Launch Windows

The launch window is your point of entry into a platform, where you specify the columns to analyze. Figure 2.11 shows the Distribution launch window.

Figure 2.11 Launch Window Features

All launch windows have in common provide the following options:

Select Columns

Lists all of the variables in your current data table. Note the following:

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Right-click the modeling type icon next to a column name to change the modeling type.

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Right-click the column name to create a transform column. See Transform Columns in Enter and Edit Data.

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Filter and sort the columns using the options in the red triangle menu. See Column Filter Menu.

Cast Selected Columns into Roles

Moves selected columns into roles (such as Y, X, and so on.) You cast a column into the role of a variable (like an actor is cast into a role). See Cast Selected Columns into Roles Buttons.

In the Graph Builder window, click the Dialog button on the left or select Redo > Relaunch Analysis to show this panel.

Action

The following options are available:

performs the analysis.

Cancel

stops the analysis and quits the launch window.

Remove

deletes any selected variables from a role.

Recall

populates the launch window with the last analysis that you performed.

Help

takes you to the Help for the launch window.

Cast Selected Columns into Roles Buttons

The following buttons frequently appear throughout launch windows. Buttons that are specific to certain platforms are described in the chapter for the specific platform.

Identifies a column as a response or dependent variable whose distribution is to be studied.

Identifies a column as an independent, classification, or explanatory variable that predicts the distribution of the Y variable.

Weight

Identifies the data table column whose variables assign weight (such as importance or influence) to the data.

Freq

Identifies the data table column whose values assign a frequency to each row. This option is useful when a frequency is assigned to each row in summarized data. If the value is 0 or a positive integer, then the value represents the frequencies or counts of observations for each row when there are multiple units recorded.

Validation

Identifies the data table column whose values assign rows to training, validation, and test sets for crossvalidation in fitting models.

Notes:

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For some platforms, KFold validation is available if you specify more than three levels in the Validation column.

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If you click the Validation button with no columns selected in the Select Columns list, you have the option to create a Validation column. For more information about the Make Validation Column utility, see Make Validation Column Utility in the Predictive and Specialized Modeling book.

Identifies a column that creates a report consisting of separate analyses for each level of the variable.

Column Filter Menu

A Column Filter menu appears in most of the launch windows. The Column Filter menu is found by clicking the red triangle in the Select Columns panel. Use these options to sort columns, show or hide columns, or search columns.

Figure 2.12 The Column Filter Menu

Reset

Resets the columns to its original list.

Sort by Name

Sorts the columns in alphabetical order by name.

Modeling Type

Provides options for showing or hiding columns with specific modeling types.

Numeric

Shows or hides columns whose data type is Numeric.

Character

Shows or hides columns whose data type is Character.

Expression

Shows or hides columns whose data type is Expression.

Match case

(Only applicable to the Name options below) Makes your search case-sensitive.

Name Contains

Searches for column names containing specified text. To remove the text box, select Reset.

Name Does Not Contain

Searches for column names that do not contain specified text. To remove the text box, select Reset.

Name Starts With

Searches for column names that begin with specified text. To remove the text box, select Reset.

Name Ends With

Searches for column names that end with specified text. To remove the text box, select Reset.

Exclude Formats

Excludes columns with specific formats from the column selection list. Select from the following formats: date, time, duration, geographic, or all numeric formats.

Column Groups

Shows or hides groups of columns. See Group Columns in Enter and Edit Data.

Ungrouped Columns

Shows or hides columns that have not been grouped.