Larry,
Sorry I got tied up doing *work* today!
It is a bit of a mess but will make much more sense to you in one moment.
First the Graph object in Excel and Access are *nearly* identical in "97"
and I'd sure they are identical in Office 2k.
May I preface this with the Access Chart wizard is terrible!
Most important is to figure out what your query should look like.
If you look at your data in the spreadsheet you'll see you have skipped over
(not used in plotting) Date_Modified. So in Access you only want to deliver
three fields:
Description : Date_of_Entry : Duration
I grabbed the data from the spreadsheet and put it back into a table in the
mdb (tblXLData)
Description : Date_of_Entry : Date_Modified
Then created a query to result in:
Description : Date_of_Entry : Duration (calculated field)
Now, one way or the the other we need to get a graph object on a form (or
report, works the same), so...
Forms/New (and because I hate the Wizard) select the Unbound Object Frame in
the Design Tools (the one with the cactus and sun without the XYZ). Click
and drag onto the form as big as you want, select Ms Graph in the next
dialog. Hey look a graph with the standard data. Just exit out of the
Graph Editor for now.
Ok, now looking at a Graph object without any data!
Get the properties page open for the unbound frame, we have work to do.
On the 'Other' tab:
Rename the object from it's OleUnbound1 to Graph1 or something more
meaningful. I always use Graph1 because I do a lot of graphing via code
(samples included in the mdb returned).
On the 'Format' tab:
Column Heads = Yes
Size mode = Clip (leave as is)
On the 'Data' tab:
Row Source Type = Table/Query
Row Source = Query1
Enabled = Yes
Locked = No
Ok, let's load the chart with data, view the form then go right back to
design view. (I know it looks like garbage)
Now right click on the chart and select Chart Object...Open (not edit)
On the top menu select: Data/Series in columns
On the top menu select: Chart/Chart Type/Custom Types - Floating Bar
Starting to look pretty good!
You'll notice when we're in the Chart Object Open, it's just like in Excel,
as you hover over various sections you get a control tip note telling you
where you are.
You can right click on something or you'll see up to the right, underneath
the File/Edit/View menus a nifty combo box to select various items then you
can go straight to the menu choice Format.
So, to continue, select Chart/Chart Options/Data Labels = Show Value
Select "Date_of_Entry Data Labels" from the combo box then Format/Font,
Color = White / Background = Transparent
Select the Value Axis, Font, Color = White / Size = 8
Ok, I hope I've made my point. It can be done. The really nifty part of
this that Excel will NEVER do is you can just type into the RowSource a SQL
string (or feed it with code) and make different graphs all day long.
Better yet is to feed the graph object rowsource as you open the form or
report. Printing off reports with graphs is no sweat! (This is what I do
for a living)
You even get to use it as a gif or jpeg chart maker robot. Code is in the
mdb.
Want to know more?
Check out the Ms Kb articles:
Q260410: Auto2000.exe
Q167223: Auto97.exe
Q186855: A97 Grphsm97.exe (sample graph mdb)
Hope this makes your weekend!
Steve
Whoops!Forgot to mention, to get "Intellisense" while typing code for graph objects you need to add a reference to the MS Graph library in your code window, Tools/References
Steve