Selecting Variables in Sidebar
This article explains how to select variables from the Formula editor sidebar in Model Reef.
You will learn:
How variables are listed and grouped in the sidebar.
How to insert variable references into formulas safely.
How renaming variables interacts with formulas.
Variable listing in the sidebar
In the Formula editor sidebar, variables are usually:
Grouped by branch, category or another logical scheme.
Listed alphabetically within each group.
Shown with both name and sometimes type, to help identification.
Only variables available in the current model and scenario are shown.
Inserting a variable into a formula
To insert a variable reference:
Open the Formula editor.
Locate the variable in the sidebar group.
Click the variable name.
The reference is inserted into the expression area at the cursor position using the correct internal identifier. This avoids typos and broken links.
Behaviour when variables are renamed
Formulas refer to variables by internal identifiers, not by display names:
When you rename a variable, any formulas that reference it continue to work.
The Formula editor updates the display name in references automatically.
This lets you improve naming over time without breaking formulas.
Avoiding hard coding
Using the sidebar to reference variables is preferable to hard coding numbers because:
It keeps logic centralised.
Changes to a variable's time series automatically flow into dependent formulas.
Reviewers can trace how values are built up by following variable references.
Whenever possible, use variable references instead of static constants for key relationships.
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