VSI Reports

Another important feature of the Visual Solution Import (VSI) tool is the ability to create reports from external software results. It uses the same framework for querying and retrieving information directly from the raw output files of the supported dispatch solution software. These are the raw native software output files. No intermediate files, user intervention or format modification is required. User may need to configure Deep-Editor to currently read files in terms of file separator, comma character, date format only.

VSI Report Configuration (Templates)

The current version support only predefined report templates (a GUI to create or customized templates is currently in the future development list). The report is created using a configuration template (also called vsi-mapping file). This file defines:

• All fields to be read from external software (in some cases the location and name of the different output files).

• The filter information: reports do not necessarily show all the results in output files. Filters can be defined to display filtered values only.

• Chart information: x-axis and y-axis fields, series fields, chart type, summary operations and others.

The template framework is quite comprehensive, and many customized reports can be configured. Current version of DeepEdit is distributed with the following ready-to-use free templates:

• PLP basic report: Generation dispatch, Nodal Prices, Hydro Storage Levels and other basic outputs.

• PLEXOS-ST: simple report to show hourly output for generation, nodal prices, regional load, reserve provisions and others.

• PLEXOS-MT: simple demonstrative MT-phase report to show generation dispatch, region load and prices.

• PLEXOS-LT: simple demonstrative MT-phase report to show generation dispatch, region load and prices.

• PET: A comprehensive PET report to show various outputs and summaries. The reports Offer-Demand, Installed Capacity, Expected Generation, Dispatch, Flow, Load, Load Rate and Generation Profile.

The template files (xml files) are available in the “config” subfolder in the DeepEdit installation folder.

Default report template

Current version of DeepEdit only supports pre-defined report templates. The user can modify the xml files using any text editor (recommended Excel). However, the user can select the template to be used (for each software) from main DeepEdit configuration window. PET and PLEXOS default file location are illustrated in Figure 63. The path to files can be adjusted by users as desired. All templates are in the default “config” subfolder of the DeepEdit’s installation folder.

Figure 63. Configuring the default report templates location

For PLP, DeepEdit will (strictly) search for a report template in the following specific location:

DEEPEDIT_INSTALLATION_FOLDER/config/PLP-vsi_mapping.xml

Modifications must be entered directly to this file (recommended to backup file first).

Access to Visual import tool

The report creation tool can be accessed by selecting the VSI Report option in the Analysis Tools menu as shown in Figure 64.

Figure 64. VSI report from Analysis Tools menu

The VSI report creation is a straightforward process as it is guided by a convenient wizard. The user must define the following information:

• Define the type of external output software: Currently supported software sources include PLEXOS, PLP and PET (Chilean most popular dispatch commercial tools).

• Location of external output software files: Full path to the external software output folder (for PLP and PET) or output file (mdb or zip for PLEXOS).

The tabbed report will be added to the main DeepEdit pane area as shown in example in Figure 65.

The DeepEdit Visual Solution Import (vsi) tabbed reports always follow these general guidelines:

• The report opens in an additional tab in the "Database View" section. The name of the tab will match the name of the source file or folder.

• The view is divided into 2 different sections:

• Left-side: Chart area.

• Right-side: Tabular section.

Figure 65. Tabbed VSI report example (PLP output report)

The tabular section header allows the user to:

• Select the report (this will parse all required files). This operation may take a few minutes, depending on the size of the software output files.

• Select the value of the active filters.

• Sort the values alphabetically in each of the columns.

• Right-click operation.

The chart area menu allows the user to:

• Select the chart type: Area, Line, Column, Column Stacked, Pie are supported.

• Change the chronology of the results: Chronological and duration curves (or cumulative probability) order from highest to lowest.

• Select from various pre-defined look-and-feel options (color degradation).

The tabular section presents the following fields (columns):

• These are the values of the X-axis. If the axis consists of several fields, the value of each cell corresponds to the concatenation each value.

• Series: These are the values of the fields that determine the series.

• Range: Values (necessarily numerical) for each series corresponding to the domain points.

The chart area is always coordinated with the tabular section. It means, selection of reports and filters in the header of the table will always be reflected in the chart. The only exception applies when the query results are too big to be shown in chart area. DeepEdit will display a warning and user can cancel the chart update.

The user can select all rows and copy to clipboard by right-clicking anywhere on the tabular section. Users can also access clipboard operations by typing "ctrl + c" shortcut. The values passed to the OS clipboard are configured such that they can be pasted to MS Excel in columns and rows.