Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 22, 2020)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021
Excel is very handy at creating charts from data in a worksheet. What if you want to create a chart directly from VBA, without using any data in a worksheet? You can do this by "fooling" Excel into thinking it is working with information from a worksheet, and then providing your own. The following macro illustrates this concept:
Sub MakeChart() 'Add a new chart Charts.Add 'Set the dummy data range for the chart ActiveChart.SetSourceData Sheets("Sheet1").Range("a1:d4"), _ PlotBy:=xlColumns 'Manually set the values for the data series ActiveChart.SeriesCollection(1).Formula = _ "=SERIES(""First Data"",{""a"",""b"",""c"",""d""},{2,3,4,5},1)" ActiveChart.SeriesCollection(2).Formula = _ "=SERIES(""Second Data"",{""a"",""b"",""c"",""d""},{6,7,8,9},2)" ActiveChart.SeriesCollection(3).Formula = _ "=SERIES(""Third Data"",{""a"",""b"",""c"",""d""},{10,11,12,13},3)" End Sub
The comments in this example explain what is going on for each step. When setting the dummy data range, the SetSourceData method assumes the range is on a worksheet named Sheet1. If you don't have such a sheet in your workbook, you need to alter the command accordingly.
Later, when manually setting the values for the data series, the SERIES command is used to specify the label for the series (First Data, Second Data, and Third Data), the array of category labels (a, b, c, and d in all series), the array of values for the series, and a number specifying which series number this represents.
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (10347) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Creating Charts in VBA.
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