Yesterday in Formula Forensics 008 we looked at Elkhans MaxIf problem.
However the solution/formula as presented is the final solution to his problem.
Elkhans original worksheet contained other problems and today we will look at this:
I have attached the orginal file as a sample file you can Download Here.
You will see that the MaxIf cell F13 is returning 0, where it should be showing 0.246
Houston, We’ve Had a Problem!
Cell F13 has the same formula we looked at in yesterday’s Formula Forensics: =MAX(IF((Parameter_3=D13)*(Parameter_4=E13),Parameter_5,0))
A quick check of the formula reveals that everything was technically right with the formula, yet the answer is wrong?
To solve this I tried several steps which is the topic of this post:
Examine the logic of the If’s Criteria
The formula =MAX(IF((Parameter_3=D13)*(Parameter_4=E13),Parameter_5,0)) works by calculating the maximum value from the If array.
So step 1 was to look at the logic in the If’s Criteria
That is (Parameter_3=D13)*(Parameter_4=E13)
In cell F15 I entered = (Parameter_3=D13)*(Parameter_4=E13) followed by F9
Excel returns: = {0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0}
This tells me that none of the Cells match the criteria, strange?
Yet manually I can see 4 matching records, below:
Check Cell Length
The next quick step was to look at the length of the text in each cell.
In Column I, I added a =Len(E2) and copied down, there was only 2 characters in each cell, this step eliminated leading or trailing spaces.
Retype the Data
Elkham supplied the source data in an Excel file.
But the Criteria was manually typed by me.
So the next step was to retype some of the original data in Cell E2
Wow an Answer, So obviously there was a difference?
What is Wrong Here?
So obviously there was a difference between the C1 in cell E2 and the C1 in cell E13?
I checked this in 3 ways
1. Type the value “C1” into Cell E2, without the quotes
This returned an answer 0.08 from F2 as it should have.
2. Copy an old “C1” value to E13
This resulted in the correct answer of 0.246 in F13
3. Use a quick Formula
Entering a quick formula
In F17 type =E2=E13
Excel returns False
Showing that the value of cell E2 does not match E13
So what is in E2:E12 ?
As I had typed the values into the Criteria Cells D13:E13, I knew what they were, they were a plain and simple “C1”
So what was in E2:E12 ?
Next step was to look at the Ascii values of the 2 characters in Column E.
In K2: =Code(Left(E2,1))
In L2: =Code(Right(E2,1))
Copy both down to Row 13
Bingo !
The Character C in cell E2 wasn’t the same as the Character C in E13 ?
Yet both cells contained a Calibri Font.
If I now type in a spare cells:
F18 =Char(63), Excel displays a “?”
F19 =Char(67), Excel displays a “C”
Yet Cell E2 is clearly displaying C1 with a First Character Ascii code of 63 which should be a ? mark.
I suspected that it had been copied and pasted from MS Access, So I shot an email back to Elkhan, asking “What the source of the data was?”.
The response came back that “The data had been copied from a Russian (Cyrillic) version of an MS Word File and pasted into an English version of Excel.”
I can’t explain what has happened but somehow the character sets and associated values got scrambled when copied the data from the Russian Word Document into Excel
If you have had experiences like this or can explain what has happened please do so in the comments below:
Solution
The Solution was now easy
Use Search/Replace
Copy the contents of cell E1,
goto Search/Replace or Ctrl H
Find: Paste the contents of Cell E1
Replace with: C1
Conclusions:
- Be careful when receiving data from foreign language files, including word and Excel files
- Check summations based on such data to ensure its integrity
- Be methodical in tracking down problem cells
Lets us know about your Data Transfer Nightmares
Have you had any strange data transfer issues?
Let us know in the comments below.
18 Responses to “Best Charts to Compare Actual Values with Targets – What is your take?”
Great post. I can't vote, though, because the answer I want to put down is "it depends". As with all visualisations, you've got to take into account your audience, your purpose, technical skills, where it will be viewed, etc.
I'm with Andy: It depends. Some I would use, some I might use, some I won't touch with a barge pole.
Naturally I have comments 🙂
The dial gauge, though familiar, is less easy to read than a linear type of chart (thermometer or bullet). It's really no better than the traffic lights, because all it can really tell you is which category the point falls in: red, yellow, or green.
By the same token, pie charts are so familiar, people don't know they can't read them. Remember how long it takes kids to learn to read an analog clock?
Bullet charts don't show trends.
With any of the charts that have a filled component and a marker or ine component, it makes more sense to use the filled component (area/ column) for target, and the lines or markers for actual.
[...] Best Charts to Compare Actual values with Targets (or Budgets … [...]
I voted for #6 even though I agree with the other comments that it depends.
The majority of the votes are for the #2, thermometer chart. I still have yet to understand what happens when you are above plan/goal, which was brought up in yesterday's post.
Also, I agree with Jon in that it would be better to flip the series and make the filled part the target or goal and the line or marker the actual.
I am also a fan of using text when appropriate if the data is among other metrics in a type of dashboard. Calling it out by saying actual and % achievement is a good option.
Another "it depends" vote. Are you just looking at one or are you comparing a number of targets with actuals? You didn't include a text box. The problem with sentences is that they can get lost in a page of gray text. A text box can call attention to the numbers and line them up effectively.
I'm with Jon: "Some I would use, some I might use, some I won’t touch with a barge pole" and I'm surprised that some of your readers voted for the last group.
Jon says:
With any of the charts that have a filled component and a marker or line component, it makes more sense to use the filled component (area/ column) for target, and the lines or markers for actual.
Why does this make more sense? I like 6 the way it is, although I would use a heavy dash for the plan/target marker.
"It depends" is also my take. What I usually try to drill into my clients dashboard design is the fu ndamental difference between spot results (am I on target for this month) and long term trends.. I always try to create 3 different set of graphs to represent real perormance:
- spot results vs objectives
- cumulative results vs objectives
- long-term trend (moving average) mostly) to see where we're going
[...] Best Charts to Compare Actual Values with Targets – What is your take? (tags: excel charts) [...]
[...] Related: Charting Principles, How to compare actual values with budgets [...]
[...] Excel Charting Alternatives to compare values [...]
Jon says:
With any of the charts that have a filled component and a marker or line component, it makes more sense to use the filled component (area/ column) for target, and the lines or markers for actual.
Why does this make more sense? I like 6 the way it is, although I would use a heavy dash for the plan/target marker.
I totally agree, Bob. I would normally favour a line for the target and a column for the actual, you can see quite easily then which columns break through the line, then.
[...] best charts to compare actual values with targets — den Status mal anders zeigen, z. B. als Tacho [...]
Thermometer charts: "Not appropriate when actual values exceed targets" - this is easily solved by making the "mercury" portion a different color from the border, then you can clearly see where the expected range ends and the actual values keep going.
People seem to knock gauges quite a bit in dashboarding, but trying to show comparison of realtime data between operating sites and targets for each site can easily be done with a bank of gauges that have the optimal operating points at 12 o'clock.
The human eye is great at pattern stripping, and any deviation of a gauge from the expected 12 position will quickly register with an operator and attract his attention. Using a colour background, or meter edge, will also indicate the sensitivity of a particular site.
[…] Best charts to compare actual with target values […]
[…] Best charts to compare actual with target values […]
[…] work laptop I have a favorites folder just dedicated to Excel charts. Its got things like “Best Charts to Compare Actuals vs Targets” and “Best charts to show progress“. I love me some charts […]
I am wondering how will the plotting work, for some of the targets which may have been achieved before time. E.g. for the month of Jul the target was 226 and the actual was 219. So the chart will show a deficit in meeting the target by 7 points but what if this 7 may have been completed earlier in month of June. So ideally it not a deficit.