Home / Statistical Tools / Analysis Tools / Run Chart / Examples / With X Column
With X Column¶
When you have a date or time column alongside your measurements, select it as the X column to display actual dates on the X-axis instead of observation numbers.
Goal¶
Create a run chart showing temperature readings over a 10-day period with dates on the X-axis.
Sample Data¶
Download RunChart_WithXColumn.xlsx
Excel Protected View
When you open downloaded files, Excel displays a Protected View warning. You must click Enable Editing before you can use Quantum XL with the file.
Alternatively, you can copy the sample data from the table below and paste it directly into a new Excel workbook.
| Date | Temperature |
|---|---|
| 1/1/2025 | 72.1 |
| 1/2/2025 | 73.4 |
| 1/3/2025 | 71.8 |
| 1/4/2025 | 74.2 |
| 1/5/2025 | 73.0 |
| 1/6/2025 | 75.1 |
| 1/7/2025 | 72.6 |
| 1/8/2025 | 74.8 |
| 1/9/2025 | 73.5 |
| 1/10/2025 | 76.0 |
Each row represents one daily temperature reading. The Date column provides the X-axis values, giving context to when each measurement was taken.
Steps¶
-
Launch the analysis
From the Excel ribbon, select QXL Stat Tools → Analysis Tools → Run Chart.
-
Select your data
Select cells A1:B11 (the header row plus all 10 data rows across both columns).
-
Configure the analysis
In the Run Chart dialog:
- X Column: "Date" should be selected
- Y Columns: "Temperature" should be checked
Click Finish to generate the chart.
Result¶
Quantum XL creates a run chart with dates on the X-axis and temperature on the Y-axis. The date labels provide meaningful context — you can see exactly when each reading occurred rather than just its position in the sequence.