Question

Decreasing the number of Markers for a Data series in an Excel Chart

Asked by: newbie-netter

I'm plotting some data in excel using a chart.  If I accept the default marker, then the marker blurs together because there's so many points.  See code below for how I'm handling this, by looping through each series and adding the marker.  Is there a better way?

' Add markers to each plot
        t = ActiveChart.SeriesCollection(1).Points.Count
        If t > 20 Then
            p = t / 100 + 1
        Else
            p = 5
        End If
        ChartCount = ActiveChart.SeriesCollection.Count
        If ChartCount > 9 Then
            ChartCount = 9
        End If
        For i = 1 To ChartCount
           
            On Error GoTo NextPlot
            With ActiveChart.SeriesCollection(i)
                .Smooth = False
                .Border.ColorIndex = ColorMap(i)
                If ThickLines Then
                    .Border.Weight = xlMedium
                Else
                    .Border.Weight = xlHairline
                End If
                .Border.LineStyle = xlContinuous
                For s = p To t Step t / 4
                    .Points(s).MarkerStyle = MarkMap(i)
                    If ExcelType = 97 Then
                        .Points(s).MarkerForegroundColorIndex = 1
                        .Points(s).MarkerSize = 4
                    End If
                Next s
            End With
            If HorLegend Then
                AddLegend (i)
            End If
            p = p + t / 80
NextPlot:
        Next i

                                  
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
9:
10:
11:
12:
13:
14:
15:
16:
17:
18:
19:
20:
21:
22:
23:
24:
25:
26:
27:
28:
29:
30:
31:
32:
33:
34:
35:
36:
37:

Select allOpen in new window

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2009-10-19 at 13:49:47ID24825052
Tags

VBA

,

Excel

,

Chart

Topics

Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Software

,

Visual Basic Programming

Participating Experts
1
Points
500
Comments
6

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. Crystal Reports 7.5 - unique line markers on chart
    Hello Experts et al, Does anyone know if it is possible to have different line markers on a chart for each line? Using Format Chart > General, I can select "Show Markers on Line" and then select which kind I want, but that changes it for every line. I want one...
  2. Multi series Scatter (or line) Chart with custom marker
    Please excuse me if this question looks dumb, or has been asked before (although I couldn't find a suitable answer on the site). I use a scatter chart to plot stock prices, with each point labelled with that stock's name. X axis is the date of the stock, Y axis is the price (...
  3. scatter plot marker size
    Is there a way of having markers in a scatter plot of different sizes? I would like to make the size of the markers in a scatter plot in excel dependant on a figure entered into another column. (this will related to the contribution that that specific point makes to the tot...
  4. Crystal Reports Line Chart Marker issue with big data
    Hello Experts, I am using Crystal Reports 10 to create a custom trend report for our helpdesk software. The aim of this report is to report the trend of service request 'types' by month over the last 12+ months. The report returns the correct data points but there are a lo...
  5. Excel 2002 VBA / OWC Stacked Column Chart with Ma…
    I'm having a devil of a time here. We had to change from using an mschart control to using OWC (a better choice) to display our results from a modeling package in Excel 2002 using VBA. The output I'm working on is a stacked column chart with a marker (see attached .jpg). I h...
  6. SSRS 2008 - Line with Markers Chart - Missing Lines
    I have a Line with Markers chart that has multiple related series in it. The chart seems to accurately display the marker points, but only draws about half of the lines that connect the points in any given series. If the chart only shows one series it displays fine. It's whe...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: harfangPosted on 2009-10-19 at 15:15:08ID: 25609476

Hello newbie-netter,

I'm afraid there isn't. Custom templates will not record something like intermittent markers, and your code has additional logic to deal with various densities. This being said, this is exactly what Excel VB is meant for. I have used code to generate, adjust, and tweak charts many times. This is what offers the most flexibility.

(°v°)

 

by: newbie-netterPosted on 2009-11-05 at 11:05:41ID: 25752754

Ok, well, I have a related question then that might help me.  I'm executing this statement several times to create a legend

    ActiveChart.Pictures.Insert(PicPath & "TYPE" & Format$(MarkMap(ChartIndex)) & ".BMP").Select
    With Selection
        .Border.LineStyle = xlNone
        .Shadow = False
        .Left = 180 + (ChartIndex * 60)
        .Height = 7
        .Width = 7
        .Top = 15
    End With

1. Can I load this .bmp into memory once and then just insert it?
2. Sometimes in Excel 2007 I get an error trying to insert the .bmp.  Next time or so after I run the macro it works OK.

 

by: harfangPosted on 2009-11-05 at 11:42:02ID: 25753106

1. No, the method requires a file.
2. That depends on the error. Try inserting copious DoEvents in your code.

(°v°)

 

by: newbie-netterPosted on 2009-11-05 at 13:46:10ID: 25754405

The path is correct since it worked on the first graph.  This error happened on the second graph.  I added a DoEvents call like this:
    DoEvents
    ActiveChart.Pictures.Insert(PicPath & "TYPE" & Format$(MarkMap(ChartIndex)) & ".BMP").Select

 

by: harfangPosted on 2009-11-05 at 13:59:52ID: 25754519

I suppose it would be better to save the image locally, both for performance and for stability. Errors are more likely to occur with distant files.

This has no longer anything to do with "decreasing the number of markers...". It's perhaps time to close the question, even if the answer was: I'm afraid not.

(°v°)

 

by: newbie-netterPosted on 2009-11-05 at 14:20:57ID: 31643122

Wasn't very helpful, but it wasn't his fault.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...