About Creating an Analytics Case

You can create an analytics case by dragging in or uploading a selected local file or by using 3DSearch to search for a data set.

This page discusses:

See Also
Analytics Cases and Data
Parameter Data Types

Create a New Analytics Case

To create an analytics case, start Results Analytics, and do one of the following:

  • Drag a data file from a local directory into the drop region.
  • Upload a data file from a local directory.
  • Search for a 3DSpace data set using 3DSearch, such as a simulation document containing a data file, a simulation process, or a simulation job.
  • Click to create a new case.

Examples of a data file (a data file in a simulation document or a local data file) include the following:

  • A Microsoft Excel® file (.xls or .xlsx)
  • A comma-separated values file (.csv)
  • A tab-separated values file (.tsv)
  • A Process Composer simulation job file (.nrf)
  • An Isight results file (.zrf)
  • A compressed, archive file (.zip)

The Explore page displays a symbol in the column of the data table that indicates the source of the data point. In addition, the Explore page allows you to filter by data source.

If you subsequently delete a data file and run Results Analytics, the corresponding data points are excluded from the data set. You can right-click on a data point in the data table to include the data point.

The new analytics case appears in the list of analytics cases. To open and run the new case, select it from the list and click Guided Analytics.

Import From a Microsoft Excel, .CSV or .TSV file

You can import tabular data from a Microsoft Excel (.xls or .xlsx) file or a comma- or tab-separated values (.csv or .tsv) file. Results Analytics expects the following format:

  • The first row must contain the parameter name in each column. Columns without a parameter name are not imported.
  • You can include any of the following between the first row and the data:
    • Parameter mode (input, output, or inout). If you provide the parameter mode, it must appear on the second row.
    • Parameter alias, enclosed in parenthesis (()).
    • Parameter units, enclosed in square brackets ([]).
  • You can create arrays of parameters using the parametername[index] label in the first row of the file, where the first element in the array has an index of 0. For example, labels of Load[0] and Load[1] define parameters contained in the first two elements of the Load array.
  • You can create groups of parameters using groupname.parametername in the first row.

The figure below shows an example of an Excel file that can be imported into Results Analytics :

Import From a Process Composer or Isight file

You can drag in a Process Composer simulation job file or an Isight results file, and Results Analytics imports any objectives that were specified in the simulation process or the Isight workflow, respectively. Results Analytics also imports any constraints that were specified in the file—lower and/or upper threshold values. Data are imported from only the main driver (the first driver in a Process Composer simulation job file or the top driver in an Isight results file). If the process does not have a main driver, Results Analytics reads all the parameters and concatenates the data as described below.

Import From a .ZIP file

You can drag in a compressed, archive (.zip) file. Results Analytics expects the following format:

  • The root level of the file, or one level down, must contain either a Microsoft Excel or a comma-separated values file.
  • The root level of the file can contain a workflow image file named WorkFlowImage, with extension .gif, .jpg, .jpeg, or .png.
  • Supporting files are organized in folders within the archive. A supporting file contains information about the data point, such as an image file showing a particular view or a .pdf or Microsoft Word file containing specifications that cannot be captured with parameters.
  • You include a reference to a supporting file in the Microsoft Excel or .csv file by providing the path to the file (relative to the root level of the zip file). For example, consider a .zip file with the following structure:

    The FrontImages parameter in the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (Composite Wing Flutter.xls) refers to an image in a subfolder in the .zip file using the following syntax:

Import of Multiple Data Sets

You can create an analytics case that contains a combination of multiple data sets. Results Analytics reads the data files, searches for matching parameter names, and attempts to merge the files as follows:

  • If all of the parameter names are identical, Results Analytics concatenates the data sets. Duplicate rows are deleted.
  • If only some (or none) of the parameter names are identical, Results Analytics also concatenates the data sets. Results Analytics keeps all the values from both data sets and inserts blank values where a parameter is missing from one of the data sets. Parameters with missing values are excluded from the scoring and ranking. In addition, you cannot create approximations if the data set contains missing values. (You can manually enter values in the table where a cell is empty or delete the column containing the empty cells.)

In all cases, the comparison of parameter names is case sensitive; i.e., weight and Weight are assumed to be different parameter names.