forio.com - Upload Data Button Action

Basic Busine... 173 posts

Is there a help document for this? I assume that the source file has to be formatted in some way but I cannot figure that out.

Thank you,

Bill

posted 2 years ago

Billy Schoen... Administrator 255 posts

Hi Bill,

The upload data button action preforms the same actions that you can do on the

http://forio.com/simulate/bbsim/bbsimX/model/data/

page. For more specific help and context I will rely on Will.

Thanks!

Billy

posted 2 years ago

Basic Busine... 173 posts

Well. I never knew that was there. Fits the bill exactly.

Under, "You do not have initial data values stored (except for what is in the model). Click below to download a sample data set." is a download button that names "data.csv" as the file to download. Excel reports "Unable to read file". Opening "data.csv" with notepad reveals it to be an empty file.

Bill

posted 2 years ago

Basic Busine... 173 posts

Follow-on...

On /userpath/simpath/model/ there are three links - view model equations | edit model equations | import a new model. I suggest adding a "data" link.

Bill

posted 2 years ago

Will Glass-H... Administrator 216 posts

Hi Bill,

I very much apologize-- actually that feature (the sim author uploading data) is only available to Simulate Premium and above customers. (In general, features that allow authors to directly upload or work with files require Simulate Premium).

As a contrast, the "upload data" option in the interface designer is available for all simulations. This allows individual users (or facilitators) to upload data for their particular run or scenario.

We're updating our documentation with instructions for the upload data action. I'll post a note here later today with a link.

posted 2 years ago

Basic Busine... 173 posts

Thanks, Will. I've tested the Upload Data button action with with an excel file and a CSV file but no joy. Look forward to seeing the documentation.

Bill

posted 2 years ago

Billy Schoen... Administrator 255 posts

Hi Bill,

The default format of the upload (w/out the custom format) is two columns. The first lists the variable name and the second column contains the value.

variable value
variable value

If you want to use a custom format you will need to have a premium simulation so that you can upload data templates which consist of different arrangements of variable value cell pairs. (It requires access to the file manager and direct file uploads)

I will let Will get more specific, but this should help you get started.

Billy

posted 2 years ago

Basic Busine... 173 posts

Hi Billy,

That is the format I used. For example, using excel, in A1 I entered "g_StartingYear" (which is a decision variable) and in B1 I entered "2012" (defaults to 2011, want to see if it changed).

I tried this also as a CSV text file, in the format of "g_StartingYear, 2012".

Thinking ahead to making this format clear for users, what happens if a third column is included as a plain English explanation of the variable. Will the upload ignore the third column, or choke on it?

Bill

posted 2 years ago

Michael Bean Administrator 65 posts

Hi Bill,

I think I see the issue. You need to put a D_ in front of all variable names in order for them to be recognized. So in your case you need to use:

"D_g_StartingYear,2012"

Best, Michael

posted 2 years ago

Basic Busine... 173 posts

Thank you, Michael. Still no joy. Tried with both excel and CSV. Use Custom Data Template is UNCHECKED.

From the model equations:
D g_StartingYear = 2011
P g_StartingYear.TimeSeries = "false"
P g_StartingYear.NumberFormat = "0"

Bill

posted 2 years ago

Will Glass-H... Administrator 216 posts

Bill,

We're looking in to this and should have a more specific answer for you shortly.

WILL

posted 2 years ago

Will Glass-H... Administrator 216 posts

Hi Bill,

After further research, we've identified a bug in the data upload feature that is preventing the spreadsheet values from being applied to the sim. We're working on a fix. We've a Simulate release going out this weekend and will include the fix then and provide some more detailed documentation. I see that we've had a lot of back and forth here -- we very much apologize for the inconvenience!

WILL

posted 2 years ago

Basic Busine... 173 posts

This is good news, thank you, Will.

Bill

posted 2 years ago

Will Glass-H... Administrator 216 posts

Hi Bill,

I wanted to let you know that the upload data feature is still not working in the UI designer.

This is a more complex issue than we originally thought. The Flex file uploader we use does not pass cookies along to the server, which prevents the data from being properly loaded into the current sim run. We're investigating several workarounds for this. At this point we're most likely going to have a fix in our week 15 release on 3/25.

WILL

posted 2 years ago

Basic Busine... 173 posts

Thanks, Will. Timing is good, coincides with my preparation for releasing the simulation.

Bill

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posted 2 years ago Basic Busine... 173 posts	Is there a help document for this? I assume that the source file has to be formatted in some way but I cannot figure that out. Thank you, Bill

posted 2 years ago Billy Schoen... Administrator 255 posts	Hi Bill, The upload data button action preforms the same actions that you can do on the http://forio.com/simulate/bbsim/bbsimX/model/data/ page. For more specific help and context I will rely on Will. Thanks! Billy

posted 2 years ago Basic Busine... 173 posts	Well. I never knew that was there. Fits the bill exactly. Under, "You do not have initial data values stored (except for what is in the model). Click below to download a sample data set." is a download button that names "data.csv" as the file to download. Excel reports "Unable to read file". Opening "data.csv" with notepad reveals it to be an empty file. Bill

posted 2 years ago Basic Busine... 173 posts	Follow-on... On /userpath/simpath/model/ there are three links - view model equations \| edit model equations \| import a new model. I suggest adding a "data" link. Bill

posted 2 years ago Will Glass-H... Administrator 216 posts	Hi Bill, I very much apologize-- actually that feature (the sim author uploading data) is only available to Simulate Premium and above customers. (In general, features that allow authors to directly upload or work with files require Simulate Premium). As a contrast, the "upload data" option in the interface designer is available for all simulations. This allows individual users (or facilitators) to upload data for their particular run or scenario. We're updating our documentation with instructions for the upload data action. I'll post a note here later today with a link.

posted 2 years ago Basic Busine... 173 posts	Thanks, Will. I've tested the Upload Data button action with with an excel file and a CSV file but no joy. Look forward to seeing the documentation. Bill

posted 2 years ago Billy Schoen... Administrator 255 posts	Hi Bill, The default format of the upload (w/out the custom format) is two columns. The first lists the variable name and the second column contains the value. variable value variable value If you want to use a custom format you will need to have a premium simulation so that you can upload data templates which consist of different arrangements of variable value cell pairs. (It requires access to the file manager and direct file uploads) I will let Will get more specific, but this should help you get started. Billy

posted 2 years ago Basic Busine... 173 posts	Hi Billy, That is the format I used. For example, using excel, in A1 I entered "g_StartingYear" (which is a decision variable) and in B1 I entered "2012" (defaults to 2011, want to see if it changed). I tried this also as a CSV text file, in the format of "g_StartingYear, 2012". Thinking ahead to making this format clear for users, what happens if a third column is included as a plain English explanation of the variable. Will the upload ignore the third column, or choke on it? Bill

posted 2 years ago Michael Bean Administrator 65 posts	Hi Bill, I think I see the issue. You need to put a D_ in front of all variable names in order for them to be recognized. So in your case you need to use: "D_g_StartingYear,2012" Best, Michael

posted 2 years ago Basic Busine... 173 posts	Thank you, Michael. Still no joy. Tried with both excel and CSV. Use Custom Data Template is UNCHECKED. From the model equations: D g_StartingYear = 2011 P g_StartingYear.TimeSeries = "false" P g_StartingYear.NumberFormat = "0" Bill

posted 2 years ago Will Glass-H... Administrator 216 posts	Bill, We're looking in to this and should have a more specific answer for you shortly. WILL

posted 2 years ago Will Glass-H... Administrator 216 posts	Hi Bill, After further research, we've identified a bug in the data upload feature that is preventing the spreadsheet values from being applied to the sim. We're working on a fix. We've a Simulate release going out this weekend and will include the fix then and provide some more detailed documentation. I see that we've had a lot of back and forth here -- we very much apologize for the inconvenience! WILL

posted 2 years ago Basic Busine... 173 posts	This is good news, thank you, Will. Bill

posted 2 years ago Will Glass-H... Administrator 216 posts	Hi Bill, I wanted to let you know that the upload data feature is still not working in the UI designer. This is a more complex issue than we originally thought. The Flex file uploader we use does not pass cookies along to the server, which prevents the data from being properly loaded into the current sim run. We're investigating several workarounds for this. At this point we're most likely going to have a fix in our week 15 release on 3/25. WILL

posted 2 years ago Basic Busine... 173 posts	Thanks, Will. Timing is good, coincides with my preparation for releasing the simulation. Bill