How to create a simple x y chart?

Michael,

Everything you should need to know is in Chapter 7 of the Numbers User Guide. It's a free download from the Help menu.

That's the best advice I can offer, not knowing what you tried or how your trials turned out.

Jerry

Michael,

I'm not clear on how you want to plot your chart - the order of the points, etc., because in your first example the data points on the mockup don't agree with the table.

Please comment on this approach, which includes the Task and Challenge, but in the Category text and not adjacent to the data point.

My table has two Header Columns and I made a Line Chart, setting the line color to transparent so the connections would not show.

Your comments?

Jerry

Edit:

Here's a shot of the table with chart selected...

Michael Vallance wrote:

why only some data points recorded on chart (T1 T3 etc) and others (T2 T4 etc) not?

Also I want to label each point T1 T2 etc. The manual does not explain this. There is a gear to click but that does not help . Thank you.

Hi Michael,

Scatter charts require pairs of data for each point plotted. The pairs may be listed

1. in the same row of adjacent columns (as they are in the table in your initial post), or
2. in the same column of adjacent rows (as they are in your second table, copied above).

In the example above, you have listed the data pairs in a single series with the x values in row 2 and the y values in row 3. The 'series' of points is defined by the pairs of values in this pair of rows.

But you have not told Numbers that you have arranged the data this way (using the gear menu and choosing "Plot (pairs of) Rows as Series", so Numbers uses the default arrangement which is to "Plot (pairs of) Columns as Series".

Your table has six pairs of columns containing data: BC, DE, FG, HI and JK. Numbers uses the values in the left column of each pair as the x value and the values in the same rows of the right column as the y value. There are five pairs of columns, and two data pairs (one in row 2, the other in row 3) for each column, so Numbers assigns five different data markers, one for each 'series', and uses the value in the header of the left column of each pair as the name for the series plotted for each pair of columns.

For the points on this chart marked with the + sign, x values are taken from column B, labeled "T1" and the associated y values are taken from column C, labeled "T2".

Examining the chart, you will find two data points with a + marker, one at x=6, y=6, the second at x=9, y=12.

Clicking the gear and choosing the first option, "Plot (pairs of) Rows as Series" will produce a chart like the one below. All of the data points are shown (in their correct locations—I've added the green arrow, indicating the T1 and T2 data markers).

Note: this chart is actually produced from the data set and table in your original post.)

As all of the data pairs are recorded in a single pair of rows, they are all considered part of a single 'series', and on the chart, are all marked with the same + data marker.

To get a different data marker for each data point, you need to arrange the data so that Numbers will recognize each pair as a different series. Here's an example, again starting from the data table in your original post:

Data from your original table (named "Table 1") was transfered to this table ("For Chart 2") using the formula below, entered into cell B2, and filled down and right to cell Y13.

B2: =IF(ROW()-1=COLUMN()/2,OFFSET(Table 1 :: $A$1,ROW()-1,1),IF(ROW()-1=(COLUMN()-1)/2,OFFSET(Table 1 :: $A$1,ROW()-1,2),""))

Note that the data marker for the last series, series T12, does not appear on the legend, but does appear on the chart (it's the black diamond at 7,9).

Regards,

Barry

EDIT: I notice I've made one error in transcribing from your original data: T12 skill should be 7, my charts (and table) show 9.

Here are three variations on Jerry's use of a Category graph for this task. All use the (now corrected) version of your original data table:

This is a Line Graph version. Column B of the table i left as a 'regular' column, and its data is included in the chart (green diamonds). Connecting lines have their colour set to none. X (category) axis options are set to show gridlines to visually tie the two data points for each task together. Y axis options are set to not show gridlines to avoid distraction.

This is a vertical bar chart showing the same data. X axis gridlines are unnecessary here, as the closed spacing between paired bars and widened spacing between sets of bars serves to tie the paired values together. The horizontal grid lines, on by default, provide a scale reference.

This version combines a bar graph (challenge) and line graph (skill) to show the paired data series. As above, the line colour has been set to none. Gridlines have been left at default settings.

Regards,

Barry

Barry,

The way I read the original question, it's a scatter plot problem, with only one series. I chose to use a Line Chart to get the Challenge data annotated on the chart automatically, rather than by hand. I also used the original data.

The OP's mockup was non-linear and apparently not ordered, so I didn't pay much attention to scale.

Here's the plain Scatter Chart, much like yours.

Michael, to answer one of your original questions, there's no easy way to get the t-numbers to show op up on the chart next to the data points. Just do it manually with text boxes.

Jerry

Hi Michael,

Happy to see you found a solution in all that. It was an interesting exploration. Thanks for the opportunity.

Regards,

Barry

Michael,

I too am pleased that you have a good soution to your "How to create a simple x y chart?" question.

I continue to be amazed to what passes for "simple".

🙂

Jerry