Quickly Remove Unconnected Nodes in Streams in IBM SPSS Modeler

To improve your experience using IBM SPSS Modeler, the Version 1 SPSS experts have created various Tech Tips. This Tech Tip shows how to quickly remove unconnected nodes in IBM SPSS Modeler.  

IBM SPSS Modeler is an extensive predictive analytics platform designed to bring predictive intelligence to decisions made by individuals, groups, systems, and the enterprise. Modeler has an easy-to-use drag-and-drop user interface with a complete set of tools for accessing data, data examination, preparation, modelling, evaluation, and deployment.  

IBM SPSS Modeler users have a complete toolset to build predictive models from start to finish. Modeler uses node-based, visual programming. Users pick nodes from palettes and place them on the stream canvas. Once nodes have been placed on the stream canvas and edited, they can be linked to form a stream. A stream represents a flow of data through several operations (nodes) to a destination that can be in the form of output (either text or chart), a model, or the export of data to another format (e.g., a database). The stream represents the process of building the predictive model and can also include comments and annotations for clarity.  

In predictive modelling, nodes and models can be added and disconnected. Although adding, copying, and deleting nodes is easy, removing disconnected nodes is necessary for clarity. For example, automated modelling techniques provide comparisons of models. These techniques generate many nodes and models into the stream for examination and evaluation. The number of nodes and models depends on which models are compared and whether default and custom models are chosen. Through model testing, assessment, and evaluation, disconnected models and nodes can be removed in one step. To clean up the stream, go to the Edit menu and select Remove Unconnected Nodes. The disconnected nodes are quickly removed from the stream.