Plotting time series data in JMP

[#1]

I find the bubble plot time variable capability a wonderful tool to demonstrate to managers how product sales change over time. I now have a need for a stacked bar chart where the x variables are static, character variables, say apples, oranges, grapes. The bar and stack heights would change over time, oh say based on quantity sold by color. And of course I would need to export the graph to powerpoint. Any suggestions?

[#2]

Does JMP actually monitor these boards on a regular basis? This seems like the kind of question that someone from the company could answer quickly and definitively. If you folks are watching, it would be great to see some sort of response so that the questioner isn't left hanging.

Regards,
Stefan

Message was edited by: sfkeydel

[#3]

ffolkes,

Wouldn't a line chart be appropriate for the type of data you're describing? I could understand the need for a dynamic histogram (maybe) where you're comparing two continuous variables over time, but it seems easier and more intuitive to put time on the x-axis and use 3 separate lines for apples, oranges and grapes.

I don't think JMP has an animated bar chart capability right out-of-the-box, but I've seen people do amazing things with JSL. You could also switch from powerpoint to JMP and use the data filter to achieve the same functionality. If all else fails, and you're good with Flash, you can use something like Axiis or Flare to make the chart you're describing.

Good luck!

[#4]

afterword,

Thanks for the suggestions. I like the idea of using the data filter to select between time periods. Wish I knew JSL or Flash. If I can find a JSL code example to control the data filter, I might be able to modify it with a little trial and error to meet my purposes.

I really should have described my need better - my bad, I simplified my description way too much. So here's what I'm really after. Imagine your top 10 customers across the x axis. The bar for each customer would represent a total amount of business (could be quantity or $) on the y-axis, with the bar segments defining different product lines, for example 10 different product lines. So a single chart shows you which customers have the highest impact on your business, and which products they buy. You can also tell if there is a difference in the product mix by customer. But businesses change over time, so introducing a time element gives you multiple pieces of data. Which customers are growing or shrinking, which product line is growing by customer, whether all customers are shifting to the same products or different ones. You can also determine if there are groupings of customers (going up the same, shifting to the same products, etc. ) This is why I thought a bar chart would be good. Customer position would be fixed, and business managers could see how the revenue and product mix is shifting and where. So with this many variables, a line chart would get too cluttered.

[#5 · Accepted solution]

You can create the kind of bar chart you describe, making sure automatic recalc is enabled for the chart, and then filter on time (check select and include) such that the selection interval is narrow enough to only enclose one time value (eg if your times are 0, 5, 10, 15, the interval could be 1 unit wide) and then you can slide the interval slider back and forth to show the changes. You can also animate the filter if you wish. The scripting guide does show how to invoke the data filter with the interval set up to start. Is there some other behavior you would like to implement using JSL? As for Powerpoint, you can copy/paste any time slice but I don't believe the current version of JMP lets you embed a flash based version of the animation in Powerpoint. You would have to switch to JMP for the animation and/or include a sequence of plots in Powerpoint.

Michael