Input indicators

Input indicators are the metrics you collect by hand: one value per period, and one value per member if the indicator has dimensions. They are the raw figures your indicator app is built on. Values that are calculated for you instead come from a formula indicator.

There are five input types, picked by the kind of value you collect:

• Numeric - a number.
• Text - a word or short note.
• Boolean - a yes/no.
• Select - one option from a list you define.
• File - an uploaded document.

Settings every input indicator shares

Whatever the type, a few settings shape how an indicator behaves:

• Technical ID: a short, stable name used to refer to the indicator, for example in a formula. It stays the same even if you rename the indicator's display name.
• Description: a plain explanation of what the metric is, so collectors know what to enter.
• Unit: for a numeric indicator, the unit its values are measured in, picked from a fixed list (for example MWh, tCO2e, %, EUR). The unit is stored as a structured setting rather than being written into the name, and it is shown beside the value when collectors enter data. Leave it unset for a unitless figure.
• Guidance: optional longer help text, written in a formatting editor (headings, bold, lists, links). When a datapoint has guidance, collectors see it in a Guidance panel above the data grid, open by default and collapsible, so it is read at the point of entry. Use it for standards-grade explanations that are too long for the description.
• Collection interval: how often a value is collected, daily through yearly. See Time dimension.
• Required: whether a value must be entered each period.
• Conditional applicability: an optional rule that decides, per cell (per dimension slice and period), whether the datapoint applies at all, based on other datapoints' values. The rule is a two-sided comparison with a left side, an operator (= != < > <= >=), and a right side, each side built from the same building blocks a formula indicator uses - for example a Reference to headcount on the left, operator >=, and a Number 50 on the right. Because it is evaluated per cell, a small country can be exempt while a large one is required in the same period (a per-country trigger is never netted into one total). A rule about a yes/no or a select datapoint gets a guided row instead of the blocks: Yes / No buttons for the first, and the option's own label for the second, so nobody has to know that a yes is a 1 or that an option is addressed by its position. When it is false for a cell, collectors see that cell marked "not applicable" with the reason, instead of being asked for a value; when a referenced value has not been entered yet, the cell is applicability-unknown, stays optional, and is never silently hidden. The rule belongs to the datapoint: a group organises datapoints and never gates them, so to exempt a whole section put the same rule on each of its datapoints. A datapoint that carries a rule shows a Conditional badge in the structure list. Readiness on the Reporting periods tab uses these rules to decide whether a reporting period is complete: a datapoint that does not apply is not counted as missing.
• Value constraints and value rules: two different things, and only one of them can stop a value being saved. Value constraints are structural: a numeric indicator can require whole numbers, and a select indicator can restrict entry to a subset of its options. A value that is not a value of that shape is refused at entry. Value rules (numeric datapoints only) are two-sided comparisons built from the same blocks, and each must name this datapoint on one side - the reference picker offers it as This datapoint, so "at most Office capacity" is two picks. One-click templates cover the common non-negative, minimum, maximum, 0-100 and year-on-year cases. A value rule never stops you saving. Your figure is stored, and the cell is marked with a warning icon whose tooltip names the rule it breaks; correct the figure and the mark goes away on the next read. That is deliberate: a rule can compare your value with one nobody has entered yet, or with the total across a breakdown you are halfway through, so a rule you cannot satisfy this minute must not cost you the number you have. The same marks are summarised on the Reporting periods tab. Consistency between related datapoints is handled separately by consistency checks, and only a blocking check stops anything - it stops sign-off, never an entry.
• Requires a comment: whether the collector must add a note alongside the value, useful when figures need explaining.
• Framework mapping: an optional set of key/value entries that map the datapoint to an external reporting framework (for example a standard, disclosure, paragraph, or XBRL concept). Add, edit, and remove entries directly in the datapoint's configuration; the common keys are suggested as you type. The mapping is opaque reference metadata carried with the datapoint - it does not affect collection or validation.
• Archived: hides an indicator you no longer collect, without deleting its history.

Numeric

A numeric indicator holds a number. It is the most common kind and the foundation of most tracking: energy used, revenue earned, litres of fuel burned, and so on.

Numeric values are real numbers, so they can be used in calculations. Together with formula indicators, they are the only inputs a formula can compute with. If you want a metric to feed into a calculation, collect it as a numeric indicator.

Text

A text indicator records a value in words: a short note, a status, or an explanation. Use it when the thing you are tracking is best captured in words, for example "on track" or "delayed", or a short note on what happened that period.

Because its value is words rather than a number, a text indicator cannot be used directly in formula math. If you need something countable, model it as a boolean, a select, or a numeric indicator instead.

Boolean

A boolean indicator records a simple yes/no. Use it for things that are either true or false: a target met, a checklist item done, an audit passed. Each period, the collector marks yes or no.

A boolean can be used directly in a formula: yes becomes 1 and no becomes 0. That makes booleans surprisingly useful in calculations. Summing one over a span of periods counts how many times the answer was yes; averaging it gives the fraction of periods that were yes. A period with no value behaves like any other missing input (a gap, not a "no") unless your formula supplies a default.

Select

A select indicator lets the collector choose one option from a list you define, for example "Low", "Medium", "High". You set the options when you create it, and the collector can only pick from that list.

A select keeps data consistent, so "High", "high", and "HIGH" do not become three different answers, and it makes the data easy to group and filter. Prefer a select over a text indicator whenever the answer should come from a known set rather than be typed freely.

File

A file indicator stores an uploaded document as each period's value: a PDF, an image, a spreadsheet, or any file you need on record alongside your metrics. Use it for evidence behind a reported figure, a certificate that arrives each period, or a form you must retain.

Each period, the collector uploads that period's file and can replace it if a newer version arrives. The most recent upload is the one that stands.

Which types a formula can use

Only numeric and boolean inputs carry a value a formula can compute with (a boolean as 1 or 0), alongside other formula indicators. Text, select, and file indicators have no numeric value and cannot be referenced in a calculation.