Scenario-specific assumptions and indicators

You can specify the value of an assumption or indicator from a particular scenario when writing formulas.  Use the syntax

[Assumption:AssumptionName:ScenarioName]

Or

[Indicator:IndicatorName:ScenarioName]

The scenario name must be added manually by typing in the Formula Editor; it is not supported by the Formula Wizard or the smart editing functions in the Formula Editor.

It may be convenient to create ordinary indicators that give the value of a scenario-specific assumption or indicator.  The ordinary indicator will appear in every scenario in charts, reports, and other places where the value of a component from a different scenario would not normally display.  Use the following formula structures for these indicators:

IndicatorOfAssumptionValue = [Assumption:AssumptionName:ScenarioName]

IndicatorOfIndicatorValue = [Indicator:IndicatorName:ScenarioName]

Here is an example analysis that quantifies the incremental difference in school children between two scenarios.  Start by considering a formula for an indicator called School_Children, given by [Indicator:Total Units]*[Assumption:Children Per Unit] .  If both scenarios have 100 units, but the assumption Children Per Unit is set to 1.25 for the Base Case scenario and set to 1.5 for the Alternative scenario, then there will be 125 children in the Base Case and 150 children in the Alternative.  This is illustrated below:

Next, one could create a new indicator called Additional Children with the formula [Indicator:Total Children] – [Indicator:Total Children:Base Case].  The value for this indicator will be 0 for the Base Case and 25 for the Alternative:

Scenario-specific assumptions and indicators can also be useful in charts when used, for example, as threshold lines.  To create a chart with a threshold line that reflects the value of a scenario-specific assumption or indicator regardless of which scenario is being displayed, create an indicator whose formula is [Assumption:AssumptionName:ScenarioName] or [Indicator:IndicatorName:ScenarioName].  Use your new indicator as the threshold line in the chart.