Design Philosophy

The main design issues can be summarized as follows:

  1. The NA Builder program (P) is in VBA and consists of some code files and a 2-sheet Excel workbook with the English texts (these can of course be translated).

  2. The program P can generate at any time the NA Builder system (NAB) which consists of 1 Excel workbook with 21 worksheets, the system sheets collection S. This workbook can be freely renamed and copied, so in a SO there can be many copies, with different names. When a SO is interested, they can have NAB for free, which the developer has created with P.

  3. “Building” a “framework” F is done in NAB at abstract level by using the interfaces in the 21 NAB sheets (classification builder, template designer, rule wizard etc.). When the framework specification for F is ready, there is not yet a single framework sheet made, so the workbook still contains the 21 system sheets S only. In the template designer there are pre-made templates, e.g. for the SUT. So, when starting from scratch, point to the SUT template in the drop-down list and “attach” the desired classifications. Typically, most of this “building” work involves classifications and bridges work.

  4. The abstract design is connected to concrete Excel tables through a list of “implementations” (contained in one of the 21 sheets). For a SUT template there would be sheets for e.g. data sources by sector at various levels of detail (e.g. production data more disaggregated than NOE data), which are aggregated to totals by sector, which then aggregated to 2-digit level, and then aggregated to single supply tables for the whole economy. Another implementation could involve 2 SUTs for the years T-1 and T and then set up sheets for indexes and derive a SUT in previous years’ prices. Another could convert the use table to basic prices and derive IOTs.

  5. Once a particular framework specification (contained in the 21 sheets) is ready – say for a SUT of a particular design – it can be stored in a “settings” file (another Excel workbook). NAB comes with many settings files already made (different types of SUT, IEA, SAM, …). All design building work has been done already.

  6. When the SO has NAB and a particular SUT settings file (using one of the available files that come with the package, or made either by an outside expert or by themselves) then 1 click will generate all the required framework sheets F of the framework in the NAB workbook, say for the example there are 18 such “implemented” data sheets. The NAB workbook then contains 21 + 18 = 39 sheets.

  7. NA compilation takes place in the 18 data sheets (data import, editing, balancing etc.). The 18-sheet framework F can be exported to a “stand-alone” workbook, just containing the 18 sheets. Of course, NAB functionality such as RAS is then no longer available.

  8. The required SUT framework is typically different in different countries. The actual templates for the SUT are likely to be the same, and even the classifications and bridges are similar. The actual compilation procedures as captured in the implementation list (18 sheets in the above example) are usually different in different countries, even when the output is the same. That is where the flexibility of NAB comes in very handy. Any Excel based NA compilation system can be "mimicked" in NA Builder.

  9. There is a clear difference between building NA frameworks and using such frameworks built earlier or elsewhere. The former involves the design of classifications, correspondences, bridges, templates, sheets, formulas, file specifications, rules and scripts. It requires the full functionality of the program and one needs to aquire proficiency in its use. The latter requires only the more basic functionality, involving data loading, editing, balancing and viewing and is much easier to master. In fact, there is a slimmed-down version of the program - NA Viewer - that contains just this basic functionality.

  10. The developer has several “standard” SUT designs based on particular compilation procedures which can be used by a SO immediately. For some, training materials are also available.