3D Scatterplot

The 3D Scatterplot extension plots three measures against each other in a real 3D axis box that you rotate, zoom, and explore directly inside your dashboard. Points can be colored by a category, sized by a fourth measure, and inspected with hover guides that project each point onto the axis walls.

Data Requirements

Your Tableau worksheet should include:

• 3 Measures for the X, Y, and Z encodings, one per axis (for example Sales, Profit, Quantity).
• 1 Measure (optional) for the Size encoding, to size each point by its value (for example Discount, Order Count).
• One or more Dimensions (optional) on the Detail shelf of the Marks card. They define the grain of the marks, and the Format panel lets you choose which of them drives the colors and which drives the shapes.

Add 3D Scatterplot to your worksheet

First, download the manifest file. It tells Tableau where to load the extension from.

Then, in Tableau:

1. On the Marks card, open the Mark type dropdown, and under Viz Extensions choose Add Extension.
2. In the Add an Extension dialog, choose Access Local Viz Extensions, then open the 3dscatterplot.trex file you just downloaded.
3. When Tableau asks, allow the extension to access the data in the workbook.
4. The welcome screen appears. Sign in with your Dataskera account, or on Tableau Desktop choose Use on Desktop without an account. See Signing in & access below.
5. Build the chart: drag a measure onto each of X, Y, and Z. Optionally add a measure to Size and a dimension to the Detail shelf to color points by category.

Signing in & access

Whether you need to sign in depends only on what you are doing. Viewing a dashboard never asks for an account and is never blocked.

How to sign in

When you add 3D Scatterplot to a worksheet in authoring mode, the welcome screen below appears. The numbered markers show where to click.

1. Enter your email and password from your Dataskera account.
2. Click Sign in to activate the extension for this dashboard.
3. Tableau Desktop only: click Use on Desktop without an account to skip and start right away.

No account yet? See the available plans and create one in under a minute.

Exploring the chart

The chart is made to be handled, both while authoring and, if you allow it, by viewers:

• Rotate: drag anywhere on the chart. Release while moving and the rotation glides to a stop. Double-click an empty area to reset the view.
• Zoom: use the mouse wheel, or the plus and minus buttons in the control bar.
• Control bar: reset the view, zoom in and out, and toggle a slow automatic rotation. Uncheck Show zoom and rotate controls to viewers in the Format panel to hide it on published dashboards.
• Hover: pointing at a mark highlights it, projects dashed guides onto the axis walls so you can read its three coordinates, and opens the tooltip. Hovering an axis line shows the axis name.
• Click: clicking a mark pins its tooltip, which stays visible and follows the mark while you rotate. Click an empty area of the chart to release it.
• Legend: clicking a legend item highlights its category and fades the other marks; click it again to clear, or click another item to switch.

Format panel

Open the Format panel (the gear on the chart) to customize it. It is for the dashboard author and is not shown to viewers. It has five tabs:

• General: the point style (classic flat marks by default, or an optional shaded look with depth fade and highlights), a single point size slider that also scales the size range when a measure sits on the Size shelf, the marker shape (circle, square, triangle, diamond, or cross, fixed or one shape per member of any Detail dimension), and the background color.
• Axis: projection (orthographic for true proportions, perspective for depth), the viewer controls toggle, where axis labels sit, line and tick styles, and, per axis, an editable title (empty keeps the measure name), an optional prefix and suffix for currency symbols or units, the numbers, units and decimals, and the font size. Automatic units scale tick labels by magnitude (K, M, B) while tooltips keep exact values, and hovering an axis names it with its underlying measure. The gridlines follow the round tick values and have their own color and opacity.
• Color: color points by any dimension on the Detail shelf (chosen in the panel) with a categorical palette, by the X, Y, or Z value with a continuous palette, or use one fixed color. Choosing a palette never repaints the chart on its own: the Auto-assign button applies it to every member in one click, and per-member color pickers stay available for precise overrides, plus a global opacity. The legend follows the chosen dimension and hides itself when the color simply reflects the mark grain or is fixed.
• Legend: position (top, bottom, left, right), an optional show and hide toggle on the chart, the color icon, and a rich text template with the {category}, {measureName}, {value}, and {percentage} placeholders and decimal settings.
• Tooltip: show or hide it, a fixed background or the hovered category color, and a rich text template with the {label}, {x}, {y}, {z}, and {size} placeholders.