x-axis time series with 2 different begin dates

[tirrill]

I want to show 2 time series in 1 chart with different start dates. Series 1
begins 1996 and run through 2006. Series 2 starts 2000 and also stops on the
same end-date 2006. Both use the same $ scale on the y-axis. Excel puts
them both as having start-year of 1996 with the 2nd series stopping in 6
years (2002). How do I "offset" the 2nd series by 4 years?

 

[David Biddulph]

What sort of chart? Have you tried XY(Scatter)?

 

[tirrill]

It has to be line graphs. A scatter plot would not easily show the
relationship between the 2 different time series.

I have finally found an inelegant way of accomplishing having to different
start dates. I had to first reset my Y-intercept to 0. Then, I formatted
each data point along the 0-line, removing the data points and lines. I then
changed the Y-intercept back.

Thank you for your effort.

 

[Del Cotter]

It has to be line graphs. A scatter plot would not easily show the
relationship between the 2 different time series.

How many actual data values are there per year? If it's one per year, I
don't see why you wouldn't simply start the second series with four
blank cells. I assume you have a pair of series with a much finer
resolution, monthly or even less.

I have finally found an inelegant way of accomplishing having to different
start dates. I had to first reset my Y-intercept to 0. Then, I formatted
each data point along the 0-line, removing the data points and lines. I then
changed the Y-intercept back.

Since they both end in 2006, a slightly more elegant way of doing it
would be to sort the numbers in reverse order, from 2006 backwards, and
then format the X scale in reverse order. The "reversed-reverse" scale
will look the same, but the series will now match in time.

 

[David Biddulph]

I don't understand why you say that a line graph would show things that the
XY graph won't?
Maybe so if you only look at the version of XY with points and no lines, but
the XY graph can include the lines (and leave out the points if you want to
do so), and has the advantage that it does treat the X values as data
values, rather than category labels.

 

[Jon Peltier]

You have two options.

Use an XY chart, and format the series to use markers and lines.

Use a line chart but understand how a line chart's category axis works. The
categories are not considered as numerical entries but as labels. The first
series defines these labels for the entire chart, and other series use the
same labels in the same order. So you would set up your data with blanks to
offset the start of the second series:

A B
1996 10
1997 12
1998 13
1999 15
2000 15 12
2001 16 14
2002 18 17
2003 17 17

- Jon