Sigma Magic Help Version 17

Getting Started

Overview

To use this software, you must first add the analysis tool you are interested into your workbook. Sigma Magic software has hundreds of tools available. Then, use the following steps to perform an analysis using this software.

Step 1: Add the tool you are interested in by clicking on the Tool Wizard

Step 2: Specify the analysis options for the selected tool by clicking on Analysis Setup

Step 3: Specify any data required for analysis stored in Excel tables format.

Step 4: Generate analysis results by clicking on Compute Outputs

Step 5: Once all the analysis is done, save your work in Excel format or export to PDF or PPT format

Analysis Tools

This software works on tools (also known as templates). Depending on the analysis you want, you must add the appropriate tools to your workbook and then perform the analysis. The list of available tools is shown in the figures below.

Analytics

Lean

Stats

Graphs

Change

Projects

Note that not every tool is required for every project. Use the tools that make sense for your project. When you add a tool to your workbook, it is added as a new worksheet. You can add new worksheets, perform the required analysis, and delete those worksheets that don't add value to your analysis.

Note that both the data and the analysis are stored in each workbook. This way, if you share a specific workbook with others, they will also have your raw data if they want to recreate your analysis results. Each workbook is a self-contained unit. It contains your data, analysis settings, session window, and graphs. Sharing your workbook with other users gives them sufficient information to recreate your entire analysis.

Below is an example project file. A project file typically contains a summary tab that summarizes all the analysis tabs in your workbook, a data tab that stores all the data required by the project, and a list of tabs for all the analyses you would have run for your project.

1	Summary Sheet: List a summary of all the analyses performed in the current Excel workbook. Note that you may need to click on the Compute Outputs button to update the contents of this sheet.
2	Data Sheet: It provides a sheet to store your data for analysis in one central location. Note that you do not necessarily have to use this sheet to store your data. The data can be stored on any worksheet as long as it is in a tabular format. However, storing your data in the Data Sheet will make it easier for you to find your data later.
3	Analysis Sheet: Each analysis you perform is stored in a separate worksheet. Use the tool wizard to add new analysis sheets to your workbook. Click on the Analysis Setup button to open the input dialog box to access that analysis's settings.

It is recommended that you save the work in a different Excel file for each project you work on. The advantage of this is that you can find all the analyses you have done on a project in a single file, and you don't need to look for multiple files to look for all your analyses. You can look for the different analyses by looking at the various tabs within your workbook.

Main Menu Bar

When you open Sigma Magic software, you will see a main menu bar at the top. An example is shown below. The main menu bar contains three sections: a project section, a miscellaneous section, and an analysis section. When you open Sigma Magic software for the first time, all these three sections are shown. However, depending on your needs, you can hide certain sections to simplify your menu bar or make room for additional menus that may appear for specific templates. To manage which sections are displayed, click on the refresh menus button at the bottom right-hand corner of the menus.
A dialog box such as the one shown below is displayed. You can uncheck the Project or Miscellaneous sections if you don't want them displayed on the main menu bar. Click on the Refresh button to effect the change. Note that this change only lasts when Sigma Magic is active. If you close Excel and reopen the Sigma Magic software, these settings are not used, and you will have to repeat the process if you want to hide these menus.
Specific templates may add menu icons in this top menu bar. However, if you change to a different template, these menus may not be updated. If you want to update the menus and only display the menus relevant to your template, you can click this Refresh menus button to refresh your main menu bar.

Data Entry

For each tool, you need to understand what data is needed and then format the data accordingly. For example, if the data is available to you in rows and the tool requires the data in columns, you would have to transpose it before you can paste it into the tool. In general, most of the tools use data in column format.

You can use the Data Editor to load your data into the software in Table format. Once you have loaded all the data you are interested in, you can use any data columns for analysis. The following figure shows an example of data entry from the list of available columns for Basic Stats. Note that on the left, you see a list of available columns - these are all the data available in tables in your current workbook. You must drag and drop these columns to perform the analysis on the right.

1	Search: You can filter the list of available data by including search terms.
2	Available Data: This list box shows the list of available data for analysis. All data in Excel tables in the current workbook are listed here. It shows the table name, column name, data type, and the number of rows of data.
3	Add Data: Click on this link to add new data to your Excel workbook.
4	Required Data: Specifies the type and the number of columns of data that can be specified for this analysis.
5	Select Button: Select the data under Available data and then click this button to move the data to the right selection area. You can also use drag and drop to make a selection.
6	Selected Data: Shows the data that has been selected for analysis.
7	View Selection: Open the online viewer to view the selected data table or some basic graphs of the selected data.

For this software to work properly, you must not add or delete any rows or columns in the worksheet. The software is expecting data in certain locations; if you add or delete rows, then the software will not be able to find the data, and the software may no longer work. If you feel that you may have inadvertently corrupted the worksheet, delete it, add a new one, and work with it. The places where the software expects user data entry are shown in white cells, and other areas are shown in a different color (gray or blue).

Analysis Setup

Some generic settings that are used in all worksheets are stored under options. You can change these options once so that all new worksheets you create in the future will use these as the default values. However, for each tool you add to your workbook, you must specify the options specific to that analysis. Click on Analysis Setup to open the possibilities for that analysis. An example screenshot is shown below. Once you specify all the required options and any data for analysis, click the OK button to generate analysis results.

1	Data Type: Specify the type of data you want to analyze.
2	Notes Type: Specify the format for your data reporting.
3	Display Stats: Specify the types of metrics you want to report for this analysis.
4	Help File: Open the help viewer for this analysis.
5	Cancel Button: Close this dialog box.
6	OK Button: Perform the computations for this analysis.

Computing Results

Once all the data has been entered in the analysis setup dialog box and the worksheet, click on Compute Outputs to generate analysis results. The Sigma Magic software will compute the outputs and update the Outputs area. Typically, most analyses will output the text results in the Notes area and the charts in the Graph area. Any conclusions from the study are listed in the Conclusion box within the Notes section.

1	Session Window: Displays the output of the session window. This includes all the text output generated by this analysis.
2	Graph Window: Displays all the graphical plots generated by this analysis.

---

© Rapid Sigma Solutions LLP. All rights reserved.