Saving or Loading Simulation Details

Simulation Details. What are They?

By the Simulation Details (or Sim Details), we mean all the user input on the Model/Data, Sim Overview and Closure/Shocks pages of the tabbed notebook. This includes the model, the names of all data files, all the information on the Sim Overview page, all the names of files shown on the Closure/Shock page.

The Simulation Details also includes options from the Run Preferences menu which affect how applications are run and solved. This includes options whether or not to Rerun the Base Case with the Policy Closures and whether or not to use SOL files for Shocks.

Saving and Loading Simulation Details

You can save and load Simulation Details via the File menu or via buttons on the Sim Overview page.

It is important for serious users of RunDynam to know when to Load and when to Save Simulation Details files. Since the standard Simulation Details file is saved whenever you successfully run part of a job (see below), you may not need to explicitly save these files very often. But you will need to load them frequently, especially if you have several different applications in the same directory.

Saving Simulation Details

When you Save your sim details (via the Save Sim Details As… item under the File menu, or using the Save Sim Details button on the Sim Overview page), you will be prompted for the name of the saved file. The standard name (as described below) will be suggested in the file dialog box. But you can choose another name if you wish. The prompt will indicate that you are saving a file with suffix .DS1. In fact, two files are saved with suffixes .DS1 and .DS2 (Dynamic Simulation).

If you have set up all the user input required for a simulation, it may be a good idea to save it. Then, if you change to working with another model or another simulation (perhaps with the same model but over different years or with different closures or shocks), you can easily return to the state you are currently in simply by loading the saved situation.

Standard Name for Simulation Details files

The standard name for these Simulation Details files is made up from the

Model name (as in the Model part of the Model/Data page), and

•either all three Sim Names (if you are rerunning the base with policy closures) or just the first and third Sim Names otherwise. The standard letters B (Base), R (Rerun) and P (Policy) are added after these Sim Names.

•Suppose, for example, that you are using TABLO-generated program MYMODEL.EXE to solve the model and that the 3-character Sim Names (as shown on the Sim Overview page) for the Base, Rerun and Policy are BS1, BR1 and PL1 respectively. Then the standard name for the first of these two Sim Details (or Dynamic Simulation) files will be MYMODEL-BS1B-BR1R-PL1P.DS1 if you are rerunning the Base with the Policy closures, or will be MYMODEL-BS1B-PL1P.DS1 otherwise. [Prior to Version 3.0 (November 2003), this standard name was always BS1PL1.DS1. We now include the Model name and the Sim Name for the Rerun. The standard name was changed for Version 3.0 to be similar to the current one, except that the Model name and the dashes - were not included then.]

Standard Simulation Details File is Saved When you Run a Job

When you run any job (simulation or spreadsheet job), RunDynam automatically saves the simulation details in a Simulation Details file with the standard name (as described above). This name is used even if you have also stored the simulation details using a different name. Also RunDynam stores a record of your run (when each job finished and the time, date and size of all files created) in its Record of Runs files.

Simulation Description File

You can also record a description of the simulation in a Simulation Description File. These files have the standard name (as described above) but with suffix .DS0 .

Saving Simulation Details Does not Save Contents of Files

Note that, unlike archiving (where the actual files are stored), saving Simulation Details just stores the names of the files, not the actual files.

Loading Simulation Details

Whenever you load a Simulation Details file, all the Simulation Details (that is, user inputs on the Model/Data, Sim Overview and Closure/Shocks pages) are returned to the state they were in when the Simulation Details file was last saved. [You may have saved it explicitly. Or it may have been saved when you ran part of the application (see above).]

If you have several different complete applications in the same directory (for example, several different sets of Policy Shocks), you should switch between them using the Load Sim Details menu items (on the File menu) or buttons (on the Sim Overview page). When you do that, the records of runs (times and dates) is also loaded and used to tell you how far the results are up-to-date. Do not simply change the Sim Name on the Sim Overview page, since doing that does not load the record of runs and of when files were created. Examples should help to make this clear.

When you load information from a Simulation Details file, you can load all or just some. In particular, you can choose to load just one or two columns on the Closure/Shocks page (for example, just the Policy Closures column). This is important if you are managing several different complete applications in the same directory, as an example shows.

If you want to load just parts of the Closure/Shocks page, you need to click on the item Load just the following parts of the Closure/Shocks page shown on the Which parts to load? Form you are shown. Then you need to click the relevant check boxes below this item to select the columns you wish to load.

The Sim Name for the Base must also cover the all user input which affects the Base -- that includes the information on the Model/Data page, as well as the information in the Base Closures and Base Shocks columns on the Closure/Shocks page. Hence, if you are changing the starting data or the model, you should choose a different Sim Name for the Base. For example, if you have two sets of starting data which specify different values of the Armington parameters (or other parameters), you should choose different Base Sim Names if you wish to preserve both sets of results in the same directory. When you load Simulation Details, you can load just the model/data part. You may need to do that if you have two applications in the same directory which start from different data.

Change in Sim Details Files with Version 3.15 (November 2006)

The structure of the .DS2 part of a Sim Details file necessarily changed with Version 3.15 (November 2006) in order for these files to be able to store details from the Common and CMFSTART rows on the Closure/Shocks page. This causes problems if older versions (Version 3.14 or earlier) of this program try to read Sim Details saved with Version 3.15 or later. A further change with Version 3.18 (April 2007) was made to try to minimise these problems.

URL of this topic: www.copsmodels.com/webhelp/rundynam/hc_saveloaddsi.htm

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