Selecting Drivers in Sidebar

This article explains how to select drivers from the Formula editor sidebar in Model Reef.

You will learn:

  • How drivers are grouped and displayed.

  • How to insert drivers into formulas.

  • How scenario specific drivers behave in the editor.

Drivers are reusable assumptions. Referencing them correctly makes your model easier to maintain.

Driver groups in the sidebar

In the Formula editor sidebar, drivers are usually grouped by type:

  • Economic drivers.

  • Operational drivers.

  • Modifier drivers.

Within each group, drivers are listed by name. Clear naming helps distinguish similar series.

Inserting a driver into a formula

1

Open the Formula editor

Open the Formula editor where you author expressions.

2

Expand the relevant driver group

Expand the relevant driver group (economic, operational or modifier) in the sidebar.

3

Insert the driver reference

Click the driver name. The reference is inserted at the cursor in the expression area, using the correct internal reference syntax.

Driver search and filtering

If the sidebar supports search:

  • Type part of the driver name into the search box.

  • The list filters to drivers whose names match.

  • Click a result to insert it into the formula.

This is especially helpful in large models with many shared drivers.

Scenario specific drivers

Each scenario is its own model, with its own drivers:

  • The sidebar always shows drivers from the active scenario model.

  • Editing a driver in one scenario does not affect others.

  • Formulas referencing a driver remain valid within each scenario as long as the driver exists there.

This makes it easy to tune assumptions per scenario while retaining structural consistency.

Using drivers instead of hard coded inputs

Using drivers instead of hard coded numbers in formulas:

  • Centralises assumptions, so one change updates multiple series.

  • Makes sensitivity analysis simpler.

  • Improves transparency for reviewers who want to see where assumptions live.

Reserve hard coded numeric constants for true constants, not for assumptions that may change.

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