Binning numeric attribute values

The binning transformation takes values for a numeric attribute and groups them into bins. The bins are then used as the values of a new attribute.

For example, from a Price attribute, you might create a new Price Range attribute such that:
  • If Price is less than 20 dollars, then Price Range is "Inexpensive".
  • If Price is greater than 20 dollars but less than 40 dollars, then Price Range is "Moderately Priced".
  • If Price is greater than 40 dollars but less than 60 dollars, then Price Range is "Expensive".
  • If Price is greater than 60 dollars, then Price Range is "Very Expensive".

To bin the values of a numeric attribute:

  1. In the Catalog, select a project.
  2. Select Transform.
  3. Locate one of the attributes that you want to bin and select the column.
  4. From the transform menu, select Advanced > Bin numeric values.
  5. For each bin that you add, specify the following:
    1. A bin name. The bin names are used as the display name for the new attribute value.
    2. A low value for the bin range. For the low value, you indicate whether values in the bin must be greater than or greater than or equal to the specified value.
    3. A high value for the bin range. For the high value, you indicate whether values in the bin must be less than or less than or equal to the specified value.
  6. For values that don't fit in any of the bins, select whether to:
    • Leave them as is without any binning.
    • Place them in another bin named Other.
  7. Provide the name of the new attribute to contain the bins. When you bin values, you must always create a new attribute.
  8. Either click Preview to see the previewed results of running the transformation, or click Add to Script to save the transformation step to the script.

If you are done making changes to the project data set, you can commit the changes. See Running the transformation script against a project data set.