How can I constrain a plot on an excel sheet?

Hello,

I created an excel add-in that outputs a plot, but i'd like it to be constrained on a certain region of the sheet, instead of floating around; is there a way to do it?

many thanks

Answer 1

[Shivam Lahoti]

Hi Christian,

To ensure your chart remains within a specified area on the Excel worksheet, you can define its position and dimensions using properties such as Left, Top, Width, and Height within your add-in's code. Here's a concise MATLAB code example:

% Create a new instance of Excel
excelApp = actxserver('Excel.Application');

% Add a new workbook
workbook = excelApp.Workbooks.Add;
sheet = workbook.ActiveSheet; % Reference the active sheet

% Here you would typically run some MATLAB code that generates data for the plot
% For example, let's assume you have some X and Y data:
X = 1:10;
Y = rand(1, 10);

% Plot the data using MATLAB's plotting functionality
figure;
plot(X, Y);

% Copy the plot to the clipboard
print('-dmeta');

% Paste the plot from the clipboard into the Excel sheet as a chart object
sheet.Paste;
chartObject = sheet.Shapes.Item(sheet.Shapes.Count);

% Now, set the position of the chart within the sheet
% (The units are in points; 72 points = 1 inch)
leftPosition = 100; % For example, 100 points from the left edge of the sheet
topPosition = 50; % For example, 50 points from the top edge of the sheet

% Set the size of the chart
width = 300; % Width in points
height = 200; % Height in points

% Apply the position and size to the chart
chartObject.Left = leftPosition;
chartObject.Top = topPosition;
chartObject.Width = width;
chartObject.Height = height;

% Make Excel visible
excelApp.Visible = true;

You can adjust the Left, Top, Width, and Height values to fit your specific requirements. And refer to the above example for your plugin.

I hope it was helpful.

Regards,

Shivam.