Import custom data parameters

Available with Business Analyst license.

A Statistical Data Collection in ArcGIS Business Analyst Pro can potentially contain hundreds of variables, depending on the level of detail in your statistical data. For example, if you are working with the sales data for 20 products for 12 quarters, that's already 140 variables. You can set up the properties of all these variables using the ArcGIS Business Analyst Pro editor window directly, or put the list of your variables in an Excel spreadsheet. If you use the Excel spreadsheet method, set up all required properties in the spreadsheet by adding the columns for Summary Type, Apportionment Method, Weight Field, and then use the Import Parameters functionality to edit all variables at once.

Note:

You can edit properties for multiple variables at once in the Excel editor window. Select multiple variables by clicking their names in the Field Name column, right-click the selection, and click Properties. Any updates made on the Change in Properties dialog box are applied to all selected variables.

Importing parameters from a table allows you to assign values for multiple custom data variables and properties simultaneously. The variable properties can be stored in an Excel spreadsheet, or any other tabular format, and used for multiple Statistical Data Collection files. It is recommended that Excel tables be used for setting up the parameters based on the simplicity of editing multiple rows at once. A single Excel workbook file can have multiple spreadsheets in it, and each spreadsheet can be shown as a separate table on the Import Parameters dialog box.

To set up custom data, do the following:

1. On the View tab, click the Catalog Pane button .

   The Catalog pane appears.

2. On the Project tab, browse to the folder containing the Statistical Data Collection used in the project. Right-click the Statistical Data Collection, then click Edit.

   The Statistical Data Collection editor window appears.

3. Click the Variables tab.

   The variables table appears with the variable parameters and their values.

4. Click the Import Parameters button.

   The Import Parameters window appears.

5. Browse to your table, select it, and click OK.

   Values from the imported table populate the respective parameter columns.

Requirements for the parameters table

The requirements for the parameters table are as follows:

• Each parameters table must have a column named VARIABLE. This column identifies the variable receiving parameter settings. Values in the VARIABLE column must be unique.
• For regular Statistical Data Collection variables, the value in the VARIABLE column must exist. For calculated variables, the value will be created and added to the bottom of the list, if missing. For example, if your Statistical Data Collection variable already contains variables named SALES_Q1_2023 and SALES_Q2_2023, and you want to add a calculated variable that will sum these, your spreadsheet must include the following three rows:

  VARIABLE	ALIAS	SUMMARYTYPE	FORMULA
  SALES_Q1_2023	Sales Q1 2023	Sum
  SALES_Q2_2023	Sales Q2 2023	Sum
  SALES_H1_2023	Sales H1 2023	Script	!SALES_Q1_2023! + !SALES_Q2_2023!

• For Averages, use Summary Type = Avg:

  Note:

  The Average variable must include WEIGHTFIELD.

  VARIABLE	ALIAS	SUMMARYTYPE	WEIGHTFIELD
  TOT_CUSTOMERS	Total Customers	SUM
  AVG_SALES	Average Sales per customer	Avg	TOT_CUSTOMERS

• The other properties that can be set with the parameters table, with corresponding field names, are listed below:

  Parameter	Field name
  Variable Name	VARIABLE
  Category	CATEGORY
  Alias	ALIAS
  Summary Type	SUMMARYTYPE
  Apportionment Method	BASETYPE
  Decimals	DECIMALS
  Script/Formula	FORMULA
  Weight	WEIGHTFIELD