Category : Lotus and other Spreadsheets
Archive   : LTSTIPS2.ZIP
Filename : GRAPHICS.123

Labeling the Lines in a Line Chart
(PC Magazine Vol 4 No 13 June 25, 1985 Spreadsheet Clinic)

The lines in 123 line charts are usually distinguished from each
other by little squares, pluses or other symbols at the data points.
Not only do the symbols clutter up the graph, but you have to look at
the legend at the bottom to figure out which line is which.
123 graphs are cleaner and easier to read with line labels.
There's no obvious way to do that, because Lotus doesn't let you put
text anywhere you like in a graph. The trick is to fool 123 into
thinking that your line labels are data labels.
The program lets you label every data point on the graph with a
block of text. (The text would replace the symbols.) In this case,
you only want one data label per line. Use the /GOD command to set up
two dummy ranges (for a two-line graph) of data labels -- see below.
The data-label range in this case is in cells B9..B19 for one data
range and in cells C9..C19 for the other. Note that in each range, all
but one cell is blank; you want a "data label" for only one data point.
Note also that the further down the range column the data label is, the
further to the right on the chart the label will appear. You can avoid
hav ing the label break the graph line by playing around with its
position when 123 prompts you for the position of the data label. Get
rid of the symbols with teh /GOFGL command, wipe out the le gends at
the bottom, and you've got a snappy-looking two-line graph with no
symbols and a data label for each line.
- - - - -
Figure: Two dummy data label ranges using cells B9..B19 and C9.. C19.

A B C
1
2 Data Labels
3 -----------
4
5 National Transfer
6 Defense Payments
7 -------- --------
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17 Defense
18 Transfers
19