topic Re: 3D scatter plots in sgplot? in Graphics Programming

3D scatter plots in sgplot?

jenningsa — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 08:00:26 GMT

Hello,

Is there a way to make a 3D scatter plot in SAS that has more customization and smoother graphics than G3D? A macro for sgplot would be amazing.

I found an older SAS macro (https://blogs.sas.com/content/graphicallyspeaking/2015/03/10/a-3d-scatter-plot-macro/) that doesn't seem to work when I run it in SAS studio.

Many error codes that all seem to do with the following recurring error:

ERROR 251-185: The subroutine MATMULT is unknown, or cannot be accessed. Check your spelling.

Any help to move me towards a publication quality 3d scatter plot would be greatly appreciated.

Re: 3D scatter plots in sgplot?

WarrenKuhfeld — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 08:04:14 GMT

Go back to the blog and include the matrix functions from the second link. I don't know if this will fix all of your problems, but it should get you further.

Re: 3D scatter plots in sgplot?

acordes — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 10:59:22 GMT

You can resort to proc iml instead of using matmult which gives you an error.

it requieres a license.

furthermore in sas viya / visual analytics you can use Data-driven content for advanced visualisations.

and another - not tested - possibility is using SAS Viya's open source gateway and run R or python graph libraries which do offer more 3-D visualisations.

Good luck

Re: 3D scatter plots in sgplot?

Ksharp — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 12:18:15 GMT

You could find many 3D graph from

https://robslink.com/

https://robslink.com/SAS/democd41/aaaindex.htm

that is website of @GraphGuy

Re: 3D scatter plots in sgplot?

GraphGuy — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 20:57:46 GMT

Let me play "devil's advocate" a little first ...

Are you 100% certain that a 2d snapshot of one view of a 3d scatter plot is a good way to display/analyze your data? I find that 3d plots often look interesting/fancy, but aren't really good for analytics. Make sure to answer that question, before investing too much time & money on trying to get 3d plots! 🙂

Re: 3D scatter plots in sgplot?

jenningsa — Sun, 20 Feb 2022 06:34:15 GMT

I found a slightly modified macro (https://github.com/Jiangtang/Programming-SAS/blob/master/ODS/Graphics/3D%20Scatter%20Plot%20Animation.sas) that I managed to tweak to my needs and updated a few lines of code for use in SAS studio. The figure is nice looking, but not quite what I need because there are no values on the axes and the axes labels aren't parallel to the axes. Also, the z-axis label cuts off because it is a long variable name.

Any thoughts on how to modify the program to resolve the aesthetics?

Re: 3D scatter plots in sgplot?

Jay54 — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 22:07:22 GMT

I fully agree with Robert (GraphGuy) about the use of 3D plots to display data. If your data is really 3D, with X, Y and Z variables, then it does make sense to view it in a 3D view. You are really trying to see the shape of the data and not the actual values. The macro does this but adding axis details will only clutter it.

But, if data is 2D, one should avoid trying to view it in 3D just for the "glitz" value. See example:

https://blogs.sas.com/content/graphicallyspeaking/2018/04/24/3d-waterfall-chart-redux/