Creating Scatter/Bubble Charts

Scatter charts are used to show relationships between X and Y values. They compare two sets of numbers at once, which is useful for discovering patterns and trends.

A bubble chart is a chart in which the data points are represented by bubbles. Bubble charts can have two column fields representing X and Y data values, or have three column fields representing X, Y, and Z data values, in that order. The third variable (Z) represents size. The size of each bubble is used to show the relative importance of the data. A bubble chart can be used to effectively show the relationship between three measure fields.

Note: Scatter/bubble charts require at least two measures, one dimension, a color field, and at least one detail field. Optionally, add a dimension to the Size bucket to view the concentration of data.

The following display options are available for a scatter plot or bubble chart:

• Change chart orientation. Switches the vertical and horizontal axes.
• Clear buckets content. Empties all buckets.

You can add fields to the following buckets for a scatter plot or bubble chart:

• Vertical. Add a measure field to the vertical axis to determine the vertical position of points. Additional dimensions create matrix rows. You can click the icon in the bucket field label to toggle between using the field as a measure or a matrix row .
• Horizontal. Add a measure or dimension field to the horizontal axis to determine the horizontal position of points. Additional dimension fields create matrix columns. You can click the icon in the bucket field label to toggle between using the field as a horizontal axis field or matrix column .
• Detail. Use this bucket to add detail to your visual by adding a data field to it. For example, if you add Sale,Quarter to the Detail bucket in your Scatter plot, the points on the plot are quadrupled, one for each quarter. In addition, the field that you specify in the Detail bucket also displays on the hover menu for each point in the plot.
• Size. Controls the size of each bubble based on a measure value.
• Color. If a dimension field is used, creates points or bubbles for each value and determines their color. If you also add a dimension to the Detail bucket, the values in the detail field are used to create points, and the values in the color field determine the color of the points. If a measure field is used, applies a color scale to the points.
• Tooltip. The data placed in this bucket displays in the tooltip at run time. Can be used to make additional information available without changing the appearance of the chart.
• Animate. Enables you to animate time progression using a slider control. As you move the control along the slider bar, an animation effect results. The slider control has a Play button that allows you to play and pause the animation. When you click Play, the Pause option is activated, enabling you to pause the progression and analyze your data. Slider controls are limited to one sort field and should be time or sequence related, such as month or year.
• MultiPage. Enables the creation of multiple graphs based on the field that you place in this bucket.

Procedure: How to Create a Scatter/Bubble Chart

1. From the WebFOCUS Home Page, click the Designer tab, and then click Chart.
2. Choose a data source and click Select.
3. Add one measure and one dimension to the chart. Also, add fields in the Detail and Color buckets.

   The scatter/bubble chart refreshes with your selections, as shown in the following image.

   

4. You can perform the following tasks with your scatter/bubble chart:
   1. Add additional measures or dimensions to the chart, where applicable.
   2. Change the fields to obtain different information.
   3. Format the chart (for example, customize the header and footer or style the legend).
5. Save your scatter/bubble chart.