Decision Variables

Decision variables are variables in your model that you can control, such as how much rent to charge or how much money to invest in a mutual fund. Decision variables aren’t required for Crystal Ball models, but are required for OptQuest models. You define decision variables in Crystal Ball using Define, Define Decision or by clicking the Define Decision button in the toolbar or Microsoft Excel 2007 or later ribbon.

When you define a decision variable in Crystal Ball, you define its:

The cell value becomes the base case value, or starting value for the optimization.

Note:

If changing the type of a decision variable causes the base case to fall outside the range of values that are valid for that type, a new base case value is selected. The base case changes to the nearest acceptable value for the new type.

In an optimization model, you select which decision variables to optimize from a list of all the defined decision variables. The values of the decision variables you select will change with each simulation until the best value for each decision variable is found within the available time or simulation limit.