Working with external data : Loading and saving scenario files

Once you have specified the data for all the file parameters, you can save that data in a scenario file (extension .spf, sometimes referred to as a parameter metafile). This file does not necessarily contain the actual data, it can contain references to the files that actually contain the data. It is in an XML format, allowing it to be examined and edited if required.

The normal way to save the scenario file is to click the 'diskette' button in the top-right corner of the file parameter dialogue, by the caption TOP LEVEL. This will create a file containing information for all the parameters in the model. You can save a scenario file for just the parameters in a submodel, by clicking on the 'diskette' button to the right of the caption for that submodel. This file will include the information for all submodels under that one in the hierarchy.

When the scenario file is saved, the locations of any data files referred to will be included as relative paths. This means that if you move the scenario file to a new location, for instance when copying the model and its data to another computer, the data files must be in the same location relative to the scenario file (e.g., in the same folder) as they were when it was set up.

To load a scenario file, click the 'open folder' button to the right of the submodel caption. This action will not load the data itself; that only happens when you click the 'tick' beside a parameter's entry field, or hit the 'OK' button at the bottom of the dialogue. If you have made separate scenario files for submodels, it is important that they are loaded into the same submodels for which they were saved, otherwise Simile will not be able to find the file parameter elements that they refer to, since it will be looking in the wrong submodel or at the wrong level. Loading a scenario file overwrites any information that was already present for the parameters mentioned in the file. This allows you to have one set of values for a submodel saved as part of a top-level scenario file, but still load different values just for that submodel from another scenario file.

In: Contents >> Working with external data >> The file parameter dialogue