Graph Companion

The Graph Companion is a special data window that shows the numerical values backing every graph in the current chart, in a tabular spreadsheet-style format. When a sheet has more than one chart, the Graph Companion shows data for the chart that was created or clicked on last; clicking a different chart in the sheet switches the Graph Companion’s view automatically.

Features

Highly synchronized responses

Interactions with the Graph Companion and the active chart are synchronized in both directions:

Select data points in the chart → corresponding cells in the Graph Companion highlight. If those cells are out of the visible area, the Graph Companion auto-scrolls to bring them into view.
Conversely, selecting cells in the Graph Companion highlights the matching points on the chart.

The same synchronization applies to data marking, grouping, and interactive data editing — the Graph Companion is a live mirror of the chart’s underlying data.

Adaptive and intuitive layouts

Graph Companion picks a layout that’s easy to read for the type of graphs in the chart:

2D graphs (lines, bars, areas). Data is shown in columns. When a chart contains multiple 2D graphs, they share a common X-coordinate column and one Y-coordinate column per graph. If the graphs don’t share the same X values, the union of all X values is sorted and shown; missing entries are left blank. This makes side-by-side comparison across data sets straightforward even when their X grids differ.
2D contour graphs. Each contouring level gets its own data table. Contour-line coordinates are shown in pairs of columns, one pair per line.
3D graphs (surfaces, meshes, volumes, vector graphs). X, Y, and Z coordinates plus any per-vertex attributes (color, alpha) appear as separate cell blocks.

Customized formatting

By default, scalar and line-type graphs use a table style with a “lighter” version of the main graph color for the cell background. For surface-type graphs, X and Y coordinates pick up the corresponding axis color, and the Z coordinates use the Color Map for Data Body Background style.

You can switch table styles via the table-style button in the toolbar at the top of the window. You can also create new graphs in the chart from all or part of the current data via the data-visualization button.

Convenient and powerful filtering

Find and filter data items by typing keywords into the textbox at the top of the window. Matched items are highlighted in both the Graph Companion and the linked graphs simultaneously.

Options

Graph filtering options

Apply filters to the linked graphs by typing a keyword in the Filter text box at the top-left of the window. Three sub-menus refine the behavior:

Filtering Action — highlight matched data items in the plot, or show only the matched items (and hide the rest).
Filtering Quantity — pick from a list of quantities the criterion should target: X coordinate, Y coordinate, vertex color, vertex alpha, etc.
Filtering Condition — pick the criterion type from a list (range, exact match, regex, etc.).

Show primitive data

By default, Graph Companion shows the source data — the data set from which the graph was generated. With Show Primitive Data enabled, you see data for the geometric primitives that make up the graph instead.

In primitive mode you can select, filter, and edit individual vertices of the geometric primitives — either in the Graph Companion or directly on the graph in the figure window — for fine-grained control over the graph’s appearance.