Scatter Contour Chart

A Scatter Contour chart displays contours that correspond to the density of the plotted points. The points themselves are not displayed.

scatter contour chart example

To create a scatter contour chart, follow the basic steps below:

If you are new to charting, see the following sections first:

Configure Your Data…​

The data source for the chart (data block or data model) should represent dimensions and measures as independent columns or fields, as shown below. See Prepare Your Data for information on how to manipulate your data, if it is not currently in this form. (Note: A properly designed data model will already have the correct structure.)

data source with dimensions and measures as columns

In some cases (e.g., Pie Chart), you may want your data to provide just a single measure. In other cases (e.g., Line Chart), you may want the data to supply multiple measures. If the data does not provide the correct number of measures, you may be able to alter the number of measures to suit the needs of the chart by “pivoting” or “unpivoting” the data. See Pivot Data in Prepare Your Data for more information about this procedure.

Open a Chart for Editing…​
Watch Video: Create a Chart (Open the Chart Editor)

This video might show an earlier version of the feature or operation that differs in minor ways from the current version.

Follow the steps below to get started with a new Chart. See Basic Charting Steps for more details.

  1. If necessary, create a new Dashboard. (See Create a New Dashboard.)

  2. From the Toolbox panel, drag a Chart component into the Dashboard.

    drag Chart component into Dashboard

  3. Resize the Chart as desired by dragging the handles.

    drag handles to resize Chart

  4. Press the ’Edit’ button in the center of the Chart or press the ‘Edit’ button Edit in the top-right corner.

    press Edit button on Chart

    This opens the same Visualization Recommender available for creating a new Dashboard. (See Create a New Dashboard.)

  5. To bypass the Recommender, press the ‘Full Editor’ button Full Editor at the top right to open the Chart Editor.

    press Full Editor to open Chart Editor

  1. Press the ‘Select Chart Style’ button Select Chart Style. Choose the ‘Scatter Contour’ style. Press the ‘Apply’ button Apply.

    select scatter contour chart style

  2. From the ‘Measures’ folder of the Data Source panel, drag a measure to the ‘X’ or ‘Y’ region. This places the selected field onto the chart as a measure.

    What is a measure?

    A measure is generally used for aggregation, for example summation, averaging, correlation, etc., within a Crosstab, Chart, Text component, or Gauge. Adding a measure to the ‘Y’ region in a chart displays the computed aggregates by using locations on the Y-axis. Adding a measure to the ‘X’ region displays the computed aggregates by using locations on the X-axis. You can also display aggregates by using color, shape, size, or label.

    drag measure to X or Y region

    To convert a dimension to a measure, right-click the dimension in the data source and select ‘Convert to Measure’.

  3. Press the ‘Edit Measure’ button Edit Measure next to the measure, and select the desired aggregation method for the measure.

    For a scatter contour plot you may not want any aggregation at all. In this case, select ‘None’ as the aggregation method.

    select aggregation method for measure

  4. From the ‘Measures’ folder of the Data Source panel, drag a second measure to the ‘X’ or ‘Y’ region. (Use the region that does not already contain the first measure.)

    drag second measure to remaining axis region

  5. Press the ‘Edit Measure’ button Edit Measure next to the second measure, and select the desired aggregation method for the measure. Press the ‘Apply’ button Apply.

    set aggregation for second measure

    This creates the desired scatter contour chart.

    completed scatter contour chart

  6. Optional: Drag a dimension to the ‘Text’ area to display labels on the Chart.

    What is a dimension?

    A dimension is used to break-down the dataset into multiple groups, often within a Crosstab, Chart, or Selection List. Adding a dimension to the ‘X’ region of a Chart distinguishes the different dimension groups by location on the X-axis. Adding a dimension to the ‘Y’ region distinguishes the different dimension groups by location on the Y-axis. You can add multiple dimensions into the ‘X’ or ‘Y’ regions of a Chart, or into the ‘Rows’ or ‘Columns’ regions of a Crosstab, to create multiple grouping levels. You can also distinguish groups in a dimension by using color, shape, size, or label in a Chart.

    drag dimension to text region for labels

    If ‘None’ is selected as the aggregation method, duplicate labels may be displayed.

  7. Optional: Press the ‘Edit Color’ button Edit Color to select an alternate color scheme.

    select alternate color scheme

    For a Scatter Contour chart you cannot bind a data field to the ‘Color’ region.

  8. Optional: You can add additional dimensions to the Chart if desired. See Trellis Chart (Grid) for information about adding multiple dimensions to a chart axis.

  9. Optional: To weight the data points according to a specified measure, drag a measure representing the weights to the ‘Size’ region. A larger weight assigns greater density to the point.

    To change how the contours are focused on the data points (without weighting), press the ‘Edit Size’ button, and choose a fixed size value.

    adjust contour size focus setting

    You can make additional adjustments to the appearance of the contours from the ‘Chart Properties’ dialog box. See below.

  10. Press the ‘Finish’ button Finish to close the Editor.

  11. Optional: To change the characteristics of the contours, press the ‘More’ button (More) in the Chart toolbar, and select ‘Properties’. In the ‘Chart Properties’ dialog box, adjust the following settings under ‘Density Contour’ in the Advanced tab.

    Levels

    Specifies the number of contours used to represent each region. A larger number produces a smoother transition of colors.

    Bandwidth

    Specifies the area over which to calculate density. A larger number produces contours that span larger areas.

    Edge Alpha

    Specifies the transparency of the contour edge. The transparency of the contour center is determined by the Chart ‘Alpha’ property. A higher value makes the edges more visible.

    Cell Size

    Specifies the size of the cells that make up the grid on which contour weights are computed. Higher values specify larger cells, and hence broader clusters. Lower values specify smaller cells, and hence smaller clusters.

You can proceed to edit the titles, legend, etc. See Basic Charting Steps and Chart Properties for more information. See Add Data Format for information on how to format text on a Chart.