Modern Chart Improvements

As mentioned in the article, Current Feature Work: Monaco Editor + Modern Chart Improvements (accessforever.org), two significant new Access features are being released this Autumn. This article describes the Modern Chart Improvements feature which is being rolled out to current channel users in version 2409 build 18025.20104 released on 25 September.

The Modern Chart Improvements include:

1.   10 new chart types

Area / Radar / Arc / Box and Whisker / Bubble / Doughnut / Funnel / Scatter / Waterfall / Word Cloud

2.   Additional features with new and existing charts

• gridlines in column / bar / line / area / combo / radar / box & whisker / bubble / scatter and waterfall charts

  

  
  

• number or percentage data labels in pie / arc / doughnut charts

• a new Chart Settings Format task pane whose features depend on the chart type in use. For example:

All changes are based on a common charting framework called Ivy which has been integrated into the Access application. This will make it easier to continue adding other chart types in the future.

The Microsoft documentation has just been updated with details of the modern chart improvements. The official documentation for the Access Chart Object is still being updated.

Known Issues

The following issues have been reported to the Access team and are currently being addressed:

• Gridlines were very faint in the initial release to Current Channel. These were changed to the darker grey color shown above in version 2409 build 18025.20140 update released on 8th October.

  

• Chart data cannot yet be sorted e.g. funnel charts

  

  Sorting (ascending/descending) will be added to various chart types in a future update.

  
  

• Bubble charts are currently 2-D only with the bubble size based on the Y-axis value rather than a third variable. This is under review.

  

  
  

• VBA support is not yet available for all the new chart types and features e.g. gridlines. This will be added over the next 3-4 months.

  
  

• Word Cloud charts currently do not appear in print preview or when printed. This is being addressed.

NOTE: The changes are only being implemented in Access 365.

a) For users running Access 2016/2019/2021/2024, any new chart types used revert to the default Combo chart type.

b)  Users running Access 2013 or earlier cannot see any modern charts. The application will still run, but there will be an empty space where the modern chart is located.

For further details of the new chart types and the additional functionality with existing chart types, see Colin Riddington’s article: NEW - Modern Chart Improvements (isladogs.co.uk)

Video

Fellow MVP, Maria Barnes, recently gave a presentation on Modern Chart Improvements to the Access Lunchtime chapter of AccessUserGroups.org. The video is available on the Access Lunchtime YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/7RYQutxuhRc