SEQ File Format - Making your own SEQ files

SEQ files are small text files which contain a list of SL4 file names for ViewSOL to open as group. The main use of SEQ files is in Time Series Mode, but they can also be used simply to automate the opening of a group of solution files which will be viewed in the normal way (see end of this section).

Usually SEQ files are produced by some other GEMPACK program, such as RunDynam. You can make them yourself with a text editor to gain further flexibility. For example, this is one way you can make ViewSOL show you the difference between two comparative static solutions. You could also make your own SEQ file to compare two forecast sequences differing only by certain parameter settings -- RunDynam does not set up this automatically for you.

An SEQ file contains the names of solution (SL4) files which ViewSOL is to read in. There are two main sorts of SEQ file, containing either one or two series of solutions. With one series of solutions the SEQ file looks like this:

5 1

year1.sl4

year2.sl4

year3.sl4

year4.sl4

year5.sl4

The first line of the SEQ file consists of two numbers. The first number shows the number of solutions per sequence. The second number normally (see end of section) shows the number of sequences (1 or 2). Then the file names are listed in order. If full path name is not given, the directory is assumed to be that in which the SEQ file is located.

With 2 sequences, the SEQ file looks like this:

5 2

year1b.sl4

year2b.sl4

year3b.sl4

year4b.sl4

year5b.sl4

year1c.sl4

year2c.sl4

year3c.sl4

year4c.sl4

year5c.sl4

That is, all solution files in the first sequence are listed first, followed by all those in the second sequence. ViewSOL always refers to the first sequence as "base", the second as "policy". The following SEQ file could be used to view the difference between two comparative static solutions:

1 2

sim1.sl4

sim2.sl4

The interpretation is that SIM1 and SIM2 are respectively the base and policy solution corresponding to Year 1 of a sequence of length 1.

Conversely, the following SEQ file could be used to view the total effect of 2 sets of shocks:

2 1

sim1.sl4

sim2.sl4

The interpretation is that SIM1 and SIM2 correspond to Years 1 and 2 of a base solution sequence. If you chose Cumulative view, the final column of numbers would show the compound effect from both simulations.

SEQ file format for normal (not Time Series) mode

SEQ files can also be used simply to automate the opening of a group of solution files which will be viewed in the normal way.

In this case, the first line of the SEQ file consists of two numbers. The first number shows the number of solutions to be opened. The second number is a zero. Then the file names are listed in order. If full path name is not given, the directory is assumed to be that in which the SEQ file is located.

The following SEQ file could be used to view 3 comparative static solutions together:

3 0

sim1.sl4

sim2.sl4

sim3.sl4

If your model has levels results, the above SEQ file could result in 12 solutions being opened ! Use the File..Options command to prevent this.

URL of this topic: www.copsmodels.com/webhelp/viewsol/hc_seqfiles.htm

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