Category:Meta-Inference Functions

Occasionally there is a need within an Analytica model to perform meta-reasoning about the model and its objects or dimensions. In these cases, one needs to manipulate object handles, hereafter referred to as varTerms, as atoms or as elements in lists or arrays.

In result views, when a cell contains a varTerm, the title attribute of its object is displayed, unless the title is not set or "Show By Identifier" is on. If the title is not set or "Show By Identifier" is on, then the identifier of the object is displayed. "Show By Identifier" can be toggled from the Object menu or by pressing CTRL-Y.

When a varTerm is displayed in a result table cell, the cell becomes a hyperlink. Clicking on that cell will take you to the object window for that object.

When a variable is defined as a list of variable identifiers, the index value for that variable is a list of varTerms. Its value is the result of evaluating those varTerms, but in its result view, the number format for each varTerm column is taken from the varTerm object. This allows each column in a result to be based on a separate number format.

Manipulating varTerms can be a bit tricky, primarily because you must be aware of when the term is treated as an atomic varTerm or is evaluated. Normally, when you use an identifier in an expression, the identifier is evaluated, so you end up with the value, not a handle to the variable.

Some Analytica attributes consist of lists of varTerms. For example, Attribute Contains is a var-list containing all objects contained in a given module. Meta-inference code, for example, may use this attribute to walk the module hierarchy.