You can save results for Valuation Set Exhibits, Deterministic Forecast Exhibits, Gain/Loss Analysis and Descriptive Statistics directly from ProVal to a Microsoft Access database. The Access database is intended to be used by ProVal’s Report Writer. 

To save the desired ProVal results to a Microsoft Access database (*.mdb, *.accdb):

• In ProVal, view results for Valuation Set Exhibits, Deterministic Forecast Exhibits, Gain/Loss Analysis or Descriptive Statistics.

• Click the File button.

• Type in a filename and choose Access database (*.mdb, *.accdb) as the file type.

• Click the Save button.

It is recommended that you store the Access database (*.mdb, *.accdb) in the same folder as the ProVal client files (*.sf). All of the results for a client should be saved into a single database. This includes results for prior years, different scenarios and even different plans (e.g., hourly pension, salaried pension, retiree medical). However, it is recommended that results for different clients be saved in different databases.

Database structure (for writing your own applications)

The following information is useful for developing your own computer programs based on the data in the Microsoft Access database. The structure for Valuation Set Exhibits is described below. The structure for Deterministic Forecast Exhibits and Gain/Loss Analysis is similar and can be ascertained by saving sample results to Access. For Descriptive Statistics, the Access database is not useable by outside programs (it is stored in a private data structure for ProVal’s Report Writer).

When Valuation Set Exhibits are saved, the database contains not only information for each exhibit but also summary output like that available under the Valuation Set Output and Deterministic Forecast Output commands.

The database contains the following tables:

• ProVal_ValSet_Params: Basic information about the valuation set(s) or deterministic forecast(s) in the database, including the valuation date and measurement date.

• ProVal_ValSet_Data: Summary output, like that available in Valuation Set Output or Deterministic Forecast Output. Liability splits are included for actives in total, actives by decrement (retirement, termination, death, disability, and employee contributions), inactives in total and inactives by status (retired, terminated, disabled, and survivor). Valuation interest rates can also be found in this table.

• ProVal_ProjBenFund and ProVal_ProjBenAcct: Projected headcounts and benefits for funding and accounting, respectively. In addition to fully projected (PVB/EBO) benefits, attributed benefits for PUC/PBO and UC/ABO are also included.

• ProVal_*: Valuation Set Exhibits data. For instance, the table ProVal_USMin contains the development of the minimum contribution. Only the exhibits you’ve selected are saved. For a complete list of exhibit table names, see Exhibit Names in Word and Access .

• ProVal_ValSet_Assumptions – A description of the valuation assumptions used in the final results (e.g. the last event in a valuation set).

• This includes a listing of the names of each unique set of assumptions used for the final results including any overrides.

• The details of the actual assumptions ignore overrides. There is an item called “Overrides_Exist” to alert users that the results may not be reliable if overrides exist. The possible Values of this field are “No”, “Yes (Override assumptions are the same as the baseline event)” and “Yes (Overrides are ignored in this table).”

• If valuations are aggregated and underlying assumptions differ, the description will say “Varies by run”.

• Items that vary by calendar year or coded field will be described as such

• ProVal_ValSet_Events: Basic information about the event columns in the ProVal_* exhibit tables mentioned above. You will have more than one event only if you’ve elected to display exhibits by valuation event.

To facilitate use by other programs, many elements in the database are stable. That is, they won’t change from one ProVal version to the next unless necessary, such as to incorporate a law change. The stable elements are:

• Table names (e.g., ProVal_ValSet_Params)

• Field (i.e., column) names. These are meant to be used for column lookups.

• The Name field in each table. This is meant to be used for row lookups. (Exceptions: Row lookups should be based on the Age and Service fields In the ProVal_AgeSvc table, the Age field in the ProVal_Inact table, and the Year field in the ProVal_ProjBenFund and ProVal_ProjBenAcct tables.)

• Not the Description field in each table. This is meant to improve the readability of the database when viewed with human eyes. The descriptions might change from one ProVal version to the next and therefore should not be used by outside programs.