Help Manual

Contents






Sigma Magic Help Version 15

New

Overview

The New button can be used to add a new workbook to Excel. Click on the New button within the Manage Files menu on the main menu bar. Main Menu

Usage

You can use the New menu button to create a new project, open an existing project, or continue using the current file for analysis.

Startup Dialog

When you start Sigma Magic software, you will get a startup dialog box such as the one shown below. You can use this startup dialog box to create a new project file, open an existing project file or close this dialog box to work with your existing Excel file that you are currently working on. You can also open this dialog box at any time by clicking on the New button on the main menu bar.

Create New Project

By default, the software lists the option to create a new project file. Startup - New
Use the following steps to create a new project.
1
Create New: By default, this button would be automatically selected when you open this dialog box. If not, you can click on the Create New to display the options to create a new project file.
2
Open Existing: If this is not the first time you are using the software and you have already created a project file earlier and you want to continue adding more analysis to that project or to just view an already completed project you can use this button to select an already existing project. When you click on this button, the dialog box will change and allow you to pick an existing project file. This is covered in the next section.
3
Use Current: If you click on this button, you are indicating to the software that you do not want to create a new file or open an existing file but want to work with the file you currently have opened.
4
File Name: Specify a name for the project you want to work on. Keep the name short but clear enough that by looking at the name, you know what data it contains without opening the project file. By default, the project name is set based on the current system date but we encourage you to change it to make it more meaningful for you. Note that you cannot include any special characters in the name since this name will be used to save the project.
5
File Folder: Specify the folder where the project file will be stored. You can click on the Browse button to specify the project folder. Note that when you click on the Browse button you can only pick the folder and not any specific project file. We recommend that you not use the desktop as the project folder otherwise the desktop will get cluttered with a lot of files. A good idea is to create a project folder based on the type of projects or the year the projects were worked on.
6
Import Data File: Typically you need data for analysis and all the data should be stored in the same Excel file that contains your project analysis results. If you click on the Browse button and select a file. The software will look through all the tables that exist in this data file and import all the tables to your new project workbook so that you can later use that data for analysis. Note that the software will make a copy of the data without creating any links with the original data file. So, if the original data is modified your copy is not altered but you will have to delete your copy of the data and re-import to update your data. Note that this is an optional activity and if you do not specify any data file here, then no data is imported into your workbook.
7
Help Button: Click on the Help button to open the help file for this topic.
8
Close Button: Click on this button to cancel creating a new project file. This will close this dialog box and you can continue working with your existing file that is currently open. You would use this option when you do not want to create a new project file but want to quickly perform some analysis using the data that is currently stored in your currently active workbook.
9
OK Button: Click on the OK button to create a new project file.

Open Existing Project

When you start Sigma Magic software, you may want to open an existing file that you are already working on. You can view this dialog box by clicking on the Open Existing button on the right side menu bar. Startup - Open
1
File Name: Specify a name for the project you want to work on. By default, the software will display the last project that you were working on but you can change it to open any other project file.
2
Browse Button: Click on the Browse button to pick another project to open from your computer. The file you select should appear under Project Name when you select that file.
3
Recent Files: A list of recently used Excel files are listed in this area. Click on any of the recent files to open that file. If any of the files is selected here, then this file is opened instead of the file specified under Project Name. If no files are selected here, then the file listed under Project Name will be opened.
4
Close Button: Click on the Close button to cancel the selection and close this dialog box. No file is opened and you can continue to work with your currently active workbook.
5
OK Button: Click on the OK button to open the file you have specified. By clicking on this button, the selected project file is opened for editing.

Use Current File

If you click on Use Current button, then the software will display a dialog box such as the one shown below: Startup - Use Existing
You can read through this list if you are not familiar with the software and then click on the Close or OK buttons. This will close this dialog box and then allow you to use the Sigma Magic software.
1
Major Steps: Lists the major steps to use the software. The importance of having your data required for analysis in table format, use of the Summary Sheet to review the overall status of all the templates and the three step process for analysis.
StepDescription
1Add the required template to your workbook by clicking on the appropriate template from the main menus at the top.
2Click on Analysis Setup to open the options dialog box. Specify the analysis options including any data for analysis.
3Click on Compute Outputs to generate analysis results.
2
Close Button: Click on the Close button to close this dialog box and start using the software. You can continue working with your currently active workbook.
3
OK Button: Click on the OK button to close this dialog box and start using the software. You can continue working with your currently active workbook.

FAQ

This section contains some frequently asked questions. If you have other questions about this module, please contact technical support.
Do I still have to use "New" to create a workbook if I have an existing workbook?

You could choose to open and work with an existing workbook. New analysis worksheets will just be appended to existing worksheets in the workbook. If you don't have an existing workbook and want to store all analysis related to your project, you can create a new workbook.

Can I create a new workbook using the Excel functionality to create new files?

You could also create a new workbook by using the Excel menu to create a workbook. However, make sure that the file you have added has the proper extension. If you want to share your workbook with users who may not have the latest version of Excel, use the Excel 97-2003 file format (*.xls). If you want to use the latest format, make sure to use the Excel format (*.xlsm) so that you can also store macros in this workbook. Macros are used to detect if you have made any changes to the input area so that you can remember to update the output calculations.

Should I create a new workbook for each new analysis I want to perform?

You can use a single workbook for all your analysis. It is better to store all the analyses you perform on one project in a single workbook so that all related analyses are stored together. Of course, it is your choice of how you manage your project files. If you have a single workbook, each analysis could be stored on a different worksheet in this workbook.