Formatting within a data series label is lost

You force the data label to have a subscript in very similar fashion to forcing the value in a cell to be subscripted, by referencing the Characters property.

Sub MarkerSubscript()
Dim s As String
With ActiveSheet.ChartObjects(1).Chart
    With .SeriesCollection(1).Points(3)
        s = Range("B2").Value
        .ApplyDataLabels
        .DataLabel.Text = s
        .DataLabel.Characters(2, Len(s) - 1).Font.Subscript = True
    End With
End With
End Sub

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It is worth noting that I encountered a fatal error when more than one cell in the series had a datalabel and they had different number of characters. In other words, if the numbers were subscripted in P90 and P656 there would be a problem. If the two values were P80 and P89, however, the code would work fine.

Brad

Thanks - I would just like to clarify a couple of points

1   There is just one chart on the sheet and the data series to be labelled, a single point, is the third one in the list in the Select Data dialog.  Does this affect the numbers in brackets after ChartObjects, SeriesCollection and Points?

2   The string is actually longer than Pnn.  It's general form is "Pnn=$nn.nM".  Would ".DataLabel.Characters(2, 3).Font.Subscript = True" be the right syntax to pick them up?

I'll do some trial and error but it's nice to know how it should work.

If I understand you correctly, the syntax would be:

        .DataLabel.Characters(2, 2).Font.Subscript = True

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In the Characters property, the first value is the position of the starting character, while the second is the number of characters. Since you want two characters subscripted, the second parameter should be 2.

Brad
DataLabelSubscriptingQ26865514.xlsm

To refer to different series, you would adjust statement 4 to:

    With .SeriesCollection(3).Points(1)          'Refers to third series, first data point 

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You can refer to the chart by either an index number or name. Pick the method that is less confusing to you. In my sample workbook, the chart object is named "Chart 1" so I could have used the following in statement 3:

With ActiveSheet.ChartObjects("Chart 1").Chart

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The entire macro then becomes:

Sub MarkerSubscript()
Dim s As String
With ActiveSheet.ChartObjects("Chart 1").Chart
    With .SeriesCollection(3).Points(1)
        s = Range("B2").Value
        .ApplyDataLabels
        .DataLabel.Text = s
        .DataLabel.Characters(2, 2).Font.Subscript = True
    End With
End With
End Sub

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Brad

DataLabelSubscriptingQ26865514.xlsm

It almost works.  No matter what I do though, the whole label is formatted as subscript.  I tried formatting the whole thing with subscript false to start and then applying subscript to the two digits but that doesn't work either.

Sub SetLabel()
Dim s As String
With ActiveSheet.ChartObjects(1).Chart
    With .SeriesCollection(3).Points(1)
        s = Range("N21").Value
        .ApplyDataLabels
        .DataLabel.Text = s
        .DataLabel.Characters(1, Len(s)).Font.Subscript = False
        .DataLabel.Characters(2, 2).Font.Subscript = True
    End With
End With
End Sub

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If I comment out the line with Subscript = True the label is there in normal sized characters.  If I leave it in as above the whole label goes to subscript.  Is this an obvious glitch?

Which version of Excel do you use? I have all of them on my laptop.

Could you post a workbook that shows the value in cell N21 and a chart so I can try to replicate your problem?

Brad

I just did some Google searching and found a suggestion that it may be a bug in Excel 2007 SP2, which I am running.  See http://www.eggheadcafe.com/software/aspnet/35200534/format-only-part-of-a-datalabel-in-excel-2007powerpoint-2007-char.aspx

I might just have to live with it for now.

See attached.  This shows the same behaviour as my main model. Diagnosing-label-formatting.xlsm

Thanks - that's a s far as we can take it then

At least this might help someone else avoid tearing their hair out