Time Plot

The time plot shows whether and how the values in a dataset change over time. You can make a time plot of any numeric data in your project. Unlike other views in STIS, you can't animate the time plot, as it shows the entire time range of the data on the x-axis.

• To create one, choose " Time plot" from the "View" menu or just choose the icon from the visualization toolbar.

• Then, select the geography and dataset to view.

For time slice data, the time plot will look like the example below, with stair-step lines that begin and end synchronously. The data is constant during the observation interval and then jumps between intervals to a new spot. For time series data, there will still be stair steps, but they won't be synchronous for all locations.  By default, the name of the dataset will appear first in the time plot title, followed by the geography (here "rates for white males" or RWM, and "state economic units", or SEAs).  You can change the title and other features of the plot by selecting " Properties" from the "Graph" pulldown menu.

You can select individual locations, lines, or regions in the plot. In the example above, one location is selected and is shown as an orange line.  If you had other graphs open at the same time, this location would be highlighted in those views as well.

From this figure, we can see that the cancer rate in the dataset "RWM" increased over time, and the range of values also increased (there is more "spread" across the y axis in later years). You could see the details for particular regions more clearly by selecting them or by creating a subset geography with fewer objects (in this case, SEAs) than the current time plot.

Graph menu options

Options on the "Graph" pull-down menu and toolbar (hidden by default; you can show it by selecting it from the toolbar pull-down menu) include:

• Alter the look of your time plot by changing its properties.

• Print the time plot by choosing "Print", or by typing Ctrl+P.

• Copy a time plot to the clipboard as an image file so that you can use it in other programs.

Most of these options are also available from a menu that appears if you right click within the time plot.