How to Use the Box Plot


  1. Right-click 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 Data panel, click and hold the left mouse button on 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 column to the center of the visualization.

    Response: Drop targets are shown 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 column 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 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.

Reference points can be indicated by markers or lines.

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

  2. Go to the Reference Points page.

  3. Click 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. In the Color drop-down menu, specify the color to use for the reference point.

  5. Select Marker or Line, and its appearance.

  1. Right-click 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 Add to define a new horizontal or vertical line.

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

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

  2. Select Properties.

  3. Go to the Lines & Curves page.

  4. Click 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 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 the Box Plot button on the toolbar, box_new_pox_plot_button.png.

    Comment: You can also select Insert > 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