Here is a cool count-down timer application made in VBA to remind you about our VBAClasses registration closing time!
I know it is blindingly awesome. So I will give you a few seconds before reading further.
….
Back already? Great.
I was thinking of ways to tell you that you have got less than 3 days to join our VBA Class. Then it struck me, why not make an Excel workbook to tell you how much time you have got? So I did just that.
Here is a video demo of how the VBA application works (watch on YouTube):
Download the VBA Classes Count-down Timer Workbook:
Click here to download the workbook. Please enable macros to see it.
PS: You must drag and drop this file in to Excel 2007 or above to see it.
How does the Count-down Timer Work?
First, I must tell you about its limitations:
- This workbook assumes that your computer is located at the hotspot (or city) you have chosen.
- The current time is fetched from your computer’s local time using NOW() formula.
Now, the basic construction of this workbook can be broken down to 3 parts:
- Hotspot / City Selection
- Countdown Timer
- Formatting
Hotspot / City Selection:
- I took an outline map of world and put it in an empty sheet. On top of this I have added 9 hotspots by drawing nine circles.
- I have named these hotspots spot1, spot2…,spot9
- As you can guess, each of these spots correspond to one time zone, from PST to Australian Time.
- I have assigned macros to each of them. The macros would just modify a cell named valSpot with the name of the spot on which I clicked.
- Based on the clicked spot, I fetched the corresponding closing time from a table like this:
- Then, I calculated the time left by subtracting current time from closing time.
- A similar logic is used for City selection.
Countdown timer:
- I have inserted a check box and linked it to a cell named showTimer
- I have also assigned a macro startTimer to the checkbox.
- The startTimer macro would call a different macro named – countDownTime()
- In this, I wrote a while loop that would check if the showTimer is true and ask Excel to update the currentTime once every second
- The code can be examined from the downloaded file.
Formatting:
I am leaving this to your imagination.
Bottom line: Join our VBA Classes
Of course, the whole point of this is very simple.
If you want to learn VBA, then please join our VBA classes. We will be closing registrations in 3 more days. After that we will be busy for next few months teaching VBA to those of you who joined us.
Click here to join our VBA Classes.
PS: When you join our VBA Class, you get to learn how this timer app is constructed in a detailed 40 minute lesson. That is just one of the many lessons in our class. So, join us already.
13 Responses to “Gantt Box Chart Tutorial & Template – Download and Try today”
Hi Chandoo
As one of your students I have followed your detailed example through with great success. However, Excel is acting in an unexpected way and I wonder if you could take a look?
http://cid-95d070c79aef808e.office.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/Gantt%20Box%20Chart.xlsm
On my version, I have to type 40239 (Which equates to 2 Mar 2010) to get the chart to display 31 May 2010 (which should be 40329)!!??
Have I done something wrong or is Excel acting up?
Thx
Oli
PS Your example file in 2007 displays correctly.
Hi,
I like this idea a lot, but I agree the name is a little drab.
As an American I may just be seeing things, but to me the combination of lines and bars on your chart looks like a bunch of cricket bats.
Maybe you could work that into a catchier name. 🙂
Cheers!
Here is some code I use to keep the axis synched.
It may be useful to some of your readers
It is based on a comment I saw on Daily Dose of Excel.
Function SynchGanttAxis(Cname, lower, upper)
'Sets the X min and X max for Category axis
Application.Volatile
On Error Resume Next
'
'Top Horizontal Axis
With ActiveSheet.Shapes(Cname).Chart.Axes(xlCategory, 1)
.MinimumScale = lower
.MaximumScale = upper
End With
'Bottom Horizontal Axis
With ActiveSheet.Shapes(Cname).Chart.Axes(xlValue, 2)
.MinimumScale = lower
.MaximumScale = upper
End With
End Function
Function SynchVerticalAxis(Cname, lower, upper)
Application.Volatile
On Error Resume Next
' Excel 2007 only
'Right hand vertical axis
With ActiveSheet.Shapes(Cname).Chart.Axes(xlValue, 1)
.MinimumScale = 0
.MaximumScale = upper
End With
End Function
@Oli.. Can you check your file again.. I see 40329...
@Dave: Even I saw things.. the bars actually looked like lollipops. How about calling this lollipop chart - now that would be yummy and goes along the tradition of naming charts after eatables (bar, pie, donut...)
@Bob: Superb stuff... thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi Chandoo
This looks really good and I think it can also be applied to show project phases / milestones.
Question: Thinking further could this be amended to display a project lifecycle (Idea through to Implementation say 7 phases) on one bar / row? Just imagine 20 projects within a programme all on one chart one bar each showing their respective lifecycle stages i.e. on one page.
Idea: As the Gantt Box Chart this is quite intensive to set up re formatting etc how about the added extra of once you have completed this to "Save as template" i.e. saves the formatting and layout of the chart as a template so you can apply to future charts. Simple to do and will save the time formatting etc again and again and again.
Therefore tip: Click on your chart demo and then click on Save As template icon (2007) - edit file name and click on save. Ready to use / apply via Templates in Change Chart Type window.
Thanks and be very interested if the lifecycle question can be resolved
Mike
How embarrassing.
I was obviously suffering from numerical dyslexia. I was one of those days.
@Mike H: You can easily make this chart to work like a generic project lifecycle plan chart. All you have to do is,
1. in a separate sheet define the steps of lifecycle and various dates in a table (with 5 columns for each of the projects you have).
2. now use a control cell to input the project name you want to show in the chart
3. based on the input, use OFFSET Formulas to get the correct data
4. Rest is same as the tutorial above
For more info on the dynamic charting visit http://chandoo.org/wp/tag/dynamic-charts/ and http://chandoo.org/wp?s=OFFSET
Your solution is really smart but in the en Excel isn't meant to do stuff like this. I, as a former PM, always thought is was frustrating that you had to do stuff like this for something simple like a Gantt chart. So I built Tom's Planner. And would like to plug it here. I think it really solves the problem you are trying to solve in the most efficient way. Check out http://www.tomsplanner.com for a free account or play around with the demo.
Hi there,
Chandoo - this is really a very nice and helpfull chart - I adopted it, so I can report a forecast or the delay of a certain task (coming from my role as an auditor for projects).
One topic I´m currently struggeling with: I do have a project lasting for lets say 12 month. For a management reporting, I want to have kind of snapshot, lets say one month back and 2 month in the future. I tried with the offset formula, but failed. Any idea?
Thx
Lopi
[...] Ein viel geliebter Klassiker ist die Erstellung von GANTT-Diagrammen mit Excel. Wir hatten das Thema wiederholt schon hier. Chandoo.org hat sich mal wieder mit einer neuen Variante hervorgetan: Das GANTT-Box-Chart. [...]
[...] [...]
Hi Chandoo - fantastic xls. One thing I can't figure out how to do is adjust the alignment of the vertical axis. I would like to left align so that I could indent to represent sub tasks. Can that be done? Or is there a better way?
I've been trying to work out if there's a way to show weekends on the graph. The closest thing I've got is to add them on a secondary axis, but then I haven't been able to keep both axis lined up together! Any ideas?
Following on from this - is it possible to show things like holidays?