XL98: How to Create a Dynamic Chart by Using Visual Basic

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Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements. Before you run the macro, follow these steps:

1. Enter the following information on Sheet1 of a new workbook:

         C3:         D3:  Region 1   E3:  Region 2   F3:  Region 3
         C4:  Jan    D4:  10         E4:  80         F4:  15
         C5:  Feb    D5:  20         E5:  70         F5:  25
         C6:  Mar    D6:  30         E6:  60         F6:  35
         C7:  Apr    D7:  40         E7:  50         F7:  45

2. Start the Visual Basic Editor (press OPTION+F11).
3. On the Insert menu, click Module.
4. Enter the following procedure in the module.

         Sub CreateChart()
   
             ' Create a New Chart.
             Charts.Add
             ' Change the Chart Type to the desired type.
             ActiveChart.ChartType = xlColumnClustered
             ' Sets the Source Data to the Region of data starting with the
             ' top-left corner C3. This line of code assumes that the
             ' region of cells is contiguous - without empty rows or columns.
             ActiveChart.SetSourceData _
                 Source:=Sheets("Sheet1").Range("C3").CurrentRegion, _
                 PlotBy:=xlColumns
   
         End Sub
   						

5. Press OPTION+F11 to return to the worksheet.
6. On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Macros. Select CreateChart and click Run.

The macro will use the CurrentRegion property to "find" adjacent data to cell C3 on Sheet1 and create a column chart on a new Chart sheet.