<strong>This section provides detailed formatting guidance for your Excel (.xlsx) input files.</strong><br>

<details>
<summary><h4>▶ Scope Input</h4></summary>
The <strong>Scope Input File</strong> defines the scope for model validation in terms of:

- <strong>Factors (inputs):</strong> data type and factor levels  
- <strong>Responses (outputs):</strong> expected distribution type for response data

Scope input files must include:

- <strong>Factor/Response designation</strong>  
- <strong>Factor/Response name</strong>: unique name that must match names in Referent and Model data files  
- <strong>Data type</strong>
  - Factors: Categorical or Continuous  
  - Responses: Continuous, Normal, Exponential, Binomial, or Poisson  
- <strong>Factor levels</strong> (required for factors, not responses)

##### Requirements / Reminders

- Scope input files may contain any number of factors and responses  
- Response and factor units may be anything convenient, but must be consistent across files  
- Currently (Version 2.0), categorical responses with more than two levels (binomial) are <strong>not supported</strong>  
- If the response distribution is unknown, select <strong>Continuous</strong>
</details>
<a href="www/Scope.xlsx" target="_blank"> Template: Scope Input </a>


<details>
<summary><h4>▶ Model Data</h4></summary>
The <strong>Model input files</strong> contain two sections:

##### Metadata (first two rows)

- <strong>Name:</strong> model name  
- <strong>Level flag:</strong> must be `"M"` to indicate Model data  
- <strong>Deterministic flag:</strong> TRUE (deterministic) or FALSE (stochastic)

##### Data Table (remaining rows)

- Two header rows:
  1. Factor/response names (must match Scope)  
  2. Response sub-columns (depending on response type)

##### Requirements / Reminders

- Factors/responses present in the Model file but not in the Scope file are ignored
</details>
<a href="www/Model.xlsx" target="_blank">Template: Model Input</a>


<details>
<summary><h4>▶ Referent Data</h4></summary>
The <strong>Referent data input files</strong> also contain two sections:

##### Metadata

- <strong>Name:</strong> referent name  
- <strong>Authority level:</strong> authority level of the referent (integer 1–9)

##### Data Table

- Two rows of column headers:
  1. Factor/response names (must match Scope)  
  2. Response sub-columns (depending on response type)

##### Requirements / Reminders

- When calculating an MVL using multiple referents, a separate referent file is required for each referent  
- Deterministic flag is not used for referent data and will be ignored if specified  
- Factors/responses present in the Referent file but not in Scope are ignored
</details>
<a href="www/Normal_Option1.xlsx" target="_blank">Template: Normal Response, Option 1</a><br>
<a href="www/Normal_Option2.xlsx" target="_blank">Template: Normal Response, Option 2</a><br>
<a href="www/Binomial_Option1.xlsx" target="_blank">Template: Binomial Response, Option 1</a><br>
<a href="www/Binomial_Option2.xlsx" target="_blank">Template: Binomial Response, Option 2</a><br>
<a href="www/Exponential_Option1.xlsx" target="_blank">Template: Exponential Response, Option 1</a><br>
<a href="www/Exponential_Option2.xlsx" target="_blank">Template: Exponential Response, Option 2</a><br>
<a href="www/Poisson.xlsx" target="_blank">Template: Poisson Response</a>

<details>
<summary><h4>▶ (Optional) Interpolator Data</h4></summary>
The <strong>Interpolator data input files</strong> contain the same two sections as Model and Referent files:

##### Metadata

- <strong>Name:</strong> referent name  
- <strong>Level flag:</strong> must be `"Interpolator"`

##### Data Table

- Two rows of column headers:
  1. Factor/response names (must match Scope)  
  2. Response sub-columns (depending on response type)

##### Notes

- Responses should match the Referent file, but sub-columns for that response may differ (e.g., use Normal Option 2 instead of Normal Option 1)  
- Data should contain factor combinations matched to the Model file

##### Requirements / Reminders

- Deterministic flag is not used for interpolator data and will be ignored if specified  
- The referent name must match the referent name in the corresponding referent file exactly
</details>
<a href="www/Interpolator.xlsx" target="_blank">Template: Interpolator</a>

<details>
<summary><h4>▶ Response Data Formatting</h4></summary>
<ul>
  <li>Use the simplified "Response Data Formats for Model, Referent, and Interpolator Files" table from the User Guide</li>
  <li>Response data are provided through the Model, Referent, and Interpolator input files</li>
  <li>Formatting varies by response distribution type and whether data are raw (single observations) or summarized values</li>
  <li>For models and referents with multiple responses, a single file should be provided with a set of response columns labeled for each response</li>
  </ul>
Note: Responses do not need to have the same distribution type
</details>