Bubble Plot Objects Reference

The Bubble Style node and its sub-nodes let you control the appearance of a third and fourth variable in a plot display.

Specific nodes referenced here are:

Bubble Style
Size Scaling Data
Color Scaling Data
Bubble Fill Color
Scalar Function

Bubble Style

This node consists of properties and sub-nodes for controlling the shape in the plot. The sub-nodes control size, color, and data range.

Table 1. Bubble Style Properties
Shape	Choose one of the following shapes for the symbols: Filled Circle Filled Square Filled Triangle Filled Diamond
Border Width	Sets the border width as a fraction of the overall symbol size.
Opacity	Sets the transparency, with 0.0 being invisible and 1.0 being fully opaque.
Border Color	Selects the border color from a palette. Clicking (Custom Editor) gives you more choices for colors. See Defining Colors.
Color Fill Mode	Choose one of the following modes for coloring the shapes:
	None	Leaves the shapes without any fill. Only borders and (where applicable) negative "X" symbols within the shapes are visible.
	Constant	Use the Bubble Fill Color sub-node to apply a color to the shapes.
	Variable	Use the Color Scaling Data sub-node to display an additional scalar function in the shapes using variations in color. A color bar appears in the plot display alongside the size legend.

Size Scaling Data

This node provides controls for size and data ranges.

Table 2. Size Scaling Data Properties

Minimum symbol size

The smallest size, in pixels, of the symbol. This property is read-only (that is, ignored) when you set Scale mode to Area (Square Root). The Area scaling mode only uses the maximum size setting because it scales everything downward from the maximum.

Maximum symbol size

The largest size, in pixels, of the symbol.

Scale mode

Width (Linear)

The linear scaling uses the following scaling for symbol size $s s$ , for a given input data value $d$ :

s s = {s s}_{\min} + (d - d_{\min}) \cdot \frac{{s s}_{\max} - {s s}_{\min}}{{d_{m a x} - d}_{\min}}

Logarithmic

The logarithmic scaling uses the following scaling for symbol size $s s$ , for a given input data value $d$ :

s s = {s s}_{\min} + ({s s}_{\max} - {s s}_{\min}) \cdot \frac{\log (| d |) - \log (d_{\min})}{\log (d_{m a x}) - \log (d_{\min})}

Area (Square Root)

The square root scaling uses the following scaling for symbol size $s s$ , for a given input data value $d$ :

s s = {s s}_{\max} \cdot \sqrt{\frac{| d |}{d_{m a x}}}

Note	The square root scaling only uses the maximum symbol size setting, as it scales everything downward from the maximum—the minimum value is ignored in the scaling calculation. Hence, you cannot use reverse scaling with this mode.

Show negative symbol sizes

When activated, includes negative values among the symbols, scaling their size using the magnitude of the value. The symbols that represent those values contain an "X" to differentiate them from the positive values. Also, a ± sign is included in the legend.

When Scale mode is set to Width (Linear), this option is not relevant and is therefore deactivated.

Data range mode

Auto

Uses the full range of solution values for the selected scalar.

Manual

Uses the values in a range that you specify.

Auto data range min, Auto data range max

The minimum and maximum scalar values, respectively, automatically calculated (read-only).

Note	If you change a setting that affects the auto data range, such as units or scalar function, this property does not update unless the plot is open or you tabulate the data set.

Manual data range min, Manual data range max

The value that you specify for the beginning and end of the data range, respectively. Editing either of these properties automatically switches the Data range mode from Auto to Manual.

Color Scaling Data

This node controls the coloring of symbols according to the range of data values.

Table 3. Color Scaling Data Properties

Color Map

Selects colors to indicate values from lowest to highest. This property lets you customize the use of colors in the bubble plot.

There are pre-defined color maps that are especially suitable for bubble plots. They have minimal use of light yellow, so that the symbols can be seen easily, even with transparency. However, depending on your data range, you should choose your color map carefully so that all the symbols in your plot are sufficiently visible.

blue-red uniform perception
cyan-orange isoluminant
teal-pink divergent isoluminant

For a list of the other pre-defined choices that are more suitable for scene displays, see Color Maps.

Levels

Sets the number of levels into which to divide the range of data. Higher numbers produce finer blends between values. The default setting is 32.

Reverse

When activated, reverses the sequence of the selected color map (for example, red to blue rather than blue to red).

Scale Mode

When set to Linear or to Log10, uses a linear or logarithmic scale mode, respectively, for the color bar. The logarithmic scaling of color cannot be applied to values of mixed sign.

Ramp Type

Sets the shape of the table ramp to either linear, S-curve, or square-root. If you use the Linear ramp, colors vary linearly to bin values. The other ramp modes distort this color mapping according to the corresponding functions:

Linear—specifies a linear ramp.
S-curve—uses the S-curve, which tails off gradually at each end:
$y = \frac{\sin ((x - 1 / 2) π) + 1}{2}$
Sqrt—uses the square root, $y = \sqrt{x}$ .

Data range mode

Choose between Auto, which uses the full range of solution values for the selected scalar, or Manual, which allows you to set the range yourself.

Auto data range min, Auto data range max

The minimum and maximum scalar values, respectively, automatically calculated (read-only).

Note	If you change a setting that affects the auto data range, such as units or scalar function, this property does not update unless the plot is open or you tabulate the data set.

Manual data range min, Manual data range max

The value that you specify for the beginning and end of the data range, respectively. Editing either of these properties automatically switches the Data range mode from Auto to Manual.

Bubble Fill Color

With the Bubble Fill Color property, selects the fill color from a palette. Clicking (Custom Editor) gives you more choices for colors. See Defining Colors.

Scalar Function

This type of node is present in the Size Scaling Data and Color Scaling Data nodes.

Table 4. Scalar Function Node Properties
Field Function	The specific scalar field function to be displayed in the form of size (under the Size Scaling Data node) or color (under the Color Scaling Data node).
Units	Defines the units that are applied to the selected function.