Set Multiple Scale Ranges with Document Properties

Working with multiple scales in Spotfire visualizations can be a bit of a pain. I frequently find I have more scales than I need, and getting them synched up to the same min and max values can be frustrating. Last week, I built a project that allowed users to set multiple scale ranges with document properties. Not only does it give users more control, but it keeps multiple scales synched. It required a little bit of IronPython but was easy to setup. Read on to learn how.

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My Visualization

Here is the visualization I was working with. As you can see, I have four columns on my y-axis. I really want one scale on each side, but all of the options available to me for multiple scales lead to four scales (second screenshot below).

If I can’t get down to two scales, the scales on each side must have the same min and max. Otherwise, the chart is too hard to read. Every time the data updates, the scale range needs to change. Going into the properties dialog to adjust it is far too inefficient. I knew I could set the scale range with document properties and IronPython. I just needed a bit of code to get started.

Starting Code

Sayali Patel posted a TIBCO Community article on this subject that served as an excellent starting place. Her code did require a few modifications though. I wanted users to be able to update the ranges, rather than have them hardcoded. And, I also wanted to set the range for four scales.

# Copyright © 2017. TIBCO Software Inc. Licensed under TIBCO BSD-style license.

#Let's assume there are 2 columns "Sum([Col1]), Sum([Col2])" on the y-axis of a line chart. Color is set to (Column Names). The multiple scales for 
#each color is turned on. Notice that there is a possibility to set different scale ranges using the drop down in the individual scale settings 
#part of the property page. The naming of the two axes there are the same as the display name of the expressions on the axis (in this case Sum(Col1) and Sum(Col2)).

from Spotfire.Dxp.Application.Visuals import LineChart
from Spotfire.Dxp.Application.Visuals import AxisRange

#To set the axis range:
lChart = lineChart.As[LineChart]()
newAxisRange = AxisRange(-2000, 60000)
lChart.YAxis.IndexedRange["Sum(Col1)"] = newAxisRange

#To read the manually set axis range:


print lChart.YAxis.IndexedRange["Sum(Col1)"].Low
print lChart.YAxis.IndexedRange["Sum(Col2)"].High

My Modifications

So, I created two document properties called PurpleScale and RedScale. They are input property controls using a Real data type.

Then, I modified the code as follows:

1. Added a reference to the Document Properties in lines 6 and 24. Now the code will read the values in my Document Properties.
2. Copied and pasted the code in line 7 into line 8 and entered in the names of my columns.
3. Copied and pasted the print code to print the low and high values for each of my columns. This step is entirely optional. It just provides visual confirmation.
4. Repeated steps 1 -3 for the second scale.
5. Create a parameter to hook up the code to the visualization.
6. Run the script.

Here is the final result of my page. To change the scale, all the user has to do is update the property controls and click Update Scale.

This code is also easy to modify for other visualization types. I used the exact same code on a combination plot. All I had to do was swap out all references to LineChart for ComboChart. Use this handy reference to find the right API for your visualization. Now you know how to use IronPython to set multiple scale ranges with document properties.

Code Snippet for Copy Paste

from Spotfire.Dxp.Application.Visuals import LineChart
from Spotfire.Dxp.Application.Visuals import AxisRange

#To set the axis range:
lChart = lineChart.As[LineChart]()
newAxisRange = AxisRange(0, Document.Properties["PurpleScale"])
lChart.YAxis.IndexedRange["planned cost"] = newAxisRange
lChart.YAxis.IndexedRange["actual cost"] = newAxisRange

#To read the manually set axis range:
print lChart.YAxis.IndexedRange["planned cost"].Low
print lChart.YAxis.IndexedRange["planned cost"].High
print lChart.YAxis.IndexedRange["actual cost"].Low
print lChart.YAxis.IndexedRange["actual cost"].High

from Spotfire.Dxp.Application.Visuals import LineChart
from Spotfire.Dxp.Application.Visuals import AxisRange

#To set the axis range:
lChart = lineChart.As[LineChart]()
newAxisRange = AxisRange(0, Document.Properties["RedScale"])
lChart.YAxis.IndexedRange["cum planned cost"] = newAxisRange
lChart.YAxis.IndexedRange["cum actual cost"] = newAxisRange

#To read the manually set axis range:
print lChart.YAxis.IndexedRange["cum actual cost"].Low
print lChart.YAxis.IndexedRange["cum actual cost"].High
print lChart.YAxis.IndexedRange["cum planned cost"].Low
print lChart.YAxis.IndexedRange["cum planned cost"].High

Spotfire Version

Content created with Spotfire 10.2.

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