Surface Tab

The Surface tab controls attributes of the rotating plot. (See Figure 7.4.) You can use the Surface tab to control the placement of axes, the type of surface that is drawn, and whether contours of the data are shown in the (X,Y) plane. The Surface tab contains the following UI controls:

Axis Locations

specifies the location of axes.

At midpoint

specifies that the origin of each axis is placed at the midpoint of the range of the variable for that axis.

At minima

specifies that the origin of each axis is placed at the minimum value of the variable for that axis.

3 sections

specifies that each axis is placed on an edge of the bounding cube that surrounds the data so that the axis interferes as little as possible with viewing the data.

Off

specifies that no axes are displayed.

Surface Drawing Modes

specifies the attributes of the surface that is added to the rotating plot.

Transparent mesh

specifies that the surface is drawn as a wire mesh without removing hidden lines.

Opaque mesh

specifies that the surface is drawn as a wire mesh and hidden lines are removed.

Block color mesh

specifies that the surface is drawn as a patch of rectangles in which each rectangle is a single color.

Smooth color mesh

specifies that the surface is drawn as a patch of triangles in which each triangle is a single color.

Stacked contours

specifies that the surface is not drawn, but that contour levels are drawn.

Stacked contours mesh

specifies that the surface is drawn as for the Opaque mesh option and also that contour levels are added as for the Stacked contours option.

Off

specifies that no surface is displayed.

Contour Projections

specifies whether contours of the data are shown in the (X,Y) plane.

Show contour lines

specifies that contours for the surface are shown projected onto the (X,Y) plane.

Show contour areas

specifies that region between projected contours are filled with color.

Show contour values

specifies whether projected contour lines are labeled by the value of the Z axis variable.

Contours Tab

The Contours tab controls attributes of the projected contours for the surface. The Contours tab is described in the section Contour Plot Properties.

Grid Tab

The Grid tab controls the size and color of the grid used to construct a surface and to compute contours for the surface. (See Figure 7.12.) The Grid tab contains the following UI controls:

Show grid

specifies whether to display a grid on the displayed surface.

Colors

specifies the color of the grid when seen from the front (positive Z direction) or back (negative Z direction).

Resolution

specifies the resolution of the computational grid used to fit a surface to the data. The algorithm that computes the surface uses a grid superimposed on the (X,Y) plane. This grid consists of evenly spaced subdivisions along the X and Y axes. Generally, having more subdivisions results in a smoother surface, whereas having fewer subdivisions results in a rougher surface.

Figure 7.12 The Grid Tab

Observations Tab

The Observations tab controls the attributes of markers in the rotating plot. (See Figure 7.5.)

The Observations tab for the rotating plot contains all the controls documented in the section Scatter Plot Properties. In addition, the Observations tab for the rotating plot includes the following check boxes:

Show rays

specifies whether lines are drawn from the center of the bounding cube to each observation marker.

Show depth perception

specifies whether observation markers are drawn in varying sizes to indicate their distance from the viewer.

Reference Lines Tab

The Reference Lines tab controls the attributes of reference lines in the rotating plot. (See Figure 7.6.)

The Reference Lines tab for the rotating plot contains all the controls documented in the section Reference Lines Tab. In addition, the Reference Lines tab for the rotating plot includes the following check box:

Show Z reference lines

specifies whether to show reference lines for the Z axis.

Plot Area Tab

The Plot Area tab controls the attributes of plot area in the rotating plot. (See Figure 7.7.) The Plot Area tab contains the following UI controls:

Background

specifies the color of the background of the plot area.

Show plot frame box

specifies whether to display a framing box surrounding the plot area.