Synopsis

This tutorial is an introduction on how to modify weather and climate data from a third party source for use with Weather Tool.

Note: The exact steps for converting weather data will vary depending on where the data has been sourced from. This tutorial provides an overview of the data conversion process (using the supplied example data), and is not intended to be a step by step guide.

Duration

You will need about 20 minutes to complete this tutorial.

Training and Accreditation

Currently, this is a stand-alone tutorial that does not form part of any training packages.

Resources Required

To complete this tutorial, download and unzip the 415_001.zip provided under the Attachment section of this tutorial. There are three files contained in this ZIP archive :

• OriginalDataSet.xls (use this file to complete the tutorial)
• ConvertedDataSet.xls (for comparison purposes)
• CustomColumnFormat.ccf (for comparison purposes)

You will also need an application for opening .XLS and .CSV spreadsheets, such as Microsoft Excel.

Tutorial

Converting Climate Data

1. Using your spreadsheet application, open the OriginalDataSet.xls file. This file contains some typical climate data for a fictitious location. For this example, this data set has been exported from IES VE application.
   

   The OriginalDataSet.xls climate data file.
2. Save a copy of this data set as a .CSV file. Note: Make sure you do this, as it is necessary to keep the original file intact. If you receive a warning message about multiple sheets, you can safely ignore this.
   

   You can ignore this error message.
3. To convert this climate data into a format that can be imported into WeatherTool, delete all rows and columns that do not contain actual climate data. To begin with, delete rows 1-20.
   

   Delete rows 1-20 from the data set.
4. Next, delete column A from the data set.
   

   Delete column A from the data set.
5. Save the changes you have made to the .CSV file.
   

   Save the changes you have made to the CSV file.

Importing data into Weather Tool

We can now create a new Weather Tool .WEA file using the .CSV data file we have created. Because the order and format of climate data in a .CSV file can be stored in any number of ways, a Custom Column Format (.CCF) file is used to define the order and formatting for importing data into WeatherTool. This way, should we ever import another climate data set using the same data format and order, we can save time by using a previously created CCF file.

1. Launch the WeatherTool application. Go to the File»Open menu. In the dialog box that appears, select Separated Value Files from the Files of Type drop-down list. Navigate to and select the .CSV[./var] file created previously, and then click Open.
   

   Open the CSV file created previously.
2. The following dialog box allows you to create, load and/or save a .CCF file. In the top half of the dialog box, a preview is shown of the data contained in the select .CSV file (However, this data will be difficult to interpret manually). Click the Load button.
   

   This dialog box allows you to create, load and save CCF files.
3. Browse for and select the CustomColumnFormat.ccf download previously. Click the Open button.
   

   Select and Open the .CCF file downloaded previously.
4. The order and formatting contained in the selected .CCF file is imported into the dialog box. This will allow Weather Tool to import the data contained in the .CSV file correctly. Click the Import File button.
   

   The CCF file contains the data format and ordering information.
5. The climate data is imported and displayed in WeatherTool.
   

   The climate data is imported into Weather Tool.

Useful Tips

• You can create and save your own .CCF files. When creating your own .CCF file, be sure to refer to the original data file to make sure you are importing the climate data in the correct order.