Embedding Flash Charts into PowerPointTM

How to embed the interactive and animated chart flash movies into your PowerPointTM slide show presentation. Say good-bye to boring static chart pictures and images!
  1. Requirements: You should have Microsoft PowerPointTM and the free Flash Player (which can be downloaded here) installed on your machine.
     
  2. Open PowerPointTM and navigate to the slide, where you'd like to embed the flash chart movie.
     
  3. Select: View -> Toolbars -> Control Toolbox.
     
  4. Click the "More Controls" icon of the Control Toolbox (looks akin to a hammer and wrench tool icon with three small dots below, find it in the right bottom corner position of the Control Toolbox).
     
  5. After clicking the "More Controls" icon select from the pulldown menu: Shockwave Flash Object. (Note, there might be other shockwave related entries in this pulldown menu which should be neglected in our case.)
     
  6. Note, now the cursor will change to a crosshair when hovered over the powerpointTM slide area. Drag or draw a rectangle box of approximately the same size and at the desired position of the chart on the powerpointTM slide. The exact position and dimension of this box can be altered later on using its handles.
     
  7. Right click on this box which you drew and from the context menu select: Properties (or if available click the icon with a hand and a window in its background of the Control Toolbox)
     
  8. Now you should be prompted with the Properties Dialog window. Here a whole number of values related to your chart flash movies can be set including the allowFullSreen option (if a recent version of flash is installed) which works proper if set to 'true'. First if available (if an older flash player is installed) select: (CUSTOM) and click on the icon with the three dots which appears at the end in the same row as the (CUSTOM) field after selecting the same. If not available then you most like got the latest flash player installed and should see a row called 'movie' (don't mix it up with the row called 'movieData') here in this Properties Dialog window. In this case continue with the next step but enter the name and path and additional variables (akin to the query string of the html setup, don't forget to include the full name of the swf with '.swf' suffix though) of your flash chart here in this row and simply close this Properties Dialog window afterwards. Done. Run your slide show! Note, in this case you most likely will have to repeat all these steps each time you open your powerpointTM slide presentation. This is subject of changes...
     
  9. Now you should be prompted with another window titled "Property Pages" subtitle "Flash Properties". Here as well a whole number of values related to your chart flash movies can and should be set. In the first text box called "Movie URL" type in the path and name of the your AMchart.swf movie. In case you'd like the chart movie to load a different XML data file than its default 'Data.xml' file you can add variables behind the movie's name here like: AMchart.swf?dataURL=Data_surface2008.xml Pretty much akin to the query string of the html setup. Click apply if you are on the "Property Pages" pop window: Apply and OK!
     
  10. Now you should be taken back to the Properties Dialog window where you previously did select: (CUSTOM). Here make sure to click or select the "Playing" property option and set it to "True" via its drop down selection. Note, this "Playing" option is self resetting. Each time you open your powerpointTM slide show you'll have to set this value to "True" anew! The movie's width and height could be set here too.
     
  11. Finally run your powerpointTM slide show now showing the embedded flash chart movie with full interactivity and animation.