ApacheHVAC User Guide - IES...The Tabular Building Template Manager (Tabular BTM) is a new feature in the Virtual Environment that allows you to rapidly inspect any building templates

Tabular Building Template Manager User Guide

Virtual Environment 2012

VE 2012 Tabular Building Template Manager 1

Contents

1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 3

1.1 What is the Tabular Building Template Manager? ................................................................3

2 Tabular Building Template Manager Basics ................................................................................. 4

2.1 Accessing the Tabular BTM ..................................................................................................4

2.2 Tabular BTM Modes .............................................................................................................4

2.3 Tabular BTM Window ..........................................................................................................5

2.3.1 Data Grid ...................................................................................................................................................... 6

2.3.2 Menu-bar ..................................................................................................................................................... 6

2.3.3 Toolbar ......................................................................................................................................................... 9

2.3.4 Side Panel .................................................................................................................................................. 10

2.3.5 Status Bar ................................................................................................................................................... 11

3 Using the Tabular Building Template Manager .......................................................................... 13

3.1 Selecting a Tab Group ........................................................................................................ 13

3.2 Editing Template Attribute Values ..................................................................................... 13

3.2.1 Value Cells .................................................................................................................................................. 13

3.2.2 Dropdown List Cells ................................................................................................................................... 13

3.2.3 Dropdown Window Cells ........................................................................................................................... 14

3.3 Applying Changes to Multiple Templates ........................................................................... 14

3.3.1 Marking Templates for Edit ....................................................................................................................... 14

3.3.2 Marking and Unmarking All Templates ..................................................................................................... 15

3.4 Configuring Columns and Tabs ........................................................................................... 17

3.4.1 Managing Columns .................................................................................................................................... 17

3.4.2 Managing Tabs within a Tab Group ........................................................................................................... 19

3.4.3 Applying or Cancelling Configuration Changes .......................................................................................... 20

3.5 Data Validation .................................................................................................................. 20

3.6 Configuring Data Grid Colours ............................................................................................ 21

3.6.1 Setting Custom Colours ............................................................................................................................. 21

3.6.2 Restoring the Default Colours .................................................................................................................... 22

3.7 Importing Templates from VE Projects ............................................................................... 23

3.7.1 Choosing a Template Database to Import From ........................................................................................ 23

3.7.2 Importing a Template ................................................................................................................................ 23

3.8 Internal Gains and Air Exchanges ....................................................................................... 24

3.8.1 Editing Internal Gains ................................................................................................................................. 24

3.8.2 Editing Air Exchanges ................................................................................................................................. 26

4 Data Filtering ............................................................................................................................ 27

4.1 Filtering Basics ................................................................................................................... 27

4.1.1 Adding a Filter to an Existing Column ........................................................................................................ 27

4.1.2 Identifying Filtered Columns ...................................................................................................................... 29

4.1.3 Editing a Filter on an Existing Column ....................................................................................................... 29

4.1.4 Removing a Filter on an Existing Column .................................................................................................. 29

4.1.5 Disabling Filtering on a Tab ........................................................................................................................ 29

4.2 Managing Filters ................................................................................................................ 30


4.2.1 Creating a New Filter ................................................................................................................................. 31

4.2.2 Editing a Filter ............................................................................................................................................ 31

4.2.3 Removing Filters ........................................................................................................................................ 31

4.2.4 Controlling Filter Application ..................................................................................................................... 31

4.2.5 Applying Changes ....................................................................................................................................... 32

4.3 Data Filtering and the Status Bar ........................................................................................ 32

5 Exporting and Importing Raw Template Data ............................................................................ 33

5.1 Exporting Template Data ................................................................................................... 33

5.1.1 Keywords in Data Output........................................................................................................................... 35

5.2 Importing Template Data ................................................................................................... 36

5.2.1 Requirements for Importing ...................................................................................................................... 36

5.2.2 Selecting Data to Import ............................................................................................................................ 36

5.2.3 Error Handling ............................................................................................................................................ 38

Appendix A. Known Limitations .................................................................................................. 40

A.1 Internal Gains and Air Exchanges ....................................................................................... 40

A.2 Cannot Delete Tabs and Tab Groups ................................................................................... 40

Appendix B. Frequently Asked Questions ................................................................................... 41


1 Introduction

1.1 What is the Tabular Building Template Manager?

The Tabular Building Template Manager (Tabular BTM) is a new feature in the Virtual Environment that allows you to rapidly inspect any building templates in your models. It provides access to a similar set of data to that available in the standard Building Template Manager, but provides the information in a modeless, tabular form. This means that the information for the building templates is displayed automatically and does not prevent you from working with the model.

In addition to providing a fast and efficient way for you to edit template attributes in your model, the Tabular BTM provides a number of other useful features:

- Customizable columns, allowing you to choose exactly which variables you want to see

- Sorting, allowing you to sort all grid data either ascending or descending by any column

- Filtering, allowing you to only display templates which pass one or more different criteria

- Export and Import of displayed building templates, allowing you to externally edit the values for your building templates (e.g. using Microsoft Excel) and then re-import the changes to automatically apply them to your model.


2 Tabular Building Template Manager Basics

2.1 Accessing the Tabular BTM

The Tabular BTM window is a modeless window, meaning you can have it open whilst still being able to interact with the rest of the Virtual Environment.

To display the window in the supported modules, you can either:

Both the menu-item and the toolbar button are toggle items – they will display the window if it is hidden and close the window if it is displayed.

2.2 Tabular BTM Modes

The Tabular BTM supports all six template types; Room Attributes, Apache Constructions, Macroflo Openings, Thermal Conditions, Electric Lighting and Radiance Surfaces. Each of these template types has an associated mode in the Tabular BTM. A mode allows you to view and edit all templates of a particular type and perform template type specific actions.

- Select the Tabular BTM item from the View menu on the main Virtual Environment menu-bar, or use the Ctrl+Shift+M keyboard shortcut.

- Click the Tabular BTM button on the Application toolbar.


The image above shows the Tabular BTM in Thermal Conditions mode. The layout of the tabs and columns is designed to emulate that of the standard BTM which groups together similar attributes into tabs.

The image below shows the Tabular BTM in Room Attributes mode. Here as well the layout of columns is designed to match the layout of attributes in the standard BTM.

You will notice that changing mode will change the available buttons on the toolbar and actions on the menu. The buttons and actions available are explained in the Toolbar section and Menu-bar section, respectively.

There are two methods for changing modes; using the links in the side panel and actions on the View menu. These are explained in the Side Panel section and the View menu, respectively.

2.3 Tabular BTM Window

The appearance of the Tabular BTM window is similar to that shown above. The window floats above the main application window, allowing you to interact with the main view window (e.g. selecting and manipulating templates) while the window is active. The window is also resizable and supports being maximized, allowing you to move and position it as you desire to avoid intrusion on your work area. It can also be positioned on a secondary display, if your computer has multiple monitors.

The Tabular BTM window consists of 4 main elements, as detailed below:


2.3.1 Data Grid

The data grid displays the attributes for each template, using the columns specified in the currently active tab. The set of tabs available in the current group is displayed underneath this grid.

The grid columns along the top indicate the template attributes being displayed. Each template is displayed on an individual row in the grid. The column currently being used to sort the grid rows is highlighted in a light blue colour, with a small arrow at the top to indicate the sort direction (either ascending or descending). Clicking on a column header will sort the grid rows on that column, and clicking on an existing sort column will toggle between the two sorting directions.

There is a column on the left-hand side of the grid containing checkboxes – these are known as marking checkboxes and are used to allow changes to a row to be applied to all the rows that have been marked for editing (i.e. their checkbox has been ticked). Whenever you edit a cell on any row (be it marked or not), the corresponding value will be applied to all rows that have been marked. Marked rows are highlighted to provide an additional visual cue to their marked state.

The tabs available in the current tab group are displayed along the bottom of the grid. Whenever you click on a tab, the grid columns will be updated to reflect those in the selected tab and the grid content will be refreshed appropriately.

2.3.2 Menu-bar

The menu-bar is displayed across the top of the Tabular BTM window. This provides you with access to commands for manipulating the tabs that are currently being displayed, for configuring and switching tab groups, filtering data and so on.

2.3.2.1 File menu

New Group Creates a new, untitled tab group. By default, this will contain a single untitled tab with no columns. You can configure the tabs and group by selecting the “Configure” option.

Open Group Displays a sub-menu containing all saved tab groups. Selecting an item from this sub-menu will switch the data grid to display the tabs in the selected group.

The currently active tab group will be ticked.

Save Group Saves the changes to the currently active tab group. If the


group has not been previously saved, you will be prompted to give it a name.

Save Group As… Saves a copy of the currently active tab group under a name you specify.

Revert Group Resets the currently active tab group to its last saved state. This option is only enabled if the tab group has been previously saved and you have pending unsaved changes.

Import Displays a sub-menu containing options to import previously-exported template attributes from either a text file on disk, or from the clipboard.

Export Displays a sub-menu containing options to export the columns contained in all tabs in the current group to either a text file on disk, or to the clipboard.

Close Window Closes the Tabular BTM window.

2.3.2.2 Edit menu

Copy Data From Current Tab Copies only the template attributes visible in the current tab to the clipboard. NOTE: this differs from the Export options (see above), as they will export the template attributes for all tabs in the current group.

Paste Imports any template attribute data currently on the clipboard (equivalent to Import From Clipboard).

2.3.2.3 View menu

Room Attributes Switches to Room Attributes mode if it is not already active. The item is ticked whenever the Tabular BTM is in Room Attributes mode.

Apache Constructions Switches to Apache Constructions mode if it is not already active. The item is ticked whenever the Tabular BTM is in Apache Constructions mode.

Macroflo Openings Switches to Macroflo Openings mode if it is not already active. The item is ticked whenever the Tabular BTM is in Macroflo Openings mode.

Thermal Conditions Switches to Thermal Conditions mode if it is not already active. The item is ticked whenever the Tabular BTM is in Thermal Conditions mode.

Electric Lighting Switches to Electric Lighting mode if it is not already active. The item is ticked whenever the Tabular BTM is in Electric Lighting mode.

Radiance Surfaces Switches to Radiance Surfaces mode if it is not already active. The item is ticked whenever the Tabular BTM is in Radiance Surfaces mode.

Side Panel Toggles the display of the Tabular BTM side panel. The item is


ticked whenever the side panel is visible.

Status Bar Toggles the display of the Tabular BTM status bar. The item is ticked whenever the status bar is visible.

Refresh Allows you to perform a manual refresh of the data currently displayed in the grid.

2.3.2.4 Tab menu

New Tab Inserts a new, untitled tab into the current tab group. This tab will not contain any columns by default.

Insert Tab Displays a sub-menu containing all saved tabs. Selecting an item from this sub-menu will insert the selected tab into the current tab group. If you select a tab that is already in the current group, it will update the data grid to display the columns in that selected tab.

All tabs that are part of the active tab group will be ticked.

Close Tab Removes the currently selected tab from the active tab group. This option is only enabled if there are at least 2 tabs in the group.

NOTE: this does not delete the tab – it simply removes it from the active tab group.

Close Other Tabs Removes all tabs except the currently selected tab from the active tab group. This option is only enabled if there are at least 2 tabs in the group.

NOTE: this does not delete the tabs – it simply removes them from the active tab group.

Save Tab Saves the changes to the currently active tab. If the tab has not been previously saved, you will be prompted to give it a name.

Save Tab As… Saves a copy of the currently active tab under a name you specify.

Revert Tab Resets the currently active tab to its last saved state. This option is only enabled if the tab has been previously saved and you have pending unsaved changes.

Filtering Enabled Toggles whether data filters defined on the current tab will be applied. When switched off, the data displayed in the grid is unfiltered (shows all templates) but any defined filters still exist.

The item is ticked whenever filtering is enabled.

Manage Filters… Displays the “Manage Filters” dialog, allowing you to add, remove and configure data filters on the current tab.

Further details are given in the Managing Filters section.

Automatically Hide Unused Toggles whether columns in the grid are hidden if none of the


Columns displayed templates contain any valid data for those columns. If switched on, a column is only displayed when at least one template contains valid data in that column.

This item is ticked whenever the automatic column hiding is enabled.

Columns… Displays the “Configure” dialog, allowing you to manage which columns are displayed in the current tab, and which tabs are in the current tab group.

Further details are given in the

Configuring Columns and Tabs section.

2.3.2.5 Actions menu

Show Active Only Toggles whether only active templates are shown in the grid. Active templates are those that are currently assigned to a room. This includes templates that are assigned to variant models such as the Notional, Proposed and Reference models.

The item is ticked whenever only active templates are being shown.

Hide NCM Templates Toggles whether NCM templates are hidden in the grid. NCM templates are generally only of use when using the <VE Compliance> application so by default they are shown when using this application and hidden otherwise.

This item is ticked whenever NCM templates are hidden.

2.3.3 Toolbar

The toolbar is displayed at the top of the Tabular BTM window below the menu. This provides access to commands to create, modify, delete and import templates. There is a core set of commands that are available for all template types and some that are only available for specific template types.

2.3.3.1 Core Commands

New Template Creates a new template with default values.

Copy Template(s) Creates a copy of each of the currently selected templates.

Delete Template(s) Deletes currently selected templates. This button will be disabled if all templates are selected to ensure at least one template always exists.

Import Templates From VE Project

Opens a dialog that allows you to import templates from other templates databases. See the Importing Templates from VE Projects section for further details on importing


templates from other databases

2.3.3.2 Extra Commands

Apache Profiles Database Opens APPro to allow you to edit Apache profiles used by templates. (Thermal Conditions)

Apache Systems Opens the Apache Systems dialog to allow you to edit Apache systems used by templates. (Thermal Conditions)

Constructions Database Opens the Constructions Database dialog to allow you to edit constructions used by templates. (Room Attributes, Apache Constructions, Thermal Conditions, Electric Lighting, Radiance Surfaces)

MacroFlo Openings Database Opens the MacroFlo Opening Types dialog to allow you to edit openings used by templates. (Room Attributes, Macroflo Openings, Thermal Conditions, Electric Lighting, Radiance Surfaces)

Edit Internal Gains Opens the Internal Gains dialog to allow you to assign internal gains to templates. The dialog also allows you to create, edit and delete internal gains. See the Editing Internal Gains section for further details of the Internal Gains dialog. (Thermal Conditions)

Edit Air Exchanges Opens the Air Exchanges dialog to allow you to assign air exchange to templates. The dialog also allows you to create, edit and delete air exchange. See the Editing Air Exchanges section for further details of the Air Exchanges dialog. (Thermal Conditions)

Select Luminaire Opens the light fitting selection dialog. The dialog allows you to make changes to the luminaires used by the selected templates. (Electric Lighting)

2.3.4 Side Panel

The side panel is displayed on the left of the Tabular BTM window. This provides quick access to some of the common options from the menu-bar. The side panel can be switched on or off via the View menu on the Tabular BTM menu-bar, or switched off by clicking the button at its top-right corner.

The side panel contains the following options:

Room Attributes Switches to Room Attributes mode if it is not already active.


Apache Constructions Switches to Apache Constructions mode if it is not already active

Macroflo Openings Switches to Macroflo Openings mode if it is not already active

Thermal Conditions Switches to Thermal Conditions mode if it is not already active.

Electric Lighting Switches to Electric Lighting mode if it is not already active.

Radiance Surfaces Switches to Radiance Surfaces mode if it is not already active.

Export to file… Exports the columns contained in all tabs in the current group to a text file on disk.

This is equivalent to the Export->To File… item in the Tabular BTM File menu.

Copy data from all tabs Exports the columns contained in all tabs in the current group to the clipboard.

This is equivalent to the Export->To Clipboard item in the Tabular BTM File menu.

Copy data from current tab Exports the columns contained in the currently active tab in the current group to the clipboard.

This is equivalent to the Copy Data From Current Tab item in the Tabular BTM Edit menu.

Paste from clipboard Imports template attributes data from the clipboard.

This is equivalent to the Import->From Clipboard item in the Tabular BTM File menu.

Refresh Allows you to perform a manual refresh of the data currently displayed in the grid.

This is equivalent to the Refresh item in the Tabular BTM View menu.

Manage filters… Displays the “Manage Filters” dialog, allowing you to add, remove and configure data filters on the current tab.

This is equivalent to the Manage Filters… item in the Tabular BTM Tab menu.

Configure tabs and columns… Displays the “Configure” dialog, allowing you to manage which columns are displayed in the current tab, and which tabs are in the current tab group.

This is equivalent to the Columns… item in the Tabular BTM Tab menu.

2.3.5 Status Bar

The status bar is displayed along the bottom of the Tabular BTM window. This displays information on the number of templates currently being displayed by the grid and also the number of data filters in-use (if any).


Further details on the text displayed in the status bar are given in the Data Filtering and the Status Bar section.


3 Using the Tabular Building Template Manager

3.1 Selecting a Tab Group

As the name suggests, a tab group is simply a set of tabs that you can view with the Tabular BTM. A single tab group is active at any one time – and within this group, the data grid will be displaying the columns from a single tab. The tabs in the current group are displayed along the bottom of the grid.

By default, the Tabular BTM ships with a defined tab group for each of the template types available. These include tabs that are set up to mimic those in the standard Building Template Manager window. The Thermal Conditions group will be selected by default when you first use the Tabular BTM.

To select a tab group, simply select it from the Open Group sub-menu in the Tabular BTM File menu.

3.2 Editing Template Attribute Values

It is very simple to edit template attributes using the Tabular BTM, but the exact method depends on the type of cell used to represent the attribute. An overview of the different types of cell in use is given below.

3.2.1 Value Cells

Where an attribute is simply a textual value (e.g. Template Name) or a numerical value (e.g. Solar Reflected Fraction), a basic value cell is used.

To edit the value in one of these cells, simply double-click it – you can apply the edit by clicking on another cell or pressing the ENTER key, or cancel the edit by pressing the ESC key.

NOTE: Some basic value cells are non-editable (e.g. Gain Reference). Double-clicking on these cells does nothing, as the values are not modifiable.

3.2.2 Dropdown List Cells

Some attributes (such as profiles and Apache systems) are designed for you to choose a value from an acceptable set, rather than manually typing in a value. These attributes use a dropdown list cell – as the name suggests, they display a dropdown list containing all the valid options for that particular attribute.

To edit the value in one of these cells, simply click on the


cell to display the dropdown list of options – you can select an option by scrolling to it (if necessary) and clicking it, or cancel the dropdown list without changing selecting anything by pressing the ESC key when the list is displayed.

Some dropdown list attributes (e.g. Aux. Vent System and DHW System, Plant Profile) make use of additional custom options in their lists, such as “Use Main System”, “Set As Heating Profile” and “Set As Cooling Profile”. Again, colour cues on the cell text are used to indicate these at a glance.

3.2.3 Dropdown Window Cells

Where none of the standard cell types are suitable for a particular attribute, a dropdown window cell is used. This type of cell resembles a dropdown list cell, but when clicked it displays a custom pop-up window, rather than a list.

Dropdown window cells are currently used for the Heating Setpoint and Cooling Setpoint attributes (where they allow you to switch between a constant temperature value and a timed profile), and for DHW Consumption.

To edit the value in a dropdown window cell, simply click the cell to display the window, then edit as appropriate. You can apply the changes by clicking the OK button (or pressing ENTER) or by clicking the Apply button – this will apply the changes without dismissing the dropdown window. To cancel any changes made in the dropdown window, click the Cancel button (or press ESC).

3.3 Applying Changes to Multiple Templates

3.3.1 Marking Templates for Edit

The process for editing a value across multiple templates at once is the same as that outlined for the various cell-types above – the only difference is that before you perform the edit, you mark the templates you want to apply the change to. You can mark a template by clicking its marking checkbox at the left-hand side of the grid.

The following example shows 4 templates in a model that have been marked for edit:


The next image shows the same templates, after opening the dropdown list for Heating Profile column for the template Misc24Hr: Server room and editing the value from “on continuously” to “off continuously”:

As you can see, the changes to the Heating Profile value were applied across all marked templates. The changes will be applied regardless of the cell type – the process works in the same way for Basic Value cells, Dropdown List cells and Dropdown Window cells.

Bear in mind that there are cases where the specified value cannot be applied across all marked templates. Consider the following example, involving NCM Activity Type:

If you attempt to modify the value of NCM Activity Type for template Office: Cupboard to “NCM Office: Office (Office Common)”, the change will only be applied to the templates Office Cupboard, Office: Food preparation area and Office: Office. It would not be applied to Misc24Hr; Server room because that template is not using “B1: Office or Workshop (Office)” for its NCM Building Area Type. Similarly, the change would not be applied to Internal Void either – this is because that template has no NCM Building Area Type set.

3.3.2 Marking and Unmarking All Templates

You can quickly mark all templates for editing by clicking the checkbox next to the column headers:

When this checkbox is ticked, all templates displayed in the current tab will be marked for editing. If you click the checkbox again, all templates will be unmarked.


Alternatively, you can mark and unmark a template by clicking on its own marking checkbox. The grid will also mark a row in response to standard SHIFT-click and CTRL-click gestures – you can use these to mark ranges of templates within the grid.

You can also unmark a template by right-clicking on it and selecting the Unmark “<Template Name>” item in the pop-up menu. Similarly, you can unmark all other templates except the one you have right-clicked on by selecting the Unmark Other Templates item.


3.4 Configuring Columns and Tabs

The easiest way to manage the columns displayed in the current tab, and to manage the tabs available in the current tab group, is via the Configure window. You can access this either by selecting the Columns… item in the Tabular BTM Tab menu, or by clicking the Configure columns and tabs link on the side panel.

The window consists of two tabs – one for managing the columns in the active tab, and one for managing the tabs in the active tab group.

3.4.1 Managing Columns

You can manage the columns in the active tab using this window – the name of the tab is indicated at the top. The right-hand list shows the columns currently included in the tab, while the left-hand list shows all other columns that are available. Due to support for viewing the same column in different variant building models, the list of available columns is large – you can filter it to only show you the columns for a particular model variant by using the Show dropdown below the list.

3.4.1.1 Adding Columns to a Tab

To add one or more columns to a tab, simply select the relevant columns in the left-hand list and either:

- Click the Add button. If no columns are selected in the right-hand list, the new columns will be added after the last existing column. If one or more columns are selected in the right-hand list, the new columns will be added immediately before the first selected column.

OR

- Drag the selected columns from the left-hand list to the right-hand list. When you drag the new columns over an existing column in the right-hand list, the column under the mouse will highlight – this indicates that the new columns will be added immediately before the highlighted column.

3.4.1.2 Removing Columns from a Tab

To remove one or more columns from a tab, simply select the relevant columns in the right-hand list and either:

- Click the Remove button, or press the Delete key.

OR


- Drag the selected columns from the right-hand list to the left-hand list.

3.4.1.3 Reordering Columns in a Tab

To reorder the columns in the tab, simply select one or more of the columns in the right-hand list and either:

- Click the Move Up or Move Down buttons as appropriate. Note that when the first selected item is at the top of the list, the Move Up button will be disabled. Likewise, when the last selected item is at the bottom of the list, the Move Down button will be disabled.

OR

- Drag the selected columns within the right-hand list. When you drag the columns over an existing column in the list, the column under the mouse will highlight – this indicates that the first set of contiguous selected columns will be moved immediately before the highlighted column.

For example, the following images show the result of moving the Solar Reflected Fraction, % Saturation Lower Limit and % Saturation Upper Limit columns to the position of the Template Name column:

3.4.1.4 Reverting Column Changes

If you have made modifications to the column configuration in the right-hand list but wish to cancel your changes, click the Reset button underneath the right-hand-list. This will restore the list to its last saved state and will allow you to restart modifications to the column configuration.


3.4.2 Managing Tabs within a Tab Group

You can manage the tabs within the active tab group using the second tab of the Configure dialog – the name of the tab group is indicated at the top. The right-hand list shows the tabs currently included in the tab group, while the left-hand list shows all other tabs that are available.

3.4.2.1 Adding Tabs to a Tab Group

To add one or more tabs to the active tab group, simply select the relevant tabs in the left-hand list and either:

- Click the Add button. If no tabs are selected in the right-hand list, the new tabs will be added after the last existing tab. If one or more tabs are selected in the right-hand list, the new tabs will be added immediately before the first selected tab.

OR

- Drag the selected tabs from the left-hand list to the right-hand list. When you drag the new tabs over an existing tab in the right-hand list, the tab under the mouse will highlight – this indicates that the new tabs will be added immediately before the highlighted tab.

3.4.2.2 Removing Tabs from a Tab Group

To remove one or more tabs from the active tab group, simply select the relevant tabs in the right-hand list and either:

- Click the Remove button, or press the Delete key.

OR

- Drag the selected tabs from the right-hand list to the left-hand list.

3.4.2.3 Reordering Tabs in a Tab Group

To reorder the tabs in the active tab group, simply select one or more of the tabs in the right-hand list and either:

- Click the Move Up or Move Down buttons as appropriate. Note that when the first selected item is at the top of the list, the Move Up button will be disabled. Likewise, when the last selected item is at the bottom of the list, the Move Down button will be disabled.


OR

- Drag the selected tabs within the right-hand list. When you drag the tabs over an existing tab in the list, the tab under the mouse will highlight – this indicates that the first set of contiguous selected tabs will be moved immediately before the highlighted column.

For example, the following images show the result of moving the System and Air Exchanges tabs to the position of the Building Regulations tab:

3.4.2.4 Reverting Tab Group Changes

If you have made modifications to the tab configuration in the right-hand list but wish to cancel your changes, click the Reset button underneath the right-hand-list. This will restore the list to its last saved state and will allow you to restart modifications to the tab configuration.

3.4.3 Applying or Cancelling Configuration Changes

Once you have made changes to the column and/or tab set-up using the Configure dialog, simply click the OK button (or press RETURN) to apply the changes and close the dialog – the data grid will then be refreshed to reflect your new column and tab group configuration. Alternatively, you can use the Apply button to apply the changes without closing the dialog – this will allow you to make further changes to either the column configuration or to the active tab group.

Alternatively, if you wish to cancel any changes you have made to both the column configuration and the tab group, simply click the Cancel button (or press ESC). Note that if you have previously clicked the Apply button, only changes made since that point will be cancelled.

3.5 Data Validation

In basic value cells, there is always the scope for the user to enter an incorrect value. This could be due to a typing error, or a range-check error (e.g. entering a negative value or a value greater than 100 for a percentage). In these cases, the Tabular BTM will display a balloon tip to warn you about the problem and will not apply the change.

Some examples of these warnings are shown below:


The warnings will be displayed if you press the RETURN key to apply an invalid value. Note that they will not be displayed if you cancel the edit, click directly on another cell or move the mouse over the main application window – in those cases, an invalid entry will simply be ignored.

3.6 Configuring Data Grid Colours

The data grid uses colours for its cell text and cell backgrounds to show data of a certain type and to indicate rows that have been marked for editing. The cell text colour can be defined for the following types:

- Normal values

- Read-only values

- Disabled values

- Aux. Vent and HVAC System “Use Main System” values

- Plant Profile “Same As Heating Profile” value

- Plant Profile “Same As Cooling Profile” value

The row background colours can be defined for the following types:

- Normal rows

- Rows marked for editing

3.6.1 Setting Custom Colours

Although the Tabular BTM ships with a default set of colours defined for the above items, you can modify these colours to suit your own tastes. To configure the colours, select Preferences… from the Tabular BTM Edit menu.

The Colours tab shows you the colours that are currently applied to the different data types. To edit a colour, click on the relevant colour block:


This will display the standard colour picker window, allowing you to select the colour you desire:

Once you have selected the colour you wish to use, click OK in the Color dialog. The Preferences dialog will then be updated to show you the new colour. Once you have finished modifying the colours for the different text and row types, click OK and the data grid will update to reflect your new colour scheme.

3.6.2 Restoring the Default Colours

If you want to restore all the colour choices back to their default values, simply open the Preferences dialog and click on the Restore Default Colours button – this will return each of the colours to their default values. You can then click OK to apply the colour changes.


3.7 Importing Templates from VE Projects

The Tabular BTM provides the functionality to import templates other from other VE projects or templates databases. If you have created a template in a previous project or have a set of standard templates that you would like to use in your current project this can be very useful.

This feature is distinct from the Tabular BTM’s raw data import/export functionality which is used for reading template data which has been saved as plain text. See Exporting and Importing Raw Template Data for details.

To import a template from a VE Project, click the Import Templates From VE Project button from the toolbar. The first time you click the Import Templates From VE Project button in a session a dialog will appear that will allow you to choose which template database file to import from.

3.7.1 Choosing a Template Database to Import From

The default location for the Browse Template Databases dialog will be the VE standard template data folder which contains several pre-made template databases to import from. If you would like to import templates from one of your own projects then navigate to the base folder of the project and select the .mtd file.

3.7.2 Importing a Template

After selecting a template database to import from a dialog will appear listing all the templates in that template database. There is a different version of this dialog for each template type. An example of this dialog is shown below:


To import a template select the desired template from the list and click the Copy To Project button. If you would like to import a modified version of one the templates then use to dialog to make the required changes before clicking the Copy To Project button.

If you would like to change which template database you are importing from then click the Browse Template Databases button which will open the Browse Template Databases dialog.

3.8 Internal Gains and Air Exchanges

When in Thermal Conditions mode the Tabular BTM provides the functionality to add, remove and modify the air exchanges and internal gains attached to templates. This functionality can be accessed through the Edit Air Exchanges and Edit Internal Gains buttons on the toolbar.

3.8.1 Editing Internal Gains

To edit internal gains for templates, mark all the templates that you would like to edit then click Edit Internal Gains from the toolbar. You will see a dialog similar to the one below:


The dialog has three main functions:

Creating and deleting internal gains

Editing internal gains attributes

Adding and removing internal gains from templates

This guide will not cover how to edit internal gains attributes as this is already covered in the guide for the standard Building Template Manager which is available from the user guide index in the General section.

3.8.1.1 Creating and Deleting Internal Gains

The dialog shows a list of all internal gains that are available in the current project. If you would like to create an internal gain and add it to the list, use the Add button. This button allows you to choose the type of internal gain to be added. Clicking the down arrow on the right hand side of the button will bring up a list of the different types of internal gain. Clicking one of the types in this list will add an internal gain of the selected type. The button will update to show the type of the last added internal gain, this allows you to use the button as a normal button to add an internal gain of the last added type.

If you would like to copy internal gains then highlight the internal gains and click the Copy button from the toolbar.

If you would like to remove an internal gain from the list, select it and click the Remove button from the toolbar.

3.8.1.2 Adding and Removing Internal Gains From Templates

The “Assigned to Templates?” column of the grid shows which internal gains are assigned to the templates selected when the dialog was opened. You can change whether an internal gain will be assigned to the templates by clicking the checkbox. The different states of the checkbox are explained below

The internal gain is in use by all templates or will be added to all templates if it is not already

The internal gain is in use by some, but not all, of the templates

The internal gain is not being used by any templates or if it is not already in use it will be removed from all templates.


3.8.1.3 Other Functionality

The dialog has the same functionality as the main BTM dialog including filtering, editing, exporting and importing. For details of this functionality see the relevant sections in this guide.

If the dialog is opened without any templates selected then the “Assigned To Templates?” column will not be visible but the rest of the dialog will function in the same way.

3.8.2 Editing Air Exchanges

Editing air exchanges works in a very similar way to editing air internal gains. To edit air exchanges for templates, mark all the templates that you would like to edit then click Edit Air Exchanges from the toolbar. You will see a dialog similar to the one below:

The functionality of this dialog is the same as the Internal Gains dialog except that it applies to air exchanges instead of internal gains. For an explanation of how to use the dialog please refer to the Editing Internal Gains section.


4 Data Filtering One of the more powerful features of the Tabular BTM is that it allows you to apply data filtering to control which templates are actually displayed in a tab. By default, all selected templates will be displayed, but by filtering the data you can limit the grid to display to only those templates that meet a set of criteria that you choose.

You can apply a filter on any available column (including columns not currently in the tab) and each filter can contain up to ten conditions – you have control over how the filter treats each of these conditions. In addition, you can define the way an individual filter applies its conditions – by default, the filter will be set so that data is only displayed if all conditions are met, but you can also set it to pass if any of the conditions are met or if none of the conditions are met.

This section explores how to create, edit and manage filters on your tabs.

4.1 Filtering Basics

4.1.1 Adding a Filter to an Existing Column

The quickest way of filtering is to simply define data filters on one or more of the columns currently visible in the tab. To do this, right-click on the column you wish to filter on and select Add Filter on <column name> from the context menu. This will display the Custom Filter window in its default state, as shown in the following example for Template Name:

By default, the window allows you to enter a single condition – the condition type can be chosen from the dropdown list, while you then type the condition value into the text box. The available condition types depend on whether the cell is textual or numeric. Textual data (such as Template Name, Heating Profile, System and so on) offers the following condition types:

- Value is “<your condition>”

- Value is not “<your condition>”

- Value contains “<your condition>”

- Value does not contain “<your condition>”

- Value begins with “<your condition>”

- Value ends with “<your condition>”

In comparison, numeric data (such as Lettable Floor Area, Furniture Mass Factor, Solar Reflected Fraction and so on) offers the following condition types:

- Value equals <your condition>

- Value does not equal <your condition>


- Value is less than <your condition>

- Value is less than or equal to <your condition>

- Value is greater than <your condition>

- Value is greater than or equal to <your condition>

If you require more than one condition on a single column, you can add another condition row by clicking the + button:

If you have more than one condition defined, you can remove an individual condition by clicking on the – button next to it. Note that the order in which the conditions are defined is not important, and text values are not case-sensitive.

Consider the following templates:

If a Template Name filter was defined as in the previous example (begins with “Office” and does not contain “Circulation”), the results of the filtering would be as follows:

Only four of the templates can pass both conditions defined in the Template Name filter, so those are the only templates displayed in the tab. Note that the other templates are still selected – they are just being hidden from the grid by data filtering.


4.1.2 Identifying Filtered Columns

When a filter has been defined on a particular column, a blue identifier bar is shown at the bottom of the column header. This allows you to quickly identify which of the current columns have filters applied. In addition, you can get a summary of the filter if you move the mouse pointer over this blue bar:

Clicking the Edit the filter… link in the balloon will also allow you to make changes to the filter conditions.

4.1.3 Editing a Filter on an Existing Column

The process for editing a defined filter on a column in the grid is very similar to that for adding a filter. To do this, you can right-click on the column you wish to filter on and select Add Filter on <column name> from the context menu, or click on the link in the summary balloon (see previous section). This will display the Custom Filter window, pre-populated with the conditions defined in the filter:

The Custom Filter window functions in exactly the same way as it does when you are adding a new filter – you can use the + and – buttons to add and remove conditions on the filter and can configure the application of the conditions using the Show data when… dropdown.

4.1.4 Removing a Filter on an Existing Column

When a filter is defined on one of the columns in the active tab, it is trivial to remove the filter if you no longer require it. Simply right-click on the column you wish to remove the filter from and select Clear Filter from <column name> - the filter will be removed and the data grid will be refreshed accordingly.

Once the filter is removed, the blue indicator band will be removed from the column header.

4.1.5 Disabling Filtering on a Tab

You can temporarily disable the effects of data filtering on a tab to show all selected templates in your model without actually having to delete the defined filters. This enables you to quickly compare the results of the filtered and unfiltered template attributes. Filtering is enabled on a tab by default, but you


can disable it by turning off the Filtering Enabled item in the Tabular Edit Tab menu, or by right-clicking on the tab itself selecting the equivalent item from the pop-up menu:

When filtering is disabled, any columns with data filters applied will change their indicator bar from blue to dark grey – the grid will then refresh to display the template attributes for all selected templates.

To re-enable the defined filters, simply re-select the Filtering Enabled menu-item.

4.2 Managing Filters

One of the more powerful filtering features in the Tabular BTM is the ability to filter on columns that aren’t actually displayed in the current tab. In order to do this, you use the Manage Filters window – this lists all the filters that are defined for the tab, allowing you to create new filters, edit and/or remove existing filters and control how the overall filtering is applied (i.e. whether a template must pass all defined filters, can pass any filter or must pass none of the filters).

You can access the Manage Filters window for the current tab by selecting the Manage Filters… item from the Tabular BTM Tab menu, or by right-clicking on the tab itself and selecting the equivalent item from the pop-up menu.


4.2.1 Creating a New Filter

The Manage Filters window allows you to create a filter on any available column in any available variant building model – you are not limited to only the columns already defined in the tab. In order to create a filter, you select the appropriate column to filter on from the dropdown list and then click the Add… button.

This will then display the Custom Filter window as normal, allowing you define the conditions for the new filter. Once you have set up the conditions as you desire, click OK on the Custom Filter window and the new filter will be added to the list in the Manage Filters window.

NOTE: The dropdown list for creating a filter contains a large number of items. The easiest way to quickly select the item you want to add is to click on the dropdown to display the list, then type the first few characters of the column you wish to add a filter on.

4.2.2 Editing a Filter

You can edit any defined filter either by double-clicking its entry in the Manage Filters list, or by selecting the appropriate filter from the list and then clicking the Edit… button. This will then display the Custom Filter window as normal, allowing you change the conditions for the new filter. Once you have modified the conditions as you desire, click OK on the Custom Filter window.

Note that the Edit…button will be disabled if there are no list entries selected, or if there are multiple entries selected.

4.2.3 Removing Filters

Unlike the data grid, the Manage Filters window allows you to remove multiple filters at once. To remove filters, simply select the relevant entries in the list (use the SHIFT and/or CTRL key when clicking to select multiple items) and then click the Remove button. Alternatively, you can select the items and the press the Delete key.

The relevant entries will then be removed from the list.

4.2.4 Controlling Filter Application

The Manage Filters window also allows you to control the method used to apply the filters, in a similar fashion to the way you can control how the conditions within a single filter are applied. You can experiment with this to provide different results from your data filtering.

By using the Show data when… dropdown, you can control whether a template’s attributes will be displayed in the grid only if all of the filters are passed, if any of the filters are passed, or if none of the filters pass.


4.2.5 Applying Changes

Any modifications you make via the Manage Filters window are not immediately applied – this allows you to cancel the updates you have made if you decide that they are not suitable, or if you have made a mistake during editing. If you click the Cancel button on the Manage Filters window, all modifications will be discarded.

Once you have completed all the editing, creating and removal that is required, you can apply the changes by clicking the OK button. The data grid will then be refreshed to reflect the modifications to the data filters.

4.3 Data Filtering and the Status Bar

The Tabular BTM status bar provides a fast method to show you both the number of templates currently in the grid (shown in the first pane), as well as the number of data filters in-use (shown in the second pane). Some examples of the status bar display are shown below:

8 Templates, No filters defined, Filtering Enabled

5 Templates, 2 filters defined, Filtering Enabled

8 Templates, 2 filters defined, Filtering Disabled

You can also double-click on the second pane to quickly access the Manage Filters window.

If the “Show Active Only” option is enabled then this will be indicated in the status bar. When in Thermal Conditions mode the status bar will contain an extra pane that will indicate whether NCM templates are currently hidden. An example is shown below:


5 Exporting and Importing Raw Template Data In addition to the powerful support for data filtering within the Tabular BTM, you can also output your template attributes as tab-delimited text. This enables you to view and manipulate the output using software such as Microsoft Excel. The Tabular BTM also allows you to import data from tab-delimited text – this means that it is now possible to export the data, edit it externally as you require and then import it back into the Virtual Environment, with your modifications being quickly and easily applied across the templates in your model. This can offer a significant time saving over previous versions of the software, which only allowed data to be manually input on a template-by-template basis.

The export and import feature provides a number of helpful features to make things easy for you to manage the data:

- Export either all columns in the current tab group, or only those in the active tab. This allows you to configure exactly what appears in the output.

- Exporting only takes account of the template visible in the grid. So, if you use data filtering, you’ll only get output for the filtered templates, rather than all templates. This means you can get the output for the templates you are interested in, rather than having to get it for all templates.

- Exported output is sorted based on the current sort column in the active tab. This means you can choose the sort order of the output prior to export.

- Importing previously exported data works regardless of whether the columns are visible in the current tab, or if the ordering of the columns differs in the output from that used in the tabs. If the Tabular BTM can identify the appropriate column from its header text, it will modify the value.

- Importing previously exported data also works regardless of sort order of the templates in the output. The Tabular BTM will identify its templates using a handle in the output, to ensure that the values are set on the correct template regardless of the order.

- Importing will also take account of the data format of the values, even if it differs from the currently active input format (e.g. data being imported is in IP, while the Virtual Environment is currently running in Metric). The Tabular BTM will do the appropriate conversion during import to keep things valid in the current input format.

- Full error-checking is performed when importing, with a list of issues being displayed on completion of the import process. This allows you to review all the errors in one place, rather than having to deal with repeated error messages while the import progresses – it also allows you to fix the problematic values in-place, if you want to.

This section details the process for exporting data and then re-importing it.

5.1 Exporting Template Data

If you want to export all the columns currently in use in the active tab group, you can either:


Select the To File… or To Clipboard item from the Export sub-menu of the Tabular BTM File menu.

Select the Export to file… or Copy to clipboard item from the side panel.

Alternatively, if you only want to export the columns in the current tab (not all tabs in the group):

Select the Copy All Data in Current Tab item from the Tabular BTM Edit menu. Note that this approach always copies data to the clipboard.

If you have selected to export the data to a file, you will be prompted to select the location to save the file to:

The export process will then begin – a progress window will be displayed if the output process takes more than a second or so, allowing you to get an estimate of how much time the export is likely to take as well as allowing you to cancel the export:

Once the progress window completes, your output is then ready to be opened or pasted. The following example shows the result of opening the data in Microsoft Excel:


5.1.1 Keywords in Data Output

Various template attributes in the Virtual Environment need to reflect special flags as well as just their value. In order to correctly maintain these in output, the Tabular BTM includes keywords in the data where they are needed.

The following keywords are currently recognized:

<main system> Supported on the Aux. Vent System and DHW System columns.

Indicates that the relevant system will match that set for the System column.

<heating profile> Supported on the Plant Profile column.

Indicates that the Plant Profile will match that set for the Heating Profile.

<cooling profile> Supported on the Plant Profile column.

Indicates that the Plant Profile will match that set for the Cooling Profile.

When a keyword is defined in a cell, any other value in the cell is disregarded during the import process. However, the export process does include the value alongside the keyword for informative purposes. So, the effect of applying the following would be the same in all cases:

- 100 <main system>

- 1000000000 < main system>

- Random < main system>

- < main system>

In all four cases above, the “Use Main System” flag would be set for the value and whatever value was defined in the template would be used.

Note that if you assign a keyword to a cell when its column does not support that keyword, it will be flagged as an error at the end of the import process (except for a column such as Template Name, which will accept any text input).


5.2 Importing Template Data

Once you have completed any editing to the output, it is then ready to be brought back into the Tabular BTM to have the modifications applied to your model. As with the export process, you can import from either a tab-delimited text file on disk or from tab-delimited text on the clipboard.

5.2.1 Requirements for Importing

In order to begin the import process, you must ensure that the data:

- Includes all column headers. These are the first row in the exported output, so you must ensure that they are included when you attempt to import the data back to the Tabular BTM.

- Includes valid values for the Template Handle column. This is what the Tabular BTM uses to identify which template is being modified, so it must appear in the data to be imported.

If either of these conditions is not met, an error message will be displayed to indicate that no valid data could be found for importing.

In order for the import process to apply changes, you must have all the required templates selected in your model. You can ensure this by simply selecting all templates in the model prior to importing data.

5.2.2 Selecting Data to Import

To begin importing data, you can either:

Select the From File… or From Clipboard item from the Import sub-menu of the Tabular BTM File menu.

Select the Paste…item from the Tabular BTM Edit menu.

Select the Import from file… or Paste from clipboard… item from the side panel.

Note: that importing from the clipboard is only enabled if there is text content currently on the clipboard.

If you have chosen to import the data from a file, you will be prompted to select the location of the file:


The import process will then begin – a progress window will be displayed if the import process takes more than a second or so, allowing you to get an estimate of how much time the import is likely to take as well as allowing you to cancel the import:

It is important to note that as the import process modifies the template attributes, cancelling it while it is in progress will result in some of your data potentially being modified and some of it unmodified – it is therefore your responsibility to ensure that the data remains in a valid state. A warning message will be displayed if you click Cancel:

Click No in this warning message to allow the import process to continue. Once the import has completed, the progress box will close automatically.


5.2.3 Error Handling

If the import process encountered any problems with the data for templates, the following warning message will be displayed once importing is completed:

You can dismiss the warning at this stage, but it is very useful to see the details of what values went wrong in each template. To see this, click the Show Detail button at the bottom-right corner:

In its expanded form, the window shows a list containing each value that it could not apply, grouped by template (the group titles are in the form <Template Handle>: <Template Name>). This allows you to quickly review the issues and decide on the best resolution.

One of the more powerful features of this list is that it allows you to fix the errors in-place if you want to. To edit a value, simply double-click on it in the Value column:

This will make the value be editable, allowing you to type in the corrected value. If the variable in question supports the use of keywords such as “<from template>”, you can also enter these into the edit box just as you would in an external editor (see the Keywords in Data Output section for details on supported keywords).

Apply your edited value by simply pressing RETURN once you are finished with the edit – if the value is now valid, it will be automatically applied and that error will be removed from the list. You can then continue to


perform the same correction method on the other errors in the list. Once all errors have been fixed, the warning message will automatically close.

Note that you can close the warning message at any time by clicking the OK button – however, any remaining errors in the list will be ignored and their values in your data will not have been modified.


Appendix A. Known Limitations

A.1 Internal Gains and Air Exchanges

The Tabular BTM supports a maximum of 10 internal gains and 10 air exchanges per template. In the unlikely event that a template uses more gains or air exchanges than this, you must use the existing Building Template Manager functionality to view and manipulate the gains.

A.2 Cannot Delete Tabs and Tab Groups

Although this version of the Tabular BTM allows you to create your own custom tabs and tab groups, there is currently no way of deleting them (you can only remove a tab from being included in a tab group). This limitation will be removed in a future release of the software, providing support from within the application for removing either your own custom tabs and groups, or those provided by default with the Virtual Environment.

In addition, if you have made modifications to the built-in tabs and/or tab groups, there is currently no method for you to reset these back to their default states. Again, this will be addressed in a future version of the software by allowing you to restore the tab and tab group settings to their defaults.


Appendix B. Frequently Asked Questions

Why are some of the columns in my tab not being displayed?

By default, tabs are set to automatically hide any column that does not contain any valid data for any of the templates being displayed – this is done to avoid unneeded clutter and is particularly useful for internal gains and air exchanges (e.g. if no template in your model contains more than three gains, the columns relating to gains 4 through to 10 are automatically hidden). However, you can turn off the auto-hiding behaviour by un-ticking the Automatically Hide Unused Columns item in the Tabular BTM Tab menu or by right-clicking on the tab and selecting the equivalent item from the pop-up menu – this will make all columns always visible in that tab.

I exported my template attributes from the Tabular BTM, but the output didn’t contain the templates(s)/column(s) I expected?

The Tabular BTM’s exporting feature works from either the currently active tab or from all tabs in the currently active group. Therefore, it is your responsibility to ensure that you select the appropriate templates you want to export, and that your current tab/tab group set-up features all the columns you require. Also, be aware that the Export items on the side panel and in the File menu will export the columns from all tabs in the group, whereas the Copy All Data From Current Tab option in the Edit menu will only export the columns in the currently active tab.

I imported template attributes into the Tabular BTM and got no errors, but the value hasn’t changed to what was in the imported data?

In order for the import process to apply changes, the templates referenced in the data you are importing must exist in the current model. Any templates that do not exist will be ignored and any modifications you have made will not be applied.

You must also ensure that you do not modify the Template Handle values in the data, as this could also cause templates to be skipped.

Finally, ensure that all column header text remains unchanged and is included as the first line in the data you are importing – failure to do this will result in no modifications being made to your template attributes, as the Tabular BTM cannot identify the different columns in the input data.

I tried to import room attributes into the Tabular BTM, but an error message was displayed saying “The supplied data is not valid for importing”?

There are two possible causes of this message:

This message means that the Tabular BTM was unable to identify the Template Handle column in the import data (left hand message) or was unable to identify any recognized columns in the import data


(right hand message). Without the Template Handle column, it is not possible to perform an import, as there is no way for the Tabular BTM to determine what templates the values should apply to. When preparing the data for import, you must ensure that it includes the Template Handle column, with a valid handle for each template.

Some examples of valid and invalid input (viewed within Microsoft Excel prior to copying to the clipboard or saved to a tab-delimited file) are given below:

Valid Data for Input:

Missing Column Headers:

Missing Template Handle Column:

Can I use exported data from the Tabular BTM to apply changes to another model?

The intention of the export functionality in Tabular BTM is to allow you to make use of external tools such as Microsoft Excel for editing template attributes – thus, the tool is designed with the intention of the user exporting data from a model, making appropriate modifications and then importing the modified data back to the same model.

It is not intended to be used to transfer information between different models – there are two main reasons behind this:

- Template handles may not be consistent between different models, and the export/import functionality relies on consistent handles in order to apply changes.

- No true model data is exported. Notably, there is no geometry information, templates, Apache systems or profiles included in the data. Therefore, there is no mechanism to correctly apply the attributes to a different model.

For this reason, you should never attempt to import data from one model into another.

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ApacheHVAC User Guide - IES...The Tabular Building Template Manager (Tabular BTM) is a new feature in the Virtual Environment that allows you to rapidly inspect any building templates