changing dates on axis

Hi all,

I am working with time series data - consumer price index, wage growth etc - from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. the dates are coded, so for example, "36861" is the actual input which becomes "1/12/2000" when changed to a date.

My problem is that when putting info into a graph I often only want to display just the year on the axis, not month or day. however, in the axis options there is no obvious way to change this. if i go to Format Axis/number/category/date i get a bunch of options ("14 March 2012", "14/3/2012" "14-3-12" etc), but none that just show the year.

Often these data run for 50 or more years, so entering a new column of dates doesn't seem like a realistic fix, particularly as sometimes a series change from monthly to quarterly, or quarterly to biannual.

I think i must be missing something obvious, but cant figure this out!

any help gratefully received!

I suppose that what you want is this:

Step 1: Right click on X axle and select Give format to axis

Step 2: In the options Give format to axis, Units:
Select --> Main: 1 / Year
Secondary 1 / Year
Base: Year
Step 3: Also in Give format to axis, under Number, write in Code of format aaaa and click Add

Attached file modified with images of steps.

Sorry for the translation. Mi Excel is in Spanish

Thanks for the response RET!

Step 3 is what I am trying to do. I cant believe it was so simple, Ive been trying everything!

I really appreciate your speedy help