Simulation Results Loading

As a post-processor, ViewPlan requires the output data, as well as the input data, to be loaded. The user can control when output data is loaded using the Output Loading Frame as shown in Figure 1. When a file is initially loaded the Output File Loading frame will appear as No Results Loaded until the ViewPlan button is pressed. Once ViewPlan has been used the Output File Loading will appear as Model Results Loaded After output files have been loaded, they will not be reloaded for that project unless the user selects the Re-Scan option on the dropdown, checks the Reload check box in the calibration section (see Model Calibration), loads a new project or exits EFDC_Explorer and then restarts it.

The user should note that this is a redesign from previous versions of EE. The user can now choose from the drop down menu to load model results or not (IC only). The default option, if the main toolbar button is selected is View Model Results. If no model results are available, only the IC's will be available for display.

Figure 1 Model results loading options.

The Re-Scan menu option is useful when the user is loading the results while the EFDC model is running (see EFDCPlus Runtime Pause/Resume). It is better to pause EFDC before you load the data to prevent file handling errors but it is not required, especially if EFDC is writing to the EFDC_Explorer files infrequently. If the Re-Scan menu option is used, it will cause EFDC_Explorer to reload the model results requested at that time.

The water depths are automatically loaded as they are necessary for any post processing to be performed. The depths are stored in the EE_WS.OUT file. This file contains the depths for all the cells for every snapshot time. This file is completely loaded into memory when post-processing. If the water surface file is not loaded, no post processing is available.

For all other model results, only the current time is loaded. This approach allows for quicker file loading and viewing and allows for very large model results files (>4 gigabytes) to be saved and used. However, when generating any time series type processing, each snapshot has to be loaded for all the times requested. Many hard disks have caches to allow frequently accessed files to load quicker. Therefore, the first time a time series is processed the data may load slowly. However the subsequent processing may be much faster.

During the file loading process, pressing the ESC key aborts the file loading process and returns to the main EFDC_Explorer form.