Parallel Coordinate Plot Properties – Colors

Option

Description

Columns

Specifies the column or hierarchy to color by.

Settings

Opens the Advanced Settings dialog where you can change the scale mode for the selected column or hierarchy from continuous to categorical and vice versa, as well as changing the category mode to determine which combinations to show.

Color mode

Specifies in which color mode to set up the color scheme. Which modes are available depends on whether the scale is in categorical or continuous mode. For columns in continuous scale mode, you can select one of the following color modes: Gradient, Segments, Fixed, or Unique values. For columns in categorical scale mode, you can select either Categorical or Fixed color mode. To learn more about the color modes, see Color Modes Overview.

One scale per

Specifies whether there should be one separate scale per trellis panel for trellised parallel coordinate plots, or if one scale should apply to the entire visualization. Only applicable to columns in continuous scale mode.

[Color Schemes menu]

Opens a menu where you can select an already existing color scheme and apply it to the visualization, or apply the currently open color scheme to another visualization in the analysis.

   From Visualization

Lets you select a color scheme from another visualization in the analysis. Only color schemes that are applicable to the current color scheme will be listed.

   Document Color Schemes

Lets you select a color scheme that has previously been saved within the analysis. Only color schemes that are applicable to the current color scheme will be listed. This menu option is only available if one or more document color schemes already exist.

   [Predefined color schemes]

Lists a number of predefined color schemes. Available for columns in continuous scale mode only. For a full description of the predefined color schemes, see Predefined Color Schemes.

Tip: To facilitate setting up a new color scheme, you can open a predefined color scheme with a similar appearance, and then adjust it to suit your needs.

   Open from Library...

Opens the Open from Library dialog where you can select a color scheme that has previously been saved to the library.

   Open from File...

Opens a dialog where you can select a previously saved color scheme.

   Save As

Lets you save a color scheme as a library item, a local file or a document color scheme.

Library Item – Opens the Save as Library Item dialog, where you can specify a location in the library and a file name to save the currently open color scheme for later reuse.

File – Opens a dialog where you can specify a location and a file name to save your currently open color scheme locally on your computer for later reuse.

Document Color Scheme – Opens the Save Document Color Scheme dialog, where you can specify a name and save the currently open color scheme for later reuse within the analysis.

   Apply to Visualizations...

Opens the Apply to Visualizations dialog where you can select other visualizations (within the analysis) that you want to apply the current color scheme to. Only visualizations with compatible color schemes are listed.

Note: If you apply a color scheme to a table, cross table, or heat map, the coloring will not take effect immediately. The color scheme will be added as an empty color scheme grouping, and you must select which columns or axis values to include in the grouping by opening the Edit Color Scheme Grouping dialog.

[Color scheme area]

The area in the lower part of the dialog shows the current color scheme. That is, the colors and values currently used in the visualization. You can modify color schemes in numerous ways to give the visualization the appearance you prefer. The color scheme area will look different, and have different available settings, depending on the characteristics of the column used to color the visualization by, as well as the selected color mode. To learn more about color schemes and color modes, see Color Schemes Overview and Color Modes Overview respectively.

Add Point

Available for continuous columns only. Adds a new anchor point to the color scheme.

Delete Point

Available for continuous columns only. Deletes the selected anchor point.

Add Rule...

Opens the Add Rule dialog where you can define a rule that functions as an exception to the rest of the defined color scheme. A rule has higher priority than the rest of the color scheme. For example, you can define a rule to give the top five items in your data a different color than the rest of the items. If you add many rules to a color scheme, the rules are prioritized from top to bottom. Which rule types are available depends on the characteristics of the column or hierarchy used to color the visualization by. See Details on Add/Edit Rule for full descriptions of the rule types.

Reset

Resets the color scheme to the one that was in effect when the visualization was created. Any added rules will be removed. Which color scheme should be used by default when you create a new visualization is defined in the Visualization page of the Options dialog.