Missing x-axis labels on chart in XL97

Hi All,

Bit of a strange one this. I have a workbook containing lots of charts
built using dynamic ranges. I have built them in XL2000, where all is
well, but on opening in XL97 via a Citrix W2000 Desktop, the x-labels
disappear. I have tried all the following to get them to reappear:

-- Deleted the axis and put it back on
-- Changed the dynamic range to a static range
-- Set all the formatting options to automatic

but still they don't appear. I have tried creating a chart with the
offending dynamic range as the x-axis and that seems to work fine.
And, very wierdly, if i change the location of the chart to be
embedded, they appear, but on resetting to its own sheet, they
disappear again...!

The plot thickens... if i put the embedded chart on a blank chart
sheet, then it looks ok. If i then enlarge the chart to about 90% of
the screen, all is still well but if i enlarge it to the full screen,
the labels disappear!

So, my question really is has anyone seen anything like this before?
Does it sound like a bug in Citrix rather than Excel. If I recreate
the chart, do you think it will work (I'd rather not do this as it's a
bit complicated to set up - it's a multi-series side by side stack
bar.)

Thanks
Rob

I assume this is a category type X axis. When you double click the axis, on
the Scale tab, one of the boxes is for "Number of categories between tick
mark labels". Presumably you can enter a 1 in this box, and every label
would appear. In fact, in Excel 2000 and later, this is what occurs.
However, Excel 97 did not let you put more labels along the axis than Excel
wanted to.

The fact that the labels appear and disappear as you resize the chart must
be a strange interaction between the overall chart size and the imperfect
font autoscaling. If you make the chart large and the font small, all labels
should show. Turn off the font autoscaling for the axis labels, then shrink
the chart. Since the font is the same size, as you squeeze the chart, the
labels get closer, and eventually Excel starts removing them before they
overlap, sometimes well before they overlap. If you enter a number in the
box (in 2000+), you can allow the labels to overlap. Now with autoscaling
on, you can stretch the chart, but the font moves in discrete increments, so
it might jump up to a size large enough to make Excel remove every other
label. Then stretch the chart further, the font stays at the same increment,
and the labels reappear.

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Peltier Technical Services
Tutorials and Custom Solutions
http://PeltierTech.com/
_______


"Rob Hick" <rob.hick@nbs.nhs.uk> wrote in message
news:1132250740.652593.213960@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Hi All,
>
> Bit of a strange one this. I have a workbook containing lots of charts
> built using dynamic ranges. I have built them in XL2000, where all is
> well, but on opening in XL97 via a Citrix W2000 Desktop, the x-labels
> disappear. I have tried all the following to get them to reappear:
>
> -- Deleted the axis and put it back on
> -- Changed the dynamic range to a static range
> -- Set all the formatting options to automatic
>
> but still they don't appear. I have tried creating a chart with the
> offending dynamic range as the x-axis and that seems to work fine.
> And, very wierdly, if i change the location of the chart to be
> embedded, they appear, but on resetting to its own sheet, they
> disappear again...!
>
> The plot thickens... if i put the embedded chart on a blank chart
> sheet, then it looks ok. If i then enlarge the chart to about 90% of
> the screen, all is still well but if i enlarge it to the full screen,
> the labels disappear!
>
> So, my question really is has anyone seen anything like this before?
> Does it sound like a bug in Citrix rather than Excel. If I recreate
> the chart, do you think it will work (I'd rather not do this as it's a
> bit complicated to set up - it's a multi-series side by side stack
> bar.)
>
> Thanks
> Rob
>

thanks for the advice Jon. I've tried dropping the font size and
turning on the autoscale - that seems to make them appear but only at
fairly illegible font sizes!

I think you might be right with the squeezing theory - because it's a
multi-series side by side stack there are actually lots of columns
displayed but only some have an x-label. I was expecting XL to make
use of the 'extra space' but evidently it does not!

Thanks again
Rob