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Creating an Ad Hoc Comparative Analysis from Indicators

You can create a comparative analysis by selecting two or more indicators in any view that lists indicators, for example, from an asset’s Inspection Management view. You can compare the readings of two or more numeric, calculated, cumulative, or performance indicators.

For information about comparing descriptive indicators, see Creating a Basic Comparative Analysis.

This topic describes how to create an ad hoc comparative analysis.

To Create an Ad Hoc Comparative Analysis

1.	Select any view that lists indicators, for example, an asset’s Inspection Management view, Indicators tab, Listing tab.

2.	Select two or more indicators with numeric data in the list (click on each indicator while pressing the Ctrl key).

3.	Right-click the selected indicators and click Compare Readings. The Compare Readings dialog appears. For example:

You can either create a comparative analysis or add the indicators to an existing analysis.

4.	To add the indicators to an existing worksheet, select Compare the readings for the selected indicators in an existing worksheet.

•	Click the browse icon to open the Comparative Analysis Selector dialog. Select the analysis and click OK.

•	In the Compare Readings dialog, click OK. The Comparative Analysis window opens with the indicators added to it.

5.	To create an analysis, select Compare the readings for the selected indicators in a new worksheet and fill in the following:

Setting Name

Description

Period type

Select the type of time period to use: • Moving period: Select this option to set a time period that is relative to the current date. For example, if you are setting a time period for a comparative analysis, you could create an analysis for readings collected in the last month. If you select this option, each time you open the analysis or dashboard, you might see a different set of readings depending on the current date and the period that was selected to analyze. • Fixed period: Select this option for a set time period. When you select this option, you can define the start and end date and time.

Period to analyze

Select the period of time for which you want to display data. You can select from: • In the last • Last month • Last week • Last year • This month • This week • This year • Today • Yesterday If you select “In the last”, you must also enter a duration (for example, in the last 6 months). If you select “Fixed period” as the time period type, you also have the option “Custom”. When you select this option, you can enter the dates for which you would like to display data. With a fixed period, you also have the “On or after” option. You can select the start date and time. Note: The “Custom” option cannot be used with dashboards that display costs.

Calendar to use

Select the calendar type to use in determining the dates for the costs or readings that will be displayed: • Regular: the readings displayed are filtered based on the standard calendar. For example, if the dashboard is showing readings for the current month and the date is December 10, the dashboard shows readings for the period of December 1-10. • Financial: the readings displayed are filtered based on your organization’s financial periods. For example, assume that your financial periods start on the first Tuesday of the month. For December 2002, the financial month would then start on December 3, 2002. In this case, on December 10, 2002 a dashboard that is showing “current month” based on the financial calendar would show readings for the period of December 3-10.

Start date

The starting date and time for the analysis period. If you selected a moving date range, you cannot edit the date shown in the box. If you selected a fixed date range, you can directly enter a start date and time in the box.

End date

The ending date and time for the analysis period. If you selected a moving date range, you cannot edit the date shown in the box. If you selected a fixed date range, you can directly enter an end date and time in the box.

•	Click OK. The system creates a new analysis with the selected indicators and opens the Comparative Analysis window, showing the Analysis view.

•	If you intend to save the analysis, select the Properties view, General tab. Provide a title for the analysis.

•	If you wish to show alarm state banding in line graphs, select the Options tab and select an indicator from the Indicator for bands list. This indicator’s states are shown in the chart.

•	You can now adjust the analysis as required, for example, add indicators, set the chart appearance, and so on.

•	When you are finished, save the analysis.