NOV.ANSWER Function - Novata Excel Add-in Documentation

Description

The ANSWER function fetches specific answer field values for a company's reporting data from the Novata API. This function allows you to retrieve answer data, context, metric information, and visibility settings for a specific company, reporting period, report, and metric combination.

Syntax

=NOV.ANSWER(companyId, reportingPeriod, report, metricId, fieldName)

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`companyId`	String	Required	Unique identifier for the company.
`reportingPeriod`	String	Required	Reporting period (e.g., "2024", "2023-Q4").
`report`	String	Required	Report name or identifier.
`metricId`	String	Required	Unique identifier for the metric.
`fieldName`	String	Required	The name of the answer field you want to retrieve (see available fields below).

Available Field Names

You can use any of the following field names as the last parameter:

Answer Data

answer

The actual answer value

context_for_answer

Additional context for the answer

Metric Information

metric_name

Name of the metric

metric_reference

Reference code for the metric

metric_input_type

Type of input for the metric

metric_unit_desc

Description of the metric unit

metric_unit_suffix

Unit suffix for the metric

custom_metric

Whether this is a custom metric

Metric Status & Visibility

metric_visible

Whether the metric is visible

metric_visible_reason

Reason for visibility status

metric_enr

Whether metric is ENR (Elected Not to Report)

metric_enr_reason

Reason for ENR status

Examples

Example 1: Get Answer Value

=NOV.ANSWER("COMP-001", "2024", "Annual ESG Report", "MTR-001", "answer")

Result: 12500

Example 2: Get Context for Answer

=NOV.ANSWER("COMP-001", "2024", "Annual ESG Report", "MTR-001", "context_for_answer")

Result: "Calculated based on Scope 1 and 2 emissions only"

Example 3: Get Metric Name

=NOV.ANSWER("COMP-002", "2024", "Sustainability Report", "MTR-002", "metric_name")

Result: "Total Energy Consumption"

Example 4: Get Metric Reference

=NOV.ANSWER("COMP-001", "2023", "Annual ESG Report", "MTR-003", "metric_reference")

Result: "ENV-001"

Example 5: Get Metric Input Type

=NOV.ANSWER("COMP-003", "2024", "Q4 Report", "MTR-001", "metric_input_type")

Result: "numeric"

Example 6: Get Metric Unit Description

=NOV.ANSWER("COMP-001", "2024", "Annual ESG Report", "MTR-001", "metric_unit_desc")

Result: "metric tons of CO2 equivalent"

Example 7: Check if Metric is Visible

=NOV.ANSWER("COMP-002", "2024", "Sustainability Report", "MTR-004", "metric_visible")

Result: TRUE

Example 8: Check ENR Status

=NOV.ANSWER("COMP-001", "2023", "Annual ESG Report", "MTR-005", "metric_enr")

Result: FALSE

Example 9: Get ENR Reason

=NOV.ANSWER("COMP-003", "2024", "Q2 Report", "MTR-006", "metric_enr_reason")

Result: "Data not available for this period"

Example 10: Check if Custom Metric

=NOV.ANSWER("COMP-002", "2024", "Custom Report", "MTR-007", "custom_metric")

Result: TRUE

Important Notes

Note:

All five parameters are required. The function will return an error if any is missing.
The companyId and metricId must be valid identifiers from the Novata system.
The reportingPeriod should match the format used in your Novata reports (e.g., "2024", "2023-Q4").
The report parameter should match the exact report name as it appears in Novata.
Field names are case-sensitive. Use the exact field names listed above.
If the answer doesn't exist for the specified combination, the function will return an error or empty value.
Make sure you're logged into the Novata Excel Add-in before using this function.

Related Functions

NOV.FUND - Retrieve fund attributes
NOV.COMP - Retrieve company attributes
NOV.METRIC - Retrieve metric information
NOV.REPORT - Retrieve report information