Data Set is the name of the current input data set. To specify the input data set, you can type a one-level or two-level SAS data set name in this field or select the Browse button to the right of the field.
Browse buttonopens the Data Set Selection window to enable you to select the input data set.
Time ID is the name of the time ID variable for the input data set. To specify this variable, you can type the ID variable name in this field or use the Select button.
Select buttonopens the Time ID Variable Specification window.
Create buttonopens a menu of choices of methods for creating a time ID variable for the input data set. Use this feature if the input data set does not already contain a valid time ID variable.
Interval is the time interval between observations (data frequency) in the current input data set. If the interval is not automatically filled in by the system, you can type in an interval name here, or select one from the pop-up list.
Series indicates the number and names of time series variables for which forecasts will be produced.
Select buttonopens the Series to Process window to let you select the series for which you want to produce forecasts.
Data Set is the name of the output data set that will contain the forecasts. Type the name of the output data set in this field or click the Browse button.
Browse buttonopens a dialog to let you locate an existing data set to which to save the forecasts.
Format enables you to select one of three formats for the forecast data set:
Simple specifies the simple format for the output data set. The data set contains the time ID variable and the forecast variables and contains one observation per time period. Observations for earlier time periods contain actual values copied from the input data set; later observations contain the forecasts.
Interleaved specifies the interleaved format for the output data set. The data set contains the time ID variable, the variable TYPE, and the forecast variables. There are several observations per time period, with the meaning of each observation identified by the TYPE variable.
Concatenated specifies the concatenated format for the output data set. The data set contains the variable SERIES, the time ID variable, and the variables ACTUAL, PREDICT, ERROR, LOWER, and UPPER. There is one observation per time period per forecast series. The variable SERIES contains the name of the forecast series, and the data set is sorted by SERIES and DATE.
Horizon is the number of periods or years to forecast beyond the end of the input data range. To specify the forecast horizon, you can type a value in this field or select one from the pop-up list.
Horizon periods selects the units to apply to the horizon. By default, the horizon value represents number of periods. For example, if the interval is month, the horizon represents the number of months to forecast. Depending on the interval, you can also select weeks or years, so that the horizon is measured in those units.
Horizon date is the ending date of the forecast horizon. You can type in a date that uses a form recognized by a SAS date informat, or you can increment or decrement the date shown by using the left and right arrows. The outer arrows change the date by a larger amount than the inner arrows. The date field and the horizon field reset each other, so you can use either one to specify the forecasting horizon.
Run buttonproduces forecasts for the selected series and stores the forecasts in the specified output SAS data set.
Output buttonopens a Viewtable window to display the output data set. This button becomes available once the forecasts have been written to the data set.
Close buttoncloses the Produce Forecasts window and returns to the Time Series Forecasting window.