Knowledge Base

How to Add New Data to a Data Map Chart

Article ID: 147737

Article Last Modified on 8/15/2003

Microsoft Excel 97 Standard Edition

This article was previously published under Q147737

This article also applies to:

Microsoft Excel for Windows 95 7.0

SUMMARY

In Microsoft Excel, you can add additional columns of data or new rows of data to an existing data map. However, when you insert the new data, you need to include the matching column of geographic names.

MORE INFORMATION

Geographical labels must be in the first column (and not in the first row). Therefore, list the geographic areas, such as names of countries and states, in the first column of the worksheet, and then arrange the rest of the information in columns on the worksheet. You are unable to add data to a Data Map using drag-and-drop functionality.

To add new columns or rows of data to a data map, do the following:

Double-click the map to make it active.
On the Insert menu, click Data.

The Data Map dialog box appears.
On the worksheet, highlight to select the range of cells you want to include on the map. Include the column of geographic labels and row of column labels, all rows and columns of data used previously, and the new data columns and rows.

NOTE: If you do not select the geographic label column (even though you used it to create the original map), you receive the error: "You must include a column of geographical data in your selection."
On the View menu, click Data Map Control.
For Microsoft Excel Data Map to include the new rows of data on the map, select the new column label buttons created in the Data Map Control dialog box and replace the original labels with new ones. (Previous labels use only the original rows of geographical data.)
For Microsoft Excel Data Map to include the new columns of data on the map, select the new column label buttons in the Data Map Control dialog box, and drag them to the box below to replace a previous label.

NOTE: If you use the CTRL key to highlight discontiguous columns of data to avoid selecting data already shown on the map, the "You must include a column of geographical data in your selection" message is displayed. Adding data columns to a previously prepared Data Map puts duplicate column label buttons in the Data Map Control box. Extra labels cannot be removed. To avoid this problem, delete the previously created Data Map and redraw the Data Map as desired.

For more information about working with rows and columns in Data Map, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

131731 XL: Data Map Charts Use Hidden Rows and Columns

Additional query words: XL 97

Keywords: kbualink97 KB147737