EZplot

Office_Expander_Logo.tiff

EZplot is an Excel add-in and trademark of Office Expander. The software design is targeted to improve productivity in creating Excel plots and performing data calculations in Microsoft Excel (from the Microsoft Office Suite). A distinctive feature of EZplot is that it CREATES plots using parameter names instead of requiring manual selection of data. All plot commands are accessed by right clicking so that the user does not need to remember and commands (unlike general command line plotting programs). The unique plotting capabilities of the software include a Contour Plot program and a Multiple Y Axes (Multy_Y) program for creating plots with 3, 4, 5,... Y axes in Excel.

EZplot Interface Design in Excel

The EZplot Excel add-in is a plotting and data calculation tool that is designed to quickly and easily create many Excel plots.

EZplot's design for Excel:

* Generates over 50 plots in seconds
* Creates Multiple Y axes plots (unique software for Excel)
* Creates real Contour plots (unique software for Excel)
* Uses parameter names instead of cells to select data
* Eliminates need to remember any commands by using built-in right-click menus
* Captures changes made to Excel charts and automatically generates a plot script
* Operates in the familiar Excel environment
* Performs data calculations
* Improves productivity, decreases effort

Plots are defined with parameter names in order to dispense with manual selection of data. Manual selection of data is required by Excel itself. Also, the user does not need to remember any commands because of a right-click interface that includes titles, legends, fonts, colors, scales, divisions, trendlines, sets etc... The interface automatically changes background colors and colors of commands (such as "colors 1 2 3 4") as a user types or completes right-click menus.

Multiple Y Axes Plot (Multy_Y) for Excel

EZplot contains Multy_Y for creating multiple Y axes plots with 3,4,5,... Y axes. This is a unique capability of this software for Excel. Excel itself can only create up to two Y axes. Using EZplot with its embedded Multy_Y component, users can interact with the plot to change scales, titles, etc...

The stand alone software Multy_Y can only generate multiple Y axes plots from existing Excel Charts. Unlike the Multy_Y component embedded in EZplot, the stand alone software does not have any interactive capability. Each Excel chart is selected from the interface shown and appears as a new Y axis on the Multy_Y plot. The plot is a picture that appears on a separate Excel Chart.

Contour Plot for Excel

Contour Plot is a component of EZplot that create real contour plots in Excel. Excel itself does not have this functionality. Contour plot accommodates any data (rectangular, nearly rectangular, or irregular data). It also includes a data generator for polynomials or any equation.

The stand alone version of Contour Plot also creates real contour plots in Excel, but there is no interaction with the plot that works from the EZplot sheet.

History and Trademark Registration

EZplot was conceived of in 2001 as a way to improve productivity when generating many plots in Excel. The first general release of EZplot was in 2006 for Office 2000 and Office 2003 on PC based computers. At that time, components of EZplot called Multy_Y and Contour Plot were sold separately. Unlike EZplot, these separate components have only limited interaction with the plots. Multy_Y allows for creation of multiple Y axes plots (3, 4, 5,... Y axes) in Excel. It is still the only software to have this capability in Excel. Also in 2006, a video tutorial became available.

EZplot was upgraded to be compatible with the subsequent release of Office 2007. Users noticed that the creation of multiple Y axes plots was slower than in the previous version. Another upgrade of EZplot made the software compatible with Office 2010, which recovered much of the speed issues of the previous version.

In 2011, EZplot was updated for all versions of Office, and all users were provided with a free version. Also in 2011, the first Mac version of EZplot components Multy_Y and Contour Plot became available. Multy_Y was released for Mac Office/Excel 2004. Contour Plot was released for Mac Office/Excel 2004 and 2011.

EZPLOT became a registered trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on March 30, 2010.