Treemap Overview

 

Structure

Treemaps represent tree nodes as rectangles.  In a treemap, a node’s rectangle contains any children it has.

 

Treemap Panel

Here are some operations you can perform on the Treemap Panel (left):

 

Operation

Action

View attribute values for a particular node

Single left click on the node

Zoom in on a particular node

Double left click on the node

Zoom out by one level

Single right click on any node

 

Attribute Panel

The Attribute Panel (upper right) contains a table with the attribute values on the most recent node that you single left clicked.  For each Unit node, the table contains the name and size of the node, as well as values for Output, (number of Problems), and Health.  For each State and County node, the table contains the name and size of the node, but the other values are all zero.  Node size is determined by the value of the attribute selected in the “Size” combo box under the Filters tab.  (If the selected attribute is “(None)” then each Unit node gets size 1.)  For internal nodes, size is the sum of its children’s sizes.

 

Control Panel

The Control Panel (bottom right) allows you to focus on specific data by sizing, filtering, and coloring.  For example, to identify which unit has the greatest number of problems today, you could do the following:

 

1.      (Sizing) Change the “Size” combo box to “Problems.”

2.      (Filtering) Move the left handle of the “Problems” double-slider bar under the “Filters” tab to the right until only you gray-out all but a few units.  Units that are dark gray on the treemap fall into the dark gray areas of at least one double-slider bar.

3.      (Filtering) Click the “Hide” button.  The node with the greatest number of problems is the largest node in the treemap (Unit92).

 

Similarly, you can use coloring:

 

1.   Reset all size, color, and filter settings by clicking the “Reset legend and filters” button under the “Main” tab.

2.         (Filtering) Under the “Legend” tab, select “Problems” in the “Color” combo box.  The node with the greatest number of problems is the brightest green node in the treemap (Unit92).