General suggestion: Static script column order, naming

[Fred_K]

Hello,

Following the Ventsim User Conference (which was very good!) I've participated in a nice meeting with Daniel Sepulveda, where he showed how static scripting works. I've tried to play with that functionality in the past but didn't revisit it until now. Now I have a better understanding of it. Thanks Daniel!

Some observations that I also pointed out to Daniel but would like to do again here.

 

When you generate the script, which is in spreadsheet format, there are a lot of columns to deal with. The problem with those columns (representing variables), is that they are:

(1) usually named differently from the variables they represent in Ventsim which makes it hard to identify them (see for example Moisture (ml/s)) and

(2) usually not in order or grouped according to the Ventsim variables. The variables in the script are sometimes quite far off (see Electric Vehicle (kW)).

(3) Also, all initial files generated include all variables from all possible simulations, regardless of the simulation option you actually want to create scripts and will tick the box for. I guess this can't be changed easily.

 

To make this whole thing more user friendly, my suggestions:

(a) Is it possible to generate the same or very similar names (maybe without symbols) as in Ventsim? This would make the variables of interest much easier to find.

(b) It would also help if they were grouped not only according to the tab they represent, e.g. "Heat Simulation", but also the variable group within the tab, e.g. "Point Source". Most importantly, that the variables are in order.

 

Maybe the static script function could get a bigger mention in the next iteration of the Ventsim Design manual. I also want to point out that the manual is missing page numbers on the bottom of the pages following the index, this should be a quick fix 😉 

 

Cheers!

Fred

 

A screenshot to illustrate this issue, after changing some variables as Daniel suggested to see where changes occur.

[Craig Christensen]

Hi Fred,

Thanks for the ideas around improving the scripting tool. We are also thinking of ways to make it easier to use since it is getting more use lately (it was originally a tool for research students to use so it has a very limited UI as it is today).

At the moment it just uses the column order/name that is used in the file save/load, which is why fields don't necessarily line up with where they appear in the UI, (e.g. if we add a new field relating to heat today, it will might end up at the end of the columns in the file structure).  This makes it easy to read in the script changes, as it lets the tool just borrow those existing functions from the save/load methods, but it is not so easy to understand.  There are also some fields that are just a index number that relate to another property in the preset list and things like that which are difficult to work out without a bit of trial and error.

One idea from another user at our conference was for us to possibly use the spreadsheet tool to help construct the script.  I think this might be the easiest way, as what we could do is allow you to select the airways and columns you want to change, then in that spreadsheet tool, make the adjustments and save it as a script entry with a name etc. so you could build up your scripts using that tool and then run them and output the results also to the spreadsheet tool but perhaps we should also keep the excel options there for more advanced tools built around them to still be able to work as they do today.

We will post here more when we start to work on it and that will be a great way to get some feedback as we develop the tool.

Regards,
Craig

[Fred_K]

Cheers Craig!

Perhaps another two small things I noticed that could perhaps be improved, if I remember them correctly:

(1) It would be nice if the chosen output fields for the "selected output" were saved, for convenience. Right now, it seems like all chosen fields are deselected when you exit the script window when clicking "OK". It's a bit inconvenient, because the list of selectable output parameters is quite large.

During the meeting with Daniel we agreed that linking the selected outputs to the "Saved Views" in the "Spreadsheet" tab would be a good idea - perhaps he has already done some work there.

(2) If there are any issues that come up when running a simulation, e.g. "Airway is getting too hot" during a heat sim, the running simulation is aborted and an error appears. There appears to be no way to abort a script once it is running and this error appears; instead, a notification appears with only the option to click "OK". Once "OK" is clicked, the next script in the sequence is run. This forces you to potentially click through all of the remaining scripts, unless you force-stop Ventsim.

While such issues of course should not occur, when it does happen for some reason, and scripts are run where multiple parameters are varied (leading to tens, hundreds, ... of scripts), then this is highly inconvenient. The addition of a "Cancel" or "Abort" button to cancel running the script file would be nice.

Best regards,

Fred