Spotfire Professional Client, now referred to as Spotfire Analyst, is a desktop client installation that provides, depending on the licenses assigned to a user by a Spotfire administrator, the full functionality of the Spotfire platform. From the professional client, you can build analyses; access Administration Manager, Library Administration, and Information Designer; access advanced analytics functions; and complete other data management tasks. It is what we have been using to work through the examples in the book so far. TIBCO Spotfire Desktop provides similar functionality to the professional client, but without the administration and server tasks.

To use a Spotfire professional client, you need to log in at least once to a Spotfire server. This process authenticates you, determines the licenses that have been assigned to you, and provides any software updates that have been deployed to the server. Thereafter, you can choose...