How to Use the Box Plot


  1. Right-click on the box plot visualization and select Properties from the pop-up menu.

  2. Go to the Appearance page.

  3. Select the Show distribution check box.

    Response: A histogram displaying the distribution is shown for each box.

  1. In the Filters panel, click and hold the left mouse button on the filter representing the column that you want to color by.

    Comment: Coloring is also available in the Visualization Properties dialog. The color of marked items is changed under Edit > Document Properties.

  2. Drag the filter to the center of the visualization.

    Response: Drop targets appear in the middle of the visualization.

  3. Release the mouse button on the X-axis target, or on either of the trellis targets.

    Comment: To color by a column you need to use the same column to split the boxes either on the X-axis or by trellising.

  4. Drag the same filter to the Color target.

    Response: The boxes are colored with one color for each category in the selected column.

    Comment: To learn more about coloring in Spotfire, see Coloring Overview.

  1. Right-click on the box plot visualization and select Properties from the pop-up menu.

  2. Go to the Reference Points page.

  3. To add more reference points, select the check boxes for the interesting features.

  4. To remove a reference point, clear its check box.

  1. Right-click on the box plot visualization and select Properties from the pop-up menu.

  2. Go to the Reference Points page.

  3. Click on the reference point of interest to select it.

    Comment: Clicking twice on the same reference point will select or clear its check box; hence, it will change whether the reference point will be shown in the visualization or not.

  4. Change the Color or Shape for the selected reference point.

  1. Right-click on the visualization to display the pop-up menu.

  2. Select Properties.

  3. Go to the Lines & Curves page.

  4. Select the check box for any of the default lines or click on Add to define a new horizontal or vertical line.

  5. To add a curve fit to the box plot:

  1. Right-click on the visualization to display the pop-up menu.

  2. Select Properties.

  3. Go to the Lines & Curves page.

  4. Click on Add and select a suitable curve fit from the drop-down menu..

    Comment: You can select from a number of predefined curve fits or define your own curve using Curve Draw. See Curve Fit Models for more information about the different options.

  5. Once the curve has been created, you can change its settings on the Lines & Curves page. Some of the curve settings are also available from the pop-up menu in the visualization.

  1. Right-click on the visualization to display the pop-up menu.

  2. Select Properties.

  3. Go to the Appearance page.

  4. Select the Show comparison circles check box.

  1. Click on the New Box Plot button on the toolbar, box_new_pox_plot_button.png.

    Comment: You can also select Insert > New Visualization > Box Plot from the menu.

    Response: A first attempt to set up a suitable box plot is made by the application.

  2. Adjust the box plot to display the categories and measures of your choice.

    Comment: For more information about how to change what to show on the two axes, see Column Selectors.

See also:

What is a Box Plot?

Box Plot Properties