Data formats for missing values

Learn about which missing data are allowed and how to properly indicate missing values in Minitab Model Ops.

In This Topic

Acceptable missing value formats
Missing baseline data
Missing production data
Missing stability data
Details about prediction requests with missing date/time data

Acceptable missing value formats

You can represent numeric missing values using the symbols shown in the following table.

Numeric	Example	With missing numeric values
`*`	`77,"male", 145, 1, 0`	`,"male", , 1, 0`
`'*'`	`77,"male", 145, 1, 0`	`'',"male", '', 1, 0`
`"*"`	`77,"male", 145, 1, 0`	`"","male", "", 1, 0`
	`77,"male", 145, 1, 0`	`,"male",, 1, 0`
`' '`	`77,"male", 145, 1, 0`	`' ',"male",' ', 1, 0`
`" "`	`77,"male", 145, 1, 0`	`" ","male"," ", 1, 0`

You can represent text missing values using the symbols shown in the following table.

Text	Example	With missing text values
	`77,"male", 145, 1, 0`	`77,, 145, 1, 0`
`''`	`77,"male", 145, 1, 0`	`77,'', 145, 1, 0`
`""`	`77,"male", 145, 1, 0`	`77,"", 145, 1, 0`
`' '`	`77,"male", 145, 1, 0`	`77,' ', 145, 1, 0`
`" "`	`77,"male", 145, 1, 0`	`77," ", 145, 1, 0`

Missing baseline data

The baseline data set must include at least one row of data. Minitab Model Ops uploads predictor columns and the actual response column, but ignores other additional columns in your data file. If a predictor is missing from the baseline data file, Minitab Model Ops uploads the file but cannot perform drift calculations for the missing variables.

Missing values of the predictors are allowed if they follow the acceptable formats.

Missing production data

Minitab Model Ops does not require data for all predictors of a model to submit a prediction request.

You can submit missing values for the predictors.

If the observation ID column is missing, Minitab Model Ops can still provide predictions, but cannot monitor stability.
If the date/time column is missing, Minitab Model Ops uses the server time, in UTC.

Missing stability data

Minitab Model Ops requires a paired actual response and an observation ID to log the stability data.

You can submit missing values for the actual response and the observation ID, but if the observation ID column is missing, Minitab Model Ops cannot monitor stability.

Details about prediction requests with missing date/time data

Date and time data are optional for prediction requests. If you do not provide date/time data, Minitab Model Ops uses the current server time. To include date and time data, use the name of the Prediction Timestamp variable from the Settings tab. In this example, we use Time Column.

To submit a single request with a timestamp, use the following format: "Time Column":["2023-05-13 17:00:00"].
Note
To submit a single request without date/time data, omit the date/time column.
To submit a request with multiple timestamps, use the following format: "Time Column":["2023-05-13 17:00:00","2023-05-13 17:30:00","2023-05-13 18:00:00"].

Important

Minitab Model Ops does not accept prediction requests that include a mix of timestamps and missing values. If you have missing timestamp data, you must submit a separate request that does not include the date/time column.