Before you can use Forecast Pro effectively, you must learn some basic concepts. This first lesson provides an overview of Forecast Pro and guides you through a sample forecasting session.

Before you can use Forecast Pro, you must install it.

Running Forecast Pro consists of executing the following four steps:

1. Prepare the database. This is performed outside of the program and entails selecting the type of data format to use and preparing the files. These operations are discussed in the Setting Up Your Data lesson. For this lesson, you will use sample data files provided with the package.
2. Specify the default options. This is accomplished by selecting the appropriate entries from the Options Dialog box. All options set by the user will be used for the current forecast project. You can also save your selections as the default for future projects.
3. Define the historic data and other inputs. This is accomplished by specifying the input data in the Data Manager.
4. Read in the data and prepare the forecasts. This is accomplished by clicking the Read & Forecast button in the Data Manager. The software will then prepare the forecasts. Once the forecasts have been created you may view them graphically, adjust them and save them.

The remainder of this lesson will guide you through steps 2-4.