Toolbars

Menu Bar

The menu bar is the top line of the WEPS main screen. A description of each item on the menu bar is given below.

Project

The ‘Project’ menu is a drop down list of various computer operations pertaining to WEPS projects. The Project menu contains the following options:

New - allows user to create a new project from scratch (Ctrl-N).

Open... - allows user to open an existing project (Ctrl-O).

Save - saves the currently displayed project to its current file name (Ctrl-S).

Save As... - saves the currently displayed project under a different file name (Ctrl-A).

Set Run Location - allows the user to change the default Run Directory (Ctrl-U).

Delete Project - opens a file chooser to delete a WEPS project (Ctrl-P).

Delete Run - opens a file chooser to delete a WEPS run (Ctrl-D).

Delete Management Rotation File - opens a file chooser to delete a WEPS management file (Ctrl-M).

Delete IFC Soil File - opens a file chooser to delete a WEPS soil file (Ctrl-L).

Exit - exit the WEPS program (Ctrl-X).

Run

This allows the user to run WEPS using the current inputs specified on the WES main screen or to restore inputs from previous WEPS Runs. The ‘Run’ menu on the WEPS Main Screen displays the following options:

‘Make a WEPS Run’ - begin a WEPS simulation using the current selected inputs (Ctrl-R).

‘Make a Yield Calibration WEPS Run’ - begins a WEPS simulation running WEPS in “yield calibration mode”. See section titled “Making a WEPS Run” for more information on calibration runs (Ctrl-C).

‘Restore a WEPS Run’ - opens a list of previous WEPS runs to select and load the inputs used in a previous WEPS run (Ctrl-E).

ViewOutput

This menu allows the user to view output for the most recent (i.e., most current) WEPS run and previous WEPS runs.

‘Most Recent Run’ - clicking on this menu item opens a list of output options.

‘Run Summary’ - displays a brief output summary for the most recent WEPS run (Ctrl+Shift-S).

‘Crop Summary’ - displays a summary of yield parameters for the most recent WEPS run (Ctrl+Shift-C).

‘Management Summary’ - displays a summary of management operations for the most recent WEPS run (Ctrl+Shift-M).

‘Detailed Reports’ - displays a detailed output for the most recent WEPS run (Ctrl+Shift-R).

‘Debugging Reports’ - displays a screen to view additional output files from the most recent WEPS run (Ctrl+Shift-O).

‘Previous Run’ - clicking on this menu item opens the following list of output options.

‘Run Summary’ - opens a brief output summary of a previous WEPS run (Ctrl+Alt-S).

‘Crop Summary’ - opens a summary of yield parameters for a previous WEPS run (Ctrl+Alt-C).

‘Management Summary’ - opens a summary of management operations for a previous WEPS run (Ctrl+Alt-M).

‘Detailed Reports’ - opens the detailed output for a previous WEPS run (Ctrl+Alt-R).

‘Debugging Reports’ - displays a screen to view additional output files from a previous WEPS run (Ctrl+Alt-O).

‘Multiple Run Manager’ - opens a window displaying output information from multiple runs for ‘side-by-side’ comparisons of the runs. The “Run” menu at the top of the screen contains items that allow the user to add a directory of runs, or a single run. The user can also restore a selected run in WEPS so that its results can be viewed in more detail or modified for another run. The “Help” menu item allows the user to display version information about the Multiple Run Manager.

Configuration

The ‘ Configuration’ menu currently has only one item, ‘Edit Configuration’, which brings up a tabbed window with various configuration options for WEPS (Ctrl+Alt+E).

‘Executables’ - opens a tab that allows the user to select executable files and command-line arguments (see Appendix of the WEPS User Manual for the command-line argument definitions):

WindGen exe - enter the path and file name for the default Windgen executable or click the folder icon to display a file chooser.

WindGen cmd - enter the default Windgen command-line arguments (see Appendix for argument list).

WindGen db - enter the location for the Windgen database location or click the folder icon to display a file chooser.

WindGen idx - enter the location of the index file (used to generate list of Windgen stations) or click the folder icon to display a file chooser.

CliGen exe - enter the path and file name for the default Cligen executable or click the folder icon to display a file chooser.

CliGen cmd - enter the default Cligen command-line arguments (see Appendix for argument list).

CliGen db - enter the location for the Cligen database location or click the folder icon to display a file chooser.

CliGen idx - enter the location of the index file (used to generate list of Cligen stations) or click the folder icon to display a file chooser.

WEPS exe - enter the path and file name for the default WEPS executable or click the folder icon to display a file chooser.

WEPS cmd - enter the default WEPS command-line arguments (see Appendix for argument list).

WEPS Cal. cmd - enter the command-line arguments to be used for a yield calibration run (see Appendix for argument list).

‘Directories’ - opens a tab that allows the user to select the directories used for templates, skeleton files, databases, and projects by entering the path or clicking the folder icon to display a file chooser:

Man Template Open- enter the default directory for opening the management templates or click the folder icon to display a file chooser.

Man Template Save- enter the default directory for saving the management templates or click the folder icon to display a file chooser.

Man Skeleton - enter the default directory for the management skeleton files or click the folder icon to display a file chooser.

Man Op DB - enter the default directory for the management operation database files.

Crop DB - enter the default directory for the crop database files or click the folder icon to display a file chooser.

MCREW Dir - enter the default directory for MCREW configuration files or click the folder icon to display a file chooser.

Soil DB - enter either the default directory for “ifc” soil database files or the name of a SSURGO Microsoft Access database file, including the path or click the folder icon to display a file chooser. If an “ifc” directory is entered, the ‘Soil DB spec’ field below should be left blank.

Open MDB files with JDBC.- click the check box to open the SSURGO soil data in a Microsoft Access database (MDB) file with JDBC.

Projects Dir - enter the default directory for WEPS projects or click the folder icon to display a file chooser.

MCREW config - enter the default directory for MCREW configuration file or click the folder icon to display a file chooser.

MCREW Data Config. - enter the default file for MCREW configuration parameters or click the folder icon to display a file chooser.

SKEL Translations- enter the translation file for converting NRCS RUSLE2 "skeleton" files to WEPS files or click the folder icon to display a file chooser.

Report Image Filen...- enter the file name of the image to be displayed on the report files such as an agency logo or click the folder icon to display a file chooser.

‘Output’ - opens a tab that allows the user to set the following output options:

Reporting period for detailed submodel reports.

Flags for submodel reports, which give model developers and advanced users more detailed output than is available through the interface. See the Appendix for flag numbers to set for submodel reports.

‘Email’ - opens email configuration settings:

Settings

Send From: enter the email address of the sender.

Send to:

Comments: enter the email address of the recipient for comments.

Bug Reports: enter the email address for recipient for WEPS bug reports.

Outgoing settings

Click the button to select to either “Use SMTP server” or “Use default mail client.” For “Use SMTP server” - enter your mailhost SMTP server address. Clicking “Use default mail client” causes your default system mail client to be used for outgoing email from your WEPS application. This setting does not work for all clients.

‘Run’ - opens a tab with run options:

WEPS Run Length Mode - click a button to select a type of run length as either the NRCS method (which specifies a fixed number of cycles and is required for all “official” NRCS WEPS runs), use simulation run start and end dates on the main screen, or specify the use of rotation cycles on the main screen. If the NRCS method is selected, the run length can be entered asn the number of rotation cycles.

Alternative weather files - click the check box next to the name of a weather file type to use alternative weather files (e.g., measured wind data). The user will then be able to enter the file name and path in the ‘Location Information’ panel on the main WEPS screen.

File(s) to delete after running a simulation - Enter the name(s) of files that should be deleted after a simulation run. This is intended to reduce the number of files in the run directory. A list of multiple files should be delimited by commas or blank spaces.

‘Miscellaneous’ - opens a tab that allows the user to set the following:

Measurement Units- display either Metric or English units on WEPS screens.

Time steps per day for wind speed distribution- enter the number of time steps used for the daily distribution of simulated wind speed.

Display latitude and longitude fields- check box to display the latitude and longitude fields in the‘Location Information’ panel on the Main screen. Un-check the box to hide these fields.

Display state and county fields- check box to display the state and county fields in the ‘Location Information’ panel on the Main screen. Un-check the box to hide these fields.

Display elevation- check box to display the elevation field in the ‘Location Information’ panel on the Main screen. Un-check the box to hide this field.

Display use map button- check box to display the ‘Use Map’ button in the ‘Location Information’ panel on the Main screen. Un-check the box to hide this button.

Region slope is read only- check box to only display the simulation region slope and not allow it to be edited.

Enable full MCREW editing functionality in WEPS- check box to enable the full MCREW editing functionality in WEPS. Allows additional editing functionality of MCREW. This should be disabled for normal WEPS operation because of undesirable effects for WEPS operation. Un-check the box to disable this functionality. When this functionality is disabled, the MCREW File ‘Open’ and ‘Open Copy of Template’ menu items are disabled.

Allow estimations in the Soil UI- check box to enable the estimation of soil parameters in the user interface (UI) when they are missing from the soil database.

Do not display system locale warning at startup- check box to turn off the display of a warning when WEPS is installed in a non-US locale. To avoid problems, WEPS is always installed using the "US locale", regardless of the local PC settings. The followinf is an example of the warning message displayed if the box is not checked and WEPS is installed in a non-US locale.

"WEPS has detected that this machine is using the German (Germany) locale. WEPS uses the English (United States) locale. You do not need to change your machine's locale, but be aware that numbers will be formatted in the English (United States) style."

For more info about what a "locale" is, see:

www.microsoft.com/globaldev/DrIntl/faqs/Locales.mspx

Do not estimate missing soil values from SSURGO database- check box to disable the estimation of soil parameters in the user interface when they are missing from the soil database.

Organic matter fraction minimum- enter the minimum fraction of organic matter in the soil surface

Do not prompt to review warnings when restoring a run- check box to turn off warnings displayed from a previous run when it is restored.

Search Radius- enter the search radius for the climate station choice lists (kilometers or miles, depending upon the “Measurement Units” setting). The user usually will want the nearest station to their simulation site. The user may want to select a different station more typical of the climate for the field being simulated if the nearest station doesn’t meet their criteria. An example of not selecting the closest station might occur in mountainous areas where the nearest station does not always typify the climate for the simulated field.

Tooltip Delay: - sets the delay time for the initial appearance of the tooltip and for the dismissal of the tooltip box from the screen. The units are in milliseconds. To disable tooltip display, set the “Initial” value to 1000 (1 second) and the “Dismiss” value to zero.

‘Formats’ - opens a tab that allows the user to set the following format option:

Operation Date - click the down arrow to the right of the box displays a list of available formats for the operation date. The format is displayed on this tab, next to “Operation Date” when a format is selected.

At the bottom of the Configuration panel are three buttons:

OK - saves the changes for the current running instance of the user interface only and closes the window.

Save - saves any changes made in the configuration window permanently to the WEPS configuration file.

Help - opens general help for the configuration window.

Tools

This menu contain various tools available for use with WEPS, including:

‘Send Email’ - send email comments to WERU, providing the computer is connected to the Internet and the email configuration options are properly configured. The user can also attach current WEPS project and run files to the messages (Ctrl+Alt-S).

‘Display Wind Station’ - displays wind information for the selected WINDGEN station including wind parameters by month. Clicking the down arrow to the right of the station name displays a list of available wind stations from which to choose. The assumed wind speed threshold (see discussion below) for the calculations (m/s), the station elevation (m), and the average wind energy for the year (kJ/m^2/day) are also displayed. The following parameters are displayed for each month (Ctrl+Alt-W).

Winds > Threshold - the percentage of the time the wind is above the given threshold. This parameter will give the user an indication of the percentage of time winds are near or above erosive speeds and should only be used for general purposes. The actual threshold of wind erosion used in WEPS varies with the surface conditions.

Energy - the erosive wind energy greater than the given threshold (kJ/m2/day).

Monthly Percent - percentage of the annual erosive wind energy.

Preponderance - the prevalence of the prevailing wind erosion direction for the month (maximum ratio of parallel to perpendicular erosion forces). A preponderance value of 1.0 indicates no prevailing wind erosion direction. A value of 2.0 indicates a prevailing wind erosion direction, with wind erosion forces twice as great parallel as perpendicular to prevailing wind erosion direction.

Prevailing Wind Erosion Direction - displays the prevailing wind erosion direction for the month.

‘WEPS Diff’ - opens a window that allows a comparison of differences in two files.

Help

This menu contains for help options for WEPS, including:

‘‘Help Topics’ - displays a window containing the WEPS online help system (Ctrl+Alt+T).

‘User Guide’ - displays a copy of the PDF formatted WEPS User’s Guide (a PDF viewer must be installed on the computer for this function to work.

‘Welcome Wizard’ - Runs an initial configuration wizard that requests the user’s name and email address and sets them in the local configuration file.

‘About WEPS’ - displays the Build Date, Release Number, and Java Runtime Version used for WEPS (Ctrl+Alt+A).

Button Bar

At the top of the main WEPS window (below the menu bar) is a series of buttons with icons, designed to help the user in the operation of WEPS.

Project Operations

This button allows user to create a new WEPS project from scratch. This has the same function as selecting ‘New’ under ‘Project’ on the menu bar.

This button opens an existing WEPS project. This has the same function as selecting ‘Open’ under ‘Project’ on the menu bar.

This button saves the currently displayed WEPS project to its current file name. This has the same function as selecting ‘Save’ under ‘Project’ on the menu bar.

Run and Help

The ‘Run’ button begins a WEPS simulation run.

The ‘Reload’ button allows the user to “restore the inputs from a previous WEPS run” into the main WEPS interface window.

The ‘Email’ button allows the user to email comments to WERU, along with the contents of a WEPS project or WEPS run, if desired. Clicking the ‘Email’ button brings up a separate window (see below).

The user may enter the path/name of a file attachment manually (or select the “Attach Run” or “Attach Project” buttons to automatically zip the selected run or project directory) and then open the email client (either the built-in WEPS email client or the user’s default client, depending upon what is specified in the configuration file). The user may provide additional information within the email client as they see fit. If you are connected to the Internet and the email options are properly set in the configuration screen, clicking ‘Send’ will email the message to EWERU, along with any attached files, so that your inquiry can be answered.

The ‘ Mantis’ button allows the user to send electronically comments and/or bug reports to EWERU, , along with the contents of a WEPS project or WEPS run, if desired. Clicking the ‘Mantisl’ button brings up a separate window (see left).

The ‘Question’ button opens the general help system for WEPS.

The ‘ Context Help’ button provides help for a particular item on the WEPS screen. Clicking the ‘Context Help’ button on the tool bar and then clicking on the item on the screen for which help is desired brings up a help screen for that specific item.

Following the icon buttons, the current run name is displayed. If the run name is too long to fit on the button bar, it will be truncated at the end of the name. NOTE: The main WEPS interface screen can now be resized, so it is now possible for one to widen the screen to see more of a long run name.

These buttons display the Run, Management, Crop, Stir Energy and Detailed Report output screens respectively.

Runs Location

This panel is located immediately below the “Button Bar” on th Main WEPS screen.

This ‘ Set Run Location’ button allows the user to change the default WEPS Run Directory by popping up a modified file chooser window (see below).