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Excel

Creating a chart without directly storing data in cells

In Excel, you can create a chart without directly storing data in cells by using the SERIES function. Here’s a basic example of how you can achieve this:

Besides using cell references, you can enter explicit values, known as array constants, into your charts. To accomplish this, enclose the X and Y values within {} (curly brackets), as illustrated in the following formula:

=SERIES("My Bar",{"A","B","C","D"},{10,20,30,40},1)

In the previous SERIES formula, A, B, C, and D would be the X values, while 10, 20, 30, and 40 would be their corresponding Y values.

To further illustrate, refer to the example provided below:

  1. Go to the Insert tab, in the Charts group, click on the Column icon. This will display various column chart options.
  2. Select a clustered column chart. It will insert an empty/blank chart on the sheet as shown in the figure:
  1. After inserting the chart, select the chart and insert the formula in the formula bar as shown in the following figure:
=SERIES("BrainBell.com",{"PHP","JS","CSS","SQL"},{1,2,3,4},1)

By using this method, you can create or update a chart without having to store data in cells.

Charts and Graphs