data labels in 2007

Bob -

Where to begin.... I'll start with some severely limiting changes to the new
dialogs, changes that greatly reduce one's productivity.

In the Format Axis dialog, Old Excel uses option buttons to show the choices
for tick marks and labels, so you can see them all before selecting, and it
takes one click to select. New Excel uses dropdowns, so it takes one click
to see the choices and another to select. We all know what the choices are,
but there aren't that many, so why hide them, especially since the dialogs
have so much blank space?

In the same dialog, in Old Excel if I want to change from an Auto scale
parameter to a Fixed one, I could just click on the number and edit it. In
New Excel I have to click on the Fixed option first, just to enable the text
box. In Old Excel if I click on Auto, the text box is highlighted, so all I
have to do is type the new value, but in New Excel it's not even activated.

I can't add error bars from the Format Series dialog, I have to go to the
ribbon, and this adds two sets at once (X and Y), and I still have to visit
the dialog to format them and select values.

In Old Excel, I could double click an object (a series, an axis, whatever),
make many changes in the dialog, then when I leave the dialog, I could
Ctrl+Z to undo all changes, or select another object and Ctrl+Y or F4 to
apply all the changes to the selection. In New Excel, double clicking no
longer pops up the Format Object dialog, and if you're lucky, Ctrl+Z and
Ctrl+Y remember just the last single formatting change you made; sometimes
they don't even remember that little.

So far, no bugs, just poor UI design choices. The source data dialog is
among the most confusing in 2007. I'm working on a charting UI add-in to
alleviate some of these issues.

Bugs, there are a few. If you specify custom error bar values, the syntax
is:

Function ErrorBar(Direction As XlErrorBarDirection, Include As
XlErrorBarInclude, Type As XlErrorBarType, [Amount], [MinusValues])

In Old Excel (i.e., in tons of existing code, even based on the macro
recorder), [Amount] and [MinusValues] are truly optional (note the
brackets), so you need not specify them. In New Excel, these are listed as
optional, but functionally they are NOT optional, so existing code falls
over unless you insert "0" for the optional arguments.

(Also the macro recorder has lost much of its functionality in 2007,
especially involving shapes and charts. But that's a rant for another day.)

I have a custom chart that has primary and secondary vertical axes. The
primary vertical axis has no labels or ticks, just the line, and I set it to
appear at zero. If the primary horizontal axis goes from negative to
positive, the axis is a nice indicator of zero, like a special gridline. If
the minimum is >= zero, the axis merely appears on top of the secondary
axis, and doesn't bother anyone. Except in 2007, it doesn't appear on top of
the other axis, but actually to the left of the tick labels of the other
axis. It took me an hour to figure out what the vertical line was just
inside the left edge of the chart area. This is probably a feature, because
it means coincident axes do not obscure each other; but a feature that
changes functionality also breaks previous solutions.

Autosizing of textboxes doesn't work as it used to. I don't recall the
details, but one of my first Excel 2007 projects was designing a workaround
for a client.

There are more workarounds I've designed for clients and for myself, but
it's still early, and they are not coming to mind. I still got in a pretty
good rant, though, didn't I?

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Tutorials and Custom Solutions
Peltier Technical Services, Inc. - http://PeltierTech.com
_______



"Bob Flanagan" <nospam RemoveThis @nospam.net> wrote in message
news:U-2dnWFDttRkqwbanZ2dnUVZ_uqvnZ2d@comcast.com...
> Jon, could you expand on what you have found? I have a page at my site I
> am updating and would like to list some of those problems.
>
> Bob Flanagan
>
> "Jon Peltier" <jonxlmvpNO RemoveThis @SPAMpeltiertech.com> wrote in message
> news:%23sE3YvvXIHA.6044@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>I have found dozens of little stupid things like this that don't work the
>>way they used to. Not exactly bugs, I guess, but not exactly working
>>right. I think they were rushed into releasing Excel 12 with a
>>beta-quality charting system. I'm hoping they have a chance to fix it in
>>Excel 14.
>>
>> - Jon
>> -------
>> Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
>> Tutorials and Custom Solutions
>> Peltier Technical Services, Inc. - http://PeltierTech.com
>> _______
>>
>>
>> "John" <John RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:C7531671-EAAE-46CA-A979-2FA7329F6198@microsoft.com...
>>> disapointing... thx. Brings in a number of problems if worksheet is
>>> locked... etc
>>>
>>> "Andy Pope" wrote:
>>>
>>>> The chart needs to be selected, as Jon stated.
>>>> But for me the tooltip appears without the actual series being
>>>> selected.
>>>>
>>>> Cheers
>>>> Andy
>>>>
>>>> John wrote:
>>>> > I have both those options checked. Strange... I actually have to
>>>> > select the
>>>> > series and then hover... which I don't want to have to do
>>>> >
>>>> > "Andy Pope" wrote:
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >>Hi,
>>>> >>
>>>> >>Check the options,
>>>> >>Show chart element names on hover
>>>> >>Show data point values on hover
>>>> >>
>>>> >>Office button > Excel Options > Advanced > Display section.
>>>> >>
>>>> >>Cheers
>>>> >>Andy
>>>> >>
>>>> >>John wrote:
>>>> >>
>>>> >>>In 2003 I used to be able to hover over a data point on a chart and
>>>> >>>it would
>>>> >>>give me the value... in 2007 it seems I am not able to do that... is
>>>> >>>that
>>>> >>>correct? how can I see the data point value on my chart without
>>>> >>>double
>>>> >>>clicking on it... want to just hover over it
>>>> >>
>>>> >>--
>>>> >>
>>>> >>Andy Pope, Microsoft MVP - Excel
>>>> >>http://www.andypope.info
>>>> >>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>>
>>>> Andy Pope, Microsoft MVP - Excel
>>>> http://www.andypope.info
>>>>
>>
>>
>
>

Hi Jon. thanks for the rant. I had been avoiding 2007. I think I will
continue to do so <grin>. One of the advantages of being a retired
grandparent with lots of grandkids nearby. They are a lot more fun to play
with.

I had run into problems with code that created charts in Excel 97-2003 not
working in 2007 and having to have major modifications.

Ok if I post your comments on my web site? I'm updating my page on Excel
2007 problems and your comments would add a lot.

Bob

"Jon Peltier" <jonxlmvpNO.RemoveThis@SPAMpeltiertech.com> wrote in message
news:%23Ot2HfCYIHA.1208@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Bob -
>
> Where to begin.... I'll start with some severely limiting changes to the
> new dialogs, changes that greatly reduce one's productivity.
>
> In the Format Axis dialog, Old Excel uses option buttons to show the
> choices for tick marks and labels, so you can see them all before
> selecting, and it takes one click to select. New Excel uses dropdowns, so
> it takes one click to see the choices and another to select. We all know
> what the choices are, but there aren't that many, so why hide them,
> especially since the dialogs have so much blank space?
>
> In the same dialog, in Old Excel if I want to change from an Auto scale
> parameter to a Fixed one, I could just click on the number and edit it. In
> New Excel I have to click on the Fixed option first, just to enable the
> text box. In Old Excel if I click on Auto, the text box is highlighted, so
> all I have to do is type the new value, but in New Excel it's not even
> activated.
>
> I can't add error bars from the Format Series dialog, I have to go to the
> ribbon, and this adds two sets at once (X and Y), and I still have to
> visit the dialog to format them and select values.
>
> In Old Excel, I could double click an object (a series, an axis,
> whatever), make many changes in the dialog, then when I leave the dialog,
> I could Ctrl+Z to undo all changes, or select another object and Ctrl+Y or
> F4 to apply all the changes to the selection. In New Excel, double
> clicking no longer pops up the Format Object dialog, and if you're lucky,
> Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Y remember just the last single formatting change you
> made; sometimes they don't even remember that little.
>
> So far, no bugs, just poor UI design choices. The source data dialog is
> among the most confusing in 2007. I'm working on a charting UI add-in to
> alleviate some of these issues.
>
> Bugs, there are a few. If you specify custom error bar values, the syntax
> is:
>
> Function ErrorBar(Direction As XlErrorBarDirection, Include As
> XlErrorBarInclude, Type As XlErrorBarType, [Amount], [MinusValues])
>
> In Old Excel (i.e., in tons of existing code, even based on the macro
> recorder), [Amount] and [MinusValues] are truly optional (note the
> brackets), so you need not specify them. In New Excel, these are listed as
> optional, but functionally they are NOT optional, so existing code falls
> over unless you insert "0" for the optional arguments.
>
> (Also the macro recorder has lost much of its functionality in 2007,
> especially involving shapes and charts. But that's a rant for another
> day.)
>
> I have a custom chart that has primary and secondary vertical axes. The
> primary vertical axis has no labels or ticks, just the line, and I set it
> to appear at zero. If the primary horizontal axis goes from negative to
> positive, the axis is a nice indicator of zero, like a special gridline.
> If the minimum is >= zero, the axis merely appears on top of the secondary
> axis, and doesn't bother anyone. Except in 2007, it doesn't appear on top
> of the other axis, but actually to the left of the tick labels of the
> other axis. It took me an hour to figure out what the vertical line was
> just inside the left edge of the chart area. This is probably a feature,
> because it means coincident axes do not obscure each other; but a feature
> that changes functionality also breaks previous solutions.
>
> Autosizing of textboxes doesn't work as it used to. I don't recall the
> details, but one of my first Excel 2007 projects was designing a
> workaround for a client.
>
> There are more workarounds I've designed for clients and for myself, but
> it's still early, and they are not coming to mind. I still got in a pretty
> good rant, though, didn't I?
>
> - Jon
> -------
> Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
> Tutorials and Custom Solutions
> Peltier Technical Services, Inc. - http://PeltierTech.com
> _______
>
>
>
> "Bob Flanagan" <nospam.RemoveThis@nospam.net> wrote in message
> news:U-2dnWFDttRkqwbanZ2dnUVZ_uqvnZ2d@comcast.com...
>> Jon, could you expand on what you have found? I have a page at my site I
>> am updating and would like to list some of those problems.
>>
>> Bob Flanagan
>>
>> "Jon Peltier" <jonxlmvpNO.RemoveThis@SPAMpeltiertech.com> wrote in message
>> news:%23sE3YvvXIHA.6044@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>>I have found dozens of little stupid things like this that don't work the
>>>way they used to. Not exactly bugs, I guess, but not exactly working
>>>right. I think they were rushed into releasing Excel 12 with a
>>>beta-quality charting system. I'm hoping they have a chance to fix it in
>>>Excel 14.
>>>
>>> - Jon
>>> -------
>>> Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
>>> Tutorials and Custom Solutions
>>> Peltier Technical Services, Inc. - http://PeltierTech.com
>>> _______
>>>
>>>
>>> "John" <John.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>> news:C7531671-EAAE-46CA-A979-2FA7329F6198@microsoft.com...
>>>> disapointing... thx. Brings in a number of problems if worksheet is
>>>> locked... etc
>>>>
>>>> "Andy Pope" wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> The chart needs to be selected, as Jon stated.
>>>>> But for me the tooltip appears without the actual series being
>>>>> selected.
>>>>>
>>>>> Cheers
>>>>> Andy
>>>>>
>>>>> John wrote:
>>>>> > I have both those options checked. Strange... I actually have to
>>>>> > select the
>>>>> > series and then hover... which I don't want to have to do
>>>>> >
>>>>> > "Andy Pope" wrote:
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> >>Hi,
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>Check the options,
>>>>> >>Show chart element names on hover
>>>>> >>Show data point values on hover
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>Office button > Excel Options > Advanced > Display section.
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>Cheers
>>>>> >>Andy
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>John wrote:
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>>In 2003 I used to be able to hover over a data point on a chart and
>>>>> >>>it would
>>>>> >>>give me the value... in 2007 it seems I am not able to do that...
>>>>> >>>is that
>>>>> >>>correct? how can I see the data point value on my chart without
>>>>> >>>double
>>>>> >>>clicking on it... want to just hover over it
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>--
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>Andy Pope, Microsoft MVP - Excel
>>>>> >>http://www.andypope.info
>>>>> >>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>>
>>>>> Andy Pope, Microsoft MVP - Excel
>>>>> http://www.andypope.info
>>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>