Indicators

Indicators

In this table indicators can be edited.

Changes can be made through the buttons, a popup menu (right mouse button) and direct modification of a field.

You can use the filters to make a selection.

Data

Click on this item to view the data records for this variable.

Visible

If disabled this indicator is not visible in the user interface but can be used in presentations or formulas.

Indicator code

Each indicator must have a unique indicator code.

When indicators are imported from an external source, it is recommended to use the same codes as in the original data source to simplify feedback and facilitate integration.

Once created, changing the indicator code can be complex due to its connections with other parts of Swing Studio such as Reports, Preselections, Swing Mosaic, and APIs. Use descriptive abbreviations that follow a clear structure, aligned with the indicator names. For example:

Maximum length: 50 characters
Allowed characters: a-z, 0-9, underscore (_) 

Name

Each indicator must have a name. HTML code is not allowed in this field.

Description

For each indicator, a short description can be provided. A limited set of HTML elements is supported to allow for basic formatting of the description. The following elements are permitted:

• <strong> or <b>
• <i> or <em>
• <u>
• <p>
• <span>
• <h1> through <h6>

Because the description text may include HTML code, it is important to ensure that only valid HTML is used. In particular, the < and > characters must be represented as & l t ; and & g t ;, respectively, to avoid rendering issues.

Cube

Indicates if this indicator is a cube.

Data type

For each indicator, a data type must be specified. The following data types are available:

• Numeric

  An indicator with numeric values. Aggregations are performed by summation.

• Mean

  An indicator representing mean values.
  For this data type, an aggregation indicator is required in order to compute weighted means. Typically, this aggregation indicator corresponds to the denominator in the formula.
  Totals are calculated by mean, except when aggregating across multiple indicators—then, summation is applied.
  Example: The average number of cafés per 10,000 inhabitants, using 'inhabitants' as the aggregation indicator.

• Percentage (mean)

  This data type represents percentages for presentation purposes. It behaves identically to the Mean data type, except that totals are always calculated by mean, regardless of context.

• Percentage (sum)

  This data type is similar to Percentage (mean) but differs in two aspects:
  When aggregating dimension levels.
  When totaling non-cube indicators.

  In these cases, sums are used instead of means. Use this type when percentages are expected to sum to 100%.

  Example: Percentage of employed + percentage of unemployed = total workforce (= 100%).
• StdDev

  An indicator with this data type contains standard deviation values and is primarily used to calculate the reliability of indicators with the datatype 'mean'. The column 'stddev indicator' is used to specify indicators of this datatype.

• Enum (label)

  An indicator with this data type has numeric values which refer to unit labels of the selected unit of this indicator.
  Only applicable to non-cube indicators.
  e.g. the indicator 'income' has numeric values '1, 2 and 3' which in combination with unit labels results in values 'low income, middle income, high income'.

• Miscellaneous

  This data type can be used for indicators that do not fit into any of the other categories.

• Text

  An indicator with this data type has text values instead of numeric values.
  Only applicable to non-cube indicators.

• Html

  Data type which can be used to display HTML (in reports only).

• ObjectCount

  Indicators of this type are generated by preprocessing objects (items in geolevel of type location) and contain data for the geolevel(s) selected during preprocessing.
  Example: Preprocessing the location-level ‘schools’ to aggregate to the area-level ‘city’ results in an indicator showing the number of ‘schools per city’.

Unit

A valid unit must be assigned to each indicator.

RoundOff

It is possible to round off the decimal places of a variable. 

Numbers in presentations are rounded to the nearest multiple of the specified rounding value.

Example: the number 12.34:

Aggregation indicator

Indicators are usually imported at one specific geographical level such as postal code, municipality or province.

To present an indicator on a higher geographical level, the data must be aggregated.

Aggregation of indicators with the data type Percentage or Mean requires a corresponding aggregation indicator, also known as a weighting factor. This indicator must consist of absolute values and should be related to the indicator being aggregated.

Example

Consider the indicator percentage of car owners, available only at the municipality level.

If you simply add the municipal percentages to create a provincial total, the result will be incorrect.

To aggregate this properly, a related absolute indicator is required—for example, population aged 18 and older. This serves as the aggregation indicator (weighting factor), since car ownership is usually measured relative to the adult population.

The aggregation process works as follows:

1. Convert to absolute values: Multiply the municipal percentage by the number of inhabitants aged 18+ in that municipality.
2. Aggregate: Sum the resulting absolute values across municipalities.
3. Normalize: Divide by the total adult population (18+) of all municipalities to obtain the correct percentage at province level.

Important Notes

• When importing indicators into Swing, no aggregation indicator is assigned by default.

• Indicators based on absolute values do not require an aggregation indicator.

• If an indicator is not intended to be aggregated, or if aggregation is not possible, this can be explicitly indicated in the Aggregate geoitems column.

Formula

You can define a formula for each indicator, allowing you to create new indicators that combine multiple existing ones. Only the formulas are saved in the database, not the calculated values. This means that if new data is added or the base indicators change, the new values are immediately reflected in the calculated indicators using the saved formulas.

Here's a simple example of creating a new indicator using formulas:

Suppose the following indicators are already in the Swing database:

• Total population of men aged 18-39 (indicator code POPMEN1839)
• Total population of men aged 40-64 (indicator code POPMEN4064)

You can create a new indicator 'men aged 18 to 64 years' with the following formula:

POPMEN1839 + POPMEN4064

You can also use the following methods inside formulas:

• Operators: + (addition), - (subtraction), * (multiplication), / (division)
• Parentheses: ( ) for grouping expressions
• Prefix for variable names starting with numbers: Use an underscore _ if an indicator starts with a number.

Additionally, you can use the following methods within a formula:

• sqrt(values): Returns the square root of the given value.
• round(values): Rounds the value to the nearest whole number.
• threshold(variable): Uses data from a variable while taking the threshold value into account.
• data_from_period(variable, period): Retrieves data from specific period to calculate growth, for example: bevtot/data_from_period(bevtot, "2020")*100.
• data_from_period(variable, periodIndex): Retrieves data from a relative period index, for example: bevtot/data_from_period(bevtot, "-1")*100.
• data_from_mrp(variable, periodIndex): Retrieves data from a period relative to the most recent period associated with the indicator.
• cell(variable, dimmember, ...): Retrieves data from a specific cell in the cube for a given indicator. You can specify multiple dimension members as arguments. If not all dimensions are specified, totals are used for the unspecified ones. Dimension members should be formatted as "{dimension level code}_{item code}", e.g. "dnc_income_2".

Period type

Each indicator must be assigned a period type, which defines how the data relates to time.

• Stock

  Represents the value of a variable on a specific reference date. Example: The number of inhabitants per municipality on January 1st of a given year. Note: You cannot sum stock values across periods (e.g. adding inhabitants from 2022 and 2023 would yield a meaningless result).

• Stock mean

  Similar to Stock, but when aggregating over time (e.g. from months to a year), the average across periods is used instead of taking the first period’s value. Use this type when data is available at sub-annual levels (e.g. monthly), and a period average is meaningful at higher levels (e.g. yearly).

• Pending

  Represents dynamic values—typically absolute changes over a period. Example: The number of births, marriages, or deaths in a given year. Unlike variables with the period type Stock, these values can be meaningfully aggregated over multiple periods.

• Grow percentage

  Shows the percentage change compared to a previous period. Often used to express relative growth or decline.

  Many different combinations can be made between data type and period type. Impossible combinations will leave the period type to be recognized as ‘stock’.

• Independent

  Specifies that the data remains constant across all selected periods, based on the value from the StartPeriod. Useful when the indicator does not vary over time (e.g. land area of a municipality).
  Note: The administrator must ensure that data for the StartPeriod exists in the database for this to work.

Notes on Combinations

Various combinations of data type and period type are possible.
If an invalid combination is selected, Swing will default to recognizing the period type as Stock.

Start period

For each non-formula indicator a start period period must be specified.

If data exists before the defined start period, it will not be displayed in Swing Viewer.

End period

For each non-formula indicator an end period period must be specified.

If data exists after the defined end period, it will not be displayed in Swing Viewer.

Source

Each indicator may include a data source that identifies where the data comes from.

Origin

When data is distributed, this field defines its point of origin or source of transmission.

Keywords

Specify one or more keywords for this indicator, separated by a semicolon (;). Keywords are used by Swing to improve search functionality and help users find relevant indicators more easily.

Metadata modification date

This field indicates the most recent update of the metadata associated with this indicator.

Forecast period

Data related to future developments of indicators. The periods associated with this future-oriented data are referred to as forecast periods. Forecast values are visually distinguished in graphs and legends by shaded colors. When a forecast period is selected, all subsequent periods are automatically treated as forecast periods as well.

Provisional period

Provisional data representing the current developments of indicators. The periods associated with this type of data are referred to as provisional periods. To avoid confusion with confirmed or forecasted data, provisional values are displayed using dotted colors in graphs and legends. When a provisional period is selected, all subsequent periods are automatically treated as provisional as well—unless a forecast period has also been defined for the indicator.

Footnote

If specified, a footnote will be displayed in the legend.

Interpolation type

In some cases, indicator data may be missing for certain periods within a defined period range. Interpolation can be used to estimate and fill these missing data points. When interpolation is enabled, Swing calculates the missing value as the average of the values from the preceding and following period.

Seq no

The sequence number of an indicator defines its order or position within the database.

Geo type

Each indicator must be assigned a geo type, which defines how the data relates to geographical areas. The following geo types are available:

• Single

  The data refers to a single area. This is the most common geo type and allows aggregation to higher geographical levels (e.g. from municipality to province).

• Multiple

  One value referring to two areas. ( [A -> B] = [B -> A]). For example the distance between A and B.

• Stream

  The data refers to two areas. Stream to ( [A -> B] ) doesn't have to be the same as stream back ( [B -> A] ).

• Balance

  The balance between two areas.

Aggregation of data to a parent period level is only possible for indicators of geo type 'Single'.

Extrapolation type

In some cases, indicator data is not yet available for the most recent periods. Extrapolation can be used to estimate values for these future periods. To enable extrapolation in Swing:

• Specify a valid last period up to which the data should be extrapolated.
• Enable the feature by checking the 'Extrapolation' field.

Once enabled, Swing will automatically generate extrapolated values for the missing future periods based on existing trends or data points.

More information

If additional information is available for an indicator, the administrator can record and attach this information in an HTML file.

Base indicator

Used for calculating confidence intervals for indicators with absolute values (data type: Numeric). The base indicator defines the reference population relative to which the confidence interval is calculated. Example: For the indicator “Number of males aged 20–24”, the base could be: 

“Total males”, or

“Total population aged 20–24”

The base indicator must contain weighted values.

Learn more about confidence intervals

Sample indicator

Specifies the unweighted sample data on which the indicator is based. This is required for all indicators for which a confidence interval needs to be calculated (Numeric, Percentage, or Mean).

Learn more about confidence intervals

Threshold value

You can define a threshold value for an indicator. If the data for a specific cell falls below this threshold, the value will not be displayed—instead, an 'x' will be shown in tables. This feature is intended to hide unreliable or statistically insignificant data, not to protect confidential information. Hidden values can still be deduced through totals or calculations. For example, users may infer hidden values by comparing subtotals or using other indicators in calculations.

In addition to a fixed threshold value, you can also specify a threshold indicator. In that case, the data of the main indicator will be compared to the values of the threshold indicator, not to the numeric threshold value.

If no threshold indicator is specified, Swing will automatically use a fallback mechanism in the following order:

• 1. Threshold indicator
• 2. Sample-indicator
• 3. Aggregation indicator
• 4. The indicator itself

Threshold indicator

In addition to setting a threshold value, you can specify a threshold indicator. This allows Swing to compare the indicator’s data to the corresponding values of another indicator; the threshold indicator. In tables, any data point that does not meet the threshold condition will be hidden and replaced by an 'x'.

Threshold indicators are particularly useful for survey-based indicators. For example, a threshold indicator could represent the number of respondents to a specific survey question. If only a small number of people answered the question, the results may be considered statistically unreliable. By using a threshold indicator, these results will not be displayed.

Allocation indicator

An allocation indicator is used to distribute indicator values from a higher geographical level to lower levels.

This allows Swing to estimate values at a more detailed level when data is only available at an aggregated level (e.g. province → municipality).

Allocation Indicator for Numeric Data Types

For indicators with the Numeric data type (absolute values), Swing applies a weighted allocation.

The values from the higher level are distributed proportionally, based on the values of the allocation indicator at the lower level.

Example:

If the indicator value at the province level is 100, and the allocation indicator at the municipality level has values 1, 4, and 5, the resulting distributed values will be:

• Municipality A: 10
• Municipality B: 40
• Municipality C: 50

The allocation indicator must contain data at the target (lower) level.

Allocation for Mean, Percentage, and Label Indicators

For indicators with data types Mean, Percentage, or Label (Enum), allocation is not weighted. Instead, the value of the parent geo item is simply copied to each of its children.

Example:

If the value for the province Zuid-Holland is 75%, then every municipality within Zuid-Holland—such as Delft—will also be assigned a value of 75%.

Stddev indicator

Used for indicators with:

• Mean values, or
• Percentages that are not proportions (e.g. growth rates >100% or 0%)

This field contains the standard deviation needed to compute the confidence interval.

Learn more about confidence intervals

Rating

An indicator can be marked as positive, negative, or neutral. When this rating is set, it influences the color scheme used to display the indicator in presentations—but only when a calculation (e.g. growth rate, percentage, z-score) has been applied in the presentation environment.

This visual adjustment helps users interpret whether a higher or lower value is desirable in context.

Aggregate geoitems

If this option is disabled, data for the indicator cannot be aggregated to a higher geographical level (e.g. from municipality to province).

This is useful for indicators that are not meaningful or valid when summed or averaged across areas.

Aggregate periods

If this option is disabled, data for this indicator cannot be aggregated to a higher time period level (e.g. from months to years). This is useful for indicators where aggregation across time would result in misleading or invalid values—such as point-in-time measurements or non-additive metrics.

Search cluster name

To improve search results, indicators with similar or related names can be grouped into a single search result using a shared Search Cluster Name. This is especially useful for indicators that represent parts of a broader topic (e.g. age groups, income brackets).

For example:

All of these indicators will be grouped under one search result titled “Bevolking naar leeftijd”, combining their data in the result.

Exclude from Search

If enabled, this option excludes the indicator from search results. The indicator will not be indexed and will not appear when users search in the interface.

Free text field

This field can be made visible in the indicator’s metadata and can be used by the administrator to add additional notes, explanations, or context to the indicator.

Free text field 2

This field can be made visible in the indicator’s metadata and can be used by the administrator to add additional notes, explanations, or context to the indicator.

Free text field 3

This field can be made visible in the indicator’s metadata and can be used by the administrator to add additional notes, explanations, or context to the indicator.

External data source

If an external data source has been configured, you can specify it in this field.

This enables the indicator to retrieve its data from the defined external source.

Boundary key

This field is used in Swing to support geographical boundary changes, such as municipal mergers or splits.

It determines how indicator data can be redistributed when boundaries change.

Available options:

• Unknown – Redistribution is not possible or not meaningful for this indicator.
• Resident – Redistribution is based on the number of residents.
• Homes – Redistribution is based on the number of residences.

Boundary method

This field defines how the indicator data is adjusted when a geographical change (e.g. a merger) occurs.

Available options:

• Unknown – No specific method is defined, or redistribution is not applicable.
• Absolute – Values are summed across the merged areas. Suitable for indicators like population or number of households.
• Copy – The value from the largest original area (typically by population or size) is retained and assigned to the new merged area. Useful for indicators where summing is not appropriate (e.g. labels or categorical values).

Protected

When Protected is enabled, the indicator becomes locked for structural modifications.

Fields that cannot be changed when protection is enabled:

• Indicator code
• Aggregation indicator
• Allocation indicator
• Sample indicator
• Stddev indicator
• Interpolation type
• Extrapolation type
• Threshold value
• Threshold indicator
• Formula
• Protected
• RoundOff
• Origin
• Data type
• Geo type
• Period type
• Aggregate periods
• Aggregate geoitems

Empty cell value

An empty cell value can be specified to act as a replacement for missing data. This value is used wherever data is absent—both in direct display, aggregations, and formula calculations.

The empty cell value is only applied if the total number of affected data values is 1 million or fewer.

Using empty values in very large datasets may lead to significant performance issues and is therefore restricted.

Use alternative period names

When enabled, this setting allows the indicator to display custom period labels instead of default period names (e.g. calendar years or months).

This is useful when periods need to be shown as:

• School years (e.g. 2023/2024)
• Fiscal years (e.g. FY2022)
• Project phases (e.g. Baseline, Evaluation, Follow-up)

The alternative period names must be configured in the period table.

Calculation indicator

This setting is exclusive to the Benchmark module and only appears when the module is enabled.

If no value is available for an indicator (e.g. missing data at a certain geolevel), an estimated alternative can be used. This calculated value is not shown in presentations for the entity itself, but can be used in comparative analyses or sector overviews.

For example, if a museum’s visit count is unknown but estimated at 10,000, this value can be stored in a separate indicator. The museum itself will see a question mark, while others using it in their selection will use the estimated value.

Data modification date

This field indicates the date of the most recent update applied to this indicator or to one of its underlying components (for example, in a Formula, Aggregation, or Allocation Indicator).