In Microsoft Excel, you can create Gantt charts that show the task status
for project planning and control. This article describes how to programmatically generate this type of chart using a Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications procedure.
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To create a Visual Basic for Applications macro in Excel that you can use to create a Gantt chart, follow these steps:
| 1. | Start Excel. |
| 2. | Press ALT+F11 to start the Visual Basic Editor. |
| 3. | On the Insert menu, click Module. |
| 4. | Type or paste the following code in the Visual Basic module sheet:
Option Explicit
Sub Gantt_Chart()
'Define the variables.
Dim rge As String
Dim ValueAxisMinValue As Date
Dim shtname As String
Dim Title As String, aChart As Chart
'Store the location of the data as a string.
rge = Selection.Address()
'Store the start date for the chart.
ValueAxisMinValue = Selection.Cells(2, 2).Value
'Ask user for the Chart title.
Title = InputBox("Please enter the title")
'Store the sheet name.
shtname = ActiveSheet.Name
'Turn off screen updating.
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
'Create a chart located on a chart sheet.
Set aChart = Charts.Add
With aChart
.ChartWizard Source:=Sheets(shtname).Range(rge), _
Gallery:=xlBar, Format:=3, PlotBy:=xlColumns, _
CategoryLabels:=1, SeriesLabels:=1, HasLegend:=1, _
Title:=Title, CategoryTitle:="", ValueTitle:="", _
ExtraTitle:=""
'Remove the legend.
.Legend.Delete
'Create and format the series.
With .SeriesCollection(1)
With .Border
.Weight = xlThin
.LineStyle = xlNone
End With
.InvertIfNegative = False
.Interior.ColorIndex = xlNone
End With
'Modify the category (x) axis.
With .Axes(xlCategory)
.ReversePlotOrder = True
.TickLabelSpacing = 1
.TickMarkSpacing = 1
.AxisBetweenCategories = True
End With
'Modify the value (y) axis.
With .Axes(xlValue)
.MinimumScale = ValueAxisMinValue
.MaximumScaleIsAuto = True
.MinorUnitIsAuto = True
.MajorUnitIsAuto = True
.Crosses = xlAutomatic
.ReversePlotOrder = False
.ScaleType = False
.HasMajorGridlines = True
.HasMinorGridlines = False
End With
End With
'Turn screen updating back on.
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub
|
| 5. | Press ALT+F11 to return to Excel. |
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Using the Macro
To use the Gantt_chart macro, follow these steps:
| 1. | In a new Excel worksheet, type the following values:
A1: B1: START C1: DAYS D1: DAYS
A2: TASK B2: DATE C2: COMPLETED D2: REMAINING
A3: TASK-1 B3: 1/1/91 C3: 150 D3: 15
A4: TASK-2 B4: 5/1/91 C4: 21 D4: 31
A5: TASK-3 B5: 7/1/91 C5: 0 D5: 114
A6: TASK-4 B6: 10/1/91 C6: 0 D6: 4
A7: TASK-5 B7: 10/15/91 C7: 0 D7: 31
A8: TASK-6 B8: 11/1/91 C8: 0 D8: 2
|
| 2. | Select cells A2:D8. |
| 3. | On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Macros. |
| 4. | Click Gantt_chart, and then click Run. |
| 5. | Type the chart title when prompted.
The Gantt chart is displayed on a new chart sheet. You may add any additional formatting that you want.
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