A Microsoft Office (Excel, Word) forum. OfficeFrustration

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » OfficeFrustration forum » Microsoft Excel » Charts and Charting
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read  

Handling blank data points



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old March 6th, 2009, 02:16 AM posted to microsoft.public.excel.charting
jo2109
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5
Default Handling blank data points

I have a chart which is has "" in a formula to clear contents when not
applicable to show error. This results in the chart treating the cell as 0
and therefore ugly result in data point.

All other post responses to this type of question suggest using NA() and
conditional formation to hide the error.. Unfortunately when this is used
this screws up my SUM() and AVG() formulas..

Any other suggestions?

Thanks
Jo
  #2  
Old March 6th, 2009, 12:42 PM posted to microsoft.public.excel.charting
OssieMac
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 862
Default Handling blank data points

Hi Jo,

I don't know if this is the best way but what I have done under similar
circumstances is use the #N/A for the chart series data column and then I use
a helper column. In the helper column I insert the following formula
(Assuming that column B is the chart series data and the following formula is
in any other column.
=IF(ISERROR(B2),0,B2)

That way I have a column that includes the zeros for the math functions.

You can still place the sum and average formulas at the bottom (or wherever)
of column B but they actually sum and average the data in the helper column.

Hide the helper column if desired. You can even place the helper column on
another worksheet and hide the worksheet.


--
Regards,

OssieMac


"jo2109" wrote:

I have a chart which is has "" in a formula to clear contents when not
applicable to show error. This results in the chart treating the cell as 0
and therefore ugly result in data point.

All other post responses to this type of question suggest using NA() and
conditional formation to hide the error.. Unfortunately when this is used
this screws up my SUM() and AVG() formulas..

Any other suggestions?

Thanks
Jo

  #3  
Old March 6th, 2009, 01:25 PM posted to microsoft.public.excel.charting
David Biddulph
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8,714
Default Handling blank data points

You probably want =IF(ISERROR(B2),"",B2) [or more specifically
=IF(ISNA(B2),"",B2) ] rather than =IF(ISERROR(B2),0,B2), as the zeroes could
screw up your averages.
--
David Biddulph

"OssieMac" wrote in message
...
Hi Jo,

I don't know if this is the best way but what I have done under similar
circumstances is use the #N/A for the chart series data column and then I
use
a helper column. In the helper column I insert the following formula
(Assuming that column B is the chart series data and the following formula
is
in any other column.
=IF(ISERROR(B2),0,B2)

That way I have a column that includes the zeros for the math functions.

You can still place the sum and average formulas at the bottom (or
wherever)
of column B but they actually sum and average the data in the helper
column.

Hide the helper column if desired. You can even place the helper column on
another worksheet and hide the worksheet.


--
Regards,

OssieMac


"jo2109" wrote:

I have a chart which is has "" in a formula to clear contents when not
applicable to show error. This results in the chart treating the cell as
0
and therefore ugly result in data point.

All other post responses to this type of question suggest using NA() and
conditional formation to hide the error.. Unfortunately when this is used
this screws up my SUM() and AVG() formulas..

Any other suggestions?

Thanks
Jo



  #4  
Old March 7th, 2009, 10:01 AM posted to microsoft.public.excel.charting
jo2109
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5
Default Handling blank data points

Thanks for the tip but unfortunately the "" is not just in one cell but is
part of a formula for many cells and may be the outcome for a number of data
points. Your suggestion simply leads me to believe that to alleviate the
issue I need to totally replicate my numbers for to pick up the 'pretty'
number for one part and the data series to plot as another..

I'm hoping not to replicate the whole section simply to have the graph not
plot null data.

"David Biddulph" wrote:

You probably want =IF(ISERROR(B2),"",B2) [or more specifically
=IF(ISNA(B2),"",B2) ] rather than =IF(ISERROR(B2),0,B2), as the zeroes could
screw up your averages.
--
David Biddulph

"OssieMac" wrote in message
...
Hi Jo,

I don't know if this is the best way but what I have done under similar
circumstances is use the #N/A for the chart series data column and then I
use
a helper column. In the helper column I insert the following formula
(Assuming that column B is the chart series data and the following formula
is
in any other column.
=IF(ISERROR(B2),0,B2)

That way I have a column that includes the zeros for the math functions.

You can still place the sum and average formulas at the bottom (or
wherever)
of column B but they actually sum and average the data in the helper
column.

Hide the helper column if desired. You can even place the helper column on
another worksheet and hide the worksheet.


--
Regards,

OssieMac


"jo2109" wrote:

I have a chart which is has "" in a formula to clear contents when not
applicable to show error. This results in the chart treating the cell as
0
and therefore ugly result in data point.

All other post responses to this type of question suggest using NA() and
conditional formation to hide the error.. Unfortunately when this is used
this screws up my SUM() and AVG() formulas..

Any other suggestions?

Thanks
Jo




 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 10:50 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 OfficeFrustration.
The comments are property of their posters.