7. GridPath User Interface¶

The GridPath user interface (UI) makes it possible to interact with the platform without relying on the command line. We will be distributing compiled versions of the UI for Windows and Mac. You can also build the UI from source (instructions are in the README.md file in GridPath’s ui package). Here we provide instructions for how to use the UI.

7.2. Settings¶

Using the UI requires that several settings be specified. To do so, open the UI and go to the Settings screen (top right corner of the navigation bar). You will see two tables, one for UI Settings and another one for Solvers.

In the UI Settings table, you must specify the directory where scenarios will be written, the GridPath database file to use, and the directory of your GridPath Python environment. In the Solvers table, you must specify up to three different solvers and the location of the solver executables that the UI can then use to solve scenarios.

7.2.1. UI Settings¶

Scenarios Directory¶

The Scenarios Directory can be any folder in your file system. To select one click the Browse button in the ‘Change to’ row of the Scenarios Directory table and select a folder. For the changes to take effect, you will need to restart the UI. The ‘Status’ row will warn you if this is the case (it will show ‘not set’ if you haven’t selected a scenarios directory yet, ‘restart required’ if you need to restart for the selected directory to be recognized by the UI, or ‘set’ if a directory has been selected and no further action is required.

GridPath Database¶

The GridPath UI uses a GridPath database file to manage inputs and outputs. This database must conform to the GridPath database schema and be pre-populated with input data. You can then use the UI to create and run scenarios, and to view results. You must select the database file to use in the Settings screen by clicking the Browse button in the ‘Change to’ row of the GridPath table and selecting the database file to use. For any changes to take effect, you will need to restart the UI. The ‘Status’ row will warn you if this is the case (it will show ‘not set’ if you haven’t selected a database file yet, ‘restart required’ if you need to restart for the selected database file to be recognize by the UI, or ‘set’ if a database file has been selected and no further action is required.

GridPath Python Environment Directory¶

The GridPath UI uses your GridPath Python installation. Before using it, you must install GridPath using the instructions in Installation. In particular, you must point the UI to your GridPath Python environment directory PATH/TO/PYTHON/ENV (see Python Virtual Environment). To select the directory click the Browse button in the ‘Change to’ row of the Scenarios Directory table and select the Python environment folder. For the changes to take effect, you will need to restart the UI. The ‘Status’ row will warn you if this is the case (it will show ‘not set’ if you haven’t selected an environment directory yet, ‘restart required’ if you need to restart for the selected directory to be recognized by the UI, or ‘set’ if a directory has been selected and no further action is required.

Note

The GridPath UI server will not work until the Python environment directory has been selected and the UI restarted.

7.2.2. Solvers¶

You must tell the GridPath UI where the executables are located for solvers that you want to use to solve scenarios. You can have the UI use up to three different solvers at a time. Select a solver name from the drop-down menu in the ‘Change to’ row for one of the three solvers and then find the executable for that solver using the Browse button in the respective row. The ‘Status’ row will warn you if a restart is required for either the solver name or executable value to take effect.

7.3. Home¶

The GridPath UI Home screen provides an overview of UI settings status and the scenario status via four different tables.

The UI Status table provides information about whether the UI server is running and whether the scenarios directory, GridPath database, and GridPath Python environment directory have been set (see UI Settings).

The Solver Status table provides information about whether the user has selected solvers and their respective executables (see Solvers).

The Run Status table provides information about whether the user’s GridPath’s scenarios have been run and are complete, and if any have encountered errors.

The Validation Status table provides information about whether the user’s GridPath’s scenarios have been validated, and, if so, whether any have been found to be invalid.

7.4. Scenarios¶

The GridPath UI Scenarios screen provides a list of all scenarios the user has created along with their status (validation status and run status) and options to navigate to viewing detailed scenario information (see Scenario Detail) via the View Detail button and, if the scenario is complete, to viewing the scenario results (see Scenario Results) via the View Results button. The View Results button is available only if the scenario ‘Run Status’ is ‘complete.’ The information in the status columns is color-coded depending on the value. You can navigate to the New Scenario screen by clicking on the New Scenario button at the top of the scenarios list (in addition to via the navigation bar).

7.4.1. Scenario Detail¶

The Scenario Detail screen is accessed from the main Scenario Screen and is a gateway to more detailed information about a scenario, including its setup, inputs, status, and results. At the top of this screen, you can find buttons for deleting a scenario or editing its setup (i.e. its features and subscenario selections).

The Scenario Status table shows the validation and run status for the scenario. The table includes columns for the current status and for the associated action and status detail, i.e. the action to take and detail to view vary depending on the current status.

Below the Scenario Status table are various tables that include information about the scenario setup including its features and subscenarios (grouped by theme/feature) as well as the solver settings to use to run the scenario.

Deleting a Scenario¶

Deleting the scenario will currently remove it from the scenarios list and clear all results associated with it in the database; it does not currently delete the scenario directory on disk (but that’s likely what we will do in the future).

Editing a Scenario¶

Editing the scenario allows the user to change its setup but not its name. Note that editing an existing scenario will remove prior results from the database (but not yet from disk). On the wishlist to implement ASAP is the ability to edit the scenario name and description (without having to delete prior results). We will likely do that via a separate button next to the scenario name/description.

Validating a Scenario¶

GridPath includes functionality to test the validity of a scenario’s setup and inputs. Click the Validate Scenario button in the Validation Status row of the Scenario Status table to validate or re-validate the scenario. If errors are found, you will be able to click on a View Errors button in the Detail column to see a table with the validation errors.

Running a Scenario¶

If a scenario is not yet ‘complete,’ you will be able to run it by clicking the Run Scenario button in the Run Status row of the Scenario Status table. The scenario status should then change to ‘launching’ and then ‘running.’ Once the scenario is running, you will be able to stop the run via the Stop Run button in the Action column and to view the scenario log via the View Log button in the Detail column.

Viewing Scenario Results¶

If the scenario status in the Scenario Status is ‘complete,’ you will be able to click on a View Results button in the Detail column to switch to the scenario results screen. See Scenario Results.

Clearing a Scenario¶

If the scenario status in the Scenario Status is ‘complete,’ you will be able to click on a Clear Results button in the Action column to clear all scenario results, including validation information.

Scenario Run Solver Info¶

The Solver Options table below the Scenario Status table contains information about which solver will be used to run the scenario and what solver options will be requested.

Viewing Scenario Setup and Inputs¶

The Features table below the Solver Options table contains information about which GridPath features are requested by the scenario. The various tables below (e.g. Temporal Settings, Load Zone Settings, System Load, Generation and Storage Capacity, and so on, contain information about the data inputs used by the scenario. Each row of these tables has the name of the subscenario used in the Value column. You can see the description of the subscenario and the underlying data by clicking on the row’s View Description and View Inputs buttons respectively.

7.4.2. Scenario Results¶

The Scenario Results view can be accessed if a scenario is ‘complete’ by clicking on the View Results button in either the main Scenarios view or the Scenario Detail view.

This view includes a row for results tables and a row for results plots that can be viewed in the UI.

You can click on the Show Table or Show Plot buttons to view the table or plot, and on the Download Data button to download the underlying data to a CSV file. For the plots, you will usually also use the dropdown menus to slice out a particular set of data (e.g. the new capacity built in a certain zone or the operations for a particular generator in a particular period and/or stage). You can also set the size of the y-axis by using the Ymax (MW) input field.

Tables will be shown separately. You can add any number of plots to the view. Clear them with the code:Clear Plots button at the beginning of the plots row.

Plots are interactive. You can hover to view detail on the underlying data, pan, and zoom in and out. You can also download the plot image via the disk icon. You can hide individual plot items by clicking on the respective legend label. The whole legend can be hidden by double-clicking on the right side of the plot where the legend is located.

7.5. Scenarios Comparison¶

The GridPath UI Scenarios Comparison screen provides functionality to compare the setup/inputs and results for an arbitrary number of scenarios.

7.5.1. Scenario Selection¶

The main Scenarios Comparison screen is where the user must choose a ‘Base’ scenario (select one scenario in the Choose Base Scenario column of the Scenario Selection table) and any number of scenarios to compare to the ‘base’ scenario (select any number of scenarios in the Select Scenarios to Compare column of the Scenario Selection table). You can then click on either the Compare Inputs or the Compare Results directory to view a comparison of the inputs and results of the selected scenarios respectively.

7.5.2. Comparing Scenario Inputs¶

When comparing scenario inputs, you will see the same tables as in the Scenario Detail screen (see Scenario Detail) but including all the scenarios selected in the scenario-selection screen. In each table, the ‘Base’ scenario you selected will be on the left, followed by columns for each of the selected scenarios to compare. In each table for each scenario to compare, differences from the ‘Base’ scenario will be highlighted.

7.5.3. Comparing Scenario Results¶

When comparing scenario results, you will see the same view as in the Scenario Results screen (see Scenario Results) containing a row for results tables and a row for results plots available to view in the UI. These tables, however, will contain the results for all scenarios selected; results for the ‘Base’ scenario will be listed first, followed by those for the scenarios to compare. Similarly, clicking on a Show Plots button will display the plots for each of the scenarios selected, with that for the ‘Base’ scenario at the top. Note that the available options in the drop-down menus of the plot will depend on the ‘Base’ scenario (e.g. if you select a scenario with a single load zone as the ‘Base’ scenario but are comparing to a scenario with two load zones, only the ‘Base’ scenario load zone will be available in the Select Zone drop-down menu).

7.6. New Scenario¶

The GridPath UI New Scenario screen makes it possible to create a new scenario via the UI. This view looks similar to the Scenario Detail screen (see Scenario Detail) but the user must populate the values in the various scenario-detail tables. You can pre-populate all fields based on an existing scenario by selecting a scenario name and clicking the Populate from Scenario button, the adding a name and description for the new scenario, and changing any inputs from the pre-populated values.