EFDC Version Compatibility Summary
EFDC has been undergoing continuous updates and bug fixes since its earliest development in the 1990's. During that time the EFDC.INP file (i.e. the master control file for EFDC) as well as other input files, have undergone a range of changes and additions of card groups and parameters. EFDC_Explorer has been designed to completely load as many of these older models as possible. Table 1 summarizes the EFDC versions that EFDC_Explorer can successfully load.
It should be noted that legacy models need to be loaded into EE and then saved prior to running to allow the models to be updated to the latest input file format.
Table 1 EFDC – EFDC_Explorer Compatibility Table.
Acronym | Description | Dates | Read | Write |
EFDC_1D | A sub-model of EFDC that uses cross section data. | No | No | |
EFDC | The "Full" version of EFDC prior to the implementation of GVC. | 2000 to 2007 | Yes | No |
EFDC_Hydro | Simplified version of EFDC with only hydrodynamics using the 3 time level solution. Intended for linkage to WASP. | Yes | No | |
EFDC_GVC | The "Full" version of EFDC with the GVC implementation. EPA released this version in 2008. | 2007 to 2010 | Yes | Yes |
EFDC_DSI | The DS-INTL version of EFDC including dynamic memory allocation, particle tracking and internally generated wind waves. | 2000 to 2015 | Yes | No |
EFDC_SGZ | Modified version of EFDC_DSI to handle Sigma Zed layer. | 2014 to 2015 | Yes | No |
EFDC+ (EFDCPlus) | Includes EFDC_OMP and EFDC_SGZ as well as updates to EFDC_DSI | 2016 forward | Yes | Yes |
Beginning with EE7.1, when the user tries to start a new EFDC run, EE will check the EFDC_DSI executable version number to ensure that the correct version of EFDC_DSI is being used with the current version of EFDC_Explorer. If the user tries to run EFDC_DSI with an incorrect version, EE will report to the user that the versions are incompatible and will not allow the run to start. The EFDCPlus executable file will have the same version number as that of EFDC_Explorer. For example EE8.4 will only run EFDCPlus _084_OMP_YYMMDD.exe. Where YYMMDD is the release date such 180510.
Likewise, if a user is still using EE6, then it must be linked to the corresponding release version of EFDC_DSI, but the user must keep track of which EFDC executable works with which version of EE. The EFDC_DSI and EFDCPlus executable release dates allows the user to correctly match the software releases.