This article explains how nodes, links, and components work together to build calculations. It goes one level deeper than Understanding Logica models, which introduces each one.

A component is the container, and nodes and links are the pieces inside it.

Every calculation in Logica is built by connecting nodes with links inside a component.

Nodes store values: numbers, text, true or false values, or dates. Each node has one value for every period in the model's timeframe, and its values can differ by scenario. There are four types of nodes: variables, constants, operators, and groups.

Nodes have a time dimension that follows the model's periods, such as months or years.

Variables are nodes that have values that change over time. Each time period can store a unique value.

Constants are nodes that have values that do not change over time. Each time period has the same value.

Nodes are either inputs or outputs. An input node doesn't depend on any other node. Its values are entered by a user or arrive from a data integration, and it appears blue on the modeling canvas. An output node is calculated from at least one other node, and it appears white.

To learn more about node settings, see Nodes.

Links transfer values between two nodes. A link works like a named reference in Excel, but it's visible on the modeling canvas, so you can always see where a value comes from or goes to.

Links can shift values over time: send a value one or more periods later.

Links can transform values: change a value on the way, such as multiplying it by 2.

To learn more about link settings, see Links.

A component is a container for the nodes and links that belong to one business concept, like revenue, expenses, or the whole income statement. Each component holds one piece of the model, which keeps large models readable. On the modeling canvas, each component has its own icon, and components can sit inside groups.

A calculation, or formula, in Logica is a set of nodes and links inside of a component, not an expression typed into a cell. To learn how to build calculations, see How to build an arithmetic formula and How to build a conditional formula using IF.

Yes. A node in one component can link to a node in another, which is how a model grows beyond a single calculation. A revenue result calculated in one component, for example, can feed an income statement in another. Following the links backward from any result leads to the inputs behind it, even across components.

Nodes and links are combined to create a graph, or logical tree. The graph works like one or more large formulas spread across many components. When any input changes, Logica recalculates every node that depends on it, for every period.