The equation display and explanation window is reached from the Explain option that is available on several pop-up menus that provide help during use of IFs. It can also be reached from the Equation sub-option of the Options option on the Causal Driver Linkage Tracing window.

These paths are intended to bring up a discussion of equations that includes the variable selected at the time of exercise of the option from the pop-up menu. Because this documentation of equations is manually created, not created automatically from the computer code, it sometimes lags behind the changing structure of the model. Yet most often the discussions of equations obtained will help place the variable in the context of the appropriate sub-model.

The equations that appear through use of this option are selections from the full set of equations that are intended to show the structure of the entire IFs model. The user can also reach these equations from the Equation subsection of the various submodels documented in Understanding the Model: “Opening the Black Box.” These equations are all created manually with MS Word’s equation editor.