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How to work with data versions

A Sloc Concentrate project can hold several data versions: separate sets of market data side by side, each with its own markets, figures, subsets and scenarios. Use them to keep a clean record of where each set of figures came from - your first estimates, the parties' RFI responses, a third-party data set - so you can compare them and show your working.

Where you'll see the version you're in

The name of the open data version sits at the top of the Data page. Next to it:

  • The pencil renames the version and edits its description.

  • The folder opens the list of versions in the project.

  • The import icon at the top right starts a new version from an upload or from Build your market.

The data version name with the rename pencil, the Open version folder and the Import data icon

Everything you do on the Data, Subsets and Scenarios pages applies to the version you have open, so check the name before you start work.

Saving your work

While you have changes that aren't saved yet, Unsaved changes appears at the top right. Click Save progress and choose:

  • Update current version - saves your changes into the version you're in.

  • Save as new version - keeps the version you're in as it was and carries on in a new one.

The Unsaved changes indicator and the Save progress menu with Update current version and Save as new version

Saving as a new version asks for a name and an optional description. Give it a name you'll recognise later - "Party RFI - round 1" tells you far more than "Version 3" - and use the description to record where the figures came from.

The Create data version window with a name, a description and the Copy configurations option

Tick Copy configurations from another version to bring subsets and scenario settings across from a version you've already set up. Results aren't copied, so you'll need to re-run your scenarios, and it's worth checking the copied subsets still make sense against the new markets.

Switching between versions

Click the folder next to the version name to see every version in the project, with when it was last updated and who by. The one you're in is marked Open now; click Open on any other to switch to it.

The Open data version window listing every version, with the version currently open marked Open now

If you have unsaved changes, Sloc warns you before you leave - save or discard them first, or they'll be lost. The bin on a version deletes it and everything in it, so use it only for versions you're sure you no longer need.

Starting a fresh version

To start a version from new data rather than from the one you have open, click the import icon at the top right.

The Import data icon at the top right of the Data page

Name the version, then choose Upload market data or Build your market.

The Create new data version window with Copy existing configuration ticked

Tick Copy existing configuration and pick a version to copy its subsets and scenario configuration into the new one - handy when you're bringing in a new round of data for markets you've already set up.

Pro tips

  • Save as a new version at each milestone - initial estimates, each RFI round, final figures - so you can always show how the numbers moved.

  • Put the source in the description, not just the name. It's the first thing you'll want when someone asks where a figure came from months later.

  • Scenario results belong to the version they were run in. After copying configurations into a new version, re-run the scenarios before comparing them.