.

In short, the in-cell graphing feature in Excel can be used to create graphs quickly and easily using the standard 'rept' function in combination with other simple arithmetic and logical functions.

Dr. Dinesh K Takyar is a corporate trainer since the last 15 years.
http://www.familycomputerclub.com/excel/formatting-in-cell-graphs-in-excel.html

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