Step 3 -- Initiate the Project files on your PC

You need to initiate the set of project files for the location you have chosen on your PC.
If you do not do this, then the program will not run properly. This is because in the downloaded zipped file the file directory paths are from originating computer. When you initiate the files for a project on your computer, all of the directory paths will be automatically reset based on the root directory you have selected.

To initiate the project files, do the following:

• Go to the DOE2Parm "root" directory.
• Double-click on the DOE2PArm.exe. file to start the program.

Note: You can adjust the size of the DOE2Parm window(s) to suit your needs.

At the program start-up window you will first see wizard. Choose to open existing project or create a new project.

Next Step:

Click on "Next >" and view a list of project names in the following window. Choose one of them and the project file will be automatically opened.

The Other Way to Open a Project:

1. Click on "Project | Open " at the left of the menu bar at the top of the DOE2Parm main window.
2. Browse to the "PROJECTS \ Sample" directory.
3. Click on the "Sample.prj" project file to open this project.

All of the paths will be reset to the current ones on your PC.

Click the OK button on the dialog box.
You will see a list of the project files that have been assembled by DOE2Parm. This is shown below.

Step 4-- Examine the DOE2Parm Window and Features (Optional)

This step describes key features about each menu item and each button in the DOE2Parm main window that was shown in the previous step.

Buttons from Top to Bottom:

"Input" -- open and edit the DOE-2 input file. The syntax coloring feature makes DOE-2 file reading much easier.

"Run DOE2" -- to run it

"Output" -- open and edit the OUTPUT, or Results, file in Microsoft Excel.

Note: Excel must be pre-installed.

"Output AWK" -- open and edit the output AWK file.

"Switch Files " -- switch any of the files in the current "Project." You may switch the weather file, DOE-2 input file, parametric text file and the AWK input and output files.

"DOS Batch" -- open and edit the DOS batch file

"Debug BDL" -- open and edit the temporary BDL output for debugging purposes

Note 1: If errors are identified in the BDL output, the corrections must be made to the INPUT file, not to the BDL file.

Note 2: If the runs are successful, but you still want to look at the BDL file, the file may be too large to view within the DOE2Parm program (max size is 2 MB). If you receive a message that the BDL file is too large to open, you can still open and view the file, but you must do so outside of the DOE2Parm program. You should use MS Explorer or some similar program to go directly to the "temp.out" file, which will show the latest version of the BDL file. The "temp.out" file is located in the root directory where you have located the DOE2Parm program.

1. Select the Sample project.
2. Click the "Run DOE2" button.

DOE2Parm will run one or more parametric runs on DOE-2 using the (1) parametric input text file that specifies the number and type of runs to do, (2) the DOE-2 input file, (3) the selected weather file, and (4) the output file(s).

DOE2Parm defines a "project" as the set of all files for running DOE-2 for a given set or sets of parametric options. Thus, DOE2Parm has a dialog box which allows you to define the set of pointers to all the files for the project. See the dialog box below.

The created project file is a text-based file which is editable. After clicking "Project | New" on the menu bar, the dialog box shown below will let you create a new project. You must first input a unique project name. DOE2Parm will create a new subdirectory under the "PROJECTS" directory in the DOE2Parm "Root" directory on your PC. Thus, the project name must use only legitimate characters and sequences for file directories.

Once you have defined the new project name you may use the "Browse..." buttons to select a weather file, a DOE-2 input file, an include folder, a parametric file, a parametric input AWK file, or an output AWK file. You may select files that are located anywhere on your computer.  

The tool will automatically create a new directory under the "PROJECTS" directory using the following subdirectories:

AWK-UTIL: stores the AWK files
INPUTS: stores the selected DOE-2 input file
PARAS: stores the selected parametric text file
INCLUDES: stores the selected include files
RESULTS: stores the selected Results, or output, files
VisDOE: stores the selected Visual DOE file

If you check the box "Copy DOE-2 input, parametric file and AWK files to the new project directories", new copies of all relevant files  files will be made and located within the appropriate subdirectories of the newly created project directory. This is an important feature, for it allows you to save ALL files used to produce a set of parametric energy and economic results in one location. This includes the DOE-2 executable files, which allows a complete documentation of how the results were produced. They can now be completely reproduced in the future or used to make future revisions. This is especially useful for parametric "Projects" that become the basis for requirements used in the energy code. 

Validate all the files

You should use the buttons on the toolbar to open and examine each file before running the parametrics.

Run DOE-2
Click on "Run DOE2".

After using the top "Browse..." button to locate a project file (which is usually located under "PROJECTS") all other text boxes are automatically updated. However, these file paths and names may not be the most up-to-date. Without examine them carefully before clicking on "OK" the tool will tell you what files are wrong.

DOE2Parm keeps track of all files you use for doing the parametric analyses for each project.
However, it does not include the original Excel spreadsheet used to create the "Parametric File." (This is the text file used by DOE2Parm.) You must keep track of the Excel spreadsheet.

The MS Excel file being included with the DOE2Parm files is "Inptool.xls"
It is found in the "root" directory of DOE2Parm.

Five different "Parametric Files" have been included with the 21 May 2002 version of DOE2Parm. All five files have been generated using the MS Excel file "Inptool.xls".

One means of generating multiple sets of parametric runs is to use the "Inptool.xls" spreadsheet. Other means of generation may contain a few, or many, DOE2 runs.

If you store all Parametric (text) Files in the PARAS sub-directory for a project (for example, the Sample project) then you may do multiple sets of parametric runs by switching parametric files. To do this:

1. Open the existing Project File by clicking  Project > Open and browsing to "Sample.prj"
2. Browse to find the multiple files stored within the PARAS subdirectory and select a different file.
3. Click OK at the bottom of the dialog box.
4. Close the "Project File" and then re-open it. This is done to "refresh" the files that are listed
   since it is not automatically updated when switching parametric files.
5. Click Go to run the set of parametric files just selected.

All of the results files are stored in the RESULTS subdirectory.

To view a number of hints for using DOE2Parm go to Hints.

The location of the DOE-2 executables of "DOE-2" (listed in thee dialog box above) is used as a relative path.

The default location of the DOS Batch File is right at the root directory. It may be moved to another location, which must then be specified here.

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