Histogram Tool

The Histogram tool provides a histogram for the empirical cumulative distribution of a single numeric field by showing the frequencies of records falling in a set of continuous value ranges. Optionally, it provides a smoothed empirical density plot. Frequencies are displayed when a density plot is not selected, and probabilities when this option is selected. The number of breaks can be set by the user, or determined automatically using the method of Sturges (which is described in the cited Wikipedia article on histograms).

This tool uses the R programming language. Go to Options > Download Predictive Tools to install R and the packages used by the R Tool.

Input

An Alteryx data stream.

Configuration Properties

  1. Select the field to use in the histogram: The numeric field to plot.
  2. The number of breaks to use or use "auto": Provide the number of value ranges to use or have the number of ranges determined automatically using the method of Sturges.
  3. Plot a smoothed density curve: If this option is checked, then an empirical density plot is superimposed on the histogram. The density plot is generated using a kernel density estimator.** The bandwidth used by the kernel density estimator can be narrowed or widened using the option "Narrow (smaller number) or widen (larger number) the bandwidth used in the kernel density estimator". This default value is 1, but can be set from 0.1 to 3.

Graphics Options

  1. Plot size: Specify the width and height dimensions of the resulting plot, using either inches or centimeters.
  2. Graph resolution: Select the resolution of the graph in dots per inch: 1x (96 dpi); 2x (192 dpi); or 3x (288 dpi). Lower resolution creates a smaller file and is best for viewing on a monitor. Higher resolution creates a larger file with better print quality.

  3. Base font size (points): The point size of the base font used to produce the title and labels of the plot(s) to be produced. The plotting functions will expand the size of the plot title to be larger than the base font automatically.

Output

An output stream with one record and two fields: Report which contains an Alteryx graph and Desc that has the value "Histogram", to assist in the development of specialized reports.

*en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histogram

**en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_density_estimation