Spreadsheets in Finance and Forecasting
Activity Sheet 10.1: Cornershop Graphs
This activity returns yet again to the Cornershop situation. In this activity, the data
from the branch which has been set up in Dingle, is supplied on the spreadsheet
Cornershop Graphs.
The main purpose of this activity is to create a range of charts which select particular
ranges of data from different locations, and to provide the user with a means to
change the graphical representation.
Part A
Understanding the Spreadsheet
The Spreadsheet Cornershop Charts accompanies this activity. You should open this
spreadsheet now, and examine the layout.
When the page is fully operational, the page will do the following:
Data Area:
The current chart is
drawn using data
selected from this
table.
Data Table
Selection:
These buttons select
different tables
Item Selection:
Allows the user
to select a
particular line
from the table.
Chart Area:
The chart selected will
appear here in this box.
Create Graph:
Pressing this button
will create a new chart
Chart Type
Selection:
Allows the user
to select a
particular type of
chart.
At the moment, the only button which is functioning is the “Create Graph” button.
Click on this to get the macro working, and check that it is working properly.
We will work through the buttons in the following order
1. Sales Archive Option Buttons
2. Item Selection Drop Down Menu
3. Chart Type Selection.
Part B
Selecting from the Sales Archive
Record a macro called “week1”
Start Recording
1. Click on cell C3
2. Switch to the Sales Archive worksheet
3. Select the entire table F2:M10
4. Switch back to the Charts worksheet
5. Highlight cells C3:J11
6. Paste the selection into cells C3:J11
7. Click on cell C3
Stop recording
Assign this macro to the “Week 1” option button.
Click on Tools – Macro – Visual Basic Editor.
Examine the macro you have just recorded. It should be in Module 2, and should look
like this:
Sub week1()
'
' week1 Macro
' Macro recorded 26/03/2002 by User
'
'
Range("C3:J3").Select
Sheets("Sales Archive").Select
Range("F2:M10").Select
Application.CutCopyMode = False
Selection.Copy
Sheets("Charts").Select
Range("C3:J11").Select
ActiveSheet.Paste
Range("C3:J3").Select
End Sub
Title of macro,
and comments
Selection from the
Sales Archive page
Instead of recoding the other macros for weeks 2, 3 and 4 “by hand”, we will use this
macro to clone three new macros.
Copy the entire macro (as above), and paste it directly underneath the first macro.
Now make these changes:
Firstly:
Change the title:
Sub week1()
'
' week1 Macro
' Macro recorded 26/03/2002 by User
'
Now:
Change these 2 occurrences of
week1 to week2 (no spaces)
Make one change to the text:
The only change we need to make is to alter the range of cells which we copy from on
the Sales Archive worksheet.
If you check this sheet, you will find the data for Week 2 further along the worksheet:
Now, return to the week2 macro and make the following change:
Range("C3:J3").Select
Sheets("Sales Archive").Select
Range("F2:M10").Select
Application.CutCopyMode = False
Selection.Copy
Sheets("Charts").Select
Range("C3:J11").Select
ActiveSheet.Paste
Range("C3:J3").Select
End Sub
The range of
cells we need to
copy for week 2
will be P2:W10
Replace
F2:M10
by:
P2:W10
Assign the macro to the Week 2 Option button and check that it works.
When you are satisfied that it works, use the same method to clone macros for Week 3
and Week 4.
Check that these are all in working order before proceeding.
Part C
Selecting an Item Line
In this part we will need to make modifications to the already existing macro in
Module 1, called Graphit
This is the macro. It has been heavily annotated, and you should read all the
annotations before proceeding. The code follows the annotation.
Sub Graphit()
'Remove any old charts
ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Delete
'Create a new Chart
Dim Graph As Chart
Set Graph = Charts.Add
'This explains where the chart will be put (on the "Charts" sheet)
Set Graph = Graph.Location(Where:=xlLocationAsObject, Name:="Charts")
'This bit sets the type of graph and where it is
This is the only
'You can change the chart type and range.
bit of code we
'If you want to use this code elsewhere,
are going to
'You will need to change the XValues line
modify in this
With Graph
section
.ChartType = xlColumnClustered
.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Charts").Range("C6:J6"), PlotBy _
:=xlRows
.SeriesCollection(1).XValues = "=Charts!R5C4:R5C10"
.HasLegend = False
'This bit places the chart in the box at the bottom of the screen
'You can change the Ranges
With .Parent
.Top = Range("B14").Top
.Left = Range("B14").Left
.Width = Range("B14:K22").Width
.Height = Range("B14:K22").Height
End With
End With
End Sub
As noted in the yellow box above, the only part of the code we will modify is the data
source line. Currently this is taken from C6:J6. You can see the effect of changing this
if you modify the line to C7:J7 and run the macro. This will now produce a chart for
“Fancy Goods”.
We are going to link the selection of cells to a drop-down menu box.
Right click on the drop-down menu, and
examine Format- Control.
Note that the Input range for the cells is
taken from the data table itself.
Note also that no cell link has been
created yet.
Create a cell link to cell S3
This will take us to a portion of the
worksheet to the right of the tables
and charts where we can create coding
to make all these selections link
together.
We are now going to use a neat trick to select the appropriate group of cells. What we
will do is to store the description of the cells we want to graph in a particular cell, and
get the macro to read the contents of that cell.
In cells S6 to T11, we are going to store the addresses of the data we wish to graph.
Item 1 (Confectionery) is in cells C6:J6, Item 2 (Fancy Goods), is in cells C7:J7 .
1
C6:J6
2
C7:J7
3
4
5
Fill in the rest of the table down to T11,
with the appropriate line reference
numbers.
(Note that auto copy does not work)
6
Now in cell T3 put a formula which will read the table created and show the cell
reference of the selected line. (You will need to use a Look-Up function.)
Ensure that your item selection drop down menu box works, selecting the appropriate
range of cells and placing them in T3, before continuing.
You should have:
This means that all we have to do is to get the macro to read the contents of cell T3.
With Graph
.ChartType = xlColumnClustered
.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Charts").Range("C6:J6"), PlotBy _
:=xlRows
Remove everything
.SeriesCollection(1).XValues = "=Charts!R5C4:R5C10"
inside the brackets and
.HasLegend = False
replace by:
The code: Range(“T3”).Value reads the contents of cell T3.
Range(“T3”).Value
This means that instead of specifying a particular range of source data to the macro in
advance, we give it the following instruction:
Go to cell T3
Read the contents
Use this as the address of the source data.
You should now find that if you change the selection in the drop-down menu box, and
press the Create Graph button, the graph changes to the item that you have selected.
You can make this process automatic by right-clicking on the drop-down menu, and
assigning the Graphit macro to the box.
Part D:
Changing the Chart Type
We will allow the user to change the chart type to any of the following:




Vertical Columns
Horizontal Bars
Line Chart
Pie Chart
First of all, you will need to determine how to code each one of these in Visual Basic.
Currently we are producing a chart which has vertical columns
With Graph
.ChartType = xlColumnClustered
As you can see, the second line here defines the chart type.
In order to find out how to code these, we will use the technique of “exploratory
macro”.
create the following macro called explore
Start recording
 select the chart
 click on Chart-Chart Type
 select Bar
 click on Chart-Chart Type
 select Bar
 click on Chart-Chart Type
 select Bar
Stop recording
This is the macro:
Sub explore()
'
' explore Macro
' Macro recorded 26/03/2002 by User
'
ActiveChart.ChartType = xlBarClustered
ActiveChart.ChartType = xlLineMarkers
ActiveChart.ChartType = xlPie
End Sub
(NB
These three lines give
you the codes for the
different types of charts
The first two letters are “lower case X” and “lower case L”, not “x-one”
that is, xl, rather than x1 ; they look very similar!)
Setting up the four types:
In cells S18:T21 put the following
information:
1
2
3
4
Vertical Columns
Horizontal Bars
Line Chart
Pie Chart
Now link the second drop-down menu box (at M19) so that it reads the Chart Types,
and links the output to cell S16.
Ensure that this box works before continuing.
Now, inset 2 new lines in the macro, surrounding the “Chart Type” line
If Range("S16") = 1 Then
.ChartType = xlColumnClustered
End If
New Lines
The effect of this will be that the chart type will only be a vertical column chart, if
that has been selected in the box, and consequently a “1” is placed in cell S16.
Now copy this piece of coding and paste it underneath.
Make two modifications:
1. Change the 1 to 2
If Range("S16") = 1 Then
.ChartType = xlColumnClustered
End If
2. Change the Chart Type to:
xlBarClustered
Now clone the lines another two times, to create all options 3 and 4. You should get
the code for the graph type from the “explore” macro above.
When you have done this check that the macro works.
Modifying one of the Charts
You may have noticed that the Pie Chart is not particularly effective.
It would be better if we used a modified version of the Pie chart, something like this:
Groceries
Mon
14%
18%
Tue
12%
Wed
Thu
Fri
24%
9%
18%
5%
Sat
Sun
Start with the pie chart, and record the following explore macro:
Start Recording
 Select the Chart
 Select Chart Type and change
the Chart Type to an exploded
pie chart
 Select Chart Options and give
the chart a Legend, and label
the data blocks with
percentages.
 Now select the plot area on the
chart and use the handles to
enlarge the area and to
reposition it.
Stop Recording
The Macro will be something like:
Sub explore()
3D Pie Chart
ActiveChart.ChartType = xl3DPieExploded
ActiveChart.HasLegend = True
Legends and
ActiveChart.Legend.Select
Labels
Selection.Position = xlRight
ActiveChart.ApplyDataLabels Type:=xlDataLabelsShowPercent,
LegendKey:=False _
, HasLeaderLines:=True
ActiveChart.PlotArea.Select
Selection.Top = 27
Changes to
Selection.Width = 145
Plot Area
Selection.Height = 55
Selection.Left = 86
Selection.Width = 210
Selection.Height = 83
ActiveChart.ChartArea.Select
End Sub
NB the macro may not be exactly the same!
When you have recorded a macro that gives you the look that you want, do the
following:
Copy the middle section of the “explore” macro at the end of the “Graphit” macro .
Surround this section with if statements so that the section is only used if option 4 (pie
chart) is selected.
... etc.
.Width = Range("B14:K22").Width
.Height = Range("B14:K22").Height
End With
End With
The last part
of the
Graphit
macro
If Range("S16").Value = 4 Then
ActiveChart.ChartType = xl3DPieExploded
etc.
Selection.Height = 83
ActiveChart.ChartArea.Select
Section of code
copied from the
explore macro
End If
End Sub
This code will get the Pie chart to be the correct size.
Unfortunately when you try it, you will find that the labels are much too big!
The way to deal with this is to record a new macro which incorporates font size
changes to the labels as well (use font size 11) , and use this as the meat in the If
Range("S16").Value = 4 Then..... End If sandwich.
This part of the activity is merely a demonstration of what can be done. The coding
here may need to be modified further, to get exactly what you require.
Solutions
Part B:
In order to “clone” the macros for Week 3 and Week 4, the only changes you need to
make are:
(i)
(ii)
Changes to the title lines (week3 and week4)
Changes to the selection from the Sales Archive worksheet:
for week3:
Sheets("Sales Archive").Select
Range("Z2:AG10").Select
For week4:
Sheets("Sales Archive").Select
Range("AJ2:AQ10").Select
Part D: The Final Macro should look something like this: (comments removed)
Sub Graphit()
ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Delete
Dim Graph As Chart
Set Graph = Charts.Add
Set Graph = Graph.Location(Where:=xlLocationAsObject, Name:="Charts")
With Graph
If Range("S16") = 1 Then
.ChartType = xlColumnClustered
End If
New lines added to
If Range("S16") = 2 Then
select graph type
.ChartType = xlBarClustered
End If
If Range("S16") = 3 Then
.ChartType = xlLineMarkers
End If
If Range("S16") = 4 Then
.ChartType = xlPie
End If
.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Charts").Range(Range("T3").Value), PlotBy _
:=xlRows
.SeriesCollection(1).XValues = "=Charts!R5C4:R5C10"
.HasLegend = False
With .Parent
.Top = Range("B14").Top
.Left = Range("B14").Left
.Width = Range("B14:K22").Width
.Height = Range("B14:K22").Height
End With
End With
Code added from
“explore” macros which
modify the pie chart to
the desired look.
If Range("S16").Value = 4 Then
ActiveChart.ChartType = xl3DPieExploded
ActiveChart.HasLegend = True
ActiveChart.Legend.Select
Selection.Position = xlRight
ActiveChart.ApplyDataLabels Type:=xlDataLabelsShowPercent,
LegendKey:=False _
, HasLeaderLines:=True
ActiveChart.SeriesCollection(1).Select
ActiveChart.PlotArea.Select
Selection.Left = 81
Selection.Width = 154
Selection.Height = 61
Selection.Top = 18
Selection.Width = 234
Selection.Height = 93
ActiveChart.SeriesCollection(1).DataLabels.Select
Code which
Selection.AutoScaleFont = True
modifies the
With Selection.Font
data labels
.Name = "Arial"
.FontStyle = "Regular"
.Size = 11
.Strikethrough = False
.Superscript = False
.Subscript = False
.OutlineFont = False
.Shadow = False
.Underline = xlUnderlineStyleNone
.ColorIndex = xlAutomatic
.Background = xlAutomatic
End With
End If
End Sub