Creating a large number of charts automatically (repost)

[Alan]

Hi there,

Are there Excel charting gurus here?? If so then please read on...

Sorry for the cross-post but I'm not familiar with the Excel groups. I've
posted to asp.general because if I have to code a solution to this it'll
probably be done in ASP on a web server, unless there's a significantly
better way.

I'm looking for a way to create over 100 Excel *charts* programmatically.
We've just run a large online survey and the data is being fed back to us in
a single spreadsheet - each respondent on a row and their dimensions
(division, department, etc) and each of their responses in columns.

This data has to be sliced by a number of dimensions - this will require
that just over 100 separate charts will have to be created. I'm looking for
a way to create these charts in the most efficient way. I'm happy to
normalise the data and load it into SQL Server, and can then easily extract
each required subset. The output of the extract process will probably be
spreadsheets in TSV format.

Last time I had to graphically report this sort of data I loaded it into a
mart and used PivotCharts. The owners of they survey don't need the
flexibility of Analysis Services so I'm happy to pre-define the charting
requirements if it'll mean I'm able to create these charts automatically.
Manipulating 100 PivotCharts was too much for them. Each chart will
ultimately be fed back to users in a Word document or Powerpoint
presentation with the appropriate analyses.

How do I then create a chart for each subset? I've thought about (but not
yet investigated) the following options:

1. Try to create a chart based on named-ranges in Excel, and just open each
extract and copy and paste the data across. The chart will spring into life
as the data is pasted. I'm not too sure what will happen if the size of the
cut and paste areas are different.
2. Write some sort of module in Excel VBA to either access the database and
create charts for all the subsets automatically, or create a chart for an
individual subset after accepting some sort of input from the user.
3. Use Office Web Components to do the charting on-line. Never used OWC but
might give it a go if I thought I could create even one web page with every
chart on it. I'd have to look at the format of the chart though, and how I'd
get each chart back into Word and/or Powerpoint.
4. Another mart, but perhaps using something like ThinSlicer to create the
charts online.
5. Pay a student $15/hr to manually create a chart for each subset.
6. Include some code in each Word document that manages to create the chart
object automatically when the report is opened on the network. This would
require the entry of custom parameters for each unit, or a custom query for
each, and unless the chart is somehow cached, would only display if the
report is opened with access to the network/database. OTT?
7. Something else I haven't yet thought of.

Any ideas? I be really grateful for thoughts, links to tutes/HowTos etc.

Regards,

Alan

[Don Guillett]

Jon Peltier

http://briefcase.yahoo.com/jonpeltier

None better than this fellow.

"Alan" <Xa*************@XparadiseX.XnetX.XnzX> wrote in message
news:O4*************@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...

Hi there,

Are there Excel charting gurus here?? If so then please read on...

Sorry for the cross-post but I'm not familiar with the Excel groups. I've
posted to asp.general because if I have to code a solution to this it'll
probably be done in ASP on a web server, unless there's a significantly
better way.

I'm looking for a way to create over 100 Excel *charts* programmatically.
We've just run a large online survey and the data is being fed back to us in a single spreadsheet - each respondent on a row and their dimensions
(division, department, etc) and each of their responses in columns.

This data has to be sliced by a number of dimensions - this will require
that just over 100 separate charts will have to be created. I'm looking for a way to create these charts in the most efficient way. I'm happy to
normalise the data and load it into SQL Server, and can then easily extract each required subset. The output of the extract process will probably be
spreadsheets in TSV format.

Last time I had to graphically report this sort of data I loaded it into a
mart and used PivotCharts. The owners of they survey don't need the
flexibility of Analysis Services so I'm happy to pre-define the charting
requirements if it'll mean I'm able to create these charts automatically.
Manipulating 100 PivotCharts was too much for them. Each chart will
ultimately be fed back to users in a Word document or Powerpoint
presentation with the appropriate analyses.

How do I then create a chart for each subset? I've thought about (but not
yet investigated) the following options:

1. Try to create a chart based on named-ranges in Excel, and just open each extract and copy and paste the data across. The chart will spring into life as the data is pasted. I'm not too sure what will happen if the size of the cut and paste areas are different.
2. Write some sort of module in Excel VBA to either access the database and create charts for all the subsets automatically, or create a chart for an
individual subset after accepting some sort of input from the user.
3. Use Office Web Components to do the charting on-line. Never used OWC but might give it a go if I thought I could create even one web page with every chart on it. I'd have to look at the format of the chart though, and how I'd get each chart back into Word and/or Powerpoint.
4. Another mart, but perhaps using something like ThinSlicer to create the
charts online.
5. Pay a student $15/hr to manually create a chart for each subset.
6. Include some code in each Word document that manages to create the chart object automatically when the report is opened on the network. This would
require the entry of custom parameters for each unit, or a custom query for each, and unless the chart is somehow cached, would only display if the
report is opened with access to the network/database. OTT?
7. Something else I haven't yet thought of.

Any ideas? I be really grateful for thoughts, links to tutes/HowTos etc.

Regards,

Alan

[Alan]

His briefcase was empty but I'll do a search.

Cheers,

Alan

"Don Guillett" <do*****@281.com> wrote in message
news:Ox**************@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...

Jon Peltier

http://briefcase.yahoo.com/jonpeltier

None better than this fellow.

"Alan" <Xa*************@XparadiseX.XnetX.XnzX> wrote in message
news:O4*************@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...

Hi there,

Are there Excel charting gurus here?? If so then please read on...

Sorry for the cross-post but I'm not familiar with the Excel groups. I've posted to asp.general because if I have to code a solution to this it'll
probably be done in ASP on a web server, unless there's a significantly
better way.

I'm looking for a way to create over 100 Excel *charts* programmatically. We've just run a large online survey and the data is being fed back to us

in

a single spreadsheet - each respondent on a row and their dimensions
(division, department, etc) and each of their responses in columns.

This data has to be sliced by a number of dimensions - this will require
that just over 100 separate charts will have to be created. I'm looking

for

a way to create these charts in the most efficient way. I'm happy to
normalise the data and load it into SQL Server, and can then easily

extract

each required subset. The output of the extract process will probably be
spreadsheets in TSV format.

Last time I had to graphically report this sort of data I loaded it into

a mart and used PivotCharts. The owners of they survey don't need the
flexibility of Analysis Services so I'm happy to pre-define the charting
requirements if it'll mean I'm able to create these charts automatically. Manipulating 100 PivotCharts was too much for them. Each chart will
ultimately be fed back to users in a Word document or Powerpoint
presentation with the appropriate analyses.

How do I then create a chart for each subset? I've thought about (but not yet investigated) the following options:

1. Try to create a chart based on named-ranges in Excel, and just open

each

extract and copy and paste the data across. The chart will spring into

life

as the data is pasted. I'm not too sure what will happen if the size of

the

cut and paste areas are different.
2. Write some sort of module in Excel VBA to either access the database

and

create charts for all the subsets automatically, or create a chart for an individual subset after accepting some sort of input from the user.
3. Use Office Web Components to do the charting on-line. Never used OWC

but

might give it a go if I thought I could create even one web page with

every

chart on it. I'd have to look at the format of the chart though, and how

I'd

get each chart back into Word and/or Powerpoint.
4. Another mart, but perhaps using something like ThinSlicer to create the charts online.
5. Pay a student $15/hr to manually create a chart for each subset.
6. Include some code in each Word document that manages to create the

chart

object automatically when the report is opened on the network. This would require the entry of custom parameters for each unit, or a custom query

for

each, and unless the chart is somehow cached, would only display if the
report is opened with access to the network/database. OTT?
7. Something else I haven't yet thought of.

Any ideas? I be really grateful for thoughts, links to tutes/HowTos etc.

Regards,

Alan

[Don Guillett]

try here
http://www.geocities.com/jonpeltier/Excel/index.html
"Alan" <Xa*************@XparadiseX.XnetX.XnzX> wrote in message
news:%2****************@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...

His briefcase was empty but I'll do a search.

Cheers,

Alan

"Don Guillett" <do*****@281.com> wrote in message
news:Ox**************@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...

Jon Peltier

http://briefcase.yahoo.com/jonpeltier

None better than this fellow.

"Alan" <Xa*************@XparadiseX.XnetX.XnzX> wrote in message
news:O4*************@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...

Hi there,

Are there Excel charting gurus here?? If so then please read on...

Sorry for the cross-post but I'm not familiar with the Excel groups. I've posted to asp.general because if I have to code a solution to this it'll probably be done in ASP on a web server, unless there's a significantly better way.

I'm looking for a way to create over 100 Excel *charts* programmatically. We've just run a large online survey and the data is being fed back to us

in

a single spreadsheet - each respondent on a row and their dimensions
(division, department, etc) and each of their responses in columns.

This data has to be sliced by a number of dimensions - this will require that just over 100 separate charts will have to be created. I'm looking

for

a way to create these charts in the most efficient way. I'm happy to
normalise the data and load it into SQL Server, and can then easily extract

each required subset. The output of the extract process will probably

be spreadsheets in TSV format.

Last time I had to graphically report this sort of data I loaded it into a mart and used PivotCharts. The owners of they survey don't need the
flexibility of Analysis Services so I'm happy to pre-define the

charting requirements if it'll mean I'm able to create these charts

automatically. Manipulating 100 PivotCharts was too much for them. Each chart will
ultimately be fed back to users in a Word document or Powerpoint
presentation with the appropriate analyses.

How do I then create a chart for each subset? I've thought about (but not yet investigated) the following options:

1. Try to create a chart based on named-ranges in Excel, and just open

each

extract and copy and paste the data across. The chart will spring into

life

as the data is pasted. I'm not too sure what will happen if the size of the

cut and paste areas are different.
2. Write some sort of module in Excel VBA to either access the

database

and

create charts for all the subsets automatically, or create a chart for an individual subset after accepting some sort of input from the user.
3. Use Office Web Components to do the charting on-line. Never used

OWC but

might give it a go if I thought I could create even one web page with

every

chart on it. I'd have to look at the format of the chart though, and

how I'd

get each chart back into Word and/or Powerpoint.
4. Another mart, but perhaps using something like ThinSlicer to create the charts online.
5. Pay a student $15/hr to manually create a chart for each subset.
6. Include some code in each Word document that manages to create the

chart

object automatically when the report is opened on the network. This would require the entry of custom parameters for each unit, or a custom

query for

each, and unless the chart is somehow cached, would only display if

the report is opened with access to the network/database. OTT?
7. Something else I haven't yet thought of.

Any ideas? I be really grateful for thoughts, links to tutes/HowTos etc.
Regards,

Alan

[Jon Peltier]

Alan -

Put the code into a regular code module, not the code module that backs
up the sheet. I have some code suggestions for working with charts here:

http://www.geocities.com/jonpeltier/...kChartVBA.html

and links to code for Pivot Tables here:

http://www.geocities.com/jonpeltier/...s/pivotvba.htm

I would suggest making regular charts from data within pivot tables;
pivot charts forget their formatting every time you refresh the
underlying table.

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
http://www.geocities.com/jonpeltier/Excel/index.html
_______

Alan wrote:

Thanks Jon. Would a VBA code module in the main results spreadsheet be the
best way to attack this? Where's a good place to look for a crash-course on
programming Pivot Tables and Charts?

Thanks for the help,

Alan
"Jon Peltier" <jo********@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:3F**************@yahoo.com...

Alan -

It sounds like pivot tables based on the survey results are the way to
go. You can automate the pivot tables to extract your "subsets", then
define named ranges based on columns or rows of the PTs, and base your
charts on these ranges; the pivot table can be based on interactive user
input. When each chart is done, you can then export it to Word or
PowerPoint, then go on to the next chart; alternatively, you can just
keep piling up charts and export them all at the end, though that many
charts can lead to trouble.

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
http://www.geocities.com/jonpeltier/Excel/index.html
_______

Alan wrote:

Hi there,

Are there Excel charting gurus here?? If so then please read on...

Sorry for the cross-post but I'm not familiar with the Excel groups.

I've

posted to asp.general because if I have to code a solution to this it'll
probably be done in ASP on a web server, unless there's a significantly
better way.

I'm looking for a way to create over 100 Excel *charts*

programmatically.

We've just run a large online survey and the data is being fed back to

us in

a single spreadsheet - each respondent on a row and their dimensions
(division, department, etc) and each of their responses in columns.

This data has to be sliced by a number of dimensions - this will require
that just over 100 separate charts will have to be created. I'm looking

for

a way to create these charts in the most efficient way. I'm happy to
normalise the data and load it into SQL Server, and can then easily

extract

each required subset. The output of the extract process will probably be
spreadsheets in TSV format.

Last time I had to graphically report this sort of data I loaded it into

a

mart and used PivotCharts. The owners of they survey don't need the
flexibility of Analysis Services so I'm happy to pre-define the charting
requirements if it'll mean I'm able to create these charts

automatically.

Manipulating 100 PivotCharts was too much for them. Each chart will
ultimately be fed back to users in a Word document or Powerpoint
presentation with the appropriate analyses.

How do I then create a chart for each subset? I've thought about (but

not

yet investigated) the following options:

1. Try to create a chart based on named-ranges in Excel, and just open

each

extract and copy and paste the data across. The chart will spring into

life

as the data is pasted. I'm not too sure what will happen if the size of

the

cut and paste areas are different.
2. Write some sort of module in Excel VBA to either access the database

and

create charts for all the subsets automatically, or create a chart for

an

individual subset after accepting some sort of input from the user.
3. Use Office Web Components to do the charting on-line. Never used OWC

but

might give it a go if I thought I could create even one web page with

every

chart on it. I'd have to look at the format of the chart though, and how

I'd

get each chart back into Word and/or Powerpoint.
4. Another mart, but perhaps using something like ThinSlicer to create

the

charts online.
5. Pay a student $15/hr to manually create a chart for each subset.
6. Include some code in each Word document that manages to create the

chart

object automatically when the report is opened on the network. This

would

require the entry of custom parameters for each unit, or a custom query

for

each, and unless the chart is somehow cached, would only display if the
report is opened with access to the network/database. OTT?
7. Something else I haven't yet thought of.

Any ideas? I be really grateful for thoughts, links to tutes/HowTos etc.

Regards,

Alan

[Francine Kubaka]

While I may be missing some points, it seems the easiest way would be:

A) Get all normalized data into a SQL server table;
B) Produce datasets with 'select transform' queries;
C) Invoke Excel from SQL server and produce charts;
D) Export charts as bitmaps.

BY maximizing the data processing on the SQL server side and having Excel to
produce the charts only you will save yourself a lot of grief and processing
time.

Cheers,

FK

"Alan" <Xa*************@XparadiseX.XnetX.XnzX> wrote in message
news:O4*************@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...

Hi there,

Are there Excel charting gurus here?? If so then please read on...

Sorry for the cross-post but I'm not familiar with the Excel groups. I've
posted to asp.general because if I have to code a solution to this it'll
probably be done in ASP on a web server, unless there's a significantly
better way.

I'm looking for a way to create over 100 Excel *charts* programmatically.
We've just run a large online survey and the data is being fed back to us in a single spreadsheet - each respondent on a row and their dimensions
(division, department, etc) and each of their responses in columns.

This data has to be sliced by a number of dimensions - this will require
that just over 100 separate charts will have to be created. I'm looking for a way to create these charts in the most efficient way. I'm happy to
normalise the data and load it into SQL Server, and can then easily extract each required subset. The output of the extract process will probably be
spreadsheets in TSV format.

Last time I had to graphically report this sort of data I loaded it into a
mart and used PivotCharts. The owners of they survey don't need the
flexibility of Analysis Services so I'm happy to pre-define the charting
requirements if it'll mean I'm able to create these charts automatically.
Manipulating 100 PivotCharts was too much for them. Each chart will
ultimately be fed back to users in a Word document or Powerpoint
presentation with the appropriate analyses.

How do I then create a chart for each subset? I've thought about (but not
yet investigated) the following options:

1. Try to create a chart based on named-ranges in Excel, and just open each extract and copy and paste the data across. The chart will spring into life as the data is pasted. I'm not too sure what will happen if the size of the cut and paste areas are different.
2. Write some sort of module in Excel VBA to either access the database and create charts for all the subsets automatically, or create a chart for an
individual subset after accepting some sort of input from the user.
3. Use Office Web Components to do the charting on-line. Never used OWC but might give it a go if I thought I could create even one web page with every chart on it. I'd have to look at the format of the chart though, and how I'd get each chart back into Word and/or Powerpoint.
4. Another mart, but perhaps using something like ThinSlicer to create the
charts online.
5. Pay a student $15/hr to manually create a chart for each subset.
6. Include some code in each Word document that manages to create the chart object automatically when the report is opened on the network. This would
require the entry of custom parameters for each unit, or a custom query for each, and unless the chart is somehow cached, would only display if the
report is opened with access to the network/database. OTT?
7. Something else I haven't yet thought of.

Any ideas? I be really grateful for thoughts, links to tutes/HowTos etc.

Regards,

Alan