Excel® 2007 Charts

Chapter 13. Just for Fun

In This Chapter

• Some amusing and recreational aspects of charting

• Animated charts using VBA

Although Excel is used primarily for serious applications, many users discover that this product has a lighter side. This is especially apparent in the area of charts and graphics. Although the topics discussed here deal with nonserious applications of graphics in Excel, you'll quite possibly discover some techniques that you can apply to your more serious charting efforts.

Note

All of the examples in this chapter are on the companion CD–ROM, and many of these examples use macros. I don't discuss the programming aspects in this chapter, but the VBA projects are all unprotected, so a password is not needed if you'd like to view and experiment with the code. Depending on your settings, you may receive a security warning when the workbook is opened. Be assured that these files are virus–free.

Animating Stuff

When people think of animation software, Excel certainly isn't the first application that comes to mind. But, with the aid of some relatively simple macros, you can coax some crude animations out of Excel.

Note

If you're a VBA programmer, be aware that the "secret" to producing animations in Excel is to use the following VBA statement within a loop:

DoEvents

This statement causes a refresh of the screen. Without this statement, the results of your animation code are not displayed until the macro ends — which pretty much defeats the purpose of animation! Also, I've found that ...