Decision Tree

Add and Modify Tree Node

Click on the end node and the Node Settings window pops up. Select one of two node types (also called arches), and click OK.

In our example, we accept the default option and click on OK to add a Chance node with two branches to our tree above, which will then look like the one below. Type some text in the box Node label if you want to assign a custom name to the node. Otherwise, the default label Chance is shown.

Each branch can be modified. Click on either the label or the line of My 1st Branch (we changed the label text) and the form below pops up. Besides changing label text, there are three basic options available in this form: the branch can be moved upward, or downward, or it can be deleted.

To change type to an existing node click on the shape and select the appropriate type. When a colored shape is clicked the buttons on the upper side of the form are activated. These four basic options are very useful, particularly when working with large trees.

To copy one or more branches, click on the first shape of the area you are interested in and click on the Copy button. The selection is now saved in DTrees memory. Click on the shape where you want to attach the copied selection and click on Paste. If you want to remove one or more branches, click on the first shape and click on Delete. The Collapse button is particularly useful when printing large trees and you are interested in a small part only. Clicking on one shape and selecting Collapse hides the unneeded tree section behind the shape we clicked on. An example of a collapsed tree is shown below. Click on the + sign to enlarge the tree to its original size.

The Add branch button in the form Node Settings is used for adding new branches to an existing arch. This is a straightforward operation done simply by entering an integer number in the form that appears and hitting OK. The number of branches that can be added to the same node is limited to 30, which is well beyond the maximum number of branches required in most real-life trees.

Thats it! These are the basic operations for shaping decision trees with the help of DTree.