Need help formatting chart

[NISMOJim]

I hope someone can help me with this problem, I can't afford to lose any more hair!



I am working on a report with a chart based on a query to track total accidents by month in different areas ([Area1]...[Area4]). I also have a field which totals the previous years accidents ([Prev]). The user enters the year requested on a form as the query parameter.

The data comes out right on the chart, but the problem is with the formatting. I have set up the different areas as a stacked column chart, each with its own color, and the previous year as a line chart on the same axis. However, when I select a year to preview, the areas have changed colors, and the [Area2] & [Prev] series have swapped chart types.

What I would like is for [Area1] to always be a yellow column, [Area2] to always be a blue column, [Area3] to always be a red column, [Area4] to always be a green column, & [Prev] to always be a line chart. Is this possible?

I have only been working in Access for about 2 years, and this is my first time working with charts, so your "Access For Dummies" description is the only chance I have of getting this working.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[pkstormy]

It's been a few years since I've done reporting charts in MSAccess but as I recall years ago, you can do it 1 of 2 ways. Either embed an excel chart into the report itself or use the MSAccess charting report. I remember that it was sometimes easier to use one method versus the other for different kinds of charts. I also would create some make-table queries to make things easier and just base the chart off the newly created 'totals' table.

I do recall struggling with getting certain colors and getting the % and other lines to format correctly in the report. Sometimes it was just easier to embed an excel chart itself into the report versus using the MSAccess chart tool.