3D Scatter Plot
A visualization that represents quantitative information as a point along three axes. Used to explore relationships.
The file type used for analysis files created with TIBCO Spotfire. Can be saved to disk and to the Library. Defines what data to include and how to present it. Can include linked or stored data based on user settings when saving the file. Includes one or more pages. See also DXP File.
Axis
A line that provides a reference from which coordinates in a visualization are measured; it orients the visualizations and provides a frame around it. Each axis is associated with at least one scale.
Axis Selector
A control used to change what will be shown on each axis in the visualization. The axis selector is what tells you which column is assigned to the axis. See also Column Selectors.
A vertical or horizontal rectangle whose height represents a numerical value.
Bar Chart
A visualization that represents quantitative information by means of a series of vertical or horizontal rectangles known as bars.
Bar Labels
Words or numbers used to identify and describe a bar and data associated with it.
Bar Segment
A section of a bar that represents a subset of data that the whole bar is made up of.
Bar Segment Labels
Words or numbers used to identify and describe a bar segment and data associated with it.
Binning
A way to create a categorical column from a column with continuous data. Binning is used to create a new column where the values of a specified column are grouped into different bins using a binning method.
Bookmark
A Bookmark is a snapshot of the state of an analysis, which can be applied at any time, allowing you to return to a previously created view of the data.
Box Plot
A visualization used for examining key statistical properties of a variable. Measures, such as median, mean and quartiles are displayed using boxes, whiskers and other symbols.
Bullet Graph
A dynamic item that can be included in a graphical table or in a text area. It is used to compare one value, represented by a horizontal bar, to another value, represented by a vertical line. Those values can also be related to qualitative color ranges.
A column that has been created from different expressions where calculations on other columns could be included.
Calculated Value
A dynamic item that can be included in a graphical table or in a text area. It displays the result of an aggregated expression.
Categorical Axis
An axis that is associated with a categorical scale.
Category Axis
The category axis is the horizontal axis in a bar chart where the bars are displayed vertically. When bars are displayed horizontally, the category axis is the vertical axis.
Categorical Scale
A scale on which the values have interruptions, such as values representing names, places, things or events.
Cell
A box or other unit on a spreadsheet or a table at the intersection of a column and a row.
Check Box Filter
A Filter used to filter out rows based on whether or not a column value is a member of a set of values.
Color Mode
The way colors in a color scheme are assigned to the values in the data. There are five color modes in Spotfire: Fixed, Categorical, Gradient, Segments, and Unique Values.
Color Palette
A group of default colors you could choose from when changing a color in a color scheme.
Color Scheme
A set of colors and a definition of how they are applied to values. The definition includes whether the scheme is categorical or continuous, and whether colors are simply applied by index or by specific values.
Color Scheme Grouping
A color scheme grouping works as a container for one or more columns or axis values on which you want to apply the same color scheme when working with coloring in tables, cross tables, and heat maps.
Column
A vertical list of values in a data table.
Column from Marked
Column from marked is a way to make a visualization axis dependent on the cell value of a marked row of a data table related to, or unrelated to, the data table used by the visualization.
Column Name
The name of a column as displayed in the user interface. It is a normalized, trimmed, and unique text string. It is initially set to a tidied form of the external name, but it may be modified through a Rename Column operation.
(Column Names)
When more than one column is used to define the values on an axis in a visualization (for example, on the value axis in a bar chart), the option (Column Names) becomes available for selection on other axes, in the Color by column selector, in the trellising column selectors, etc. This option will treat the column names of the selected value columns as separate categories, so that if Sales and Cost are selected on the value axis, (Column Names) can be used to apply different colors on bars or bar segments showing Sales and Cost.
Column Selector
A control used to change the column or hierarchy used to define a certain property (axis column, color, size, etc.) in a visualization. Column selectors can be dragged and dropped to change the order of dynamic hierarchies, or, to apply or remove columns from a specific property using drop targets in the visualizations.
Combination Chart
A visualization that combines the features of the bar chart and the line chart. It represents quantitative information by means of a number of bars and/or lines.
Comparison Circles
Circles in the box plot used to show whether or not the mean values for various categories are significantly different from each other.
Continuous Axis
An axis that is associated with a continuous scale.
Continuous Scale
A scale on which there are no interruptions between values, for example if the values are real numbers.
Cover Page
The cover page is the first page in an analysis. It normally contains information about the analysis and the person who created the analysis. If desired, a cover page can automatically be added when creating new analyses.
Cross Table
A cross table is a two-way table consisting of rows and columns. It is typically used to determine whether there is a relation between the row variable and the column variable. Each row and column can be summarized to a grand total. If the vertical axis is a hierarchy, subtotals can be displayed in the columns of the cross table.
Curve Fit
Curve fit or regression analysis allows you to summarize a collection of sample data points by fitting them to a model that will describe the data and display a curve or a line on top of a visualization. There are several different models available in Spotfire.
Custom Expression
The column selectors can, in addition to specifying one or more columns to use on an axis or to define a property, also be set to use a custom expression. This means that a dynamic calculation can be performed using more or less complex expressions, involving one or more columns, aggregation measures, or mathematical expressions. When a custom expression is used on an axis, the values on that axis are dynamically recalculated using filtered rows only. To create a new column which is always based on the values of all rows, you should instead use the Insert Calculated Column tool.
The Data Relationships tool is used for investigating the relationships between different column pairs, using comparison methods such as Linear regression, Spearman R, Anova, Kruskal-Wallis or Chi-square.
Data Source
A handle to a data source, such as a file, the source for a data connection or information link.
Data Table
A data table in TIBCO Spotfire is defined as either data loaded from one or more data sources, or new data created within the application. Data loaded from a data source can be handled either in-memory or in-database depending on how it is added to the analysis. In-memory data tables have one or more columns and zero or more rows, whereas in-database data tables technically do not contain any data but simply fetch the requested data directly from the source. A visualization can be based on one or more data tables.
In-memory data tables can be linked or embedded. Linked data tables can be loaded completely into the application, but if the source is an information link or a data connection, they can also be configured to load data on demand only.
Data tables can be related to each other, using primary and/or foreign keys (key columns), but they can also be unrelated.
Dendrogram
A dendrogram is a branching diagram which represents a hierarchy of categories based on the degree of similarity or number of shared characteristics.
Details-on-Demand
The concept of expanding a small set of items to reveal more data behind it.
Details Visualization
A visualization where the data is limited by one or more markings.
Drop Targets
Specifically, icons in the middle of a visualization onto which filters or column selectors can be dropped in order to define a specific property.
DXP File
DXP is the file extension for an Analysis File. See Analysis File.
Dynamic Items
Small visualizations that can be included in a graphical table or in a text area. For example, sparklines, calculated values and icons.
Empty values, or null values, are values that are missing in your data table.
Error Bars
Used in bar charts, line charts and/or scatter plots to indicate the estimated error in a measurement.
Since certain characters have a special meaning in the Spotfire expression language, you need to perform some actions if you are going to use those characters for other purposes, such as including them in column names.
An escape character is a special character used to inform the expression language that the following character in a character sequence should be seen as a standard character rather than as an item performing its special purpose.
External Column ID
A GUID string, retrieved from an information link. May or may not be present, and may or may not be well-formed.
External Column Name
The original column name, exactly as it came from the data source. It is a non-null, but possibly empty text string. It is not trimmed or normalized, and duplicates may exist among the columns of a data view.
Used to reduce the amount of data to work on in TIBCO Spotfire. The same as Query Devices in TIBCO Spotfire DecisionSite. Filters can be either column filters, directly related to a column, or hierarchy filters (tree filters) which represent a hierarchy. Filters can be grouped into folders in the Filters panel.
Filtering Scheme
A filtering scheme is a data selection that points out what data shall be filtered (visible). Each analysis can hold several filtering schemes. What filtering scheme to use can be specified separately for each page and/or each visualization. Each filtering scheme can be used by several pages and visualizations.
Filtered Out Rows
The rows that have been removed after one or more filtering operations.
Filtered Rows
The rows that remain after one or more filtering operations.
Filters Panel
The area where filters are shown. Adjusting the filters modifies the filtering that is used by the page.
The filters panel visibility is set per page, just like the visibility of the individual filters. When the filtering scheme is changed for the page, the filtering showed by the filters and visualizations are changed, but the visibility of the filters panel and the filters therein are kept.
Find
A tool in TIBCO Spotfire that lets you search for data content, perform menu actions, and much more, by entering words or parts of words in a text field.
Formatting
Describes how different values in a data set should be presented, for example as text or currency, or how many decimals should be shown.
A summarizing table visualization designed to provide a lot of information at one glance. It can display dynamic items such as sparklines, calculated values and icons.
Gridlines
Lines that form a grid inside a visualization to serve as a reference for the viewer.
GUID
A unique identifier for an information link that remains the same if the name of the information link is changed.
A visualization that presents data in the form of a table which contains colors instead of numbers. It can be used to identify clusters of similar values, as these are displayed as "areas" of similar color.
Hierarchical Clustering
Hierarchical clustering arranges objects in a hierarchy with a treelike structure based on the similarity between them.
Hierarchy
A hierarchy is defined as A) a set of ordered columns where the order defines the hierarchy, B) a timestamp column where it is possible to derive a natural hierarchy or C) an external hierarchical structure where every node maps to one or more rows in the data table through an identifier column.
Hierarchy Filter
A filter based on a predefined hierarchy. The same thing as a tree filter.
Horizontal Bars
Bars displayed horizontally in a bar chart. You can change the orientation of the bars by right-clicking in the visualization and selecting Horizontal Bars or Vertical Bars.
Hyperlink
A link to that will launch your default web browser when clicked on.
A dynamic item that can be included in a graphical table or in a text area. Icons are defined using rules.
Information Link
Information links are predefined database queries, specifying the columns to be loaded, and any filters needed to reduce the size of the data table prior to visualization.
Item Filter
A filter used to filter out rows based on whether or not a column value is equal to a specified value. The behavior is similar to a radio button filter, but the appearance is different, and it is more suited to selecting a value from a large number of unique values.
An option that displaces the visualization items randomly in the display window, thereby making overlapping markers visible. Attention can be brought to areas where many markers overlap. Such regions can then be investigated further, by zooming, changing axes, etc.
A tool that helps you group rows into a defined number of clusters based on their similarity. A line chart is needed in order to use the tool.
In a visualization, labels come in three varieties:
Marker labels, showing the value of the marker.
Scale labels, showing the scale of an axis.
Line & Curve labels, showing the name and description of a line or curve.
Legend
Information that helps the viewer identify what the graphics in the visualization represent.
Library
The Library is a space on the server where you can publish or open shared analysis files.
Line By
In a line chart, the line itself can visualize a column or a hierarchy. This is set up in the properties of the visualization.
Line Connection
In a scatter plot or a map chart, markers may be connected with a line to show trend or other relation. This is set up in the properties of the visualization.
Line Chart
A visualization that represents quantitative information by means of one or more lines.
Line Labels
Words or numbers used to identify and describe a line and the data associated with it.
Line Similarity
A tool where you can compare the similarity of different lines in a line chart against each other.
Lines & Curves
To connect or otherwise show relationship between Markers, Lines and Curves may be drawn on top of the visualization according to a number of models and functions.
List Box Filter
A Filter used to filter out rows based on which rows you mark in a list of all rows in a certain column.
Lists
Lists consist of sets of rows in your data representing captured knowledge from one or many data sources. You work with the same list collection from one session to the next.
A map chart is used to organize information visually in relation to an image or a shapefile map.
Marked Row
An item in a visualization becomes marked when you click on it, or, when it is captured using the rectangle method (left mouse button pressed while moving pointer). Marked rows are given a definable color to distinguish them from the rest of the data.
Marking
A marking identifies marked rows in the data tables of an analysis. If the data tables are related, the marked rows are propagated using the specified key relation between the data tables. Setting a marking in one data table does not affect the marking of unrelated data tables.
Each analysis can hold multiple markings and each marking has its own marking color. One or more markings can be used to limit what data are displayed in a visualization.
Marker
A graphical object that represents a category.
Marker Labels
Words or numbers used to identify and describe a marker and the data associated with it.
A page can be thought of as a "container" for visualizations, filters, a Details-on-Demand, etc. Pages make it possible to set up several sheets of visualizations that you can switch between in an analysis. Pages can contain visualizations and text areas that guide you through the analysis. Visualizations can only exist inside a page (they cannot be dragged outside even partly).
All visualizations in an analysis can be linked, both within and between pages, but they do not have to be. The visualizations on a page use one or more filtering schemes, and the filtering schemes determine whether visualizations are linked or not. The visualizations in a page can use one or several data tables.
Parallel Coordinate Plot
A parallel coordinate plot is used to compare the values within a multitude of columns for a number of rows in the analysis.
Parameterized Information Link
The data an information link returns on different occasions or by different users may be parameterized, which means it depends upon for instance user input or other factors. A Personalized Information Link is a special case of this, where the identity of the user is used as a parameter in deciding which data to be returned.
Personalized Information Link
A personalized information link returns a subset of data depending on the identity of the user.
Pie
A circular graphic divided into sectors used to show the relative values of entities compared to each other and to the whole.
Pie Chart
A visualization composed of one or more pies.
Pie Labels
Words or numbers used to describe a pie.
Pie Sector
A part of a pie that represents a subset of data of which the whole pie is made up.
Pie Sector Labels
Words or numbers used to describe a pie sector.
Pivot
A transformation used to transform data from a tall/skinny format to a short/wide format.
Primary Key
This is a set of one or more columns whose values uniquely identify every data row. By saving value tuples for the primary key, the application can support persistent masks and annotations for linked data tables. The primary key is a setting on the root view.
Properties can be compared to variables. All changeable settings in visualizations, data tables or documents are properties in some sense, but you can also create your own properties and use them to control the configuration of visualizations, calculations, or on-demand data loading. You can create property controls in a text area to simplify the process of changing a property value. More
A filter used to filter out rows based on whether or not a column value is equal to a specified value. The behavior is similar to an item filter, but the appearance is different, and it is more suited to selecting a value from a small number of values.
Range Filter
A filter used to filter out rows based on whether or not the values in a column fall between a certain lower and upper value.
Range Filter Data Range
The data range that the filter is operating on.
Range Filter Lower Value
All values below this limit are excluded from the filtered rows by the range filter.
Range Filter Upper Value
All values above this limit are excluded from the filtered rows by the range filter.
Renderer
In a Table Visualization, how values are presented in cells depends on which renderer is used.
Root View
The default view of a data table, as it is first opened, with no modifications such as binned columns or filtered out data.
Row
A horizontal list of values in a data table.
A line with tick marks and labels used as a reference along an axis in a visualization.
Scale Labels
Words or numbers along a scale.
Scatter Plot
A visualization that represents quantitative information as a point along two axes. Used to explore relationships.
Series By
In a combination chart, it is possible to divide the data into slices, called series. Each series will be represented by a line or a set of bars in the visualization.
Share
A tool that can be used to quickly share parts of an analysis, such as bookmarks, visualizations, and pages, with others. The Share tool is reached from the right-click menu.
Short Number Format
The method of writing multiples of 10 using non-numerical characters, such as k for 1,000 and M for 1,000,000.
Short Number Symbol
The non-numerical character used instead of a multiple of 10, such as k or M.
Sparkline
A dynamic item that can be included in a graphical table or in a text area. It is a small simple line graph used for displaying trends or variations of some variable.
Spotfire Server
TIBCO Spotfire Server is the server that a user of TIBCO Spotfire logs into and is able to save data to.
Spotfire Text Data Format
A well-defined text data format that does not require type guessing when read by TIBCO Spotfire or TIBCO Spotfire DecisionSite.
Stacked Bar
A set of vertical rectangles (bars) stacked on top of each other to represent a numerical value and how different components contributed to that numerical value.
Summary Table
A visualization that summarizes statistical information about data in table form.
Symbol Set
A collection of Short Number Symbols.
A visualization with information arranged in rows and columns.
Table Cell
The intersection of a table row and a table column, where values are located.
Table Column
A vertical list of cells in a table.
Table Column Header
The title of a table column.
Table Row
A horizontal list of cells in a table.
Table Row Header
The title of a table row.
Tags Panel
The area where tags are being defined and handled.
Tags
Tags are annotations which can be added to different sets of marked rows and included in an annotation column.
Text Area
A text area can contain information about a visualization, instructions on how to perform the analysis, or links which are shortcuts to specific tools in TIBCO Spotfire. In regards to the layout of a page, a text area is treated the same way as a visualization.
Tick Marks
Short lines drawn perpendicular to a scale and used to mark off uniform increments along that scale.
Time Scale
A scale consisting of units of time organized in a sequence so that intervals of equal physical size represent equal increments of time.
Tooltip
In addition to the ordinary tooltips that give information about buttons and controls in the user interface, TIBCO Spotfire also contains configurable tooltips displaying detailed information about the smallest items in a visualization. For example, when you hover with the mouse pointer over a bar segment in a bar chart, the tooltip will by default show the exact category axis and value axis values, as well as information about the coloring, if any split by color has been applied.
Tree Filter (Hierarchy Filter)
A filter based on a predefined hierarchy.
Treemap
A visualization that displays hierarchically structured data using nested rectangles.
Trellis
A Trellis is a split view of a visualization, organized by category in separate panels.
A transformation used to transform data from a short/wide format to a tall/skinny format.
URL
A world wide web address.
The value axis is the vertical axis in a bar chart where the bars are displayed vertically. When bars are displayed horizontally, the value axis is the horizontal axis.
Value Columns
The columns used to calculate a measure based on the measure method, the dimension and the dimension aggregation level.
Vertical Bars
Bars displayed vertically in a bar chart. You can change the orientation of the bars by right-clicking in the visualization and selecting Horizontal Bars or Vertical Bars.
Virtual Column
A column that is added to a table visualization by loading data from a remote source, such as a database.
Visualization
A representation of some data in TIBCO Spotfire. For example, a table, a bar chart, a pie chart, etc. A visualization displays data from one data table. The data displayed can be limited by one or more filtering schemes and by zero, one or several markings. A visualization shows and allows modification to one marking.
Visualization Item
The smallest building block of a visualization. For example, a pie sector in a pie chart, a line in a line chart or a cell in a table.
Visualization Title
Words or text used to identify a visualization.
TIBCO Spotfire Consumer and TIBCO Spotfire Business Author are the web clients that can be used to view Spotfire data. You can export data for view in a web client from TIBCO Spotfire Analyst.
The horizontal axis in most 2D visualizations or the first axis in a 3D visualization.
The vertical axis in most 2D visualizations or the second axis in a 3D visualization.
The third axis in a 3D visualization.