About getting help for charts

Some of the content in this topic may not be applicable to some languages.

Getting help in other design programs

When you are working in a design program, you can get help designing a chart in the following ways:

Getting help writing scripts and programs that use charts for the Web

You can use scripts and programs to automate charts, or you can include charts in run-time programs other than Web browsers — programs that you develop in a programming environment such as Microsoft Visual Basic.

Writing scripts   Microsoft Office programs provide the Microsoft Script Editor to help you write scripts. For example, you can use the Script Editor from data access page Design view in Microsoft Access to customize a chart. For information about running the Script Editor, see Help in your Office design program. In the Script Editor, you can display additional Help about using its features and writing scripts.

Object model Help   For Help developing a program or script to work with a chart list, you can display information about the object model, properties, and methods specific to charts. This object model Help is installed whenever you install the Microsoft Office Web Components, of which the Chart Component is one. Depending on the design program you're using, you can access this Help in the following ways:

Getting and providing help in the browser

Help available from the browser   For users who have Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.01 or later and the Microsoft Office Web Components, general Help specific to charts is automatically available. This run-time Help is separate from the Help available from the browser's Help menu.

Help available from the chart   The run-time chart Help topics provide general information for all users about using charts in the browser — such as how to use the toolbar and the context menu, and how to work with the field list and fields when a chart is based on a PivotTable list or database table or query.

The run-time chart Help does not include information about working with the Commands and Options dialog box, so it is not the same as the chart design Help topics you are reading now. Depending on the skills of your users and the type of work they want to do, you might want to supplement this run-time Help by providing custom instructions on the Web page for your chart, or provide a hyperlink to another Web page that has instructions on it.

Other Office Web Components, such as the PivotTable Component and Spreadsheet Component, also have their own separate Help available in the browser.

To see what Help is provided in the browser, create a chart on a Web page, open the Web page in Internet Explorer, right-click the chart, and then click Help on the shortcut menu. In the Help window, you can view a table of contents and search the topic text. The Office Assistant is not available in the browser to answer questions.