3

I need to prepare such diagrams:

le diagram

I think it's quite intuitive how to read this diagram and this is why I want to create a few of them for my project.

I am quite confused how to create them efficiently; I've painted the one above in Paint just to quickly visualize my idea and it took too long imo. Moreover the time axis is not accurate.

I have precise data with event times (eg. loading start in process 1, loading end in process 1, algorithm start in process 2 etc.) e.g.

Process 1:
00.0 - 40.0 - Loading
40.0 - 45.0 - Preparing and launching process 2
45.0 - 50.0 - Preparing and launching process 3
50.0 - 90.0 - Sleep
90.0 - 95.0 - Joining process 2
...

Process 2:
45.0 - 90.0 - Algorithm execution
...

How to generate such timeline diagrams?

I am using MS Windows 7 and have Office 2010 installed, but am willing to use anything that gets the job done..

pnuts
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Queequeg
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  • https://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/create-a-gantt-chart-in-excel-HA001034605.aspx – SeanC Apr 29 '13 at 20:15
  • @SeanCheshire: Good point, had a look for Gantt and gnuplot which is far more easily programmed than Excel: http://se.wtb.tue.nl/sewiki/wonham/gantt.py – Phil H May 02 '13 at 11:08

2 Answers2

2

Efficiently? Can't be done. But once you get it setup, it's not too bad. They key is laying out your data appropriately. And it won't be just your data. Every red bar is a piece of data, obviously. But the blank spaces aren't really blank, they're invisible bars against a white background.

The base chart will be a stacked bar chart. Process 1 might have data that looks like

39  1   5   1   5  40  2  135  10  1  10

And those would alternate red and white. What will probably be better is to get rid of the "1" data points and use white gridlines that cross through the data (or error bars or something like that).

See http://dailydoseofexcel.com/archives/2012/02/10/income-statement-waterfall-chart/ for an example of a waterfall chart. It's not identical to your situation, but it uses a lot of the same techniques.

Also, Peltiertech has some waterfall tutorials, like http://peltiertech.com/WordPress/excel-waterfall-charts-bridge-charts/

Dick Kusleika
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2

Basically, use a stacked bar chart:

SO16286356 example

To explain all the steps in detail would be a nightmare but in outline, the data is roughly as shown A1:H4. Format the data series white where required to blend into the background. Add data labels and change their text as required ('merge 1' etc).

I cheated and drew lines (eg within 'Loading') and formatted them white but extra 'connectors' of 1 ms should serve (and would then scale, unlike the drawn lines). Adjust the separation and height of the bars with Series Options.

Edit:

The column labels more-or-less match up with @Jon Peltier but are not important here. They can be taken as merely increments in order. Based on the more specific values provided by comment:

SO16286356 second example

pnuts
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  • while the visual effect is very close to my picture, I don't understand it - what is `Base`, `Element` etc? Please see my updated question – Queequeg Apr 30 '13 at 14:22