Time Segment Setup
How to create and edit Time Segments
Last updated
How to create and edit Time Segments
Last updated
Time Segments are managed in the Time Segments step of the Variable dialog.
You must define the time period over which each Time Segment applies. This time period is defined in terms of three settings:
From: The period at which the segment starts
Duration: The length of the segment
To: The period at which the segment ends
From and To settings can be set to one of the following:
Auto
Period dependent on context:
If first segment, From will be set to the start of the model
If last segment, To will be set to the end of the model
If other, From/To will be based on end or beginning of adjacent segments).
Fixed Period
Choice of specific periods from the Model timings (e.g. Q2 2030)
Periods from Start
Number of periods from start (first period = 1 )
Periods from End
Number of periods from end (last period = 1)
Duration can be set to one of the following:
Fill
Segment will stretch to end of previous period and beginning of next (or to start/end of the model if first/last segment)
Number of periods
Segment will occupy the specified number of periods
You should apply a maximum of 2 of the three settings. Which settings are applied depends on the Time Segment.
For instance, the first Time Segment never needs to have the From setting applied, as it always starts at the first period. If you set From to a period that is not the first period, a warning will be shown.
Likewise, if you set both the Duration and the To settings of the first Time Segment, one of these will be redundant, and they may clash.
The Formula of a Time Segment determines how that Time Segment calculates its values.
There are five possible formula types for each Time Segment:
Auto
Assumptions
Calculation
Applies a custom Calculation that cannot refer to other Variables. (See more details below).
Aggregation
Cannot be manually selected - applied automatically when using Aggregation.
Rearranged
Cannot be manually selected - applied automatically when Rearranging
As shown in the above example, a Time Segment with a Calculation formula acts similarly to an Assumptions Time Segment.
In this example, Price inflation is a Variable of type Assumptions. In the first period, an Assumptions Time Segment links to an input. We then use a Calculation Time Segment for the remaining periods to reference the previous period, rather than linking to specific Assumptions for each period of the Model.
Several shortcuts are provided in the Time Segment interface to speed up some common operations, as shown in the image above.
1) Insert period
Inserts a period of duration 1 period at the start of the Model
2) Make all equal to first period
Inserts a single period segment of type Assumptions at the start of the Model, and a second segment with a Calculation of Variable [-1] for the rest of the Model timings (as per the example shown in the image above).
3) Change formula type
Opens a dropdown to quickly switch between formula types.
4) Reset to default segment type
For a Calculation Variable, resets Time Segment to Auto. For an Assumptions Variable, resets Time Segment to Assumptions.
You can add, edit and duplicate Time Segments just like any other item in a .
As shown in the screenshot below, these settings can be quickly edited by clicking on the relevant editing shortcut button .
Applies the default of the Variable. (This option is not available for an Variable).
Links to specific Assumptions. See for more details.
Used for an Variable.
Used when .
If you are not sure when to use Assumption/Calculation Variables and Assumption/Calculation Time Segments, you may want to read about the , which helps deal with complex scenarios.
