Use Minitab® macros in PPM

You can record Minitab® evaluations that you want to run frequently as a macro and assign this to an analysis in PPM. When running Minitab® from PPM, the exported analysis data is automatically evaluated using the assigned macro in Minitab®.

The content of the assigned Minitab® macro is stored under its name in the <plugin> XML element in the XML query for the current PPM analysis. The Minitab® macro dynamically loads the corresponding analysis data.

The name of the assigned Minitab® macro is displayed in the Minitab® options, and the Plug-ins tab bar includes an additional button button_minitab Start Minitab® with <macro name>. Use this button to start Minitab® with the macro assigned.

Prerequisite

You have created a macro in the Minitab® application and saved it locally as an mtb file.

Procedure

  1. Set up your analysis as described in the chapter on Configure data for Minitab®.
  2. Display the Plug-ins tab bar.
  3. Click setup_macro_16.png Minitab® options.
  4. Assign a Minitab® macro to your current analysis by clicking the Open file button and selecting the file containing the relevant Minitab® macro.
  5. Click OK.

The Minitab® macro is assigned to the current analysis.

To permanently save this assignment, create or overwrite the relevant favorite. When starting Minitab® from PPM with analysis data to which a macro is assigned, the evaluations saved in the macro are automatically run and displayed in Minitab®.

If the analysis has already been assigned a Minitab® macro, you can delete this assignment or overwrite it with a new macro. You can save a Minitab® macro that is already assigned to an analysis in a separate file (*.mtb) so that it can be used in other analyses, for example. However, in this case you must ensure that query criteria and settings for the current PPM analysis match the information in the macro.

We recommend saving the settings for your analysis, including the assigned Minitab® macro, as a favorite.

When naming the file, you should note that Minitab® evaluations are not overwritten in the dashboard if favorites and Minitab® macros have the same name.

Warning

To ensure correct evaluation of the data in Minitab®, check the compatibility of the data structure (e.g., the data types of the columns) of your analysis with the settings for the assigned Minitab® macro.

See also

Minitab® macro requirements

Example: Result of running a Minitab® macro

sixsigma_minitab macro