.. _ngw-node-traceHeatMap:

============
traceHeatMap
============

.. figure:: img/heatmap.png
   :name: ngw-node-traceHeatMap-figure
   :alt: Example heatmap
   :width: 400
   :align: center
   
   Example heatmap

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Description
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Creates a heat-map from a three-dimensional dataset. The Color Scale settings are used toindicate "heat" in the Z-axis direction.

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Properties
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- **Trace Name**: The name of the trace. If this node is the final destination on the way to displaying
  the plot, this field will be used as the plot's title that displays across the top. Otherwise,
  this field can be used to identify the trace among several traces (for instance, by using the legend
  provided with the plotWindow node).
- **Color Scale Settings**: The Color Scale settings group allows you to create ranges of colors across your plot.
  Refer to the main :ref:`Color Scale documentation <chartreuse-color-scales>` for more information.
- **Show Color Scale Legend**: Display a bar next to your plot that indicates color scale ranges.

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Input Ports
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- **X**: Data for the X axis.
- **Y**: Data for the Y axis.
- **Z**: Data for the Z axis.

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Output Ports
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- **trace**: The data of the plot trace. Use this to forward the plot trace for further aggregation onto a plot canvas.
- **plotFileDataOut**: A complete, serialized version of the plot that can be written out to a file for later viewing. Use a file node to save your plot to a file.

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Notes
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This node only supports heat-maps with numerically-based axes. It does not support heat-maps with categorical axis data.
