Parameter Data Types

A parameter in Results Analytics can be one of the following types:

A single number: A parameter can be a floating-point number or an integer.
An array of numbers: A parameter can be an array of values of the same type.
A string: A parameter can be a string, such as a description or a web browser URL.
A file: A parameter can refer to a file; for example, a .png file containing an image or a .pdf file or a Microsoft Word^® file containing a description of the data.

Parameters that are defined by an array, string, or file cannot be used as an objective or a constraint, and Results Analytics does not include them in the scoring and ranking calculations or display them in scatter plots. However, Results Analytics displays strings in scatter plot (up to 10 discrete values).

About Array Data Types

You can view the statistics of a selected element of an array parameter, such as the minimum and maximum values. Although you cannot assign an objective or a constraint to an array parameter, you can derive a new parameter (a new column) from a statistic of an array parameter, and you can assign an objective or constraint to the new parameter and score and rank the new parameter.

You can use the Explore page to plot an array element. You can plot the array element against the indices of the array or against another element of the array. See Array Parameter Operations for more details.

Note: You can create arrays of parameters from a Microsoft Excel^® or .csv file using the parametername[index] label in the first row of the file. For example, labels of h[0] and h[1] define parameters contained in the first two elements of the h array. Your array must include values for an array index of 0. For example, the following figure shows a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with h and w arrays:

About File Data Types

A file parameter can refer to any type of file, such as reports stored in Microsoft Word or PDF files or supporting analyses stored in Microsoft Excel files.

You can use a file parameter to provide a visual description of a data point; for example, images showing front, side, and rear views of a car. You can view the files associated with a data point by right-clicking on the data point in the Explore page and by selecting More Info. The window that appears displays detailed information about the selected data point, such as the parameter values. If the file refers to an image, you can click the Files tabbed page to see a visual representation of the file parameters. In addition, as you start to narrow down your choice of options, Results Analytics displays the images associated with a data point to help you choose the best alternative.

You can open a .zip archive file containing a Microsoft Excel or .csv file and subdirectories containing additional files, such as image files.