Is there a better alternative to present numbers as graphical charts? I like Excel, but it is somewhat limited. I need something that has "bells and whistles" (I keep seeing some graphs that are 3D and shinny, but don´t know what software produces them).
Anybody an idea to other charting packages (that could even pull data from excel)?
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Excel does 3D charts (though I don't much like them personally) and is relatively customisable - 2007 has somewhat smarter looking charts IMO though there can be issues if you have to support multiple versions of Excel. Can you give an idea of what you mean by bells and whistles that Excel does not provide?
Hi MacNuttin and rorya:
Thanks for the quick reply. I am limited to Excel 2003 (company wide). I have looked into Crystal Reports and Dundas Charts. Both seem to offer more than the "classical" Excel chart. Definitely going in the direction I need.
As for rorya´s question: I know, 2007 would be the better solution as everybody in my company knows Excel very well and there would be no need for additional instruction (which is a drawback for Crystal or other "heavyweight" programs). As for bells and whistles, it is my boss that is not satisfied with the "regular look" of the present Excel 2003 charts....he saw some "shinny" 3D looking chart somewhere and wondered if we could reproduce it with "just" Excel 2003 > Nope. He means charts with that "aqua"-transparent look and multiple options of 3D (not included in Excel, I definitively tried it....)
If there is nothing else, I will reward the points!
I don't know what you mean by "aqua-transparent look" or "multiple options of 3D" so can't really help you there (unless you have pictures), but there are an awful lot of things you can do with Excel charts even prior to 2007 - see John Walkenbach's site for some examples - using images, overlays and transparency/shading.
Regards,
Rory
There's such a thing as addins for excel and alot of them are charting extensions. I have no idea if they are any good but a list of some free ones to download and try:
http://www.freedownloadsce
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by: MacNuttinPosted on 2008-04-21 at 07:10:58ID: 21401918
crystal reports? It takes more skill to use than excel but maybe unlimited what you can do.
SQL Reporting services used a visual studio builder and you could add in dundas charts. I think I saw where Microsoft bought them and maybe adding that wonderful graphical aspect of Dundas charts to SQL Reporting Services