Export Results to HEC-DSS Files

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Hydrologic Engineering Center has developed a Data Storage System, called HEC-DSS, which is designed to store and retrieve scientific data that is typically sequential. WEAP can export results in HEC-DSS format, which can be helpful if you are want to use WEAP results in any of the HEC tools.  See http://www.hec.usace.army.mil/software/hec-dss for more information about HEC-DSS, including an Excel Add-in that can read HEC-DSS files, and a standalone viewer for HEC-DSS files (HEC-DSSVue).  The HEC-DSSVue User's Manual has a detailed description of the dss file format: http://www.hec.usace.army.mil/software/hec-dssvue/documentation.aspx

WEAP can automatically save selected results to DSS files for every scenario it calculates, every time it runs calculations.  To enable this, go to Advanced, DSS Export Settings and check the box Save Selected Favorites to DSS File(s) after Calculation.  The following settings determine how WEAP will create the dss files:

Use File Name Pattern to specify the filename to save the results to.  The file can go into any folder, but if you do not specify a folder, it will go into the folder for the current area (e.g., C:\Users\username\Documents\WEAP Areas\Weaping River Basin).  If the folder does not exist, WEAP will create it.  You can use replaceable parameters for area name, scenario name or date, which WEAP will replace with their values.  For example, if the File Name Pattern is %Area% %Date%.dss, WEAP will replace %Area% with the name of the area and %Date% with the date the file is created, such as "Weaping River Basin 2017-02-21.dss"  If you include %Scenario% in the file name pattern, WEAP will create a different file for each scenario; if you do not include %Scenario% in the file name pattern, results for all scenarios will be written to the same file.  DSS files always have .dss as their file extension.  If the DSS file already exists, WEAP will overwrite records in it.

Each data record in a DSS file has a unique "pathname," which is composed of six "parts," A, B, C, D, E and F.  (See the HEC-DSSVue User's Manual for full details.)  Here are the typical values for each part, and how WEAP uses them.

Use Part A Pattern to specify the text to use for Part A.  Just as with the File Name Pattern, you can use replaceable parameters for area name, scenario name or date, which WEAP will replace with their values.  If you do not include %Scenario% in the File Name Pattern, you should include it in the Part A Pattern.  Otherwise, results from all the scenarios will be saved to the same file, but they will not be distinguishable from each other.  For example, if the Part A Pattern is  %Area%: Scenario = %Scenario%, WEAP will replace %Area% with the name of the area and %Scenario% with the name of each scenario, such as "Weaping River Basin: Scenario = Reference," "Weaping River Basin: Scenario = Demand Measures," etc.  Note: each of the six part names can be no more than 64 characters long.  Because the six parts are separated by the "/" character, you cannot include "/" in your Part A Pattern.

Through the use of Favorites that you have already saved in the Results View, you can customize exactly which results WEAP will export.  Each favorite specifies which result variable (e.g., Reservoir Storage or Streamflow) and which objects (e.g., All Reservoirs or Selected river nodes and reaches) to include, and the scale and unit for the numbers (e.g., Million cubic meters or cubic meters per second).  Check the box next to each favorite to select it for export.  For a favorite to be eligible for export, it must meet certain criteria.  The favorite must have years as the X Axis, and WEAP objects as the legend.  There are certain options that are not allowed when exporting to DSS files, such as exceedance graphs, or those with monthly averages or annual totals.  If any of the saved favorites contain these options, they will be noted, and you will not be able to select them for export.

Part B will be the names of the WEAP objects.  Click the Edit Object Names button at the bottom of the DSS Export Settings window if you want to customize the names used.  On the Edit Object Names window, you can Export the names to a CSV file for editing outside of WEAP, and then Import the names back into WEAP.  The CSV file exported by WEAP will have three columns: Object ID, Name, and DSSName.  Make your edits in the third column (DSSName).   If the Node Type box limits the WEAP objects shown to those of one type, only those nodes will be exported.  Note: Because part names have a maximum of 64 characters, you will need to customize the names of any WEAP objects whose names are more than 64 characters long -- otherwise, the names will be truncated to 64 characters.  (Transmission link names are sometimes too long.)  Names longer than 64 characters will be shown in red.

A few other details:

Menu Option: Advanced: DSS Export Settings