Introduction to Calculations

Key concepts to understand about Models Calculations

Overview

Calculations allow you to specify relationships between Variables.

For instance, Profits = Revenues - Costs where Profits, Revenues, and Costs are all Variables

With Calculations you can replicate most of the operations you'd perform in an Excel formula, including Date/Time, Logical, Lookup, and Mathematical functions.

For a full list of supported Excel functions, see here

Calculation Parts

Calculations are made up of Calculation Parts. When you create a Calculation, you create a list of Calculation Parts which you can rearrange and edit as in any list view.

For example, the Calculation SUM(Cost1, Cost2) contains six Calculation Parts:

• SUM : A Sum Function

• ( and ) : Opening and Closing brackets surrounding the Function content

• Cost1 and Cost2: Variable References

• ,: Comma between Function arguments

You don't usually need to think about Calculation Parts as you can type a formula directly into the Formula Entry Bar, which creates the associated Calculation Parts automatically. However, you can use the Calculation Part list to edit specific items (e.g. Variable References) and quickly rearrange/edit your Calculation.