1. Menus.
2. File menu.
3. Edit menu.
4. View menu.
5. Limitations.

1 Menus

Figure 1 The main menus

The main window has three menu alternatives: File, Edit and View. They are described in detail below.

2 File menu

Figure 2 The File menu

The File menu has five alternatives: New, Save XML..., Load XML..., Print..., Export... and Exit.

New submenu

Erases the current model and resets the number of layers to one(1). Units will be standard units but not assigned to any layer. The time axis will have one increment with no time given.
Note: There will be no warning if you have not saved your previous model!

Save XML... submenu

Saves a model to a file. The model is stored as a text file using a simplified version of the XML (Extended Markup Language) format . The file extension xml has to be given together with the file name, e.g. S1.xml. 

The file may be edited by the user but changing tags or number or type of data may cause a crash when loading the model again. It is recommended that a model is changed by first loading it into the program, make the changes and then save the model again.

Load XML... submenu

Loads models from XML files that have been produced by the ECF program. 

Print.. submenu

Prints models on paper. One page is printed for each model layer. Each page has two heading items: The file name and the layer name. 

The flow connectors can be hidden by the menu View -> Hide/Show connectors. This gives a nicer diagram when printed.

Note: The printed file name will be correct if only if the model has been saved or loaded without any further model changes. 

Export... submenu

Exports flow values to a file *.dat. 
One flow per line is described as: Name (unit); Value; ... ; Value; The items are separated by semicolons (;). 

"Exported values:;
Time:; 1998.0; 1999.0; 2000.0; 2001.0; 2002.0; 2003.0; 2004.0; 2005.0;
Income(kCU); 417; 445; 475; 520; 567; 584; 600;
Taxes(kCU); 417; 445; 475; 520; 567; 584; 600;
Expenditures(kCU); 827; 827; 827; 827; 0; 0; 0;
...
Work(kwmy); 123; 0; 0; 0; 0; 0; 0;
Investments(kCU); 216; 216; 216; 216; 0; 0; 0;
Investments(kCU); 216; 216; 216; 216; -0; -0; -0;"

The file can be imported to other programs for plotting of time histories etc. See example in files S2flows.dat and the Excel file ECFflows.xls .

Exiting the program

Use the Exit alternative on the File menu or the cross in the upper right corner of the main window to terminate the program. 

Note: There will be no warning if you have not saved your model!

3 Edit menu

Figure 3 The Edit menu

The Edit menu has the alternatives: Units..., Layer..., Time axis..., Add layer and Clear data... .

Units... submenu

Opens a dialog for setting units of variables, such as flows and parameters. See the Units chapter.

Layer... submenu

Opens a dialog for setting the name of a model layer. See also the Layers chapter.

Figure 4 The Layer properties dialog

Time axis... submenu

Opens a dialog for editing the properties of the time axis that is associated with all variables. See the Time Axis chapter.

Add layer  submenu

Adds a layer to the model. Note: Program version (2.3) can not remove a layer when once added.

Figure 5 Layer #2 has just been added.

Clear data... submenu

Opens a dialog for clearing the time axis and all time dependent data. Units, names and associations to layers will not be erased. In contrast, the New submenu will clear the whole model.

Figure 6 Clear time axis and variable data dialog.

4 View menu

Figure 4 The View menu

The View menu has three alternatives: Tile, Calculator... and Hide/Show connectors.

Tile submenu

Expands the layer frames to cover the whole diagram area of the program window. If the model has two or more layers, then the layer frames will be fitted side by side. See also the Layers chapter.

Calculator... submenu

The calculator dialog shows the status of flow balance calculations. See the Flow Balances chapter, paragraph The calculator.

Hide/Show connectors submenu

Flow connectors can be hidden or shown by clicking the Hide/Show connectors alternative.

Figure 5 Shown connectors	Hidden connectors

5 Limitations

Data can not yet be imported from a *.dat file.
Layers can not be removed.

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Next chapter Chapter 3.