Series of dates in one column, hours for each date in another

I added column headers above your table, selected Subtotals from the
Data menu, and Excel generated this for me:

Date Hours
1-Mar-04 4
1-Mar-04 3
1-Mar-04 0.5
1-Mar-04 0.5
1-Mar-04 Total 8
2-Mar-04 4.5
2-Mar-04 Total 4.5
3-Mar-04 3
3-Mar-04 2
3-Mar-04 Total 5
Grand Total 17.5

I clicked on the boxes in the level 2 outline in the left hand margin,
and the non-subtotal rows were hidden:

Date Hours
1-Mar-04 Total 8
2-Mar-04 Total 4.5
3-Mar-04 Total 5
Grand Total 17.5

Select all but the Grand Total line, and Excel will chart just the
subtotals (by default, a chart only shows visible cells).

You could also get a summary table like this using a Pivot Table.

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Peltier Technical Services
http://PeltierTech.com/Excel/Charts/
_______

Novice wrote:

Hi all, I have an Excel worksheet with a series of dates in one column. Then in another separate column I have the number of hours worked on those dates.

However, I have multiple date entries for some dates - for example: it was necessary to create four entries for March 1, 2004, since there were four separate activities performed on that day. Each of those activities have a number of hours associated with them (that can be found in the aforementioned "number of hours worked on those dates"). Some days may only have entry associated with them (if for instance only one activity was done).

Is there a way to get the chart function in Excel to display the dates on the y axis and then put the cumulative hours for each date above those dates?

So for example, I have (in the excel Worksheet):
March 1, 2004 | 4 |
March 1, 2004 | 3 |
March 1, 2004 |.5 |
March 1, 2004 |.5 |
March 2, 2004 |4.5|
March 3, 2004 | 3 |
March 3, 2004 | 2 |

This is the chart that I would like to be generated:

8 ___
| |
5 | | ____
4.5| |___| |
| | | |
1 2 3

I realize my ascii art has much to be desired, but hopefully I have got across what I would like to do.

Thanks,
Novice

If the subtotals are in the way, you could do a pivot table instead.
Select the data, choose Pivot Table Reports (or whatever your version of
Excel calls it) from the Data menu. When laying out the table, put the
Date field in the rows area, and Sum of Time in the Data area. The pivot
table can be located elsewhere on the sheet or on a new sheet, and it
doesn't disrupt the original data range. You can make a pivot chart from
the data. You can also make a regular chart, which doesn't update
automatically if the pivot table changes size, but which gives you more
formatting capabilities. Select a blank chart away from the pivot table
and start the chart wizard. In step 2, use the Series tab to set up the
chart's series.

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Peltier Technical Services
http://PeltierTech.com/Excel/Charts/
_______

Novice wrote:
That worked great. I didn't know about the subtotals feature or the layers feature. Is there a quick and easy way to remove the subtotals once I have generated the chart?

They clutter up the data - making it more difficult to read when they are present.

Thanks,
Novice