47.1 Introducing the Example Model using Bilinks

We will examine and reference the Bilinks tutorial example models within this Chapter. There are two Healthcare models which have the same model structure, MarkovCancerDecision_before.trex and MarkovCancerDecision_BiLinks.trex.

In MarkovCancerDecision_before.trex, the model inputs are entered as numeric values via the Variables View.

In MarkovCancerDecision_BiLinks.trex, model input values are not entered directly in the tree. Instead, they are pulled from data in the Excel spreadsheet MarkovCancerDecision_inputs_and_outputs.xls. The values in the two models (internal vs. Excel) are identical.

In the second model the variables are defined using “Bilinks” to pull the input data from Excel. These Bilinks are setup within Tree Preferences, creating direct links from TreeAge Pro to access specific cells (or range of cells) in an Excel workbook. The image below shows the Tree Preference settings for this model.

Note that there are 3 option sets to communicate with Excel. The top set is unused and hidden. The second set controls model inputs pulled from Excel into the model. The bottom set controls model analysis results sent to Excel.

With the Bilinks in place, you can change the input values in Excel, then re-run TreeAge Pro analyses with the new input data. In addition, model outputs are returned to Excel after analysis.

The remaining sections in this Chapter will show how to setup these connections between a TreeAge model and an Excel workbook.