Slots are variables, or the primary data storage containers on an object. In the Object Viewer (or Open Object) dialog, the slot list shows all of the data associated with the object. This includes both required input data, calculated output timeseries data, input tabular data, and input coefficients for the various physical process calculations.

The list of slots may change depending on the user methods that are selected and when custom slots are added. The distinction is as follows:

The data for a particular slot is shown in either the Slot Viewer or the Open Slot dialog. Both dialogs are introduced in the following section.

Use one of the following methods to open a slot:

When you open a slot, the dialog that opens depends on the slot type. Figure 5.1 shows sample slot dialogs for series slots.

The series slot dialogs look similar.

Figure 5.2 shows sample Table, Scalar, and Periodic slots.

Again, you can see the similarity in the various slot dialogs. As a result, this document will present general slot functionality and then describe slot specific functionality.

Figure 5.3 shows a sample Open Slot dialog for a series slot. Although other types of slots have different options, most of the slots have similar menus, look, and feel.

Functionality is essentially the same for either the Open Slot or the Slot Viewer; see “Slot Viewer Functionality” for details.

This section first describes the general Open Slot layout and menu options. Then each individual type of slot is presented later with further information on type specific configuration options.

The open slot contains the following:

Use one of the following methods to close an Open Slot dialog:

On all slots, you can specify a text description. The description is accessed from the View, then Add (or Show) Description menu or though the Description checkbox. When this option is selected, a panel is added that provides a text box in which you can type the description. Figure 5.4 shows a sample dialog for a table slot with the Description panel displayed.

When there is a description, the word Description is bold in the dialog. If there is no description, the word Description is dimmed.

You can also hover over the word Description to get the first 140 characters of the description as a tooltip.

The Search Slot Descriptions utility can be used to find slots that have a description or specific keywords in their description. It is accessed from the RiverWare Workspace using the Workspace, then Slots, then Find Descriptions menu. The Search Slots dialog appears.

This dialog provides the following options:

You can limit the search to the specified types of slots including physical, account, supply or exchange slots. When any of the search input controls are changed, the Green Check icon turns into a Red “X”, and the search summary description is grayed out. Select the Search button to perform a new search.

This dialog has a Descriptions checkbox below the slot list. Turning on this checkbox replaces several slot attribute columns with a Descriptions column showing up to 150 characters of each Slot's description.

Turning on the Compress name columns checkbox replaces the distinct columns for object name, Account name and Slot name with a single “complete” slot name column.

Several context menu (right-click) operations are available within the slot list:

Buttons along the bottom of the dialog provide these functions:

The dialog can also be used to find input values on series slots. See “Finding Inputs” for details.

Custom slots can be created on any type of object (except snapshot data objects). You can create various types of series, tables, periodic tables, statistical tables, scalar and expression slots. See “Types of Slots” for details. The user is not able to create Multi Slots, Table Series Slots or List Slots.

The main menu bar on the Object Viewer (or Open Object) dialog has a Slot menu (or in the context-sensitive menu activated by right-clicking the slot list area) which includes the following commands.

After the slot is created, the following steps should be taken:

The Configure Slot dialog is opened by selecting View, then Configure in the Open Slot dialog. Depending on the type of slot opened, the dialog could appear a slightly different. For example, the portion of the dialog showing the Upper Bounds and Lower Bound is only displayed for Series Slots. See “Types of Slots” for details about slot type differences.

Following is a general description of the menus for the Slot dialog. See “Types of Slots” for descriptions of each slot type.

The functionality available from the File menu depends on the slot type. In general, this menu is used to do the following activities.

The Edit menu is available on series, table, periodic and list slots and is used to change the number of rows or columns, and to change values in the slot.

On table and periodic slots, the Row menu is used to configure the rows.

On some table and periodic slots (such as on custom slots), the user can add or delete columns to the table. The Column menu is used to do this and change column labels.

The View menu provides the following options.

The Configure Slot dialog is opened by selecting View, then Configure in the Open Slot dialog. Depending on the type of slot opened, the dialog could appear a slightly different. For example, the portion of the dialog showing the Upper Bounds and Lower Bound is only displayed for Series Slots.

The Adjust menu, available on series and table slots, is used to change the display size of the columns in the slot. Users can manually resize columns by dragging the dividers between the column headers. The following five operations are also available in the Adjust menu:

This section presents a description of the different types of slots and how they are used for representing different types of data. Select a link for full details on how to view, create, and edit that type of slot.

There are several types of time series slots with various column configurations. Since all of these slot types contain rows that correspond to the series of data, they will be referred to collectively as series slots. Most series slots open automatically in the Slot Viewer. Any slot shown in the viewer can be detached from the viewer and shown in its own Slot dialog by dragging the column off the viewer.

Figure 5.7 highlights the differences between the individual Slot dialog and the Slot Viewer.

The Slot Viewer is an ad hoc tool to view multiple series slots in a single dialog. There is only one Slot Viewer per model. The slots shown and order is not persistent in any way on the viewer. Each time a Series Slot is opened from anywhere in RiverWare, it is added as a column to the Slot Viewer. From the Slot Viewer, any slot can be shown also in the slot's conventional Slot dialog.

Figure 5.8 shows the Slot Viewer showing four slots on BigRes. The Slot Viewer shows different menus based on the selected slot. Highlight cells in a single column (or the entire column) to select a slot. If you highlight cells in multiple columns, the Selected Slot is blank and many of the menu options are disabled.

Following are the Slot Viewer specific actions:

To dock a slot onto a Slot Viewer, drag the slot’s icon anywhere on the viewer. Figure 5.9 shows the icon that you should drag and the result. Alternatively, use the File, then Dock in Slot Viewer menu.

Figure 5.10 shows the key areas of a series slot. There is a DateTime selector and scroll button used to scroll to the given date. Icons and buttons are used to show display compression, show notes, and to Plot the slot. The DateTimes are shown as the row headings, the data values are shown in the cells, and each cell’s value has a flag. Bold, green separators are automatically created based on the timestep of the slot. For example, in a slot with a 1 Day timestep, separators are placed between months. In 6 Hour slot, days are separated. Also, there is a blue divider between the initial and start timestep. There is a red divider after the finish timestep.

The units for both the default and alternative units are defined by the unit scheme. The unit type will apply unless an exception has been created for the slot. Exceptions can be created for both flows and volume unit types for a particular slot.

The Configure Slot dialog, shown in Figure 5.13, is displayed by selecting View, then Configure. Following are configuration options specific to Series Slots. See “Configure Slot Dialog” for details on general configuration.

As described in “Alt Units button”, flows slots can always be shown as the volume over the timestep. But only certain simulation slots, with the volume unit, can be shown as flows, like evaporation volume. For custom slots that you create, you can choose for each volume slot whether the Alt Units will apply. When the Unit Type is Volume, the Displayable as flow checkbox is shown as noted in Figure 5.14. Check the box indicating this volume can be shown as a flow, using the Alt Units button. Leave it unchecked if the volume is not displayable as a flow.

Series slots have upper and lower bounds as shown in Figure 5.15. In general, these values are not used by the simulation but are used in optimization. However, there are a few cases where a value can be used by the Object’s user methods. For example, the lower bound on Outflow on a Reach object is used to calculate the maximum allowable diversion. If no value is specified, the total Inflow may be diverted.

Optionally, you can show warning messages if values set during Simulation are out of bounds. When warning messages are configured, if the controller sets a value that violates the specified bounds, a warning is issued in the diagnostics window, but the simulation continues. See “Warn when Values are out of Bounds”.

Series slots have convergence settings that can be edited in the lower portion of the Configure Slot dialog as shown in Figure 5.15. A slot can be reset if the new value is not within convergence of the old value and it has not been set more than the maximum number of times. See “Set Value” in Solution Approaches for details.

Following are the available convergence criteria.

The default start times and timestep are inherited from the Run Control settings when the object is instantiated. All series slots are initialized with one timestep to minimize model file size. Other rows are added by the user as needed for input or appended at run time when the slot’s output values are calculated. You may change the time series range directly through the Time Series Range Dialog.

On Integer Indexed Series, the user is able to change the number of Values but the start, end, and timestep size configuration areas are disabled.

The time series range and timesteps can also be changed by selecting Sync With Run Control in the Time Series Range Dialog. This will update the time series range in the slot to match the time series range set in the Run Control dialog. The default start times and timestep are inherited from the Run Control settings when the object is instantiated.

In the View menu, there is a menu to show Linked Slots. When selected, this shows all of the slots to which the given slot is linked.

The Show Notes Column and the Notes Group menu are used to display Notes that are associated with a timestep on a series slot. See “Notes on Series Slots” for details.

The Series Display Compression utility allows the user to compress or hide a particular value, NaNs, both, or any repeated values. This utility is useful for slots that hold data that is often the same value and the user only wishes to see any changes to this standard value. The functionality is available on Series Slots, Agg Series Slots, Multi Slots, and Table Series Slots.

Series Display compression can be accessed from

When either of these options are chosen, the Open Slot dialog adds the display compression area between the scroll area and above the column heading.

Figure 5.16 identifies the configuration controls. Each control is described in detail.

On the Open Slot dialogs, the user can highlight a number of cells and type a new value that will be entered, as Input, into each selected cells. When Series Display Compression is enabled, the editing of values is treated a differently as follows:

On multi-column slots, (Agg Series, Multi Slots, Table Series Slots, and accounting slots), the Series Display Compression will only compress/hide a row if the compression is valid on all columns of the row. In Figure 5.17, repeated value compression only applies to a subset of rows.

On Series Slots, the Timestep I/O menu is used to change the status of the cell’s value by changing the flag. Possible flags vary by slot, but may include the following:

User-input data are automatically flagged as INPUT, and may not be overwritten by simulation results. Certain values imported by an input DMI are flagged Z for DMI INPUT and are treated identically to INPUT (I) flags. Initialization Rules can also set values with the Z flag. OUTPUT (O) timesteps may contain values calculated during a previous run or toggled from INPUT status. These values are automatically cleared to NaN at the beginning of a simulation run. This guarantees that no previous solutions remain from one run to the next. Simulation results are written to timesteps flagged as OUTPUT, TARGET BEGIN, BEST EFFICIENCY, MAX CAPACITY, SURCHARGE RELEASE, DRIFT and UNIT VALUES. Flags other than OUTPUT and INPUT are only available for certain series slots.

This section describes the use of special flags which may be set on Series Slot timesteps. The flags are typically set by the same mechanisms as INPUT and OUTPUT flags. But, unlike INPUT and OUTPUT flags, each type of special flag is only applicable to one or two slots. All SeriesSlots must have one of the following flags set for every timestep; each flag is indicated by its abbreviation:

Flags are set from the Open Slot dialog (or from the SCT). In the Open Slot dialog, a flag is set on the highlighted timestep by selecting the flag from the Timestep I/O menu. Flags which are unavailable for that slot will appear dimmed in the menu.

The Timestep I/O menu has the following options:

BEST EFFICIENCY and MAX CAPACITY flags may be set on Energy timesteps instead of an INPUT Energy request value. These flags are used by the Plant Power Coefficient Release User Method to calculate the most efficient or maximum Energy generation possible for the flagged timestep.

The Plant Power Coefficient Release method uses tables to relate the current Operating Head to the most efficient Turbine Release or maximum allowable Turbine Release. The MAX CAPACITY flag is available for all power method except LCR Power Calc. The BEST EFFICIENCY flag is only valid for the following power methods:

The calculation of the best efficiency Energy generation or max possible Energy generation is an iterative solution. The Outflow required to produce the desired type of Energy affects Tailwater Elevation, which affects Operating Head, which affects the Outflow required to produce the desired Energy. See “Power Release” in Objects and Methods for details on this methods.

When an energy value has been calculated using a MAX CAPACITY or BEST EFFICIENCY flag and it is set as a user input for a subsequent run, a warning may be posted that says “Energy request cannot be met on current iteration.” This is due to the way RiverWare solves. When two reservoirs are modeled in series, the Tailwater Elevation of the lower reservoir affects the Operating Head of the upper reservoir. The Outflow of the upper reservoir, in turn, affects the Tailwater Elevation of the lower reservoir. This creates an iterative loop between the Outflow from the upper reservoir, the Tailwater Elevation of the lower reservoir, and the Operating Head of the upper reservoir. When an Energy value is set using either a MAX CAPACITY or a BEST EFFICIENCY flag, the reservoirs iterate over Outflow, Tailwater Elevation, and Operating Head until the values converge. If the Energy value is now set as an input and the model is run again, the Input Energy may not be possible given the Operating Head on the first iteration. If this happens a RiverWare warning is posted but the run does not abort, since the energy value MAY match the Operating Head at a later iteration. The Energy also MAY NOT match the Operating Head at a later iteration. If this occurs, the model will continue running even though the object did not solve. The run will NOT be aborted, but objects may not dispatch because required information was not propagated to them. The user must check the dispatch dialog if they receive the RiverWare warning message given above to make sure the model ran correctly.

As demonstrated in the simulation exercise, this flag computes the maximum possible Outflow from a Reservoir on a given timestep. Setting the MAX CAPACITY flag on a Reservoir Outflow slot forces the Outflow to equal the sum of the maximum (Turbine) Release and the maximum Spill.

The MAX CAPACITY flag is set by highlighting a simulation timestep on the Outflow slot of a Reservoir and selecting Timestep I/O, then Max Capacity. RiverWare places an M at the selected timestep to indicate that the flag is active. This flag is treated as an INPUT, but does not require a value. If a valid Outflow value is present at the flagged timestep, it is ignored in the simulation; a new Outflow value is calculated and displayed at that timestep. This behavior is similar to the Max Capacity and Best Efficiency flags of the Energy slot and the Drift flags of the Regulated Spill and Bypass slots. A Reservoir which has the Outflow Max Capacity flag set may dispatch under any of the “givenOutflow” dispatch methods, as follows:

The Outflow Max Capacity flag may NOT be used on reservoirs when solving for Hydrologic Inflow, or when solving a Target Operation.

The Max Capacity solution is iterative. The exact sequence of calculations in each iterative loop is dependent on the type of Reservoir and the selected Spill Calculation Method. In all cases, the maximum Spill and maximum controlled Release are calculated individually, then summed. If the selected Spill Method includes Regulated Spill, the current or previous Pool Elevation is used to look up the maximum Regulated Spill from the Regulated Spill Table. This value is set in the Regulated Spill slot, and the selected Spill Calculation Method is called. Any input Bypass and/or required Unregulated Spill are considered within the Spill Method. Next, the maximum release is calculated. If the Reservoir is a Power Reservoir, the selected Tailwater method is executed to determine the Operating Head. This Operating Head or the Pool Elevation (in the case of Storage Reservoirs) is used to look up the maximum release from the Max Turbine Q table, Max Release table, Max Flow Through Turbines table, or Best Generator Flow table. Finally, the maximum release and the calculated Spill are added to determine the total maximum Outflow. This Outflow is used to mass balance the Reservoir. The iteration is repeated until Convergence is met or Max Iterations is exceeded.

Target Operations are used to calculate a lumped mass balance across several timesteps, in order to exactly meet a user-input TARGET Pool Elevation or Storage value. Three conditions are necessary for a Target Operation to execute successfully:

Given these conditions, RiverWare calculates the unknown Inflows or Outflows for all of the timesteps within the Target Operation, such that the TARGET value is exactly met.

Spill DRIFT is used to calculate the Regulated or Bypass Spill over a controlled gate as the reservoir Pool Elevation changes over time. The flag is always considered an input on any timestep where it is set but no value is initially set by the user. In this way, it is similar to the Energy BEST EFFICIENCY and MAX CAPACITY flags. Since DRIFT is considered an INPUT, it may affect over determination of Spill parameters.

The first timestep prior to initiating drift is used to determine a gate index called the Regulated (or Bypass) Drift Index. This index is interpolated from a 3-dimensional Regulated (or Bypass) Spill Index Table, which relates Pool Elevation to Spill for various gate indices. In all subsequent timesteps where the DRIFT flag is set, the same index is used to determine the new Spill. The gate index is maintained throughout the selected time period. At each timestep, the new value of Spill is calculated for the structure based on the current average Pool Elevation.

The SURCHARGE RELEASE flag is used to calculate the surcharge or mandatory release from a reservoir during flood control operations. Surcharge releases are meant to evacuate water from that sits above the top of the flood pool. This flag can only be set on the Surcharge Release slot which is only available when the user has selected a Surcharge Release method. The flag is always considered an input on any timestep where it is set but no value is initially set by the user.

Although the SURCHARGE RELEASE flag may be set by selecting Timestep I/O, then Surcharge Release from the Surcharge Release slot, in practice it should only be set by a rule. When the SURCHARGE RELEASE flag is set, and the inflow to the reservoir is known, the reservoir can dispatch with the solveMB_givenInflowSurchargeRelease dispatch method. This dispatch method will calculate the forecasted surcharge releases and will set them on both the Surcharge Release and Outflow slots so that they may propagate downstream. The manner in which the forecasted surcharge releases are calculated depends on the method selected in the Surcharge Release category. If you are interested in using one of the surcharge release methods, see “Surcharge Release” in Objects and Methods for details.

The REGULATION DISCHARGE flag is used to calculate the regulation discharge at a Control Point. Regulation discharge is used during flood control operations and is defined as the maximum allowable flow in the channel at the control point. This flag should only be set on the Regulation Discharge Calc slot on Control Points. This slot is only available when the user has selected a Flood Control method and a Regulation Discharge method. The flag is always considered an input on any timestep where it is set but no value is initially set by the user. Like the SURCHARGE RELEASE flag, the REGULATION DISCHARGE flag should only be set by a rule. If you are interested in using one of the Regulation Discharge methods, see “Regulation Discharge” in Objects and Methods for details.

The UNIT VALUES (U) flag is used to indicate that the user is going to specify unit level values but would like to use those to drive the solution. The UNIT VALUES flag may be set on Energy or Turbine Release on power reservoirs that have the Unit Power Table method selected (see “Unit Power Table” in Objects and Methods). If the Unit Power Table method is not selected, an error is issued. This flag is considered a user input but does not require a value (similar to the MAX CAPACITY and BEST EFFICIENCY flag). At the beginning of the run any numeric values are cleared out. The flag can be set directly on the slot, from the SCT or from a Rule.

In addition, Energy can be flagged U, if the reservoir dispatches one of the following methods:

These methods do not require energy to be unknown.

This flag is specific to the Unit Power Table method; see “Unit Power Table” in Objects and Methods for full details on this algorithm.

The Find Series Slots with Inputs utility can be used to find values that are input in the model. It is accessed from the RiverWare Workspace using the Workspace, then Slots, then Find Inputs menu. The Search Slots dialog appears.

The user has options to filter on the types of series slots on which to look for input values. In a pure simulation model, this is only Physical Slots (i.e. Outflow, Inflow, etc.) If Accounting is enabled, the user may choose to search any or all of the following series slot “domains”:

The search may be limited to either Initialization Timesteps (before the Run Start timestep) or Run Period Timesteps (on or after the Run Start timestep). If both are checked, all series slots having any inputs are found, regardless of where (in time) those Input values are within the slots' time series.

The user has the option of showing the slots' object name and account name (if applicable) in separate columns. This is controlled by the Compress columns checkbox below the slot list. This is not available if supply slots or exchange slots are shown in the slot list,

Several context menu (right-click) operations are available within the slot list:

Buttons along the bottom of the dialog provide these functions:

The dialog can also be used to find slot descriptions; see “Slot Descriptions” for details.

Expression slots are computational expressions. The user can either create a Series Slot with Expression or a Scalar Slot with Expression. They are used to calculate quantities such as “combined Storage of all Reservoirs,” “weekly average Outflow of Hoover Dam,” “the ratio of Hydrologic Inflow to Reach Inflow at selected structures”, or any conceivable expression. To add a Series slot with expression select Slot, then Add Series Slot with Expression.

Expression slots utilize the RiverWare Policy Language (RPL). RPL is computationally expressive language and has an associated structured editor. Because Expression slots utilize RPL (the same language in which RiverWare rules are written) they may contain simple expressions or complex logic and functions. Anything that may be expressed in a rule may also be evaluated in an Expression slot. The use of RPL also provides dimensional analysis to ensure that units are reconciled throughout the expression.

Following is description of the configuration options available for expression slots.

On the File menu, the Import options are not available as you cannot import or type data into the slot. The export options are available and can be used to export the calculated data out of the slot. A Print Expression menu option is available to print the expression. This uses the same printing mechanism as other RPL sets; see “Printing” in RiverWare Policy Language (RPL) for details.

On expression slots, the Edit menu has options to Copy (to the RiverWare clipboard) and Export Copy (to the system clipboard). Importing, pasting, and other data editing features are disabled as the expression slot is “output only”.

The View Menu on expression slots show the following menu options.

The Start and End times can be specified explicitly or symbolically as RPL DATETIMES; see “DATETIME” in RiverWare Policy Language (RPL) for details. Text below the editor field indicates the actual DateTime of the entered symbolic time text (if it is valid), or the status if it is not valid. You can also use the menu to specify one of the common DateTimes. Some of these are expressions that must be edited to become valid, e.g. by replacing “N” with a nonnegative integer and the HH:00 MMM DD, YYYY formula, where you substitute the hour, month, day and year.

The Datetime Editor option opens a separate dialog to specify the DateTime using a selector configured for the model's timestep size.

The RPL Function opens a Function Selector to select a RPL function in the Expression Slot or Global Function Set. The selected function must have a return type of DATETIME, and must not have any arguments.

Select Help (question mark icon button) on the right side of the symbolic DateTime editor to show a description of symbolic DateTime representations.

Expression slots utilize the RPL palette to build expressions. The RPL palette provides a syntax-guided editor designed to assist in the construction of complex syntactically correct expressions within the RiverWare Policy Language environment. The editor works by maintaining a partially constructed expression and allowing the user to manipulate unfinished portions using the palette. Initially, the buttons in the palette are grayed out. When building an expression, the palette enables any buttons that could possibly go in a highlighted portion of the expression.

See “Creating, Editing, and Viewing RPL Sets” in RiverWare Policy Language (RPL) for details.

Diagnostics for expression slot evaluation can be configured in the Diagnostics Manager; see “Diagnostics Manager” in Debugging and Analysis for details.

If expression slots are evaluated outside of a run, using the Expression, then Evaluate menu on the slot or the Control, then Evaluate Expression Slots menu from the workspace, then diagnostics must be set up using the Workspace diagnostics; see “Workspace Diagnostic Groups” in Debugging and Analysis.

If expression slots are evaluate during a run, either beginning or end of timestep or beginning or end of run, then diagnostics must be set up using Simulation diagnostics (see “Simulation Diagnostic Groups” in Debugging and Analysis) or Rulebased Simulation diagnostics (see “Rulebased Simulation Diagnostic Groups” in Debugging and Analysis), depending on the selected controller. Within each of those diagnostics configurations, the Expr. Slot Execution and Expr. Slot Function Execution categories deal with expression slots.

The Text Series Slot holds a series of user-specified text strings. Because it is a series slot, it provides much of the required series slot functionality like display, flags, use in SCTs, and input via DMI. Figure 5.18 shows a sample Text Series Slot. It has comments about how the system is operated during Flood Season.

The following list provides information on supported functionality:

As of version 7.4, the following functionality is not supported:

Aggregate Series Slots (Agg Series) are specialized Series Slot that group together one or more Series Slots which are independent of one another. They are used to group together similar series of data. Agg Series slots are essentially multiple individual series of data. The columns of an Agg Series Slot are often referred to as Sub Slots. Figure 5.21 shows the Evapotranspiration Rate by Crop for two different crops, Corn and Wheat.

Following are configuration options specific to Agg Series Slots. See “Configure Slot Dialog” for details on general configuration. See “Configure Slot Dialog Functionality” for details on Series Slots.

Agg Series slots can be configured such that each column is configured identically or each is configured individually. In the Configuration dialog, there is a toggle to configure the columns identically or separately.

Because each column can be configured separately, the time range of each column can be configured to have different start and end dates. The two options allow the columns of the agg series to sync back together:

Integer Indexed Series Slots and Integer Indexed Agg Series Slots are specialized types of series slots whose range is associated with their order in the series, rather than with dates. The indices are 1-based; that is, the first value has index 1.

Configuration of Integer Indexed Series Slots is similar to Series Slots, but because the series is incremented by integer, there are a few differences between this type of slot and a standard series slot. See “Configure Slot Dialog Functionality” for details.

The View menu now has a Series Range menu instead of the standard Timeseries Range menu option. In the Series Range menu (the Configure Series dialog), the Begin, End, and timestep areas are disabled. The user can change the range only by changing the number of values.

Integer Indexed Series slots can be used as a part of the following utilities:

Series Slots with Periodic Input allow you to specify either a series of values or a periodic relationship. You can specify data in one of the following Input Modes:

Series Slots with Periodic Input behave as ordinary series slots in virtually all ways, including RPL access, plotting, outputs, etc. A minor exception to this is that DMI import operation to these slots is blocked when they are in Periodic input mode.

In general, when switching a Series Slot with Periodic Input from Series to Periodic input mode, the existing series values are lost; they are overwritten with values computed from the periodic input definition. When switching from Periodic to Series input mode, the periodic input values are hidden and become inactive.

The remainder of this section describes creation and editing of these types of slots.

Series Slots with Periodic Input exist on some engineering objects (particularly the reservoirs) and can be created by the user. From the Object dialog, choose the Slot, then Add Series Slot with Periodic Input menu item.

Following are configuration options for this type of slot.

Series Slots with Periodic Input start in Series input mode where they appear and behave as ordinary series slots. Figure 5.22 shows Series input mode.

The slots are accessed from RPL using standard series syntax, i.e. by DateTime: Slot[ ] or Slot [E].

In Periodic input mode, the series data is shown as read-only (cannot be edited), but an editable periodic data panel is shown to the right (see Figure 5.22). Edits and operations on the periodic values immediately cause a recalculation of the series values—assigned as Inputs except where periodic values are undefined, in which case NaNs (flagged as Outputs) are shown. Series values are computed for the series slot’s currently configured time range.

The periodic configuration is accessible from the View, then Configure Period menu. See “Periodic Slots” for an explanation of the available period, interval, and data interpolation settings. Use the options in the Row menu to modify the rows of the periodic table.

Although they have periodic data, the slots are accessed from RPL using standard series syntax, i.e. by DateTime: Slot[ ] or Slot [E].

In general, when switching from Series input mode to Periodic input mode, the series values are overwritten by values computed from the periodic values. When series values are overwritten by periodic data, the you must confirm the warning dialog. No confirmation dialog is shown when switching from Periodic input mode to Series input mode, as there is no loss of data in that change.

Multi Slots are specialized series slots that automatically sum the values of the slots to which they are linked. In the screenshot, two series slots named Gage Above Bartlett. Gage Outflow and Reach2.Outflow are linked to the Bartlett.Inflow slot. Each of the linked slots appears in a column. The cells for these columns are grey hatched indicating that they are not directly editable from this view. The user should edit these values from the other end of the link. The sum of all linked columns is reported in the Total column. The columns of a Multi Slot are often referred to as Sub Slots. All of the sub slots must have the same unit type and user unit although the other end of the link can have a different user unit, conversion is automatic.

Configuration of Multi Slots is similar to Series Slots; see “Configure Slot Dialog Functionality”. On Multi Slots there is a toggle at the bottom of the dialog that is used to hide or show the subslots. The checkbox is shown only if the Multi Slot has at least one subslot. It is initialized to OFF if the Multi Slot has exactly one subslot, otherwise, it is initialized to ON. This can be useful for subslots that only have one link, hence it really only represents one series of data.

Table Slots are used to store any table of data. They can define a curve (2-Dimensional), a surface (3-Dimensional), or several unrelated sets. A 2-Dimensional table may require monotonically increasing values in its first column, as shown in the Elevation Volume table.

See “View Menu” for details on configuring Table Slots. Each column of the table has both a Label and a Unit (user units are configurable). On simulation slots, the Rows are labeled by number unless defined otherwise. Both columns and rows are zero-based, i.e. the first column is column 0. On custom slots the user is able to change both the Units, Display Format, Column Labels, and Row Labels. Table Slots can be configured such that each column is configured identically or each is configured individually. In the View menu, there is a menu to Configure Columns Identically or separately using the Configure Column menu on the selected column.

A 3-Dimensional table requires that column 1 contain sets of equal values which increase down the table, and column 2 must contain monotonically increasing values within each set of values from column 1. Column 3 then contains the values to look up for columns 1 and 2. For example, the Stage Flow Tailwater Table is a 3-Dimensional table relating TW Elevation to the independent variables of reservoir Outflow and Downstream Stage. A set where Outflow is equal to 20,000 cfs is highlighted.

Some specific scalars and tables have a “Source” slot. When a slot has a source slot, the values are computed from the source slot’s values. Thus, the destination slot becomes read-only and displays a cross hatch over the data. The slot also provides a note indicating the source slot used to compute the data. The source slot is typically set/un-set at beginning of run, so you must initialize the run to see the read-only status.

Statistical table slots allow the user to specify a statistical function, such as a flow duration curve, which is computed at the end of a run using the data in specified model slot(s). This statistical analysis data can then be plotting or exported to another application.

This statistical analysis could be computed using Riverware’s existing export or output manager functionality coupled with a third-party analysis application such as Excel. Statistical table slots provides this functionality inside Riverware to allow quick analysis at the end of a run without leaving the Riverware environment.

To create a statistical table slot, open the object dialog for a object. From this dialog:

A statistical table slot is configured and viewed using the Statistical Table Slot Dialog. Display this dialog by opening the statistical table slot in the object dialog.

The basic steps in configuring a statistical table slot are:

By default, all statistical table slots will be cleared at the beginning of the run and evaluated at the end of the run.

The contents of a statistical table slot can also be cleared and evaluated manually.

Snapshots can be made of statistical slots to easily preserve and compare their values from different runs.

The contents of a statistical table slot can be plotted.

A statistical slot can be plotted with all of its snapshots.

User data input to a table slot can be plotted with a statistical slot.

The contents of the statistical table slot can also be exported to a text file for analysis using an external tool.

The following statistical functions are provided on RiverWare’s statistical table slots.

Table Series Slots are a specialized table slot whose rows correspond to timesteps. This slot contains limited timeseries functionality thus making it more efficient than Series Slots. It was created as a way to efficiently write and/or read large amounts of data. Table Series Slots are primarily used within object user methods such as the Muskingum Cunge hydraulic routing methods. These types of slots cannot be created as custom slots.

Periodic slots are tables used to represent periodic data which repeats at regular time interval. An example might be a set of evaporation coefficients for a reservoir. The rate of evaporation varies with such factors as temperature and wind speed, factors which vary seasonally. It is natural to assume that this variation is the same for each year. If this sort of data were entered into a series slot, then the same data would need to be repeated every year. This would be impractical and inconvenient for the user. On the other hand, if this data were entered in to a table slot, then the data would lose the time element associated with each value. This would make it difficult to look up or interpolate values with respect to time. The periodic slot solves both of these problems.

Periodic slots are configured in the same way as other slots, by using the View, then Configure menu.

The upper left portion of the Configure Slot dialog, under the Period section, is used to set the period and interval of the periodic slot. The period can range from 6-hours to several years while the interval depends on the period selected. If the period required is more than 1 year, the Qty value should be modified from 1 to the number of years and the Base year—the first year in the period—should be defined. Base year can be specified explicitly or symbolically using the menu. If not specified explicitly, they must be edited to become valid, e.g. by replacing the “N” with a nonnegative integer or “YYYY” with a year. Text below the editor field indicates the actual year or indicates the entry is invalid. The Help button provides more information on legal DateTimes.

Also notice the checkbox next to Regular Interval. If the data interval is not a consistent length of time, the user can clear this option and the periodic slot would then have an irregular interval. The user is then free to configure the rows/timesteps in any fashion. See “Display of Dates” for details.

The Data Access section located in the upper right portion of the Configure Slot dialog is used to specify whether or not data should be interpolated or looked up directly when accessing the table at a time that is not specifically listed as a row label. For example, the monthly data is shown for the beginning of each month. If we’re in the middle of the month, should we use that same piece of data, or should we interpolate between the two months? This is a question that would need to be answered on a per model basis, however, the default behavior is a direct lookup.

Columns can be added/deleted by selecting a column and using the Column menu.

The rows of a periodic slot represent dates and are displayed differently if the interval is Regular or Irregular. This distinction in dates is described below.

The user can create the following types of periodic slots:

In this mode, the periodic slot simply contains columns of data that may or may not be related. There can be no interpolation across columns.To add a periodic slot with Text Headers:

Columns of Periodic Slots with Text Headers can be rearranged using the Column, then Move Columns menu (custom slots only).

Consider a periodic slot containing loss coefficients. The periodic slot may contain loss coefficients that vary not only with time, but also with flow rate in a reach. RiverWare could identify which coefficient to use by indexing the table row using the current time step and the table columns using a flow rate. The user could specify as many columns as necessary to sufficiently describe the variation of loss coefficients as a function of flow rate. The periodic slot’s Column Units would be configured to be flow, perhaps with units of 1000 cfs.

To add a periodic slot with Numeric Headers:

The dialog has a Column Units section. This may be useful if the columns are indexed using numeric header values and the values have some physical (not simply descriptive) significance. The unit specification uses the unit type settings for the active Unit Scheme; see “Editing Attributes” for details.

The periodic slot can be used backwards to work from the table values and date outward to define a value associated with the column(s). For example, suppose the periodic slot defines the various pools or phases in a reservoir. The conservation pool may be defined as phase 1 with the first column containing pool elevations defining the conservation pool throughout the year. This first column would have a header of 1.0, meaning phase 1. The flood pool may be phase 2.0 with a second column using 2.0 as its header. The surcharge pool may be phase 3.0, etc. Knowing the pool elevation at a given time, the periodic slot can be used to determine the current phase. Interpolating across columns, this outward lookup may determine that the current phase is 2.5 for a given pool elevation and date, meaning pool is halfway from the bottom of flood pool to the bottom of the surcharge pool.

In RPL, periodic slots are referenced using the Slot[E, E] syntax. Like other tables, this is a row by column reference. But, because it is a periodic slot, the row is a DateTime: Slot[<DateTime>, E]. When referenced in RPL, the configuration of the slot will be used when accessing dates that are “between rows”. That is, it will either interpolate or look up depending on the slot’s configuration.

For periodic slots with text headers, the column specification is a text string matching a column or the zero-based column index. For periodic slots with numeric headers, the column specification is a numeric value with units. You can specify any number that falls within the min and max column values. That is, you don’t have to specify an exact column’s value, but can use numeric values that are “between columns” and it will linearly interpolate for you. For example, the slot shown in Table 5.2 represents low flows that are based on reservoir levels. It is configured to lookup.

In RPL, to reference this slot on January 15 for reservoir elevation 5002ft, the following would be used:

It would return the following:

Scalar slots represent a single value. Configuration options include units and display format. Scalar slots are used only for input data parameters. See “View Menu” for details on configuring slots, including Scalar Slots.

Some specific scalars and tables have a Source slot. When a slot has a source slot, the values are computed from other slot values. Thus, it becomes read-only and displays a cross hatch over the data (see Figure 5.24). It also provides a note indicating the source slot used to compute the data. The source slot is typically set or not set at beginning of run, so the user must initialize the run to see the read-only status.

To add a Scalar slot with expression select Slot, then Add Scalar Slot with Expression. This slot, similar to the Series Slot with Expression, is used to evaluate an expression that evaluates to only one value, i.e. timestep independent. See “Series Slots With Expression” for details on Series Slots with Expression, as that information is valid here too. The difference is that the scalar expression slot does not have an Evaluation Range, it will evaluate for the single value only. Like the series expression slot, the user can configure when it evaluates. Use the Expression, then Evaluation Time menu to choose.

The Mass Balance Summary slot is a user-defined hierarchy of series slot collections used to check (i.e. sum) mass balance across many objects. The collections are themselves series slots representing the sum of the contained slots. These slots can be used within RPL expressions and any other place where series slots are used.

There are two levels of within a Mass Balance Summary slot:

Figure 5.25 shows the icons for the Mass Balance Summary Slot and the Computed Mass Balance Slots (i.e. Water Balances and Slot Sums).

The Computed Mass Balance Slots are computed:

Also, a list of RPL expression slots to be evaluated after a Mass Balance Summary slot computation can be specified within the summary definition. For example, this can be used for annualization of mass balance summary results.

The screenshot shows the dialog for a Mass Balance Summary Slot. Colors are associated with the three collection levels:

The color buttons at the top of this dialog function as a legend for the three levels. Also, selecting those buttons open the tree items in the list to the corresponding level. Also individual collection items can be opened and closed in the usual way, by selecting the tree controls.

Finally, the slots can be shown in any user units and plotted as needed.

A Mass Balance Summary Slot can be created by selecting the Add Mass Balance Summary operation.

The name of the new Mass Balance Slot can be edited in the dialog. When the entered name is not valid, the text in the name entry field is shown in red.

Editing the configuration of a Mass Balance Summary Slot can be enabled or disabled. It is initially enabled on a newly created slot. Editing can be enabled or disabled with the following controls:

Right-clicking the list outside of any defined items (e.g. when the list is empty) shows a simple context menu including the Add Water Balance operation.

The buttons along the bottom of the dialog are also context sensitive; that is, their operation and enabledness depends on the selection within the slot list. When no items are selected, the New button also adds a water balance to the list.

When new Water Balances or Slot Sums are created, they are given a unique default name. The name can be edited inline by double-clicking the name.

Slot Sums can be added to Water Balances, and Slot References can be added to Slot Sums using the Add context menu operation or the bottom context buttons.

When adding Slots, the slot selector dialog is shown. This will allow the selection of only series slots. The slot selector’s unit type filter will be shown, initialized to “Flow”. It is also valid to select “Volume” slots which represent a non-static volume entity; that is, those that can be converted to “Flow” by dividing its value by the timestep interval (i.e. volume per time). (The computed results will be strange if a static volume slot, such as Reservoir Storage, is selected).

Alternatively, slots representing mass units (g, kg, tons, etc) can be chosen. This is particularly useful when looking at the salinity mass balance across many objects.

Figure 5.26 shows the operations provided by the first several buttons, as a function of the selected item or items. Tooltips on these buttons provide additional information.

The New, Add, and Paste operations are enabled only for single-item selections. The Delete, Remove, and Copy operations are enabled on single or multiple selections when all selected items are at the same level. The enabledness of the Paste operation depends also on the type of items (Water Balances, Slot Sums, or Slot References) in the clipboard. You must confirm Delete / Remove operations.

The Up and Down arrows move the selected items up or down within the set of “sibling” items. They are enabled only when the selected items are all at the same level.

For any value not provided as a RiverWare slot, you will need to define and refer to a RPL expression slot. Figure 5.27 is an example of the inclusion of a change in storage expression slot from the previous to the current timestep.

The Mass Balance Summary Slot dialog shows a single timestep value of all contained series slots.

In this dialog, series values have the following options:

The selected unit type, scale and unit is both a display setting and a configuration setting; when the mass balance summary is computed, the computed slots are shown with these units. Precision can be set from the View, then Set Precision menu.

In fact, changing the unit, scale, or precision from this dialog actually changes the active Unit Scheme (by adding exceptions). You can also change the settings from the Unit Scheme Manager by changing attributes or activating a different scheme. See “Unit Schemes” for details.

As previously mentioned, the level Legend buttons function to open the entire tree to the indicated level. Of course, individual tree items can be opened or closed by selecting the standard tree controls.

The View menu provides operations that affect data display within this dialog.

The units column in the slot list can be hidden. But, if slots having different unit types (other than flow/volume or mass) are added to the list, units are unconditionally shown and the option to hide the units column is disabled.

You may want to hide values at any of the levels, so that only comparable values (at the same level) are displayed. The three Show Series Values toggles in the View menus are used to show or hide the numeric values; Figure 5.29 illustrates.

From the Open Mass Balance Summary Slot dialog, you can perform the following operations:

These options are described in the following sections.

As currently implemented, Water Balances are generated as aggregate series slots and each of the Water Balance’s Slot Sums are generated as series slot columns on that aggregate. Use the Open Slots context menu to show the slot dialog for the selected component (editing disabled).

Values are displayed with a crosshatch indicating that they are “read-only” (non-editable). In Figure 5.30, the not-quite-zero value in the “Value” line edit field from the single selected cell (upper left cell); this sort of value will be typical of actual computed Water Balance values (due to convergence). Enabling the display of the selection statistics (from the View menu) and selecting the first column provides a convenient way to determine whether or not the whole Water Balance series is zero.

Computed summary and referenced slots can be shown in an SCT. If a single SCT is open, slots from the Mass Balance Summary dialog can be added to that SCT (the SCT must have the same timestep size as the model run).

The File menu Show Visible Slots in New SCT option shows all slot items current visible in the slot list (i.e. excluding those hidden under a closed tree branch).

Computed summary and referenced slots can be plotted in a single plot. Those operations are visible in the menus shown in the prior section. The note above regarding the active units of computed and referenced slots applies also to Plots; that is, the units used will not necessarily be those of the current settings in the Open Mass Balance Summary slot dialog.

Computed summary and referenced slots can be copied to the RiverWare Slot Clipboard. From there, they can be pasted into various slot lists in RiverWare, including the general Output Device slot list and the Snapshot Manager slot list.

The Mass Balance Summary Slot is itself a series slot and can be examined by selecting the Mass Balance Summary Slot icon button at the top of the dialog. (In a sense, a Mass Balance Summary Slot has two different open slot dialogs).

In Figure 5.31, all the values represented on the vertical axis are zero (to a precision of five fractional decimal digits).

Mass Balance Summaries are designed in such a way that intermediate and final sum results (Slot Sums and Water Balances) are usable for custom user calculations implemented in RPL Expression Slots, such as annualization of values. In a run, the mass balance summary is computed after RPL Expression slots. To allow RPL expression slots to reference mass balance summary data, the Dependent Expression Slot List in a Mass Balance Summary is evaluated, in order, once, after each Mass Balance Summary is computed.

Dependent Expression Slot results will generally be incomplete when computing a Mass Balance Summary if the RPL Expression Slots in the list depends on sums from multiple mass balance summaries. The following provisions address this problem:

The Dependent Expression Slot panel at the bottom of the Open Mass Balance Summary Slot dialog implements editing and display operations similar to those of the main slot list.

Selecting the Add button opens the slot selector, initialized with Has RPL Expression and Unit Type (“Flow”) filters on by default.

When computed, the timestep size and timestep range of each of the Mass Balance Summary and Slot Sums are set to the step size and range of the run controller. The unit type and configured display units are set to those specified. For each timestep in the run time range, any of the contained slots having a valid value at that timestep contributes that value to the Slot Sum or Water Balance’s value at that timestep. NaNs are ignored (effectively zero). The computed slots are set to be “read-only”.

Limitations of the current Mass Balance Summary Computation:

Mass Balance Summary Computations are performed in these ways:

As a tool for debugging and testing Mass Balance Summary implementations (including user definitions), operations to clear an individual Mass Balance Summary, and all Mass Balance Summaries (including Dependent Expression Slots) is provided in the File menu.

All Mass Balance Summary configuration information is stored on the Mass Balance Summary Slot. This is applied both in the RiverWare model file and in Export files.

A Mass Balance Summary Slot’s computed slots are created as (effectively) invisible slots on the same object. They do show up in the slot selector!

A Mass Balance Summary Slot’s configuration can also be saved to, and read from a file using Export and Import operations in File menu.

Time Aggregation Series Slots temporally aggregate another series slot. For example, you might aggregate a daily flow to an annual average. They can be recomputed manually or automatically at the end of a run. The configuration of a Time Aggregation Series Slot includes the following properties. Figure 5.32 illustrates.

Functionality is provided to duplicate a Time Aggregation Series Slot for the same named slot on multiple other “similar” objects.

One of the supported aggregation modes is aggregation to Water Years, starting in a user-specified month.

The Water Year Start Month is a model-wide setting, configured in the Simulation Run Parameters dialog, accessible from the Run Control Dialog; see “Simulation Run Parameters” for details.

In a single operation, you can create a Time Aggregation Series Slot for the aggregation of the same series slot on multiple other selected simulation objects. For example, if a given time aggregation slot is annually summing the Energy slot on a power reservoir, similar aggregation slots can be created for all other power reservoirs, in a single operation. Figure 5.33 shows an example.

When a properly configured Time Aggregation Series Slot item is selected within an Object’s slot list, the Create Similar Slot for Different Objects operation under the Slot menu is enabled. Activating that menu item brings up the simulation object selector dialog where multiple objects can be selected. The selector is initialized to show objects of the same type as the object containing the reference slot (e.g. in this example, Power Reservoirs). Ultimately though, you can select a broader range of simulation objects.

The names of the new slots are devised as follows: If the originally selected time aggregation slot's name contains the name of the referenced slot's containing object, then the new names are that name, with the original containing object name replaced by the new selected objects. In the example, the original time aggregation slot named “Monthly Energy” is aggregating the “Kaw.Energy” slot. However, the originally selected time aggregation slot's name does not contain the name of the referenced slot's containing object, no direct name substitution is possible. Instead, the names of the new selected objects are appended to the slot name for the new slots: Monthly Energy_Eufaula, Monthly Energy_Hudson, and so forth.

Time Disaggregation Series Slots temporally disaggregate another series slot into a smaller timestep. For example, you might disaggregate a daily flow to an hourly flow using the same value for each hour in the day. They can be recomputed manually or automatically at the end of a run. The configuration of a Time Disaggregation Series Slot includes the following properties. Figure 5.34 illustrates.

Functionality is provided to duplicate a Time Disaggregation Series Slot for the same named slot on multiple other “similar” objects as described in “Creating Similar Time Disaggregation Series Slots for Different Objects”.

In a single operation, you can create a Time Disaggregation Series Slot for the disaggregation of the same series slot on multiple other selected simulation objects. For example, if a given time disaggregation slot is disaggregating the Pool Elevation slot on a power reservoir, similar disaggregation slots can be created for all other power reservoirs, in a single operation. This operation is identical to creating similar time aggregation slots for different objects. See “Creating Similar Time Aggregation Series Slots for Different Objects” for more information.

A List Slot is used to store a collection of non-numeric data, typically a group of objects. Figure 5.35 shows a sample Upstream Reservoirs List Slot.

This slot contains the Reservoirs that are upstream of the given control point. It is used in the Regulation Discharge and Flood Control algorithm to specify the reservoir which contribute to the flow at this control point. Figure 5.36 shows the options available from the Edit menu, from the toolbar icons, and from the right-click context menu:

On a List Slot that contains either Objects, Slots, Accounts, or Supplies, when the user selects either Append Row, Insert Row Before, or Edit Row, a selector will open allowing the user to choose the appropriate items.

The Configure Existing Slots utility enables you to configure the following parameters on multiple slots at once:

To access the Configure Existing Slots dialog, select the Workspace, then Slots, then Configure Slots menu item from the main workspace dialog in RiverWare. The dialog is used in the following general sequence:

These steps are described in the following sections. Changes are immediate and are reflected in the dialog. Changes only apply to relevant slots, e.g. changes to convergence only apply to slots that have convergence (i.e. Series Slots). Figure 5.37 highlights the main areas of the dialog.

Add the slots you wish to change to the slot list by selecting the Add Slots button. This opens RiverWare’s slot selector. See “Selecting Slots” for details on using the selector. The selector can be used to add all or a subset of the existing non-accounting slots in the current model.

After making a selection of one or more slots, those slots are added to the list. These slots, or a subset, are the slots you wish to modify.

To remove specific slots from the dialog, first select them. Then select the Remove Selected Slots button or use the corresponding context menu item available with a right-click in the slot list view. All slots can be removed using the Remove All Slots button or its corresponding context menu item. Double-clicking an item in the slot’s list view will bring up the Open Slot dialog for that slot.

The configuration depend on whether the General or Optimization option is selected. The resulting options are described in the following sections.

The configuration panel at the bottom of the dialog has checkboxes for two types of configuration items: Convergence and Unit Type for Custom Slots. By checking or unchecking these, any combination of the configuration options can be used. For example, if only convergence values are to be altered, only use its checkbox; unit types will not be modified by any applied changes.

When the Optimization option is selected, the bottom of the dialog switches to show the Optimization Bounds and Limits regions.

When all desired configuration changes have been made, they can be applied in two ways, Apply to Selected or Apply to All. To apply changes only to selected items in the slot’s list view, select the Apply To Selected button at the center bottom of the dialog. This will change only those slots highlighted in the list view.

Configuration changes can be applied to all slots in the slot list, whether selected or not, by selecting the Apply To All button at the left bottom of the dialog.

If changes are applied to a slot where they are not applicable, the changes will be ignored for that slot. For example, if convergence is configured to be changed and is applied to a slot that does not have convergence, it will be ignored.

In this example, you decide that for debugging purposes, you need to decrease convergence on all reservoir outflows. There are two approaches for using the Configure Existing Slots dialog to make these changes:

Using the selector to choose the appropriate slots is more powerful and more elegant but you don’t see the slots’ configuration values before you make the selection. Selecting all slots, then choosing the desired slots in the list view allows you to see all these slot configurations before you modify them.

In addition to the standard unit types (Flow, Length, Volume, and so on) that can be configured on custom slots. It is possible to add slots that have values in the slot that represents a DateTime. This is possible by configuring the slot to have a DateTime unit type. Following is a walk through describing how to add a slot with a DateTime value. Following that is a description of each of the date times and a description of how to use the values in RPL.

To introduce how DateTime values exist on RiverWare Slots, this section walks the user through the process of creating a series slot with DateTime values on a data object.

The Partial DateTime Editor in the Open Slot dialog also shows the applied DateTime. Table 5.3 shows this dialog in standard numeric configuration and in the various Full and Partial DateTime configurations. The screenshots shown are for a Scalar slot but they are applicable to the other supported slots as well.

RPL doesn’t directly support DateTime Slot values as DATETIMES. All Slot values are handled as numeric values. Two Predefined RPL Functions are used to convert the Slot DateTime values to and from RPL DATETIME values. Figure 5.40 and Figure 5.41 demonstrate the use of the DateToNumber and NumberToDate Predefined functions. The following sections provide more information about these predefined functions.

See the following documents for details:

Although rare, you may need to see the value that is stored on the slot. Use the Unit Converter and the DateTime unit type for this purpose. See “Converting DateTime Values to Numeric Values” for details.

Annotation of series slots using Notes allows you to comment on data in a RiverWare model. For example, you may use notes for any of the following actions:

Notes are for documentation purposes; they do not affect the solution and they cannot be accessed (read or assigned) via rules or other RPL sets. In general, notes are available for all types of series (Series, Multi, Agg, Series with Expression) and can be edited via the Open Slot dialogs, the SCT, and the Edit Account dialogs.

Notes are short text strings that are associated with one or more timesteps. Each note belongs to a Note Group. Each Note Group contains a list of associated slots and the timesteps to which they apply. The Note Group Manager utility dialog facilitates creation and management of Note Groups. The display icon for each group can be assigned a color.

Notes can be imported and exported as follows:

A Note is a text string that is associated with a series slot at a timestep and each note belongs to a Note Group. A Note has the following properties:

A Note Group is composed of the following properties:

Note text can be seen and reviewed in the series slot dialogs. In the series slot dialogs (for Series Slots, Agg Series Slots, Multi Slots, Table Series Slots and Edit Account dialogs), the presence of a note is shown by a small icon to the left of the value. The color of the icon is defined for the Note Group. Hovering over the icon displays a tooltip with the Note text.

Cells having more than one note have a special icon suggesting one note stacked on the other. The tooltip lists each note, one per line. That icon is always yellow and does not reflect the color of any of the corresponding Note Groups.

The note text can be shown in a separate column using the View, then Show Notes Column toggle menu item.

If the Notes Column is visible and the open slot belongs to one and only one Note Group, a new note can be created by simply typing in the Notes Column. The Note will be created as a member of the slot’s Note Group.

When one or more notes exist on a particular Slot/Timestep, the context menu (right-click) on the cell includes a menu for each note; see Figure 5.42. The title of the menu shows the Note Group icon and the Note Text. The menu contains the following operations:

The dialog can be scrolled to the timestep of a note on the Slot using the Note Navigation menu button; see Figure 5.43. Items in the Note Navigation menu having a bullet indicate that the timestep of the note matches that of the timestep selector.

Pressing the Shift key while selecting an item causes a Global Time Scroll (scrolling all open series-related dialogs to the corresponding timestep).

Following are three ways to create a note:

The Note Group Manager and supporting dialogs are used to maintain the set of notes on series slots.

This dialog is arranged vertically in three hierarchically defined panels as shown in the following figure: Note Groups, Notes, and Slots. The first two panels can show either a list or a menu, controlled by the triangle arrow button in each panel. The combo boxes allow for the selection of a single item (Note Group or Note), or “All” items.

The panels are used in a top to bottom order. First you select (highlight) one or more Note Groups. Then the member Notes are displayed in the Notes panel. Then you select one or more Notes in the Notes panel and the member slots and timesteps are displayed in the Slots panel.

Following is a description of these three panels.

The Note Groups panel shows all the defined Note Groups and supports the following operations (buttons):

The first three buttons bring up dialogs for creating (define the name and icon color) or editing (changing the name and icon color), or confirming deletion of Note Groups.

For the selected Note Group in the above panel, the Notes panel shows the notes that are a member of that group. It supports three operations (buttons):

For the selected Notes in the middle panel, the Slots panel shows the slots and timesteps to which the note has been applied.

Both the Add Slot Entries and Add Entry Using Context buttons bring up the Apply Notes to Slots dialog described in the next section. These differ only in the initial selections used in that dialog. The Add Entry Using Context button is available when the manager dialog is shown from the context of a particular slot and timestep, i.e. right-clicking a cell in a slot or SCT then choosing Add (or Edit) Note. The current context (Object.Slot and Timestep) is listed on the same line as the button.

The Apply Note to Slots dialog allows the user to associate a particular note with one or more Slots at one or more contiguous timesteps.

The list of slots and the timestep selections are sometimes preselected, depending on how the Apply Note to Slots dialog is shown. These selections can be modified before creating the new Note/Slot/Timestep associations.

The Group and Note combo boxes can be modified to select a different note. Only one note can be selected at any one time.

Additional Slots can be added to the Slot List by selecting the Add Slots button. This brings up the RiverWare Slot Selector.

Slots can be removed from the Slot List by selecting items in the list and selecting the “Remove Selected Slots” button. Doing so has no effect on any existing Note/Slot/Timestep associations.

In the Timesteps section, the user can choose one timestep or range of timesteps (continuous only) to which the note will apply.

The OK or Apply buttons are enabled only if the inputs specify a valid state representing Note/Slot/Timestep associations that are not yet existing. For one thing, all of the Slots in the Slot list must have the same timestep size. If enabled, the OK and Apply buttons create a Note/Slot/Timestep association for all of the Slots in the list (i.e. not just the selected Slot items).

Status lines under the Slot List and above the bottom buttons indicate the state of the inputs. Examples of the various messages shown in the bottom status line are as follows. (The OK and Apply buttons are enabled only in the 4th example):

Collected notes are a special type of note associated with series expression slots (i.e. Series Slot with Expression). When the expression slot is evaluated, notes from the series slots referenced in its expression (“source” slots) are copied to corresponding timesteps in the expression slot. The source slots for providing notes are an accumulated list of the source slots referenced across the expression slot’s evaluations at all timesteps. The notes from the source slots are collected and copied once at the end of the expression slot’s evaluation. The collected notes are removed and re-collected each time the expression slot evaluates. In the context of a run, they are removed at the beginning of the run and collected at the end of the run, so if the run is paused or aborts in the middle, the collected notes will be absent.

The collection of notes for series with expressions is optional and is controlled on a model-wide basis by a parameter selection in the RPL Parameters dialog. This dialog is available from the RiverWare workspace under the Policy menu.

In the places where notes for series can be displayed (Series Slot, SCT and Notes Group Manager dialogs), collected notes are differentiated by having a C in their icon; see Figure 5.45. The text of a collected note, where displayed in the notes column or in a tool tip when mousing over a note icon, will show the text of the note followed by the source slot name in parentheses.

The context menu (right-click) on a cell for a collected note in the series slot and SCT dialogs will have an additional menu entry showing the source slot of the collected note. Select the item to open the source slot’s dialog. If a source slot is deleted from the model, the collected notes that refer to that source slot will also be deleted.

Accounting multi slots, such as storage account inflow or outflow, have a subslot for each supply linked to the multi slot. You can add a note to the multi slot or the supply/subslot.

When you add a note to a multi slot that has one or more subslots or supplies, a confirmation asks you which you would like to use.

When a note is added to a linked supply, the note is automatically propagated to the multi slots on either end of the supply. Notes propagated in this way are assigned a source slot corresponding to the supply. The display of the propagated note is similar to collected notes (see “Collected Notes on Expression Slots”), where the source slot name is displayed in parentheses after the note text in the notes column, and the right-click context menu contains an item for the source slot that, when selected, will open the source supply’s slot dialog. When a note on the supply is deleted, or the supply itself is deleted, propagated notes will be removed from the corresponding accounting multi slots.

Notes can be imported or exported to a text (xml) file. The export/import functionality allows notes made in a copy of a model to be transferred back into the original.

Selecting the Import or Export Selected buttons brings up a file selector to specify an import or export file for Note Groups. These operation are also available from menu items in the File menu at the top of the dialog. Exporting one or more selected Note Groups will write information to the file for the group, its notes, and the slot associations for those notes. On import from a file, a Note Group is created if it does not already exist, notes in the group are created if they do not already exist, and slot associations for the notes are created if they do not already exist. A feedback dialog will indicate if note associations with slots cannot be made (i.e. if the slot is not in the new model).

Notes can be output from RiverWare slots to data files using control file-executable DMIs. The control file keyword used to specify notes is as follows:

The default value for slot_anno (i.e. slot annotations) is false, meaning no Notes will be written.

A line in RiverWare time series format (for DMI import or from DMI export) containing a note will be formatted as:

RiverWare models are often built by multiple modelers over many years. Sometimes, slots are created for a particular task. When the task is over, the slot is set aside and may never be used again, but no one wants to delete the slot for fear that it is accessed somewhere else. In addition, you may want to know where a slot on a simulation object is used. Are there any plots or output devices for Reservoir.Outflow? Is it imported or exported by any DMIs? There are many places in RiverWare where a slot can be referenced. Finding these references for a particular slot would be a very tedious and time-consuming task. For this reason, a utility was created to centralize and streamline this search process. This section describes this utility which searches through a model to find references to specified slots.

The utility then lists where the slot is referenced and you can investigate the matches. If you determine that the slots are obsolete or no longer necessary, you can delete the slots (custom slots) directly from this utility.

The Find Slot References dialog is available from the Workspace, then Slots menu.

The general work flow of the dialog is as follows:

The following sections describe these steps and configuration options in more detail.

The Slots frame is where you select the slots for which to look for references.

Check the areas where you would like to search for references to your slots and select the Search button to initiate the search. Search results are listed as items under each slot. Sorting the search results by selecting the row header will group together slots with results versus slots without results. Following is a description of the areas to search:

If you search for references to one or more slots and find that they are no longer needed, you can use the Delete Selected Slots From Model button at the bottom of the dialog to permanently delete them from the model. This is only allowed for custom slots. If the slot is a simulation slot, these are not deleted; a warning message is issued indicating the number of slots not deleted.

Many utilities in RiverWare require you to specify a set of slots, e.g., as part of the configuration of DSS datasets, scripts, and output devices. You can either specify the slots in the configuration of each utility or you can create and name a collection of slots in the Slot Set Manager and refer to that set in one or more utilities.

A Slot Set is a named collection of slots. Slot sets support wild card entries and can be referenced in contexts that require a user-specified set of slots, such as Script actions, DMI datasets, and Output Devices. Where the same set of slots is used in multiple contexts within the same model, the use of named slot sets eliminate duplication of input effort and ensures consistency across the multiple uses. Within RPL, Slot Sets provide a reusable collection of slots that can be referenced by a RPL predefined function.

Slot sets are created, deleted and organized in the Slot Set Manager.

To open the Slot Set Manager, use the Workspace, then Slots, then Slot Set Management menu. The Slot Set Manager dialog appears.

The upper portion (the Sets panel) shows the sets defined in the model; if one of these slots is selected, the lower portion (the Slots panel) lists the slots in the selected set. Figure 5.46 shows the Slot Set Manager dialog for a model with multiple sets.

The selected set in the Sets panel is highlighted in blue, and its slots are shown in the Slots panel. In addition to the slot set name, the Sets panel shows the number of slots in each set and whether the set is Dynamic or Static.

To rearrange the order of the sets, use the arrow buttons to move the selected row up or down. To create a new Set, enter a name in the Add Set field, choose whether it is Dynamic (or conversely Static) and then select the green Plus button. A slot selector will open allowing you to define the slots in the set.

The two types of sets are as follows:

Static Slot Sets contain a list of slots that will not change automatically. The contents and order of slots in a static set are specified when the set is created and only change when the slot set is edited.

Figure 5.47 shows the resulting Static set.

Notice the buttons to rearrange the slots and add or remove slots from the set.

Dynamic Slot Sets contain a symbolically specified slot selection. The contents and order of the slots in a dynamic slot set are determined when the set is used, by evaluating the set specification. The set specification may include wild cards and filters, which could lead to different results for different evaluations.

Figure 5.48 shows the resulting set.

The power of Slot Sets is realized when you refer to a Slot Set from various applications. Examples include Scripts setting one or more slots, DMI slot selections, and RPL accessing lists.

This section describes how to reference sets in the Selector and from RPL and DMIs.

Slot sets can be referenced in most places that a Slot Selection is made. To refer to a Slot Set, in the Selector, choose Use Slot Set instead of Create Selection. Figure 5.49 shows both views.

Within the Use Slot Set view, select the desired Slot Set. The slots in that set are shown in the lower, non-editable panel. Select Ok to confirm.

See “Use Slot Set” for details.

Slot Sets can be referenced from RPL logic using the ListSlotSet predefined function; see “ListSlotSet” in RiverWare Policy Language (RPL). This function returns a list where each item is a slot in the set.

Within Database DMIs, Slot Sets can be referenced within the Slot Selection as described above. Within Control-File Executable and Trace Directory DMIs, Slot sets can be referenced using the key word SlotSet and the set name. Thus, the slot specification of a control file entry is:

For example, SlotSet.Reservoir Hydrologic Inflow: file=~/%o.%s would expand to all of the slots in the Reservoir Hydrologic Inflow set.

See “Object.Slot Specifications” in Data Management Interface (DMI) for details.