Plot Window

The plot window allows you to plot the values in two table columns against each other. The window is composed of several parts.

Plotting Surface

On the plotting surface a marker is plotted for each item in the selected Row Subsets at a position determined by the values in the table columns selected to provide the X and Y values. A marker will only be plotted if both the X and Y values are not blank. If more than one subset is being plotted, they will be drawn using different markers. A key on the right hand side indicates the marker being used for each subset. The marker types can be changed using the Marker Type item in the Plot menu.

You can zoom in and out of the plot by dragging with the left mouse button down and right (zoom in) or up and left (zoom out) - this takes a little practice but is easy to use after a couple of goes. If you get lost you can push the Rescale button () to return the scaling to normal.

Axis selectors

Below the plot there are two sets of controls for selecting the table column which will provide the X and Y axis values. Each one consists of two parts:

Column selector: A selection box from which column names in the main table can be selected. Only columns which can be plotted from (i.e. scalar numeric ones) will be displayed in this selector.
Log checkbox: This checkbox can be clicked to toggle whether the axis in question is to be plotted logarithmically or not. If it is logarithmic, any negative values are simply ignored (not plotted).

Row Subset Selection

Below the plot there is a set of checkboxes headed Row Subsets. Click on these to select or deselect which subsets should be plotted in this graph. Different subsets are plotted using different markers, so you can see where different groups of results lie in relation to each other.

You can also use the Subsets To Plot item on the Subsets menu.

Toolbar

Print: Pops up a dialogue which will print the current plot as an EPS file The plot is currently not really of publication quality.
Replot: Redraws the current plot from scratch. This may be useful if the data in the table has been changed.
Rescale: Rescales the axes of the current plot so that it contains all the data points in the currently selected subsets. By default the plot will be scaled like this, but it it may have changed because of changes in the subset selection or from zooming in or out.
Grid: Toggles whether a grid is drawn over the plotting surface or not.
Subset from visible: Defines a new Row Subset consisting of only the points which are currently visible on the plotting surface. A dialogue will be popped up to ask for a name for the new subset. In this way points in a given region of the parameter space can be grouped together.

Progress Bar

For a large table and/or many subsets the plotting may take a little while. While it is being done you can see the points appearing in the plot as they are done, and a progress bar is shown at the bottom of the window. If you start a new plot (by changing the plot characteristics or pressing the Replot button) or close the window while a plot is being done, the superceded plot will be stopped.