This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Manipulating Data
Charts are dependent on data. If no data exists, a set of default numbers is created in a table.
If you find yourself with a chart in PowerPoint and you want to modify the data that it is associated with, you can choose from a couple of methods.
First, you can modify the data by clicking the Select Data button (see Figure 6.12):
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Figure 6.12 Use the Select Data feature to modify the data your Chart contains.
- Select an existing chart.
- From the Chart Tools section, select the Design tab.
- Choose Select Data.
- Notice now that Excel launches, if it was not already open, and the Select Data Source dialog opens with the data that your chart was created from selected (see Figure 6.13).
Figure 6.13 This is functionality that was never even dreamed of with the MS Graph Object that was the default chart type in previous versions of Office.
- Modify the selection of cells or manually change the rows/columns using the dialog.
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Optionally, you can modify the data directly by choosing the Edit Data option. Select Data allows you to modify the set of data, but by using Edit Data, you can actually change cells and manipulate the actual numbers. Because PowerPoint is not a spreadsheet tool, it makes sense that Edit Data launches Excel—if it is not already open—and resizes both PowerPoint and Excel to appear side by side, allowing you to work in both.
To use Edit Data, do the following:
- Select an existing chart.
- From the Chart Tools section, select the Design tab.
- Choose Edit Data.
- Notice that Excel launches (if it was not already open) and you're able to change the data that your chart uses.