In this example, you label observations in a scatter plot according to values of a third variable.

Open the Hurricanes data set and create a scatter plot of wind_kts versus min_pressure.

The scatter plot appears. (See Figure 9.14.)

Click an observation.

The selected observation is labeled by its position in the data table.

Figure 9.14 A Scatter Plot

Right-click near the center of the plot, and select Plot Area Properties from the pop-up menu.

The Plot Area Properties dialog box appears. (See Figure 9.15.)

Figure 9.15 The Observations Tab

Figure 9.16 Labeling Only Selected Observations

Note:When you select Label observations by in the Plot Area Properties dialog box, it affects only the scatter plot to which the dialog box belongs. If you create a second plot, that new plot defaults to using observation numbers to label observations.

You can also set a default label variable that is used for all plots. In the data table, right-click a variable heading. Select Label from the pop-up menu, as shown in Figure 9.17. The values of the selected variable are displayed when you click observations in a plot (unless that plot overrides the default).

Figure 9.17 The Variables Menu