Getting started

Source can be launched from your Windows™ start menu. The standard location is:

Start » All Programs » eWater Source n.n.n » Source

The folder containing Source also has shortcuts to various online documentation, including this user guide.

Toolkit login

When you open Source for the first time, you will be prompted to enter your Toolkit login credentials (as shown in Figure 1):

• Enable the I accept the terms in the Licence Agreement) checkbox. Refer to note below;
• If you have a Toolkit account, enter your credentials and click Login;
• If you do not have a Toolkit account, enter the credentials you wish to keep and click Register; or
• Click Cancel to exit from Source.

You must also enter proxy settings if your computer is located behind a proxy and you are unable to login. Contact your IT Department because Source may be being blocked by a local firewall. 

Figure 1. Toolkit Login

If you are unable to login because of firewall issues, an auto-generated bypass code allows you to work offline. In this case, the dialog shown in Figure 2 appears.

Figure 2. Toolkit Login, Connection error

Follow these steps to generate a bypass code in this dialog:

• Enter your toolkit credentials in their respective fields and click Get Usage Code; This copies a code (called the Usage code) to your computer's clipboard and opens your browser to a Toolkit webpage;
• Carry out the steps outlined in Figure 3. Note that you will need a working network connection to access this website;
• Copy the bypass code generated in the Toolkit website (Ctrl+C) and paste it in the Enter By-pass Code field in Figure 2;
• Click Login to start using Source. 

Figure 3. Toolkit website, bypass code

Figure 4. Toolkit Login, Offline

Once logged in, the Source splash screen (Figure 5) appears, which provides shortcuts to various actions in Source, including:

• Creating new projects and scenarios. The commands found here are synonyms for File » New » Project... and File » New » Scenario..., and New Scenario on the File toolbar;
• Opening recent projects. You can also find a list of recent projects at File » [recent documents];
• Community news with related links; and
• Accessing troubleshooting and other useful materials using the Support / Feedback link. Note that you must have a working Internet connection for this to work.

To skip the splash screen altogether and go directly to the main screen next time Source is launched, disable the Don’t show this again checkbox at the bottom left of the screen. Display of this screen can be toggled using the same checkbox (choose Help » Splash Screen to access this splash screen).

Figure 5. Source splash screen

Main screen

Once open, you can see that Source follows the user interface conventions of a standard Microsoft Windows™ application (shown in Figure 6). For example:

Quitting Source

You can quit Source by doing either of the following:

• Choose File » Exit...; or

• Press Alt+F4 on your keyboard.

You are reminded to save your project (Figure 7). Click Yes to save your project and then quit, No to quit without saving your project, or Cancel to return to Source.

Figure 7. Exit confirmation

Projects and scenarios

Projects act as 'wrappers' holding a collection of one or more scenarios. Refer to Working with projects and scenarios for more information.

Saving your work

Save your work by doing either of the following:

• Choose File » Save;
• Click Save Project on the File toolbar.

If you have not saved your project previously, choose File » Save As and you will be prompted to name your project (Figure 8). Source uses the Windows file extension ".rsproj" or ".rsproj.xml" to identify its project files. Saving a project automatically saves all the scenarios stored within the project.

Figure 8. Save project

Source uses editors which are tailored to the needs of the main scenario types. There are three main editors, known as the Geographic, Schematic and Tabular editors, which support the catchments, management and operations scenario types respectively. These editor-scenario type associations are not absolute and you will often use multiple editors within a given project. For example, you can use the Schematic Editor to define the model of a river system for both operations and management scenario types. Details for each of these editors are available at Geographic Editor, Schematic Editor and Tabular Editor. You can also view scenarios on a background map image using the Map tab.

Components of the main screen

Project Explorer

The Project Explorer (Figure 9) allows you to manage model components using a combination of the menu bar, the Project Hierarchy, the Model Parameters area, and pop-up menus. For an active scenario, clicking an item in the Schematic or Geographic Editor highlights it in the Project Hierarchy.

Project Hierarchy

The Project Hierarchy displays a structural breakdown of the project. The type of display will depend on the view selected within the View Type pop-up menu on the Project Explorer toolbar. All view options will display at least the project and scenarios within the project. The Default View, which is shown on the left side in Figure 10, displays individual elements that make up a model. The Parameter View displays all the recordable parameters for the model. The Geographic View displays elements of the geographic scenario.

Using the contextual menu (as shown in Figure 9), for a selected node/link, you can set parameter recording, edit and rename it.

Figure 10. View type menu options

Model parameters

The Model Parameters area (refer to Figure 9) shows which parameters will be recorded for the scenario element (node, link, catchment etc) that is currently highlighted in the Project Hierarchy. The indicators have the following meanings:

•   Every parameter at this level and below will be recorded; or
•   No parameters at this level and below will be recorded.
•   Some (but not all) parameters at this level and below will be recorded.

To change which parameters are recorded, first select an element in either the Project Hierarchy or Model Parameters area, then use either the Recording Options pop-up menu on the Project Explorer toolbar, or the contextual menu to change the setting. Note that these commands are hierarchical in nature and affect both the selected element and its logical children as displayed in the visual hierarchy. You can also define a set of default recording options to be applied to all of your projects. See Recording Manager defaults.

Data Sources

The Data Sources tab allows you to view and manage time series at one location in Source. When time series are added using the Data Sources Explorer, they are available for use throughout Source. For more details on using this, refer to Specifying data inputs.

Function Manager

The Function manager panel allows you to create, manage and maintain all functions and expressions defined in Source. Just as all data in the Data Sources Explorer is available throughout Source, all functions and expressions added in the Function manager can be used in the same way.

Node Palette

The Node Palette contains a list of icons representing the nodes that are supported by Source. To create a node-link network, drag icons from this palette onto the Schematic Editor’s drawing surface.

Layer Manager

The Layer Manager (Figure 11) is mainly associated with the Geographic Editor. It is visible by default when you create a new catchments scenario. Choose View » Layer Manager if the Layer Manager is not visible. You can add new layers, and move layers up and down in order of visibility. The checkbox next to a layer’s name indicates that the layer is visible in the Geographic Editor. Note that any layers that are added or removed are not persisted in the scenario.

Figure 11. Layer manager

Recording Manager

The Recording Manager displays a list of all the recorded results from the model run or runs. Each model run has its own tab. You can sort the results by clicking the column headings. The associated with this window gives quick access to common functions.

Log Reporter

The Log Reporter displays any errors, warnings or information messages resulting from user actions, or events that have occurred when running a scenario. You can choose to display or hide different types of events by clicking the Errors, Warnings, or Info tabs at the bottom of the Log Reporter.

Chart Recording

Chart Recording allows you to compare the results of different scenario runs. You can change certain parameters in a scenario to see how the output is affected. Refer to Chart Recording Manager for more information on this.

Working with the Source window

Just as with standard Microsoft applications, you can adjust panels within the Source window. This provides great flexibility when working with very large models. Refer to Working with the application window for details.

About feature editors

A feature editor window allows you to define various parameters for nodes and links. It opens when you double click on components in the Schematic Editor. You can also open a feature editor by right-clicking on the node or link and choosing Edit from the contextual menu.

Each node or link type supports different parameters, so the exact structure of feature editors varies according to the type of node or link being manipulated. However, the controls shown in Figure 12 are common to many feature editors.

The left panel lists all parameters associated with the node or link. You can also add a note to a node or link to indicate a specific feature for example, which may affect its behaviour during a scenario run. This note is indicated as an exclamation mark on the component's icon in the Schematic Editor. It also appears in the Recording Manager after a scenario run. To include a note, right click on the component's icon in the feature editor and choose Add Note. This is shown in Figure 15.

Contextual menus can be accessed by right-clicking on various elements in the user interface. In some cases, choices in contextual menus duplicate those in toolbars and the main menu structure. In others, the contextual menus are the only way to access a particular function. All contextual menus available in Source are shown with the relevant feature editor or graphic;

Figure 12. Feature editor (common controls)

Other behaviour which is shared by a number of feature editors includes:

• Parameters applicable to a node or link may be grouped according to related purposes;
• Some user interface elements are only enabled if their prerequisites have been met;
• The ability to search for elements in the hierarchical list, with the result displaying all instances of the query (both parent and child if applicable). Notice that when you enter the search criteria (as shown in Figure 14), the results are displayed in blue. In this case, the term ‘flow’ appears in both the parent and child; and
• When multiple values can be entered for a single parameter, only one value can be adjusted at a time. A highlight (normally blue) indicates the field being manipulated. To edit a different field in this table, click the mouse pointer in the target field.

Figure 14. Inflow node (Search functionality)

Many feature editors support loading parameter information from a file. Where present, the Import... button can be used to load parameters into a feature editor whereas the corresponding Export... button will save the table’s current values to an external file. Additionally, as an alternative to entering or importing discrete parameter settings, the feature editors for many nodes allow for the node’s behaviour to be defined via an arithmetic expression or function (refer to Function Manager).

About notes

You can include a text based message associated with a node, link or function, which can be either:

• Informational;
• Warning; or
• An error.

Each of the different message types has a different icon. Figure 15 shows an example of an informational note added at an Inflow node.

Figure 15. Notes, Overview

Refer to Adding notes to nodes and links for adding notes to nodes and links. For function, refer to Adding a note to a function.

A summary of all the notes configured in a scenario can be viewed using View » Notes. For the example shown in Figure 16, the Inflow1 node, the $AllocGS function and the Default Link #1 link have notes associated with them.

Figure 16. Notes, Summary

Once all the notes have been added and the scenario has been run, the Schematic Editor shows all the nodes that have notes configured on them. Figure 17 shows two nodes with informational notes, one with a warning note, and one error note.

Figure 17. Schematic Editor, Notes

About piecewise linear editors

Piecewise linear editors are used in a number of places within Source. They allow you to arbitrarily define complex relationships in two dimensions. A typical use is a relationship between inflow (on the X-axis, or abscissa) and outflow (on the Y-axis, or ordinate). As the name suggests, piecewise linear editors are formed by concatenating line segments. The number of coordinate-pairs entered into any piecewise linear editor, and the comparative simplicity or complexity of the resulting relationship "curve", is up to you.

In most cases, piecewise linear editors adhere to the following constraints and conventions:

• The origin is (0,0) and there is no need for extrapolation in the negative direction along the X-axis. If (0,0) is missing from the data set, it may be assumed;
• Interpolation can be used to extrapolate the Y-value for any intermediate X-value;
• The right-most line segment projects linearly to infinity and can be used to extrapolate the Y-value for any X-value along that line. One exception to this rule occurs in the case of BigMod flow routing where the Y-value corresponding with the largest value of X in the table is used for all larger values of X (ie, the data points in the table are treated as though they define the left-hand edge of a histogram bar); and
• Mass balance is respected. For example, losses cannot exceed inflows, so all loss values are clipped to inflows. Similarly, negative volumes are untenable so any projection returning a negative number will also be clipped to zero.

In general, you will avoid problems if you adhere to the following guidelines:

• You should always include an explicit origin of (0,0). This avoids the need for the model to extrapolate in the negative direction along the X-axis. It also avoids any potential problems which might arise if the model silently assumes an origin of (0,0);
• X-values should always be in monotonically increasing order. In the current implementation, an X-value that is entered out of order is highlighted in red until a Y-value is entered, after which Source re-orders the table. You can use this feature to add interstitial coordinates to a table by adding new (X,Y) coordinates to the last row and waiting for the table to re-order;
• Y-values should also increase monotonically. Be cautious if you need to violate this guideline, and especially cautious if the right-most line segment has a negative slope;
• The right-most coordinate pair should lie beyond your most extreme known value. This avoids the need for the model to extrapolate in the positive direction along the X-axis, and also means that you do not need to remember which piecewise linear editors use linear extrapolation of the right-most line segment vs those which project the right-most Y-value to infinity;
• All values should be sensible. For example, there is no point in entering coordinate-pairs that violate mass balance (eg. a loss exceeding inflows); and
• If your model employs optimised ordering, keep your piecewise linear editors to as few data-points as possible. Complex curves usually increase run-time and can sometimes lead to infeasible solutions. Refer to the chapter on Ordering.

Working with date-pickers

Date-pickers are used in a number of places within Source. They are a combination of an editable text field and a pop-up calendar. Figure 18 shows the relationship between the various components.

You can edit a date directly by selecting either the Day, Month or Year element within the text field (you cannot select the day of the week). Once an element has been selected, you can also change the selection by using the left and right arrow keys. You can adjust an element’s value by using the up and down arrow keys or by entering a new numeric value. Note that you also use numeric values for the Month element. For example, typing "7" changes the Month element to "July".

Clicking the disclosure arrow at the right of the text field displays a calendar. Within the calendar, you can:

• Change the month, year, decade or century by clicking repeatedly on the current year field;
• Change the month using the Last month and Next month buttons;
• Change the selected date using the arrow keys. The left and right arrow keys adjust the date by one day at a time whereas the up and down arrow keys adjust the date by one week at a time; and
• Select a date by clicking on the day. You can also select "today" by clicking the unnamed button at the lower, left of the calendar.

Selecting a date, pressing return, or clicking outside of the calendar’s confines closes the calendar.