Excel 2010 - Two data series on same graph - continuing on x-axis with different colors

Question

I need some help with Excel plotting

I have two sets of data, similar to the following (sorry for the poor formatting, I'm new here)

Point,Date,MaxCPU,PercentCPU

1,1/1/2016,400,50

2,2/1/2016,400,65

3,3/1/2016,400,75

4,4/1/2016,400,63

5,5/1/2016,600,75

6,6/1/2016,600,80

7,7/1/2016,600,68

etc

I want to plot the PercentCPU as a column graph using 2 data series (A and B, differentiated when MaxCPU changes from 400 to 600)

The first data series (Series A) is the PercentCPU for points 1 to 4 inclusive (Colour Blue), then I want to plot a second series (series B) using PercentCPU for points 5 - 7 inclusive (Colour Red)

I've seen plenty of help video's and help documents on how to do this they are not what I want as I need the second series B to continue on, on the x-axis after series A finishes

The net result is to have 1 continuous looking chart that has both series A and B on it, both with different colours but series B following on from series A, so that visually one can easily see the PercentCPU changes when MaxCPU changed from 400 to 600 (MaxCPU is not being graphed)

Try as I might, all I can get is series B plonking itself right on top of series A on the x-axis (line graph) or intermingling (column graph), I'm at a loss at how to get these two series side by side

Even trying a two series Y axis doesn't help, the graph still resorted to merging the two data series

How to get two data series on the same graph, one following the other along the x-axis, side by side, instead of both data series starting at the 0 x-axis origin?

Please enlighten me oh Excel guru's :-)

Answer 1

If you want different colored lines, use a different series for each line. The easiest way to achieve that is to arrange the data into separate columns, one column for each series. This can be done in a helper table on a separate sheet, using formulas that reference the original data.

For correct X axis placement on a category x axis, ensure that all rows of data are included in the series, even empty cells.

To connect two series, you need two data points in exactly the same position, one in each series, so that they overlap.