Microsoft Graph 6 (Worksheet)

Microsoft Graph 6 (aka Microsoft Chart 2.0) is the second of the three graphing utilities supported by Access ELF. Its claim to fame is its ability to present graphs in full perspective, which can then be rotated through three dimensions using the Ctrl key and mouse in combination.

Chart 2.0 is best suited for graphs with a small number of data points.

While our implementation of MS Chart doesn't offer in-place activation or full editing, it does provide the most important customization options. The font and size of all labels can be adjusted, as well as the text of column labels. Titles and footnotes can be added, and legends and axis markings can be turned on or off.

Editing the individual axis labels of MS Chart may take some practice. The numeric labels along the Y-axis can sized easily by clicking on them with the Shift button depressed. Choose any font and size (separated by a semi-colon). For example: MS Sans Serif;12 The same applies to X-axis labels: any label representing an item of data (such as "Seafood" or "Davolio") cannot be changed. We refer to these as X-axis labels regardless of whether the graph is rotated manually or even flipped 90 degrees using the Series checkbox. Only the font and size of the X-axis labels can be changed.

The Z-axis labels, or column headers, can be restyled or rewritten. The format for these modifiable labels is: Caption[;Font][;Size] The bracketed parameters are optional.

To change the Z-axis labels, you must either click them while holding down the Shift key or click near them while holding down the Shift key. This inexactness derives from a bug in Chart 2.0. Since we can't tell which column is being pointed at, if you click directly on one, we'll assume it's the "same one as last time". If you want a different Z-axis label, then point at a non-label area, and we'll choose at random from the possibilities. There are usually only one or two headers (value columns), so it will take just one or two clicks to get the answer you want.

A "no-guesswork" method of changing Z-axis labels is to switch into Series view, turn the Legend on and edit the legend using defined indexes. These edits are shared by the Z-axis labels.

Unfortunately, the behavior of Chart 2.0 labels can be very puzzling in other ways. The reason is that the graphing software decides whether each label will fit in the available space. And each element of the design affects every other element. That's why, for instance, you can check the box for X-axis labels and see one (or all) of the Z-axis labels disappear. Adding one set may have reconfigured the chart in such a way that the other no longer fits. Stranger still, checking the Xx box can cause the Zx labels to disappear, without having the Xx labels appear. This seems to be because the software extends the X-axis, anticipating that it will shrink by a similar amount when "pushed" into the background by new Xx labels. When these fail to squeeze into the foreground, the extension leaves no room for Zx labels that formerly fit comfortably.