The Options panel of the Data Analysis tool sets a variety of preferences for displaying generated forecast charts, fitting probability distributions to generated forecast data, generating correlations between forecast data series, and running simulations on opened models. The Options panel includes these controls:
Automatically Open Forecast Charts — When selected, automatically opens forecast charts when the Data Analysis tool runs.
View — Indicates which forecast chart view to use, similar to the forecast chart View menu commands.
Split View — When selected, shows a chart in the first pane and statistics in the second pane.
Fit A Probability Distribution To The Data — When selected, calculates and plots a curve for the distribution that best fits the data in each series. Select Fit Options to review or change current settings in the Fit Options panel.
Generate Correlation Matrix Between Data Series — When selected, plots the rank correlation between pairs of forecasts. You can click the Scatter Chart button in the results worksheet to show the forecast relationships graphically, along with lines of fit and correlation coefficients.
Run Simulation On Opened Models (To Compare Data Simulation Results) — When selected, this setting can be used for validating models. A simulation is run on all open workbooks at the same time the selected data is analyzed. In this case, forecast charts for all opened models are displayed with those generated from the data selected for analysis.
Back — Displays the Input Data panel.
Run — Runs the tool, automatically generating forecasts for each selected data series.
When all settings are complete, click Run to perform the Data Analysis import and generate forecasts.