Analytica Cloud Platform

Analytica Cloud Player

The Analytica Cloud Player (ACP) lets anyone view and run an Analytica model via a web browser. It also makes it easy to create web applications with Analytica. Users can open a model, view diagrams and objects, change input variables, and view results as tables and graphs via common web browser, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari. ACP runs the Analytica models on a server computer using ADE (the Analytica Decision Engine).

ACP offers several advantages over Analytica Player for distributing models:

• Users can review and run Analytica models without having to download or install any new software on their desktop -- they don't need to consult their IT department. You can invite model reviewers or users simply by emailing them the URL of a model in ACP.
• Model authors can be sure that end users are using the latest version of models and data posted on the server, without having to worry about distributing updates to users individually.
• By using password-protected ACP accounts, you can reduce the possibility that sensitive or proprietary models will be seen by unauthorized people. (You can also use the information hiding features of Analytica Enterprise to hide selected data or formulas.)
• With the Group Plan to ACP, users can save changes to their models for use in later sessions -- similar to the Analytica Power Player, but not possible with the free Analytica Player.
• Once your organization purchases a subscription, you can make Analytica models accessible to many users, without have to purchase an extra license for each user -- as you would with the Analytica Power Player.

Model authors can upload models into ACP directly from their desktop. Users can save changed models, to revisit them in later sessions. ACP directories are password protected, so only authorized users can view and use models.

We welcome your comments. Please tell us what you think, including how you would like to use ACP, and any additional features you would like.

ACP was formerly named Analytica Web Player (AWP).

ACP is like the Analytica Player

ACP offers almost all the features of desktop Analytica Player. It lets you open a model, view diagrams, object windows, and results as graphs or tables. It lets you change any variable designated as an input, including as an Edit table; but it won't let you change other variables or create new objects.

With a Group Plan account, it will let you save a changed model so you can continue with the changed model in a later session. (It will not let you save changes with the Individual Plan.)

How ACP improves on Analytica Player

ACP offers several enhancements that are not (yet) available in desktop Analytica:

• When you move the cursor over a node (without clicking), it highlights the node with a light rectangle around it.
• Like most web applications, you use single not double clicks to drill down -- for example, to open a module diagram.
• It can display a result table or graph, or edit table, embedded in a diagram, instead of having to open the result or edit table in a separate window. As model author in desktop Analytica, you simply make the height of the input or output node greater than four times the default size, i.e. 104 pixels (52 nodesize units). When you upload and open the model with ACP, the graph or table appears embedded in its parent diagram, in the rectangle with size and location specified for the node.

ACP access

Demo Access

• If you haven't seen ACP in action, you can view a few example models in ACP.
  • Play the Rent vs. Buy model in ACP. The Rent vs. Buy model is an example model used in the Analytica Tutorial. It compares the Net Present Value of renting vs. buying a house. Model navigation is fairly intuitive. You can switch diagrams by clicking on modules or selecting different modules in the outline tree located on the left hide side of the diagram. Clicking on variable displays its result graph or table. Move the mouse over a node to see its description. Right click on a node and select Object view from the popup menu to view the node's attributes in the object tab, notably its definition.
  • Play the Foxes and Hares model in ACP. The Foxes and Hares model is predator-prey example mode also used in the Tutorial. When playing this model ACP adds beveled gradients and drop shadows to nodes on the influence diagram. Also, the default tabbed UI has been removed. You can see node descriptions and definitions when you move the cursor over a node. It displays model results directly on the diagram.

Individual account

Sign up for an Individual account allowing you to view and share your Analytica Models on the web. Your account will be loaded with 25 free credits so you can start using ACP right away. If you are an Analytica user with active Maintenance and Technical Support, you will also receive 25 credits every month at no charge. Credits may also be purchased in blocks of 25 or more for $1 per credit.

Any models you post to your ACP account will be private, and not viewable by others unless you send them an invite to view a particular model. This is a great way to see your own models running in ACP and then share them with others.

Group Account

With the Group Account you get all features of the Individual Account, plus you create multiple Projects in ACP and you manage multiple users. Within each proejct, users are added and are assigned roles such as Manager, Author and Reviewer which controls their access to that project. Also with the Group Account, users can take snapshots of the models which makes a copy of the model with their own input data saved.

With the Group Account, you can change the logo shown in the upper left corner of the browser window from the Lumina logo to your own organizations logo.

ACP Credits

We recently started making ACP much more accessible by introducing metered usage which is tracked using "ACP Credits". This reduces the overall cost of ACP and additionally ACP credit consumption is based on how much you use ACP, so you are no longer paying for ACP sessions that you do not use.

A single ACP credit is used when someone plays models during an ACP session. Here are the two scenarios for ACP credit usage. One, the account holder signs into ACP, and plays ACP models. So in this case, the Individual account holder can run multiple models over a period time, and only a single ACP credit is consumed. The next time an account holder logs in and plays models again, another credit will be consumed. Note that if someone signs in, but does not play any models, no credit is consumed. So you can monitor your ACP account control panels, delete models or buy more credits without consuming a credit.

Similarly, an ACP Individual account holder can send links to their models to their colleagues e.g. via email invites. When one of these colleagues follows these links and plays a model, a credit is consumed. They can replay the same model or open other models during the same ACP session using the same ACP credit.

Other differences

UI Differences

ACP has a few differences from Analytica in its user interface:

• ACP, like most Web applications, shows only one window at a time, unlike the multi-Window interface of Analytica on the desktop, which is similar to many desktop applications.
• A single click on a variable usually displays its result as a table or graph -- not its object window.
• It offers several styles for displaying and navigating the module hierarchy. The default shows buttons along the top to open the parent diagram, object window, and result window for a selected node, similar to desktop Analytica. It can also show an expandable tree to view and navigate the module hierarchy, similar to the desktop Outline view. But ACP also offers tabbed interfaces, which are more familiar for web applications. Tab styles include tabs across the top or down the left side of the window. The leftmost (or topmost) tab corresponds to the diagram for the main module. The other tabs correspond to modules in the top model.
• You can embed edit tables and result tables and graphs within a diagram. Simply expand an input or output node to be more than 100 pixels high, and it will show the table or graph instead of a button to open the table or graph. Alternatively, you can define Frames (special text nodes) in the diagram. Then any click on an input or output, or standard node, will show the table or graph in a Frame. This lets you review and modify inputs and see the results immediately in the same Diagram window.

See ACP Attribute Values for details on how to select outline view or tab styles.

Linked Modules/Libraries

If your model contains any linked modules or linked libraries, you need to make sure to upload the model file and all of its linked files into the same directory so that ACP will find them. Alternatively, you can embed the linked modules and libraries into the model so that it becomes a single file. There are several ways to do that:

• In Analytica, you publish the model to ACP by clicking the Publish to Cloud menu item on the File menu. Analytica will automatically convert Linked Modules/Libraries to be embedded.
• Open the model. Go through each linked module or library and convert it to the embedded equivalent. You can do this in their object windows. Change its Class to an embedded (i.e. not linked) module or library using the pulldown menu at top left of the Object window. Or you can change the Class in the Attribute Panel, selecting the Class attribute, and then setting the desired class.
• If the model has a lot of linked libraries or modules, it may be easier to select Save a copy in .. from the file menu. In the Save... dialog, check the 'Save everything in one file by embedding linked modules' checkbox. (Available in Analytica 4.2 and later.) See screenshot:

Features of Analytica not available in ACP

These features of Analytica Player are not available in ACP:

• Dialog boxes to change computation and display options, such as the Graph setup, Number format, Diagram and Node styles, Uncertainty Setup, and Preferences dialogs. It uses whatever options and styles you chose in Analytica before uploading the model to ACP.
• Slicer menus in graphs for multidimensional results, including the Color key, Symbol key, Symbol Size Key, and the bar origin.
• Clickable references.
• It has limited ability to copy and paste a subset of values from and to a table.
• It does not let you copy diagrams and graphs -- except if you use Snagit or a similar application to copy directly from the screen.
• No support for the 'Check' attribute
• No support for 'MsgBox' function, Progress bar, or other interactive dialogs functions used in Analytica definitions.

We plan to add these and other features over time to ACP. Let us know if something is missing that you would really like to have.

Features of ACP not available in Analytica

ACP offers several options to modify the style of the user interface:

Tables and graphs in the diagram

• Embed edit tables and result tables and graphs in their parent diagram, so you can see the diagram and results in the Browser window.
• Reserve a space in a diagram to show the edit table, or result table or graph for any node you select in the diagram. This is especially handy for web applications.

More on Embedded Tables and Graphs...

Using CloudPlayerStyles attribute settings

• Don't display the the outline view (the default is on.) The outline is useful to help users navigate around large models, but not needed for small models or when you don't want users to look at all its details.
• Display only the top diagram, and not any submodules -- especially useful for web applications.
• Add bevel and shadows to nodes to make diagrams appear more dramatic.
• Tell ACP not to display things, e.g. don't allow users to save, or restrict model browsing so certain parts of your model are not accessible.

You can control these options with keywords added to the CloudPlayerStyles attribute. See CloudPlayerStyles Attribute Values for details.

CloudPlayerStyles Attribute

The CloudPlayerStyles' is new to Analytica 4.4, but exists in Analytica 4.3 as Awp_attrib, which you can use. In the unusual event that you are using an Anaytica edition earlier than 4.3, you can add CloudPlayerStyles as a user-defined attribute in the Object→Attributes... dialog. This attribute can be used to specify certain behaviors when the model is played in ACP. More info...

Embedding within your own Web Page

You may want to embed a model in your own web page, so that people visit the model on your web site, rather than on the AnalyticaCloud.com web site. When you do this, the model is actually running on Lumina's server, but your viewer does not have to be aware of that fact.

Each time someone arrives at your web page, that counts as a session.

See Embedding an ACP model in a Web Page.

Another page covering Putting ACP in a Web Page.

Transfering data To and From ACP

Moving Model Results from ACP to Excel

Often one wants to move the results of a model run in ACP and transfer them into Excel. There a few ways of doing this. At the upper right of the result table, there is a Copy Table icon. If you click it, the table's contents as displayed in ACP is copied to the clipboard. Then just switch focus to Excel and select Paste.

If the result table has more the 2 dimensions, you can download the results for the entire table as a text file by right clicking the Copy Table icon, and select the 'Download results file'.

Watch this video to see these two approaches demonstrated.

Database

It is possible to connect models in ACP to a remote database (i.e. a database on another computer) using an ODBC connection. With this type of connection, your model can read in input data from the database and write out model results to the database. Setting up the database connection may require some assistance from us so just email us at acp@lumina.com for help.