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Working with the new Chart Builder in SPSS 14.0 for Windows®

This is a complimentary tip available only to SPSS Direct subscribers.

Question

What features does the new Chart Builder in SPSS 14.0 offer?

Answer

The new Chart Builder feature provides a preview window that enables you to visualize the finished output and makes it easy to swap or rearrange elements prior to creating a chart.

SPSS 14.0 also offers an expanded array of chart types, and allows you to add your own chart types as favorites to the chart gallery.

To create a chart, simply drag the desired variables to the appropriate dotted blue line areas in the preview pane (see Figure 1 below). Figure 2 shows the completed chart output.

Chart Builder dialog box in SPSS 14.0
Figure 1: The Chart Builder dialog box in SPSS 14.0
Click image to enlarge.

The completed chart output
Figure 2: The completed chart output
Click image to enlarge.

The syntax generated by this procedure uses the new GPL sublanguage (see Figure 3 below). For an extensive guide to GPL, please review Help->Topics->GPL.

The GPL syntax generated by the chart procedure
Figure 3: The GPL syntax generated by the chart procedure
Click image to enlarge.