Sharing the Wealth: Random Excel Tip #2
July
31
2006
The guys over at Juice Analytics are at it again.
It’s another one of those ‘doh!’ moments where I say: “Why didn’t I think of that?” Basically, using a simple function in Excel (Rept, aka repeat) which allows you to repeat any piece of text N number of times, you can create simple, in-cell horizontal bar charts. I’ll let you go read their post as they explain it quite well and thoroughly.
All I have to say is, no need to wait for Excel 2007 and their less than accurate in-cell gradients - you can be doing this right now and it’s not only a better solution but also is extremely reminiscent of a sparkline.
Thanks, Clint. Make sure you check out the comments too, community brilliance as people explore all the edge cases of this tip.
Beautiful redesign to your site!
Chris,
of course I’ve been following the discussion avidly, this is seriously a little gem of an Excel trick that I’m already putting into play at work :).
Thanks for the comment and the compliment!
-Clint
The conditional formatting is a really nice trick for a reusable Excel dashboard template. Add an ODBC driver, and it’s goodbye-UI. Well, maybe someday..
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