SES Software Utilities

May 2004

Prepared by:

Safe Engineering Services & technologies ltd.

1544 Viel, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3M 1G4
Tel.: (514) 336-2511 Fax: (514) 336-6144
Email: [email protected]
 REVISION RECORD

Date Version Number Revision Level

November 1993 1 0

February 1994 1 1

June 1995 2 0

September 1995 2 1

November 1997 2 2

December 1998 7 0

January 2000 8 0

December 2000 9 0

November 2002 10 0

May 2004 11 0

Copyright 1998-2004
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................................................................1-1
1.1 INTENDED READERS.....................................................................................................................................................1-1
1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THIS MANUAL...................................................................................................................................1-1
1.3 ORGANIZATION OF THIS MANUAL............................................................................................................................1-1
2 DXF IMPORT & EXPORT UTILITY AND FILTERS ........................................................................................................2-1
2.1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................................................2-1
3 BINARY/ASCII CONVERT UTILITY...................................................................................................................................3-1
3.1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................................................3-1
3.2 BIN ⇒ ASCII - FILE ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES .................................................................................................................3-1
3.3 ASCII ⇒ BIN - FILE ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES .................................................................................................................3-2
4 TEXT EDITOR AND FILE/VIEW/PRINT/PLOT UTILITIES ...........................................................................................4-1

5 WINDOWS METAFILES AND POSTSCRIPT PLOTS.......................................................................................................5-1

5.1 PRINTING PLOTS WITH WINDOWS METAFILES .....................................................................................................................5-1
5.2 POSTSCRIPT PLOTS ..............................................................................................................................................................5-3
6 GRAREP: SES GRAPHICS AND TEXT VIEWER ..............................................................................................................6-1
6.1 WHAT’S NEW IN THIS VERSION ........................................................................................ ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
6.2 GRAREP: AN OVERVIEW.....................................................................................................................................................6-1
6.3 GRAREP: DETAILED COMMAND SURVEY ............................................................................................................................6-4
6.4 PRINT PREVIEW .................................................................................................................................................................6-15
6.5 PRINT PREVIEW COMMAND REFERENCE .............................................................................................................................6-19
7 GRSPLITS: A CIRCUIT PLOTTING UTILITY FOR SPLITS AND FCDIST .................................................................7-1
7.1 OVERVIEW ..........................................................................................................................................................................7-1
7.2 WHAT’S NEW IN THIS VERSION ........................................................................................ ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
7.3 EXAMPLES OF GRSPLITS OUTPUT .....................................................................................................................................7-2
7.4 RUNNING THE PROGRAM ....................................................................................................................................................7-5
7.5 COMMAND REFERENCE ........................................................................................................................................................7-6

8 PC BATCH PROCESSING ......................................................................................................................................................8-1

8.1 INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................................................................8-1
8.2 USING SESBATCH ............................................................................................................................................................8-1
8.3 REFERENCE .....................................................................................................................................................................8-1
8.4 MENU BAR ..........................................................................................................................................................................8-2
8.5 MAIN RUN SCREEN .............................................................................................................................................................8-2
8.6 SELECTED BATCH RUNS ......................................................................................................................................................8-3
8.7 SELECTED BATCH LAUNCH TIME (TAB).............................................................................................................................8-5
8.8 SESSION SAVE FILE .............................................................................................................................................................8-6
8.9 SESBATCH LOG FILES ....................................................................................................................................................8-7
9 GRSERVER: REPORT AND PLOTTING SERVER FOR PROCESSING CDEGS COMPUTATION RESULTS......9-1
9.1 GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE ..............................................................................................................................................9-1
9.2 OPENING A FILE ................................................................................................................................................................9-11

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONT’D)

Page
9.3 PROCESSING COMPUTATION RESULTS ............................................................................................................................... 9-14
9.4 PRINTING, SAVING, AND DELETING PLOTS ........................................................................................................................ 9-18
9.5 CREATING THE ENGINEERING DATABASE .......................................................................................................................... 9-22

10 SESCAD: A GRAPHICAL ENVIRONMENT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NETWORKS IN MALT, MALZ AND
HIFREQ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 10-1
10.1 WHAT’S NEW IN THIS VERSION ........................................................................................ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
10.2 SESCAD: AN OVERVIEW................................................................................................................................................. 10-2
10.3 COORDINATE SYSTEM ...................................................................................................................................................... 10-3
10.4 THE MAIN INTERFACE ...................................................................................................................................................... 10-6
10.5 THE POINTER MODES ....................................................................................................................................................... 10-7
10.6 WORKING WITH DOCUMENTS .......................................................................................................................................... 10-8
10.7 WORKING WITH OBJECTS .............................................................................................................................................. 10-11
10.8 USING VIEWS.................................................................................................................................................................. 10-42
10.9 DIAGNOSING NETWORK PROBLEMS................................................................................................................................ 10-50
10.10 FINDING INFORMATION ABOUT OBJECTS ....................................................................................................................... 10-58
10.11 USING THE OBJECT DATABASE ..................................................................................................................................... 10-65
10.12 WORKING WITH SYSTEM OBJECTS ................................................................................................................................. 10-65
10.13 THE AUTO-SNAP FEATURE ............................................................................................................................................. 10-66
10.14 USING THE KEYBOARD .................................................................................................................................................. 10-67
10.15 DEFINITIONS ................................................................................................................................................................... 10-70
11 VERSION.EXE: A UTILITY THAT DISPLAYS THE VERSION NUMBERS OF EXECUTABLE FILES............... 11-1

12 AMPACITY............................................................................................................................................................................. 12-1

13 THE SESPLOT PLOTTING PACKAGE............................................................................................................................. 13-1

13.1 OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................................................................................ 13-1
13.2 USING SESPLOT ............................................................................................................................................................. 13-2
13.3 CONSTRUCTING THE DATA SERIES ................................................................................................................................... 13-3
13.4 SESPLOT REFERENCE ..................................................................................................................................................... 13-4
13.5 THE SESPLOT MAIN SCREEN .......................................................................................................................................... 13-5
13.6 THE SOURCE DATA DIALOG ............................................................................................................................................. 13-6
14 FFT21DATA: A DATA EXTRACTOR FOR FFTSES ....................................................................................................... 14-1
14.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................................. 14-1
14.2 GETTING STARTED ........................................................................................................................................................... 14-2
14.3 WORKING WITH PLOTS .................................................................................................................................................... 14-6
14.4 FFT21DATA COMMAND REFERENCE ............................................................................................................................... 14-9
15 SESSCRIPT: A SCRIPTING TOOL FOR SES SOFTWARE ........................................................................................... 15-1
15.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................................. 15-1
15.2 USING SESSCRIPT ............................................................................................................................................................ 15-2
15.3 SAMPLES .......................................................................................................................................................................... 15-4
15.4 USER INTERFACE .............................................................................................................................................................. 15-9
15.5 REFERENCE..................................................................................................................................................................... 15-11
15.6 SCRIPTING SYNTAX REFERENCE ..................................................................................................................................... 15-16
16 TRANSPOSIT: PHASE TRANSPOSITION UTILITY FOR SPLITS.............................................................................. 16-1

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONT’D)

Page
16.1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................................................16-1
16.2 OVERVIEW OF TRANSPOSIT ..............................................................................................................................................16-1
17 SESGSE: SES GROUNDING SYSTEM ESTIMATOR ......................................................................................................17-1
17.1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................................................17-1
17.2 AVAILABLE STRUCTURES AND SYSTEM PARAMETERS ......................................................................................................17-2
17.3 RUNNING THE PROGRAM ...................................................................................................................................................17-3
18 CETU: CURRENT ENERGIZATION TRANSFER UTILITY FOR CONDUCTIVE INTERFERENCE STUDIES .18-1
18.1 GETTING STARTED ............................................................................................................................................................18-1
18.2 PREPARING THE INPUT FILES .............................................................................................................................................18-2
18.3 SELECT THE CURRENT ASSIGNMENT OPTION ....................................................................................................................18-3
18.4 PROCESS............................................................................................................................................................................18-9
19 AUTOGROUNDDESIGN: AN EFFICIENT AND AUTOMATED GROUNDING GRID DESIGN UTILITY ...........19-1
19.1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................................................19-2
19.2 FEATURES .........................................................................................................................................................................19-2
19.3 PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT HISTORY ..................................................................................................................................19-3
19.4 GROUNDING SYSTEM DESIGN TECHNOLOGIES AND PROCEDURES ....................................................................................19-3
19.5 AUTOMATED GROUNDING SYSTEM DESIGN STRUCTURE ..................................................................................................19-4
19.6 FURTHER ENHANCEMENTS ................................................................................................................................................19-5
20 SESTLC: SES TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION LINE CALCULATOR FOR RAPID EMF, LINE
PARAMETERS, AND INDUCED VOLTAGE ESTIMATES......................................................................................................20-1
20.1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................................................20-1
20.2 USER INTERFACE...............................................................................................................................................................20-1
20.3 GRAPHIC PRESENTATION ..................................................................................................................................................20-3
20.4 FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS ..................................................................................................................................................20-5
21 AUTOTRANSIENT: AUTOMATION OF FFTSES AND HIFREQ FOR THE ANALYSIS OF TRANSIENT
PHENOMENA ..................................................................................................................................................................................21-1
21.1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................................................21-1
21.2 TECHNICAL HIGHLIGHTS ...................................................................................................................................................21-1

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 Chapter 1 Introduction

1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 INTENDED READERS
This manual is intended for all users of the SES Software Packages (CDEGS, AutoGround,
MultiGround, MultiGround+, MultiLines, MultiLines+, MultiFields, MultiFields+, Right-Of-Way and
Auto Grid Pro), having access to a personal computer environment running Windows.

1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THIS MANUAL

Several utilities are provided with the software packages of SES in order to help you speed up the input
tasks, automate repetitive runs and expedite the output processes. These utilities are described hereafter.

1.3 ORGANIZATION OF THIS MANUAL

The remainder of this manual is organized as follows:

Chapter 2 describes the DXF import/export filters DXFSES and SESDXF.

Chapter 3 describes ASCBIN and BINASC, two programs that convert between the binary database
format used by the CDEGS programs and a text format.
Chapter 4 describes the editor and file viewer that are an integral part of the CDEGS interface.
Chapter 5 discusses the features of Windows Metafiles (EMF and WMF) and describes a program
(WMFPRINT) that can be used to display and print this type of files.
Chapter 6 describes GraRep, a combined graphics viewer and text editor.
Chapter 7 describes GRSplits, a program that produces plots of the circuits defined in SPLITS input
files.
Chapter 8 describes SESBAT, a utility that makes it possible to start the SES programs in batch
mode.
Chapter 9 describes GRServer, a program that can display the computation results from the SES
programs in graphical or report form.
Chapter 10 describes SESCAD, a graphical data entry program for MALT, MALZ and HIFREQ.
Chapter 11 describes VERSION.EXE, a utility that can display the version numbers of all selected
executable files.
Chapter 12 describes AMPACITY, a program that performs computations of conductor minimum
size, ampacity or temperature rise.
Chapter 13 describes SESPLOT, a small plotting package that produces 2D and 3D plots of data read
from space delimited, multi-column input files.
Chapter 14 describes FFT21DATA, a utility that can extract data from FFTSES output database files
(File21).
Chapter 15 describes SESScript, a scripting tool for SES Software
Chapter 16 describes Transposit, a utility that allows you to carry out line transpositions on a
SPLITS input file.
Chapter 17 describes SESGSE, a simplified grounding system estimator
Chapter 18 describes CETU, a Current Energization Transfer Utility for Conductive Interference
Studies.

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 Chapter 1 Introduction

Chapter 19 describes AutoGroundDesign, a utility that helps you determine rapidly the optimal
design for simple grounding grids by calculating the maximum mesh size allowed to
meet specified safety criteria.
Chapter 20 describes SESTLC, an easy-to-use program that quickly estimates the electro-magnetic
fields around transmission lines, as well as the conductive and inductive interference
levels caused by transmission lines on adjacent metallic structures.
Chapter 21 briefly describes AutoTransient, a utility that automates studies of transient phenomena
carried out with HIFREQ and FFTSES.

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 Chapter 2 DXF Import & Export Utility and filters

2 DXF IMPORT & EXPORT UTILITY AND

FILTERS

2.1 INTRODUCTION
SES software provides a built-in CAD compatible DXF import and export utility. Relevant objects in
CAD packages can be converted to CONDUCTOR specifications and vice-versa. You can set the
minimum conductor segment length to an appropriate value. All segment lengths that are less than this
value are skipped. You can set the default conductor radius to an appropriate value.

This utility is now integrated to the various software packages (AutogridPro, SESCAD, Input Toolbox,
etc.). Please refer to the online help for detailed instructions.

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 Chapter 2 DXF Import & Export Utility and filters

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 Chapter 3 Binary/Ascii Convert Utility

3 BINARY/ASCII CONVERT UTILITY

3.1 INTRODUCTION
This utility reads binary computation database files produced by the engineering modules and convert
them to intermediate ASCII files. The utility will also convert intermediate ASCII files to binary SES
compatible database files. Note that the utility can be used to convert the computation results into ASCII
readable files which can be processed by other graphical and report packages.

The convert utility programs can be activated by clicking the “Import from DB” and “Export from DB”
icons on the main screen of CDEGS.

3.2 BIN ⇒ ASCII - FILE ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES

The Import from DB icon launches a Binary to ASCII utility that reads PC binary computation database
files (F21 filename extensions) and converts them into intermediate ASCII files (ASC filename
extensions). By default, the file assignments are set to the MALT engineering module results.

Keyboard

To move between fields, press the Tab key.

To select another Binary File Name Assignment (engineering results file) or ASCII File Name
Assignment (intermediate link file), use the up or down arrow keys to cycle through the available list of
file names.

To launch the utility, press the Enter key.

To return to the CDEGS screen without launching the utility, press the Esc key.

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 Chapter 3 Binary/Ascii Convert Utility

Mouse

To select another Binary File Name Assignment (engineering results file) or ASCII File Name
Assignment (intermediate link file), click the down arrow button at the right of the field. A list of
available file names will be displayed.

Use the scroll arrows to see the complete list of available file names.

Click an item to select it.

To launch the utility, click the OK button.

To return to the CDEGS screen without launching the utility, click the CANCEL button.

3.3 ASCII ⇒ BIN - FILE ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES

The Export from DB icon launches an ASCII to Binary utility that reads intermediate ASCII files (ASC
filename extensions) and converts them into PC binary computation database files (F21 filename
extensions). By default, the file assignments are set to the MALT engineering module results.

Keyboard

To move between fields, press the Tab key.

To select another Binary File Name Assignment (engineering results file) or ASCII File Name
Assignment (intermediate link file), use the up or down arrow keys to cycle through the available list of
file names.

To launch the utility, press the Enter key.

To return to the CDEGS screen without launching the utility, press the Esc key.

Mouse

To select another Binary File Name Assignment (engineering results file) or ASCII File Name
Assignment (intermediate link file), click the down arrow button at the right of the field. A list of
available file names will be displayed.

Use the scroll arrows to see the complete list of available file names.

Click an item to select it.

To launch the utility, click the OK button.

To return to the CDEGS screen without launching the utility, click the CANCEL button.

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 Chapter 4 Text Editor and File/View/Print/Plot Utilities

4 TEXT EDITOR AND FILE/VIEW/PRINT/PLOT

UTILITIES
A simple Text Editor is available in the Data Entry [Describe] pane of the CDEGS Windows interface
screen. This editor cannot handle large files. It has been made available for your convenience. Use your
favorite text editor to manipulate efficiently large input files, particularly when specialized macros are
required to conduct repetitive input tasks. A Print option is available to print the opened file on any
windows defined printer.

A File/View/Print/Plot utility is accessible in the Plot/Report/View Results pane of the CDEGS

Windows interface screen. This utility allows you to view the computation results of all engineering
applications modules. It has a Find text string option to help you locate specific information. This utility
will automatically detect plot files and will allow you to direct them to your plotter or laser printer.
Output files can be printed using the pull-down Print menu. You can print in landscape mode and use
various font types and sizes to fit the printout on the laser paper.

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 Chapter 5 Windows Metafiles and PostScript Plots

5 WINDOWS METAFILES AND POSTSCRIPT

PLOTS

5.1 PRINTING PLOTS WITH WINDOWS METAFILES

5.1.1 Overview
The Microsoft Windows Metafile graphics format is a type of graphics file that many PC applications
can display or print (for example, Visual Basic, MS Word and CorelDRAW). It comes in two versions:
the standard metafile (with a “WMF” file extension) and the enhanced metafile (with a “EMF” file
extension). The standard metafile format was originally designed for Windows 3.1 and is currently
being phased out.

The Microsoft Windows operating system contains code which deals with the metafile format. It allows
programs to make calls to the operating system to create and/or interpret metafiles. As a consequence,
there are many application programs which can share images via “cut and paste” by accessing metafiles
internally.

Windows Metafiles are device-independent, in the sense that they can be displayed on any hardware
device (printer, monitor, …) currently supported by the Windows operating system.

5.1.2 Testing the software and your printer

Test 1: Printing an existing Metafile using WMFPRT

1. Click the WMFPRT icon to start the program. The window shown below (Figure 1, without the plot) will appear.

2. Select File and a drop-down menu will provide you with 4 different menu items, namely, Open / Print / Clear / Exit.

3. Select Open and choose the file C:\Program Files\SESSoftware\WMF\CSIRPS\GRAPHICS\2D-PLOT.WMF (assuming

your SESSoftware installation folder is C:\Program Files\SESSoftware). The plot will appear.

4. Select Print. A printer dialog box will appear. Select your printer then click OK. The image will be printed.

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 Chapter 5 Windows Metafiles and PostScript Plots

Figure 1. Metafile plot from file C:\PROGRAM

FILES\SESSOFTWARE\WMF\CSIRPS\GRAPHICS\2D-PLOT.WMF

Test 2: Creating a WMF file from CDEGS

1. Copy the file MT_DEMO.F21 from the folder \EXAMPLES\EXTRA on your CD-ROM into your working
directory.

2. Run CDEGS, set the working directory (e.g. C:\WORKDIR), and set the job ID to DEMO

3. Click the Toolbox icon (output processor) and click the following series of buttons: MALT, SETUP and
GENERAL. Then select WMF under “Graphics Language:”. Next select File under Draw then click DRAW,
followed by OK, OK and EXIT.

4. Run the WMFPRT program and load the WMF file created in step 3 above (the filename will be
CS_DEMO.F30 in your working directory (e.g. C:\WORKDIR). The resulting plot should appear as follows.

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 Chapter 5 Windows Metafiles and PostScript Plots

Figure 2. WMF plot from CSIRPS based on MT_DEMO.F21

5.1.3 Things to know about Windows Metafiles

• A Windows Metafile consists of one image, not multiple images. On the other hand, if a single
DRAW command generates several plots, then all plots are going to be produced in separate files,
the first being the default (F30) file (or the user-specified file) and the subsequent ones having the
plot’s number appended to the base name of the first file. For example, if the original plot file is
called “c:\mydir\myfile.f30”, then the subsequent files are going to be called
“c:\mydir\myfile01.f30”, “c:\mydir\myfile02.f30”, …

• The default printing format in CDEGS is Postscript. You must issue the STORE-DEVICE,EMF or
STORE-DEVICE,WMF command before making the plot (this can be done in Toolbox in the
SETUP menu after GENERAL has been selected).

• The Standard Windows Metafiles (WMF files) that CDEGS create contain a placeable header. The
WMFPRT program requires this type of WMF file, otherwise it will give an ERROR 481 (invalid
WMF file). This can result from an old WMF file having no placeable header, or simply a plot file
that is not in WMF format.

5.2 POSTSCRIPT PLOTS

The CDEGS software will generate plots using various graphics language protocols such as HP-GL and
Postscript. Postscript and HP-GL plot files can be imported to many popular graphics packages such as
CorelDraw. In this section, we will describe how to produce and import CDEGS postscript files into
popular graphic packages such as CorelDraw (version 5 or later).

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 Chapter 5 Windows Metafiles and PostScript Plots

“Postscript” is a page description language which allows almost any imaginable graphic or text image to
be created. The language itself is quite powerful, and could actually be used as a general purpose
programming language (except that it is missing a full-featured debugger). Postscript is a very “stack”-
oriented language (as in Forth). It has both built-in and programmable functions, data types (including
scalar quantities and arrays), conditional statements, mathematical operators (some allowing
manipulation of vectors and matrices), and file operators.

All CDEGS output processors (Output Toolbox, GrServer, CSIRPS) allow the user to produce high-
quality plots by creating postscript files which can be printed on postscript-compatible printers or
displayed on workstations that understand “display postscript”.

EDITING POSTSCRIPT FILES

A postscript file contains plain text commands that describe the graphics image to be created. Any
postscript file can be edited and modified at will using a text editor. Therefore, it is possible for someone
with a minimal knowledge of postscript to change simple things like axis titles just by editing a
postscript file.

For example, if you wish to change a title which reads “Distance from Origin” to “Distance from Fault
Location”, search for the string you want to change, noting that it will be enclosed in parentheses,
followed by the “show” command, as follows:

(Distance from Origin) show

and simply replace it with your new string:

(Distance from Fault Location) show

IMPORTING POSTSCRIPT FILES INTO CORELDRAW

A more substantial change (such as displacing a curve in a plot) to a postscript file can be accomplished
by importing the postscript file into a third-party drawing program and manipulating it graphically
(instead of editing the postscript program as shown above).

The following steps describe how to produce a file plot using the Toolbox after running the MALT
engineering module:

• Click the TOOLBOX button in the PLOT/REPORT/VIEW Results [Examine] window. A

TOOLBOX bar appears.

• Click the Malt button in the toolbox

• Click the Configuration radio button

• In the Configuration option, click the All Electrodes radio button

• In the View option click the Top radio button

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 Chapter 5 Windows Metafiles and PostScript Plots

• Click the Setup.... button

• Click the General.... button

• In the Color Rendition option, click the Color radio button

• Click the OK button

• In the Draw option, click the File radio button

• Click the Draw button

• Click the OK button

• Click the Exit button

IMPORTING PLOT FILES INTO CORELDRAW VERSION 5 (and Higher)

• Open CorelDraw
• Select the File item from the menu bar
• Select Import item
• At the dialogue window from the List Files of Type, select the item PostScript (Interpreted)
(*.eps, *.ps)
• At the File Name, indicate the name of your plot file (e.g. CS_jobid.F30)
• Click the OK button.
• At the dialogue window “Import EPS”, select the item TEXT.
• If you get a dialogue box saying “Filter Error”, ignore it and click OK.
TROUBLESHOOTING CORELDRAW

CorelDraw is a popular drawing program which can import postscript files. Unfortunately, some earlier
versions of the program had a few bugs which caused it to go into an infinite loop or behave
unexpectedly. We have discovered what the bugs are and how to work around them. CorelDRAW
(Versions up to and including 5) has problems with the following:

CorelDRAW will go into an infinite loop if it encounters certain "setdash" commands. This postscript
command defines the linestyle for a curve (e.g. dashed, dot-dash, solid, etc.).

CorelDRAW will block access to the background as if an invisible object were in the way when it
encounters certain "fill" commands. This postscript command allows a page to be filled in with any
color or shade of gray.

CorelDRAW does not handle multiple pages imported from a single file.

MANUAL WORKAROUNDS

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 Chapter 5 Windows Metafiles and PostScript Plots

The workarounds are as follows:

Replace the setdash command (e.g. "[ 2.0 0 2.0 0.0 ] 0 setdash") with "[] 0 setdash" (i.e. remove
everything in between the square brackets). Note that this will turn all dashed lines into solid lines. An
alternate workaround is to use the CSIRPS SETUP command "ST-COLOR,YES". This will make it try
to create solid color-coded curves rather than multiple linestyles to distinguish curves. This will reduce
or eliminate the number of "setdash" commands in the file, but it will require that the new color-coded
curves be transformed back to black dashed lines for normal printing (i.e., on black and white printers).

Remove the following sequence (if any) from the postscript file:
0 0 mt
0 5000 lt
5000 5000 lt
5000 0 lt
closepath
fill
stroke

Create a sequence of files, one for each page. For example, if the original postscript file "CS_3D.F30"
contains three plots, create three new files: CS_3D.PS1; CS_3D.PS2; CS_3D.PS3. Note that pages are
delimited with the ctrl-D character (ASCII 4).

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 Chapter 5 Windows Metafiles and PostScript Plots

AUTOMATED CORRECTIONS AND OTHER UTILITIES

A useful utility program has been created to make it as easy as possible to get CDEGS postscript files
into CorelDRAW.

The program is called "CHPSCDR" ("Change Postscript for CorelDRAW"). It replaces setdash
commands and splits a single n-page input file into n single-page output files (it will list the output
filenames on the screen). To run it, simply type at the command prompt:

chpscdr ps_infile

where ps_infile is your postscript input file. The output filename will be *.ps1 (and if there is more than
one output file the program will list them). This program is included in the various SES Software
packages.

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 Chapter 6 Grarep: SES Graphics and Text Viewer

6 GRAREP: SES GRAPHICS AND TEXT

VIEWER
GraRep is a program that can be used to display and print existing graphics or text files. The features
available in this program allow you to:

• Zoom in on a selected portion of a picture.

• Scale a picture up or down.
• View an unlimited number of pictures simultaneously.
• Print plots.
• Customize the printing of plots.
• View and print reports, messages and text.

GraRep is used internally by the Output Toolbox and other SES software to display computation results
graphically or in report form. The program can also be used in “standalone” mode, i.e., it can be started
as any Windows executable, independently of Toolbox.

The remainder of this chapter describes the GraRep software and its features in detail.

6.1 GRAREP: AN OVERVIEW.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the main user interface of the program consists of three tabs. The View
Plots tab is devoted to the display of graphics files. The other two tabs (View Reports and View
Messages) are used to display text.

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 Chapter 6 Grarep: SES Graphics and Text Viewer

The View Plots tab

The View Plots tab is used to display graphics files. Presently, only the Enhanced Windows Metafile
(EMF) and the Standard Windows Metafile (WMF) formats are supported.

Figure 6.1. The “View Plots” tab of GraRep

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 Chapter 6 Grarep: SES Graphics and Text Viewer

Figure 6.2. The “View Reports” tab of GraRep

The View Plots tab is separated into two major areas: the main viewing area, and the Picture Button
queue (at the right edge of the window). Pictures can be loaded using the Open command of the File
menu. When a picture is first loaded, it is displayed in the main viewing area and a Picture Button
showing a smaller version of the picture is created and added to the queue. Only one picture can be
displayed at a given time in the main viewing area. As more pictures are loaded, several Picture Buttons
are created and added to the queue. By clicking any of the Picture Buttons, the corresponding image is
transferred to the main viewing area.

A maximum of ten Picture Buttons can be visible in the queue simultaneously. When more than ten
pictures are loaded, a scroll bar appears to give access to all of the Picture Buttons. GraRep can
simultaneously load as many pictures as desired; it is only limited by the memory resources available to
the system. A Picture Button can be removed from the queue by double-clicking it or by using the
Delete command in the Edit menu.

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 Chapter 6 Grarep: SES Graphics and Text Viewer

A picture can be saved by first clicking on the corresponding Picture Button and then using Save As…
in the File menu. This is especially useful for pictures added to the queue by an external program such
as Toolbox, since in that case there is no file associated with the picture.

Both the main viewing area and the Picture Button queue are resized with the main program window.
The picture can be moved by dragging the mouse in the main viewing area. Similarly, the picture can be
scaled by dragging the mouse in the main viewing area while holding the Ctrl key down. Finally, by
dragging the mouse in the main viewing area with the Shift key is held down, it is possible to zoom in
on any given area of the picture.

For more details on these and other features, see the Section entitled “Detailed Command Survey”.

The View Reports And View Messages tabs

The View Report and View Messages tabs look exactly the same. Their functionality is, however, somewhat
different. Both can open, display, and save text files. The difference is that when a file is open in the View Report
tab, its content either replaces what was displayed in the viewer or appends to it after inserting a “Report #” tag.
This tag is subsequently used to quickly locate a given report. When a file is open in the View Messages tab, its
content is always appended to what is already displayed in the viewer.

The differences mentioned above are exploited by Toolbox when it uses GraRep as a component: the
View Reports tab is used to display the user requested reports and the View Messages tab is used to
accumulate the commands sent to SES’ SICL Graphics Engine as well as the error messages returned by
the engine.

Both viewers can also be used to load and optionally edit text files. The text files are not limited in size
to the traditional 64K: they can be as large as the memory of the system allows. The standard editing
operations (copy, cut, paste, delete, find, undo…) are available through their usual shortcuts.

See the Section entitled “Detailed Command Survey” for a description of the GraRep commands as they
apply to the View Report and View Messages tabs.

6.2 GRAREP: DETAILED COMMAND SURVEY

The following is a list of all GraRep commands and a description of their function. The commands are
regrouped in the same way as in the application’s main menu bar, i.e. as File commands, Edit
commands, View commands and Options. The same functionality is often accessible from the Toolbar
or from context-sensitive menus (on the secondary mouse button). Some features, such as zoom, are not
available from any menus or toolbars. These are described in the section entitled “Hidden Features”.

Most of the commands behave differently depending on which tab is active. These differences will be
noted as needed.

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Conventions

The expression graphics mode is used to refer to the case where the View Plot tab is active. Similarly,
the expression text mode is used to refer to the case where either the View Report or the View Messages
tab is active. When more precision is necessary, the expressions report mode and message mode are
used.

The expression standalone mode is used to describe the situation where the program is controlled
directly by the user while server mode refers to the case where it is used by another program. In the
latter case, the program using GraRep is called the client program.

6.2.1 File Commands

Open:

Open existing files for display. Several files can be loaded simultaneously. In graphics mode, only
Enhanced Windows Metafiles (EMF) and Standard Windows Metafiles (WMF) files can be
displayed. In text mode, any ASCII based text file can be loaded. In message mode, the content of
the files is appended to any existing text in the viewer. In report mode, the behavior depends on the
Report Display Mode option: when the Report Display Mode is Overwrite, the content of the files replaces
any existing text in the viewer; in the Append mode, a marker is appended to the text, followed by the
content of the files. The marker is used to quickly find the various reports that are simultaneously displayed.
When the option Allow Editing Of Report And Messages is selected, the text in the viewer can be
edited. See Editing Text in the section entitled “Hidden Features” for more details.

Save As:

Saves the graphics or text file presently displayed in the active tab. In text mode, the text can also be
saved in Rich Text Format (RTF).

In graphics mode, it is possible to save the text annotations that were added to the picture in the
preview window along with the picture. If such annotations are present, you will prompted to
confirm whether or not they should be saved with the picture.

Save Archive:

Saves all graphics and text files currently loaded in the program. You are prompted to provide a
filename for the archive. All files can be re-loaded quickly from the archive file. This allows you to
save the complete state of a session, and restore it at later time.

Load Archive:

Loads an archive file that was previously saved with the Save Archive command.

Export to PDF File:

Exports the graphics file currently displayed by the program to the PDF format.

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Page Setup:

Loads the Page Setup dialog to select the attributes of the page used in printing as well as the
printing margins.

Print Preview:

Loads the Print Preview window to customize the plot for printing. See the section entitled “Print
Preview” for more details.

Print Setup:

Changes the attributes of the printer.

Print:

Prints the graphics or text file presently displayed in the active tab. If several buttons are selected in
the queue, this command prints all selected plots. See Selecting Pictures in the section entitled
“Hidden Features” for details on how to select multiple plots.

The printed output can include the date, the file name, a title and a frame (around plots only). They
can be customized using the Printing Options dialog. Graphics printing can be customized further
using Print Preview. When used in server mode, the file name is normally missing since the file
being displayed is destroyed.

Recent Files:

Lists the files most recently displayed by the program. They can be reopened quickly by clicking on
the file name.

Exit:

The behavior of this command differs when the program is run in standalone mode or in server
mode. In standalone mode, this closes the program; all plots and text files currently displayed are
lost. In server mode, this only hides the program’s main window. This is because the client program
may still need GraRep. See the Close Window On Exit option for more details on the termination
behavior of GraRep.

6.2.2 Edit Commands

Copy Current Plot:

Copies the plot currently displayed in the main viewing area to the clipboard.

Delete Current Plot / Delete Selected Plot(s):

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After confirmation, deletes the plot currently displayed in the main viewing area and the associated
picture button from the queue. If several picture buttons are selected in the queue, then all selected buttons
are deleted. Note that this does not delete the corresponding file from the disk. See Selecting
Pictures in the section entitled “Hidden Features” for details on how to select multiple plots.

Delete All Plots:

After confirmation, deletes all the plots and picture buttons from the queue, emptying the queue.

Select All Plots:

Selects all the plots displayed in the picture button queue.

Delete All Reports:

After confirmation, deletes all the reports displayed in the View Reports tab.

Find:

Loads the Find dialog, as displayed below. This is available only in text mode. It allows to search
for a given text string in the displayed text.

The options are:

• Find What: Specifies the text string to search for. Also, remembers the last few searched strings.

• Search: Specifies whether the Entire Text or only the Selected Text are to be searched

• Find Whole Word Only: When this option is active, occurrences of the searched string that are part of a
longer word are ignored.

• Match Case: Performs a case-sensitive search.

Find Next:

Search for the next occurrence of the last string specified in the Find dialog.

Locate Next Error Or Warning:

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Available only in message mode, this command searches the displayed text for occurrences of
“ERROR” or “WARNING”. This is useful for quickly finding the errors and warnings issued by the
client program when GraRep is used in server mode.

Create Command Macro:

Available only in message mode, this command loads the Create Command Macro dialog, as
displayed below. This dialog controls the creation of command macros, that is lists of valid SICL
commands that could be submitted to the SICL graphics engine in command mode. This can be
useful for troubleshooting or for automating certain repetitive tasks.

In Details:

• Create Macro From: Specifies whether the entire text or only the selected text is to be used to create the
macro.

• Create Macro: Creates the macro. It will be displayed in a text area below.

• Save Macro: Saves the macro to a file.

Properties:

Shows the properties associated with the plot or text currently displayed. At present, these properties
include:

• Job Id : In server mode, the CDEGS JobId as provided by the client, otherwise undefined.

• File Name : If available, the name of the file for the displayed plot or text.

• Title: Printing title. May be provided by the client in server mode. Can be set at all times with the
Printing Options dialog.

• Subtitle: The brief description of settings for current plot.

• Description : Detailed description of the settings for current plot.

6.2.3 View Commands

Plots:

Activates the View Plots tab of the main screen.

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Reports:

Activates the View Reports tab of the main screen.

Messages:

Activates the View Messages tab of the main screen.

Previous Report:

In report mode, positions the cursor at the beginning of the previous report among those currently
displayed in the window.

Next Report:

In report mode, positions the cursor at the beginning of the next report among those currently
displayed in the window.

Refresh:

Refreshes the display.

6.2.4 Options
Restore Original Aspect Ratio:

When the program’s main window is resized or when the scaling feature is used (see Scaling in the
“Hidden Features” section), the displayed picture may become stretched in one direction. In other
words, the aspect ratio of the figure can change. This command restores the aspect ratio of the figure
to a standard one, corresponding to 8.5” by 11” paper, in landscape mode. The dimensions of the
program’s main window may change as a result of this command.

Fit To Size:

Resizes the displayed picture so that it fills the main viewing area completely. This is useful to
restore a full view of the picture after Scaling, Zooming or Moving it. See the “Hidden Features”
section.

Choose Font:

Selects the font style and size for the text viewing areas.

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Printing Options:

Loads the Printing Options dialog, as displayed below. This dialog is used to control the
appearance of the printed plots and text.

The options are:

• Type: Selects the type of printout for which the options are to be set. The options are set (and
remembered) independently for graphics, reports and messages.

• Show Date: Controls whether the current date is shown in the printout’s header.

• Show File Name or Working Directory: Controls whether the file name (or working directory,
depending on the available information) is shown in the printout’s footer. The offset controls the distance
from the bottom margin at which this will be printed.

• Show Frame: Controls whether a frame is to be drawn around the plot. Available only in Graphics mode.

• Preserve Aspect Ratio: Controls whether the original aspect ratio of the picture displayed in the View
Plots tab is to be kept on printing. If not, the picture will expand to fill the entire printing area. Available
only in Graphics mode.

• Show Title: Controls whether a title is shown in the printout’s header. The title is taken from the Title
and Subtitle fields. The offset controls the distance from the top margin at which this will be printed.

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Background Color Of Plots:

Selects the background color for the plots in the main viewing area and in the Picture Button queue.
Two colors are available, namely black or white. Note that some metafiles may display correctly
only on a black background or only on a white background.

Report Display Mode:

Selects the report display mode for the report(s) in report tab; when append mode is selected, the
report tab will display all the reports in sequence; when overwrite mode is selected, the report tab
will display only the current report.

Settings:

Loads the Settings dialog that can be used to further customize the program.

In details:

Allow editing of reports And messages:

Select this option to enable the editing capabilities in text mode. When this option is not
selected, the displayed report and messages can not be modified. This can be useful to prevent
accidental corruption of reports. See Editing Text in the “Hidden Features” section for a
detailed description of the text editing commands.

Close GraRep window when client application exits:

Determines the behavior of the program upon termination of the client when run in server mode.
When this option is selected, GraRep will terminate at the same time as the client, and all the
displayed pictures and text will be lost. When this option is not selected, the program continues
to run after termination of the client. This command has no effect when the program is run in
standalone mode.

Delete temporary plot files upon exiting:

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GraRep maintains a disk cache of the graphics files it displays, to minimize its memory use. This
cache is located in the GrarepWorkspace sub-folder of your SESSoftware installation directory.
When this option is selected, the cache is cleared every time that the application terminates.
When it is not checked, the files are left in the cache for future use.

Prompt when a warning occurs in the client application:

When this option is selected, a message box is displayed whenever a warning message is issued
by the client program. Applies only when in server mode.

Prompt when an error occurs in the client application:

When this option is selected, a message box is displayed whenever an error message is issued by
the client program. Applies only when in server mode.

Warn when loading an archive containing files that are elsewhere on disk:

When saving an archive file, a copy of all files that were loaded directly from disk are saved in
the archive. When re-loading the archive, if the files still exist at their original location, you have
the option to load them instead of the files that are part of the archive. When this option is
selected, a warning is issued whenever such a condition is encountered.

6.2.5 Hidden Features

Moving The Picture:

To move the picture in the main viewing area of the View Plot tab, drag the mouse in the main
viewing area.

Scaling The Picture:

To scale the picture in the main viewing area of the View Plot tab, drag the mouse in the main
viewing area while holding down the Control (Ctrl) key. The picture will be scaled by an amount
proportional to the mouse displacement. Specifically, drag the cursor to the right to increase the x-
axis magnification (drag to the left to decrease it); drag the cursor upwards to increase the y-axis
magnification (drag downwards to decrease it)

Zooming In On The Picture:

To zoom in on a particular area of the picture in the main viewing area of the View Plot tab, drag the
mouse in the main viewing area while holding down the Shift key. A box will be draw along the
path of the mouse. After the release of the mouse, the program will zoom in on the zone defined by
the above-mentioned box.

Selecting Pictures:

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By holding down the Ctrl key while clicking the picture buttons with the left mouse button, several
picture buttons can be selected or deselected. The Print and Delete commands will then apply to the
selected picture buttons.

Navigating Between Reports:

In report mode, use the buttons at the bottom of the screen to move to the next or previous report (if
several reports are displayed).

Deleting A Picture:

In addition to using the Delete Current Plot command of the Edit menu, a picture can be deleted,
after confirmation, by double-clicking the corresponding Picture Button in the queue.

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Editing Text:

It is always possible to copy text from the View Report or View Messages tab to the clipboard by
using Ctrl + C. In addition, when editing is allowed in text mode (see Allow Editing Of Reports
And Messages), the following standard editing features are available:

• Copy : use Ctrl + C

• Cut : use Ctrl + X or Shift + Delete
• Paste : use Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert
• Delete : use Del
• Undo : use Ctrl + Z
The standard navigation and selection features of Windows editors, such as NotePad and WordPad,
are also available.

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6.3 PRINT PREVIEW

The print preview window provides a flexible way to customize the printing of plots and reports. In
addition to the standard Printing Options, the Print Preview window offers the possibility to:
• Scale and position the plot or report on the page
• Create text zones which can be used to enter comments or import report(s) in a plot.

The display of the print preview window is linked to that of the main screen in GraRep: when the
displayed plot or report in GraRep is changed, the preview screen is automatically updated.

When previewing a report, you can browse through the report’s pages and select from a variety of
predefined views. You can also control the zoom factor using the scroll bar.

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Main Interface Elements

• The menu bar and Toolbar give access to most of Print Preview’s functionality.

• The buttons with horizontal and vertical arrows are used to scale the printing area (when the program is in
Scale Mode) or to position this area on the page (when the Program is in Move Mode).

• The Default button resets the size and position of the printing area to the default values.

• The Import Report button imports a report from the View Reports Tab of GraRep’s main screen.

• Other features, such as the page selector and the zoom selector, are available only when previewing reports.

See the section entitled “Print Preview Reference” for more details on these features.

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Adding A Report To A Plot Before Printing

It is possible to add the contents of any report displayed in the View Reports tab of GraRep to a plot
before printing it. To do this, Open the Print Preview window and click on the Import Report button,
after first selecting the desired report number. A text zone will be created at a default location. This text
zone can then be manipulated as any other text zone. See the topic entitled “Adding text To A Plot
Before Printing” for more details.

Adding Text To A Plot Before Printing

In the Print Preview window, it is possible to add text to a plot before printing it. To do this:

1. Open the Print Preview window (File / Print Preview in GraRep’s main screen) if it is not already
open.
2. Make sure that Enable Comment is checked in the Options menu of the Print Preview window.
3. Define a text zone by dragging the mouse to form a rectangle at the desired location on the Print
Preview page. Upon releasing the mouse, the Comment dialog will automatically load and allow
you to enter the desired text.
4. Once the text is entered, click OK to close the dialog. At this point, you can move the text zone by
clicking on it and dragging it to a new location. You can also edit the content of the text zone by
double-clicking it. This will bring up the Comment dialog, and you can proceed as before.
5. You can define as many other text zones as desired.

Note that you may have to resize or move the plot in order for the text zones to have enough room to
display correctly. (Changing the font of the displayed text may also help.) See the topic entitled
“Creating Text Zones” for details.

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Creating Text Zones

Entering Comments:
When the Enable Comment option is selected in the Options menu of the Print Preview window, dragging the
mouse in the printable area of the screen defines a text zone and then brings up the Comment dialog. Note that
the text entry area of the dialog has (usually) exactly the same size and shape as the one drawn on the plot.
Comments can be entered into this screen with the usual editing shortcuts. The font of the text can be selected by
pressing the Font button.

Moving Comments or Reports:

When the Enable Comment option is selected in the Options menu of the Print Preview window, the text zones
that are displayed in the printable area of the window can be selected by clicking on them and then:
• Moved to any position by dragging them.
• Deleted by hitting the Delete key.

Editing Comment or Report:

When the Enable Comment option is selected in the Options menu of the Print Preview window, double
clicking on the text zone or selecting the Edit command from the context-sensitive menu (on the secondary
mouse button) will bring up the Comment dialog to edit the contents of the text zone.

Resizing or Positioning The Printing Area Before Printing

In the Print Preview window, it is possible to re-scale or move a the printing area before printing its content.
To do this, first open the Print Preview window (File / Print Preview in GraRep’s main screen) if it is not
already open. Then:

To Move the Printing Area:

1. Make sure that Transformation Mode in the Options menu of the Print Preview window is set to Move
Mode.
2. Use the buttons with the vertical arrows to move the printing area up or down and the buttons with the
horizontal arrows to move the printing area left or right.

Alternatively, you can click and drag in the printing area while holding the Ctrl key to achieve the same effect.

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To Re-Scale the Printing Area:

1. Make sure that Transformation Mode in the Options menu of the Print Preview window is set to Scale
Mode.
2. Use the buttons with the vertical arrows to scale the printing area up or down. The printing area is scaled
by the same ratio in both the X and Y directions; in other words, the scaling preserves the aspect ratio of
the printed picture.
Alternatively, you can click in the printing area while holding the Ctrl key to scale the picture by a fixed
amount.
Use the Length Units and Step Value options to control the amount by which the printing area is moved or
scaled every time a button is pressed.

6.4 PRINT PREVIEW COMMAND REFERENCE

The following topics describe the features of the Print Preview window in detail. The available
commands are regrouped in the same way as in the window’s menu bar, i.e. as File commands and
Options. The same functionality is often accessible from the Toolbar, from context-sensitive menus (on
the secondary mouse button), or from the other interface elements of the Print Preview window.

6.4.1 File Commands

Print Options:

Loads the Print Options Dialog. This dialog is used to control the appearance of the printed plots and text.

Page Setup:

Loads the Page Setup Dialog to select the attributes of the page used in printing as well as the printing margins.

Print Setup:

Changes the setup of the printer. If the orientation of the printer is changed, the Preview Window will change to
the layout of the new orientation.

Print:

Prints the customized plot or report as it appears in the preview window.

6.4.2 Options
Length Unit:

The unit of Step Value for scaling and moving the plot; it can be set to be either Inch or Centimeter.

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Step Value:

The value of the increment by which to move or scale the plot.

Transformation Mode:

Selects the function of the Move Up/Zoom In button and Move Down/Zoom Out button. It can be set to either
Scale Mode or Move Mode.

Enable Comment:

Turns on or off the function of entering comment or importing report(s) to the plot.

Display RESAP Warning:

Turns on or off the display of the standard RESAP warning when automatically importing a report from RESAP
to the plot.

Warn If Picture Is Outside The Viewing Area

When this option is checked, you will be prompted to bring the picture back into the viewing area (if necessary)
whenever loading the preview window.

Allow Printing in Margin

Select this option to allow the program to make use of the margin space when printing the text annotations. If this
option is not enabled, the text will be clipped and any portion falling into the margins will not be displayed or
printed.

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7 GRSPLITS: A CIRCUIT PLOTTING UTILITY

FOR SPLITS AND FCDIST

7.1 OVERVIEW
GRSPLITS is a graphics input processor designed to make it possible to visualize the circuit model
represented by a SPLITS or FCDIST command input file. This program greatly simplifies the task of
manipulating, visualizing and checking the components of a SPLITS or FCDIST circuit.

The program reads its input from a SPLITS input file (named, for example, sp_JobID.f05 or sp_JobID.inp) along
with corresponding SPLITS computation database file (sp_JobID.F21), or from an FCDIST input file (named, for
example, fc_JobID.f05 or fc_JobID.inp) and produces a plot in a file or displays it on screen.

This utility offers many features:

• It is possible to plot the entire circuit or only the parts of interest. This means that it is possible to
plot only the central site or one or more terminals or some specified sections for a given terminal.
• Up to four terminals can be displayed simultaneously.
• The numerical values of the longitudinal and shunt impedances can be printed for each section.
When displaying a SPLITS input file for which the corresponding computation database (SP_*.F21)
exists, it is also possible to label the circuit with the values of the currents flowing in it or of the
potential at various points of the circuit.
• The interconnections between the various phases of a given section are also displayed when their
impedance is below a specified threshold value.

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• Identical sections in the SPLITS or FCDIST input file are replaced by a single section, followed by
some dashed lines.
• Plots can be produced in the EMF, WMF and Postscript formats. When the EMF or WMF format is
used, the plots are displayed on the screen.
• The plots can be in color or monochrome.
More details can be found in the section entitled “Running the Program” and in the on-line Help
available in the program.

7.2 EXAMPLES OF GRSPLITS OUTPUT

Figure 7.1 to Figure 7.3 show four sample outputs from the GRSPLITS program: the first three
examples are obtained from SPLITS input files and the last from an FCDIST input file.

The first example shows two terminals with eight sections each. Terminal 1 has three identical sections
(3,4,5) with a dummy line (Bus 5). Terminal 2 has four identical sections (4,5,6,7). In both cases, these
two groups of identical sections are represented only by one section followed by dashed lines. Dummy
line 5 is not shown for the first terminal. The mutual inter-connections between the phases are shown for
each section. The ground connections of the central site and terminals are also shown.

Figure 7.1 Two Terminal Example

In the second example a third terminal is added. Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 are the same as in the first
example. Terminal 3 has no identical sections.

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Figure 7.2 Three Terminal Example

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In the third example, four terminals are considered. Terminal 4 has five sections and there are no
identical sections.

Figure 7.3 Four Terminal Example

In the last example, three terminals of an FCDIST circuit are shown. The boxes next to each terminal
displays the configuration data for the terminal, i.e. the location of the phase conductor and of the
neutral bundle as well as the number of conductors in the bundle and their characteristics.

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7.3 RUNNING THE PROGRAM

Click on the GRSPLITS icon in your SES Software group folder to start the program. Note that you
should avoid running GRSPLITS at the same time as any SES engineering program since it uses some
run-time files that are shared by all programs and this could cause conflicts.

The figure below shows the main screen of the program. Use the Open item in the File menu to open a
SPLITS input file (SP_*.F05 or SP_*.INP), an FCDIST input file (FC_*.F05 or FC_*.INP), or a
SPLITS computation database (SP_*.F21) or select a file from the recent file list from that same menu.

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The program will analyze the contents of the file and display the results in the Terminals frame. When
opening a SPLITS file for which the computation database (F21 file) exists, the Show Results option
becomes available to allow you to draw selected computation results.

Select whether to plot input data or computation results, then which terminals and sections to display
and set the Plot Style and the text display (Show Text) options. If desired, adjust the graphical settings
by selecting Set Graphical Factors in the Settings menu, and turn the display of interconnections on or
off by choosing an appropriate Interconnection Threshold.

Once all the options are configured, you can produce the circuit plot by selecting Plot Circuit in the
Plot menu. Depending on the selected options, the plot will be sent to the default plot file, grsplits.plo,
located in your SESSoftware installation folder or will be displayed in the GraRep viewer.

User’s familiar with SES’ Input Command Language can, if desired, directly modify the SPLITS or
FCDIST input file by selecting Edit Input Data File from the Edit menu, then produce the plot again to
verify the effect of the changes.

See the section entitled “Command Reference” for a complete run-down of all the functionality of the
program.

7.4 COMMAND REFERENCE

The following is a detailed description of the options available in the program.

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7.4.1 Plot Style Options

Use the Plot tab on the Settings screen (available from Settings | Set Graphical Factors) to select
which parts of the circuit are to be displayed. Five options are available:

• All: The central site, terminals, and sections are displayed.

• Central Site And Terminals Only: Only the central site and terminals are displayed.
• Central Site Only: Only the central site is displayed.
• Sections Only: Only the specified sections of one terminal are displayed. When this option is
selected, only one terminal can be selected for plotting. See the section entitled Terminals for more
details.
• Terminals Only: Only the specified terminals (not the sections) are plotted. See the section
entitled Terminals for more details.

7.4.2 Show Text Options

Use the Text tab on the Settings screen (available from Settings | Set Graphical Factors) to select
what kind of circuit data are to be displayed on the plot. Three sets of data can be displayed according to
the selection of plot type on the main interface. Up to five types of data can be simultaneously displayed
for each set.

When Show Input Data is selected:

• Line Impedances: Controls whether the values of the line (longitudinal) impedances are printed
on the plot. Available only if the sections are displayed.
• Shunt Impedances: Controls whether the values of the shunt impedances are printed on the plot.
Available only if the sections are displayed.
• Source Energizations: Controls whether the value of the voltage or the current of the source (at
the terminal) is displayed. Available only if at least one terminal is displayed.
• Connection Impedances: Controls whether the values of the connection impedances are printed
on the plot.
• Bus Names: Controls whether the bus names are printed on the plot.

When Show Results / Show Voltages is selected:

• GPR in Central: Controls whether the values of the GPR at the central site are printed on the
plot. Available only if the central site is displayed.

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• GPR in Terminal: Controls whether the values of the GPR at the terminals are printed on the
plot. Available only if at least one terminal is displayed.
• Source Energizations: Controls whether the value of the voltage or the current of the source (at
the terminal) is displayed. Available only if at least one terminal is displayed.
• Shunt Voltages: Controls whether the values of the shunt voltages are printed on the plot.
Available only if the sections are displayed.
• Bus Names: Controls whether the bus names are printed on the plot.

When Show Results / Show Currents is selected:

• Section Currents: Controls whether the values of the section currents (line current and shunt
current) are printed on the plot. Available only if the sections are displayed.
• Earth Currents: Controls whether the values of the earth currents are printed on the plot.
Available only if the sections are displayed.
• Source Energizations: Controls whether the value of the voltage or the current of the source (at
the terminal) is displayed. Available only if at least one terminal is displayed.
• Terminal Currents: Controls whether the values of the terminal currents are printed on the plot.
• Bus Names: Controls whether the bus names are printed on the plot.

Note that only the Bus Names and the Source Energizations are active when plotting an FCDIST
circuit.

7.4.3 Terminals
The Terminals option group on the program’s main screen allows you to define which terminals and
sections will be displayed.

When an input file is read, the terminal names, number of terminals and number of sections for every
terminal are displayed here. You can then select which terminals will be displayed by checking them in
the list. Note that this is unavailable when the option Central Site Only is chosen for the Plot Style.
When the option Sections Only is chosen for Plot Style, only one terminal can be selected at a time,
otherwise, any combination of up to four terminals can be selected.

When one of the options All or Sections Only is chosen for Plot Style, the fields From and To under
Sections become available to restrict the range of sections that will be plotted.

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7.4.4 Graphical Settings

The Graphics tab of the Settings dialog, which can be accessed from the Set Graphical Factors item
from the Settings menu, can be used to control the appearance of the generated plot.

The following options are available.

• Color: Specifies whether a color or a monochrome plot is desired.

• Output Device: Graphics format for the output file. Three options are available: Postscript, EMF
and WMF. For the case of Postscript, the plot is stored in the file grsplits.plo, located in your
SESSoftware installation folder. When the EMF or WMF format is used, the plot is displayed on
screen using SES’ graphics file viewer GraRep. You can this program to save the plot to disk, if
desired.
• Character Height: Controls the minimum character height used when printing the data
(impedances, voltages, …) on the plot. When Automatic is selected, the program automatically
selects all character heights. When it is not selected, it is possible to specify a minimum height for
the characters: the program will never use characters smaller than this height when printing data.
• Rescaling Factor: Controls the size of the picture. If this is equal to 1, the picture is drawn to fit
on a 8.5” by 11” page, in landscape mode. If it is greater than one, the picture will be bigger (along
both axes) and if it is smaller than one, the picture will be smaller. This factor is used only for some
special cases; it is preferable to keep it at 1 or smaller, since you can always enlarge the picture with
the Zooming capabilities of Grarep.
• Interconnection Threshold: The Interconnection Threshold option on the program’s main
screen is used to control which mutual connection impedances (interconnection) between the lines of
the circuit (interconnections) are shown. This is only available when the sections are displayed. The

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mutual connection impedances whose value (in Ohms) falls below this threshold will be indicated by
a line connecting the corresponding wires. When displaying an FCDIST circuit or when the sections
of a SPLITS circuit are not displayed, this option has no effect.

7.4.5 Input File Editor

The Input File Editor window, which is evoked by selecting the Edit Input Data File item under the
Edit menu on the program’s main screen, can be used to view or modify the currently loaded input file.

The editing capabilities of that window are those of a standard, Notepad-like, editor, and are available
through the usual keyboard shortcuts.

Use the Save button to save any changes you have made to the file. Note that this will overwrite your
existing input file. Note also that changes must be saved before they can be plotted.

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8 PC BATCH PROCESSING

8.1 INTRODUCTION
SESBatch is a utility that allows you to run several SES engineering programs consecutively. The
programs can be run with different JobIDs and from different Working Directories.

This is useful to submit a series of unattended runs, to execute perhaps overnight or over the week-end.

The following sections show how to use the program and describe its functionality in detail. The New
Features section describes the new features that were introduced in this release. The section entitled
“Using SESBatch” shows briefly how to use the program. Finally, a detailed command reference
follows.

8.2 USING SESBATCH

The SESBatch utility is quite straightforward to use. A typical SESBatch session consists of the
following steps:

• Define the programs to be run, as well as their JobID and Working Directory. This can be defined in
the Selected Batch Runs tab of the program’s main screen. (See the section entitled “Selected Batch
Runs” for more details). The simplest way to do this is usually to browse for the input files defining
the runs using the built-in file browser.

• Optionally define a starting time for the first program in the list; if none is specified, the first
programs starts as soon the Launch button is clicked. Subsequent programs start as soon as the
previous one terminates. The starting time can be specified in the Selected Batch Launch Time tab of
the program’s main screen. (See the section entitled “Selected Batch Launch Time” for more details)

• Click on the Launch button. The selected runs will start at the selected time. SESBatch will prompt
you when all runs have completed and produce a log file listing all the runs along with their starting
and ending times.

The session information gathered in the first two steps can be saved to a workspace file and restored at a
later time.

8.3 REFERENCE
The main screen of SESBatch screen has two tabs that perform different tasks..

• Selected Batch Runs : List all the runs that are to be made.

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• Selected Batch Launch Time : Select the launch time for the batch run.
In addition, some of SESBATCH’s options are available only from the program’s menu bar. See the
section entitled “Menu Bar” for more details.

8.4 MENU BAR

Edit : This item allows you to save or load your workspace.

Load WorkSpace: Will open the Load window to load a previously saved batch environment file
(X.BTF files).
Save WorkSpace: Will open the Save window to save your current batch environment file (default
name is RUNIT.BTF).

CleanUp : This function is used to erase unwanted files or items.

Printout files (*.F09): Check this item to erase the ASCII printout file after each run.
SIRPS Database files(*.F21): Check this item to erase the SIRPS binary database files.
Plot files (*.F30): Check this item to erase plot files produced by the run, if any.

Help : This function provides help support and software version control.

Help: Will launch the Help text on the Batch Processor.

About: Will display the current version of the Batch Processor.

8.5 MAIN RUN SCREEN

In addition to serve as a container for the Selected Batch Runs and the Selected Batch Launch Time
tabs, SESBatch’s main screen offers the following options:

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Help… : Accesses information relative to the screen.

Input file Browser : Opens up a file browser to locate the input files for your run.

UP & DOWN : These arrows are used to alter the order of the runs. You simply select a line, or group
of lines, and use the arrow keys to move the runs in either direction.

STOP Run : Clicking on this button will terminate the run that is presently executing and cancel the
rest of the runs.

Cancel All : This is used during the run construction phase. When pressed, this button will clear all the
runs in the list. You can also delete one line at a time by selecting the line you wish to delete and
pressing the “Delete” key on the keyboard.

The Launch buttons and Exit buttons are self-explanatory. The launch button will be dimmed out until
something has been placed in the list.

8.6 SELECTED BATCH RUNS

You can define the runs in one of two ways: individual definition or a range of definitions selected in
the Input File Browser.

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Manual Entry

Double-clicking on an empty line activates the manual data entry dialog. Once the dialog appears, enter
the required information. (1) The pull-down box supplies the engineering module you wish to run. (2)
The Jobid field supplies the job identification for the run. (3) The last field, Path, is the location of the
file. The complete path must be entered. Once all the information is entered, click on the OK button and
the line will be added to the next available field. You will notice the heading “(Run #3)” in the form.
This tells you which line you are presently editing.

You can also correct individual entries in the list using the same method. Double-click a line that
contains a run and all the information of that line will be loaded into the dialog. You can then make the
necessary correction and click on OK to save the new information.

Browse Entry

The second method of data entry can be accesses by clicking the Input File Browser button. This
interface (shown below) is used to browse all local and network drives. F05 files can be selected
individually or in group by using one of the four following methods:

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1. Individual file selection is possible by double-clicking on the selected *.F05 file. The file will be
placed into the list. This method will cause the browse window to close. The same is also
accomplished by selecting a file from the list and clicking on the Load Selected RUNs button.

2. The second method involves selecting a range of files. You click on the first file in your range and
then, while holding down the Shift key, click on the last file in your range and the files in between
will be automatically selected. Once this done, click on the Load Selected RUNs button and the list
of files will get loaded into the list and the browse window will close.

3. The third method involves selecting individual files. While holding down the Ctrl key, click on the
input files you wish to enter. Once this done, click on the Load Selected RUNs button and the list of
files will be loaded into the list and the browse window will close.

4. The last method is the simplest. Simply select the directory from which you wish to run and click on
the Load All RUNs button and each run in that directory will be put into the list and again the
browse window will close.

Note that it is possible to edit any input file by selecting it from the list and clicking on the Edit Input
File button.

8.7 SELECTED BATCH LAUNCH TIME (TAB)

The figure below shows the launch time screen. Here you can decide when to launch the batch: immediately
or at a preset time.

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To process a batch immediately, select the Start the batch Immediately option and click on the Launch
button.

To schedule a run time, select the option Start the batch at a certain time (defined below) and enter the
hour (HH) and the minutes (MM). The time definition is based on the 24-hour clock (i.e. 10:00 is 10
AM and 14:00 is 2:00 PM). Should you define a time that is less than the present time, then you will be
prompted to correct it.

You may notice that the starting time of the batch is not always aligned to the seconds counter being
“00”. This is because the program calculates a start time from the present time. This calculation does not
take the seconds into consideration. Example : If you press the Launch button at 9:29:45 and ask the
program to start at 9:30 then the program will have calculated a delta-time of 1 minute so the batch will
start at 9:30:45.

8.8 SESSION SAVE FILE

You can save the data entered in SESBATCH by selecting Save Workspace from the Edit menu. You
will be presented with a file browser, allowing to select a file from the available list or to define the
filename explicitly. The filename should have the .BTF extension.

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To load a SESBATCH workspace file, select Load Workspace from the Edit menu. You will notice
that the Load button only is highlighted. Select the file and click on the Load button.

8.9 SESBATCH LOG FILES

SESBatch produces log files to record the start and end times of a batch session. The file is located in
your SESSoftware installation directory and its name is in the form of SESBATx.LOG, where the
highest value for x specifies the most recent run.

Below is a sample of what one can expect to find in the file. Each run is described in detail, from the
module being run down to the location of the input files. At the end of every batch run, the program will
display the end time of the session as well as the name and location of the log file.

Batch Launched : 10-16-2002 / 15:25:03

Run : [1/4] HIFREQ with (BUS04) in D:\SESSoftware\SESTest

Start : [12-16-1999 / 15:25:03]
End : [12-16-1999 / 15:27:23]

Run : [2/4] MALT with (BILL) in D:\SESSoftware\SESTest

Start : [12-16-1999 / 15:27:23]
End : [12-16-1999 / 15:28:09]

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Run : [3/4] MALT with (SPOT_TEST) in D:\SESSoftware\SESTest

Start : [12-16-1999 / 15:28:09]

End : [12-16-1999 / 15:28:14]

Run : [4/4] MALT with (ZOOMTEST) in D:\SESSoftware\SESTest

Start : [12-16-1999 / 15:28:14]
End : [12-16-1999 / 15:30:15]

Batch Ended : 12-16-1999 / 15:30:15

When loading, the program may ask you if you want to delete older log files that are present in the
SESSoftware directory.

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9 GRSERVER: REPORT AND PLOTTING

SERVER FOR PROCESSING CDEGS COMPUTATION
RESULTS
GRserver is an advanced output processor included in the CDEGS package for the Windows 95/98 and
Windows NT platforms. The software can display, plot, print, and modify configuration and
computation results obtained during previous and current CDEGS sessions. GRServer also has the
capability to view the input (.F05), run the engineering modules to create the computation database
(.F21), and view output (.F09) files. In addition, it may be used to view multiple Windows Metafiles
(EMFs and WMFs) in its convenient multi-window environment.

9.1 GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE

The graphical interface has been designed to allow the user to generate reports and plots with ease. The
plots which are created in each of the plot windows are also created as thumbnails (plot icons) on the
sidebar. The thumbnails are used as references to the individual plot windows; clicking on a thumbnail
will highlight the corresponding plot window. GRServer’s multi-window interface allows the creation of
as many plots that can be loaded into memory (the limitation is only set by the available resources of the
user’s computer).

Menubar Main Window

Plot Icons
Toolbar

Program
Buttons
Plot
Window

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9.1.1 Main Window

The main window allows access to all of the functions which are used for creating reports and plots
from the engineering computation database; its multi-document characteristic encapsulates the entire
application for manageability. The window has five distinct components which are discussed below.

Menu bar

The menu bar harbors all of the supported features of GRServer. It also includes some plotting
functions that are used if an engineering computation database file (.F21) is loaded.

File

The File menu allows the user to open a new file (database, plot, or text format) either from the File
Open dialog box or from the recent files list; it also allows for saving, printing, copying, and deleting of
the plots created in GRServer.

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Plot

If an engineering computation database file (.F21) is opened, the Plot menu is enabled to allow the user
to draw and manipulate the plots. The menu item, Title, enables the user to change the plot’s title for the
Regular and Regular-Enhanced plotting methods. The Options menu item shows the Options Toolbar
which allows the user to select the desired plot settings to create the plots and reports for Computations
and Configuration methods.

Report

The Report menu is enabled only if a database file (.F21) is opened. There are two types of reports that
can be generated, namely, Safety Threshold and Summary Output. Note that viewing these reports is
mutually exclusive.

Preferences

The settings that alter the behaviour of GRServer are listed in the Preferences menu; in addition, the
plot units can also be changed from this menu. The following are explanations for each of the menu
items.

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• Units-Plots

This item opens another submenu which allows the user to change the plot units between
centimeters and inches.

• Show Program Toolbar

The eight program icons, which are placed at the left edge of GRServer’s main window, can
be made hidden if more space is required for the plot windows.

• Set Working Directory

This menu item opens a Working Directory dialog box which keeps a queue of all of the
working directories that have been used. Note that the working directory can also be set
from the File Open window.

• Read F21 Info

If this setting is checked on, then CSIRPS (the plotting engine) will inform GRServer of the
types of plots that can be viewed from the engineering computation database (.F21).

• Show Factor Current Warning

If a MALT database file is loaded and its share file is not present, a warning message will be
displayed to let you know that the Current Scaling Factor field (in the Computations Setup
window) will be set to the default value of “1”.

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• Show Threshold Report With Plot

Select this option to have the program generate a Threshold Report along with the plot. A
Threshold Report is a report of the values exceeding a certain threshold. Note that an
appropriate value for the threshold has to be specified in the Setup window. This option
applies only to the SPLITS and FCDIST modules.

Window

Provides the basic window management features such as tiling the plot windows and putting GRServer
in the top-most position. In addition, it displays the plot windows already opened, allowing the user to
switch from one window to another.

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Help

The menu gives access to the on-line help for GRServer. It also shows the About window which
displays the version for GRServer and allows the user to view the system resources.

Toolbar

The toolbar provides easy access to the most used features that can also be found in the menubar.
Below is a list explaining the functions for each toolbar button.

1 12 2 13 3 14 4 15 5 16 17 6 7 8 18 9 10 11

1. Open

Loads the File Open window which allows the user to load the engineering computation
database files (*.F21) for analysis; in addition, it opens other types of files (*.EMF, *.WMF,
*.F05, etc…) for viewing and processing. This feature can also be accessed from the menu
bar’s File menu.

2. Options

Opens the Quick Options panel which allows the user to define computations and
configuration settings and issue different types of plots and reports. Note that this feature is
also available from the Plot menu.

3. Draw

This button or the menu item from the Plot menu create plots in the active plot window. If
there is already a plot in the active plot window, clicking on the Draw button (in the Quick
Options panel) will create the plot in an entirely new plot window.

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4. Hide

The button will hide all opened plot windows along with the Quick Options panel. The same
feature may be accessed from the Plot menu.

5. Delete

Clicking on this button or selecting one of the delete menu items from the File menu will
delete the active plot or a selection of plots (selected from the icon sidebar).

6. To Fit

Sizes the plot proportionally to fit entirely in the plot window; this feature can also be
accessed from the Plot menu.

7. Reset

If the plot is cropped, the Reset button is enabled so that the plot may be set back to the
original state (it is only available for the Advanced plot method); this feature can also be
accessed from the Plot menu.

8. Tile Horizontally

Positions all of the opened (non-minimized) plot windows below one another; this feature is
also available from the Window menu.

9. Tile Vertically

Positions all of the opened (non-minimized) plot windows beside one another; this feature is
also available from the Window menu.

10. Print

Sends the selected plots to the default printer. Printing may also be done by right-clicking on
the mouse while the mouse is on an icon in the sidebar or it may be done from the File menu.

11. Print Preview

Displays the plot in the active window in the format in which the plot will be printed. There
are options in the preview window which allow the plot to be customized prior to sending it
to the printer. The preview function may also be accessed by right-clicking on the mouse
while the mouse in on the desired plot icon in the sidebar or it may be done from the File
menu

12. Freeze

Disables the move, scale, zoom, crop, or rotate mode; this feature may also be accessed by
clicking on the Lock Plot menu item from the Plot menu.

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13. Move

Moves the contents of the plot when the mouse is dragged in the plot window; this feature is
also available from the Plot menu.

14. Scale

Increases or decreases the size of the plot window when dragging the mouse outward or
inward in the plot window, respectively. This scaling may also be activated from the Plot
menu.

15. Zoom

Expands the area defined by the rectangular zoom region (by dragging the mouse in the plot
window) to the size of the plot window; zooming may be also done from the Plot menu.

16. Crop

Obtains a cross-sectional view of a 3D plot by dragging the mouse in the plot window.
Clicking on the Reset button will bring back the original plot. Cropping may also be enabled
from the Plot menu.

17. Rotate

This button is enabled only for the 3D Advanced plotting mode. Dragging the mouse will
rotate the plot in the window; rotation is based on the setting in the Rotate About options.
Note that rotation can also be activated from the Plot menu.

18. Rotate About

The types of rotation available are:

• Free - rotating freely (not having any fixed point);

• Eyepoint – rotating about a fixed point;

• Spin & Tilt – rotating about the central axis and allowing for a 90° tilt;

• X Axis – rotating about the x-axis;

• Y Axis – rotating about the y-axis; and

• Z Axis – rotating about the z-axis.

These rotation types may also be accessed from the Plot menu.

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Program Buttons

The eight program buttons on the left sidebar are for loading the engineering computation databases for
the programs other than the currently opened one that have the same JobID and working directory. For
example, if a MALT database is currently opened with the DEMO JobID and C:\Program
Files\SESSoftware\SESTest as the working directory, then the MALT button is disabled. The remaining
program buttons will be enabled if the databases exist for their corresponding programs in the same
working directory with the DEMO JobID; clicking on any of these enabled buttons will automatically
load the corresponding database.

Plot Window Space

The plots and reports that are generated are displayed in the plot window space. Note that the plots and
reports are tiled within this space. If the user wants to maximize this window space, the program buttons
can be removed by checking off Show Program Toolbar from the Preferences menu.

Plot Icons

The plot icons (in the right sidebar) are the thumbnails of the plots created in the plot window space.
Since the plot icon sidebar is scrollable, there is no limitation on the number of icons it can contain; the
limit is only imposed by the available resources on the system. Clicking on a plot icon activates the plot
window associated with the icon.

A popup menu shows up when right-clicking on a plot icon. It allows for the printing, saving, and
deleting of plots; note that printing or deleting is carried out for the selected plot(s).

The features on this popup window are also available from the File menu.

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9.1.2 Options Window

The Options window is the entry point to generating configuration and computation plots. Obviously, it
can only be useful if an engineering computation database is loaded. Its functions are as follows:

1. Selecting either configuration or computation mode to modify its settings before generating the
desired plots and/or reports.

2. Alter the behavior of GRServer’s window management.

¾ New Window

By default, this checkbox is on so that every time a plot is issued, it is created in a new window.
By checking it off, subsequent plots will be created in the active plot window.

¾ Tiled

This checkbox is also turned on by default so that the plot windows are placed beside one
another. By checking it off, subsequent plot windows will be created occupying the entire plot
window space. Note that this option is only effective if the New Window option is turned on.

3. Accessing the configuration and computation windows along with the plot setup window.

4. Selecting the type of plot desired and the method by which the plot is created.

¾ Plot Types

For computations, there are four different plot views that can be selected: 2D, 3D, Spot, and
Contour; the configuration method has three views: Top, Side, and 3D.

¾ Plot Method

There are three plot methods available; these methods represent three different plotting engines,
altogether.

• Regular

This method was initially developed only to be succeeded by the Regular-Enhanced

and Advanced methods. The main reason for the existence of this method is to
provide a backup plotting engine just in case the other two methods are not able to
produce satisfactory outputs.

• Regular-Enhanced

As the name implies, this is an improved version of the Regular method, in terms of
its internal implementation.

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• Advanced

The plotting engine is completely different from the Regular and the Regular-
Enhanced methods. In addition to providing a much more appealing output, it also
gives the user extra flexibility in manipulating the plot in the window (with respect to
zooming, scaling, cropping, and rotating).

9.2 OPENING A FILE

There are two methods to opening a file in GRServer:

• File Open Window

• Recent-Files List

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9.2.1 File Open Window

Clicking on either the Open toolbar button (the button with the yellow folder icon) or selecting the Open
(New File Selection) menu item from the File menu will show the File Open window. The following is
a list of all of the important elements which are used by the user to load either an input or an output file.

• Directory input text field

As the directory in the directory list changes, this field is updated automatically. The
directory may be either changed from the directory list (more convenient) or by manually
entering the path. Note that the directory list will automatically change to the path typed in
this field (if the path is valid).

• Drive combo box

This combo box shows the drive letter of the current directory. Both the directory input text
field and the directory list box will change accordingly to reflect the new drive.

• Directory list box

A list of all of the directories available on the selected drive is displayed. Double-clicking on
a directory will open the directory and update the directory input text field. If the directory
contains the type of files selected from the file type options, then the file list box will display
all of those files in the directory.

• Define as the Working Directory

If this checkbox is turned ON, the directory currently selected will be used as the working
directory; this directory will be remembered whenever the File Open window is reopened. If
the checkbox is turned OFF, then the working directory is always the directory in which
GRServer is installed (in the SESSoftware installation directory); this is the default
behaviour.

• File type options

There are five options which filter the files in the selected directory and list them in the file
list box (in the Engineering Module & Corresponding File section). The options are as
follows:

1. CDEGS Database

Lists the engineering computation database files (.F21).

2. CDEGS Text Files

Lists the following types of files:

• SICL input files (.INP)

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• Engineering command input files (.F05)

• Engineering computation result output files (.F09)

• SIRPS summary report file (CS_*.F17)

3. WMF/EMF Only

Shows the following file types:

• Standard Windows Metafiles (.WMF)

• Enhanced Windows Metafiles (.EMF)

• CSIRPS-generated plot files

4. All of the above options

Displays the files of types discussed above (in sections 1, 2, and 3).

5. All files

Lists all of the files existing in the selected directory.

• Engineering module combo box

Allows the listing of the existing engineering computation database files (.F21) either on a
program-by-program basis or list all of the database files for all of the programs.

• File list box

Lists the names of the files resulting from the selections made in the Directory, File Type, and
Engineering Module sections.

Once the appropriate file is selected from the file list box, the Open button is enabled. Either clicking on
this Open button or double-clicking on the filename from the list box will load the selected file into
GRServer.

9.2.2 Recent-Files List

If files were loaded in GRServer previously, there will be a list of these files shown when the File menu
item is clicked; note that the list only remembers a maximum of five files which were recently loaded.
Clicking on any of these files will reload the selected file. If, for any reason, the selected file no longer
exists, the program offers the user the choice to remove it from the list.

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9.3 PROCESSING COMPUTATION RESULTS

Once the engineering computation database file (.F21) has been loaded, the program opens an empty
plot window with the Options window placed on the left side for issuing reports and plots; the empty
plot window indicates that the program has been initialized and plots/reports may be created. Clicking
on either the Draw button or the Report button (in the Options window) will, respectively, create the
plot and report for the default settings.

9.3.1 Basic Plots and Reports

Defining Setup Settings

In order to define different settings for the configuration or computation outputs, click on the Click to
show setup button in the Options window. Depending on the program database which was loaded, the
configuration or computation setup window for the respective program (RESAP, MALT, etc…) will
show up attached to the Options window. Clicking on either the Computations or Configuration option
button, in the Options window will show the respective setup window. The Plots
(Computations/Configuration) button in the Options window toggles between the plot setup parameters
window and the computation (or configuration) settings window. Note that the report settings, for safety
and summary output, can be accessed from the Report menu.

Generating The Output

Once all of the desired setup settings have been entered, the settings in the Options window should be
entered.

Creating Plots

The New Window and Tiled options adjust the plot window behavior. The Plot Method option is set to
Regular-Enhanced by default; select the Advanced method if a different plot format is desired (try both
of these methods and see the differences). Select the appropriate plotting view type and click on the
Draw button to produce the corresponding output in the main window space.

Creating Reports

The Summary Output report can be generated for the settings made by either clicking on the Report
button in the Options window or by clicking on the Summary Output menu item from the Report menu.

The Safety report is created from the Safety Threshold window which is launched by clicking on the
Safety Threshold menu item from the Report menu. The desired settings should be entered into each of
the three tabs: Network And System, Safety Evaluation Methods, and Protective and Insulating
Materials. Clicking on the Draw button from this Safety window will generate the appropriate Safety
report.

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A Threshold Report can be generated at the same time as the plot in SPLITS and FCDIST. This report
shows the values of the quantity that was selected for plotting where these values exceed a specified
threshold. The value of the threshold can be specified in the Setup window. The Show Threshold
Report option from the Preferences menu should be checked to enable this feature.

The report editor (the figure below) permits one to view and edit the text files, has Print, Save As, and
Find options. Under the Edit Mode (mark the Edit Mode check box), the contents displayed in the report
window can be modified; note that the usual copy/cut/paste editing features are available.

Allow Editing
Run CDEGS program
(available only for input command files)
Find String

Style

Window Management

Note that the JobID for which the specific program (RESAP, MALT, etc…) was loaded appears, along
with the program’s name, in Options window title bar. Those programs for which a database exists (in
the working directory) for the current JobID, the corresponding program buttons, on the left panel of the
main window, are made active so that the databases can be loaded just by clicking on these buttons.

The space reserved for new plots become smaller and smaller as each plot accumulates in the main
window space. To get the maximum plot window space, it is wise to close all of the plot windows from
the window space. Note that this will not delete the plots; they can still be accessed by clicking on the
appropriate icon on the sidebar to retrieve the desired plot.

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Since GRServer can load databases from different programs of different JobIDs, the user-defined
settings for each plot window are saved; this is for the convenience of the user so that he/she need not
reenter the settings for those plots already created.

Advanced Features

Plotting in Advanced Mode

Plotting Features

The 3D computations setup window offers a number of different 3D plot options in the General, Axes
Attributes and 3D Effects panels. They include options such as displaying a floor and/or ceiling
projection of the graph surface, displaying contour lines and/or spot zones, spot-fill styles, and 3D effect
options.

Experiment with these different options until you get the desired perspective view. For the best
performance leave the Hidden Lines option checked and the Show Contour Lines, Show Spot Zones,
Shading Effect, Add Solid Edge, Floor Contour, Floor Spot, Ceiling-Contour, and Ceiling-Spot options
unchecked. The figures below were produced using these advanced techniques.

3D settings: X/Y-mesh, Colored Spot-Fill, Shading Effect, Legend, Spot Zones, Contour Ceiling Projection

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3D settings: No Legend or Axes, Solid edge added, Illumination effect applied

Color Mapping of Conductor Segments

To view the color mapping of the conductor segments and their leakage current density, follow these
simple steps:

• click on the Configuration option in the Options window;

• click on the Advanced mode as the plotting method chosen;

• open the Configuration Setup window by clicking on the Configuration button;

• select the Leakage Current of Conductor Segments item from the Data Labelling Type list box;

• depending on whether it is a multiple- or single-electrode case, click on the appropriate option below
this list box (the Display All Electrodes checkbox must be turned off in order to select the multiple-
or single-electrode option);

• click on the Plots button to view the Plot Setup window;

• check on the Enable Mapping checkbox; and

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• click on the Draw button.

Using the Zoom Server to Define Zoom Regions

Zoom regions, for configuration and computation modes, are defined in the Search Zone Vertices grid in
the Zoom Options tab (configuration setup screen) or in the Zoom & Report tab (computation setup
screen); note that this only applies to the MALT, MALZ, and HIFREQ modules. The zoom coordinates
may be entered either manually or by visually selecting a zoom region from the conductor network plot.
The visual approach is the most convenient as this shows all of the conductors and profiles in the
engineering database. Note that to get a meaningful result from the zoom region, for a computation plot,
the zoom region must include profiles. To visually define a zoom region, follow these simple steps:

• go to the appropriate tab in the configuration or computation setup window;

• click on the Zoom Polygon option button and check on the Enable Zoom Polygon checkbox to
activate the zoom table;

• click on the Automatic Zoom button which will load the Zoom server displaying the conductors and
profiles defined in the engineering database;

• move the mouse over the conductors and profiles plot and depress the left mouse button to anchor
the top-left corner of the zoom bounding box

• continue to drag the mouse until the desired zoom region has been defined;

• click on the right mouse button to open the popup menu;

• select either Send Points or Zoom In And Send Points (zooms into the region in the Zoom server in
addition to sending the zoom coordinates to the GRServer’s zoom table); and

• click on the Draw button from the Options window in GRServer.

Once the zoom feature is no longer required, remember to close the Zoom server as this will prevent the
server from refreshing itself when another MALT, MALZ, or HIFREQ database or plot window is
loaded or activated, respectively.

9.4 PRINTING, SAVING, AND DELETING PLOTS

9.4.1 Previewing and Printing

Before sending the plot to a designated printer, it may be useful to preview it using the Print-Preview
feature in GRServer. The preview window may be accessed from the File menu, the toolbar button, or
the plot icons’ sidebar popup menu. The preview window allows the user to move and scale the plot to
desired specifications. In addition, it allows the user to import reports generated by the report facilities
in GRServer; the user may also create and delete as many labels to enter additional text on the existing

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plot. The preview window dynamically refreshes itself with the contents of the active plot window, so it
is not required to close and reload the preview window to preview another plot.

The Import Report button, in the preview window, is enabled when a report is issued. The combo-box
beside it contains the program name (RESAP, MALT, etc…) to which the report belongs; the number in
the next field specifies the total number of reports which can be imported. After selecting the report
from the combo-box, click on the Import Report button to bring the report on top of the existing plot.

The report may be moved around by depressing the left mouse button in the report area and dragging the
mouse. Note that double-clicking in this report area will open the report in a text editor window in
which the report may be modified and its text style may be changed (font, letter size, etc…). Use the
popup menu to get quick and easy access to the preview functions by right-clicking the mouse anywhere
in the preview area.

There is the Print Options window which can be accessed from the File menu and the plot icons’
sidebar popup menu which assigns the Page and Font & Color settings. It is here that the file format
(Windows Metafile, Postscript, HP-GL, or HP-PCL) and the font attributes (Device-Specific, Regular-
SES, or Proportional-SES) are set to the desired types before issuing the printing of a plot. Note that in

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the Advanced mode, the file format options available are: Windows Metafile, Enhanced Metafile,
Bitmap, and Standard Metafile; in this mode, the Font & Color settings tab is not available.

The Page Setup window may be accessed from the File menu. You may change the paper size, source,
orientation (portrait or landscape) and margins.

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The Print Setup window may be opened from the File menu, the Print Options window, the plot icons’
sidebar popup menu, or from the Print-Preview window. Generally, this window allows the user to
define the printer’s properties, such as page orientation, paper type, to which printer the printing will be
done, etc….

Once all of the print settings have been made, select the plot or plots that need to be printed. Multiple
plots can be selected for printing by depressing the CTRL key and using the left mouse button to click
on the plot icons on the sidebar (the SHIFT key selects all of the icons between the first and last marked
icon). The actual printing may be accomplished from the File menu, the Print Options window, the
toolbar button, the plot icons’ sidebar popup menu, or from the Print-Preview window.

9.4.2 Saving to a File or Clipboard

Saving to a File

Before saving the plot to a file, the format in which the file is to be saved should be set first. Once all of
the desired settings in the Print Options window have be entered, clicking on either the Save or Save As
menu items from the File menu or from the plot icons’ sidebar popup menu will save the current plot to
the designated file. Note that the default file name to which the plot is saved is displayed in the Save As
window.

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Copying to the Clipboard

A quicker way to acquire the plot image is to copy it to Windows Clipboard and paste it in any
application which will allow pasting an image from the Clipboard (eg. Word, Wordpad, Corel Draw,
etc…). To copy the plot, click on the plot image in the plot window and then select the Copy Plot to
Clipboard item from the File menu (or just press CTRL-C key combination). To paste the image, say in
MS Word, just press the CTRL-V key combination.

9.4.3 Deleting Plots

Like printing, the plots can be deleted individually, in a group, or all at once. To select the plots for
deletion, depress the CTRL key and use the left mouse button to click on the plot icons to be deleted
(the SHIFT key selects all of the icons between the first and last marked icon). Then the deleting can be
done from the File menu, the toolbar button, hitting the DELETE key, or from the plot icons’ sidebar
popup menu.

9.5 CREATING THE ENGINEERING DATABASE

Once the desired SICL input file (.INP and .F05) has been opened, the user may run the corresponding
engineering module to create the computation database (.F21). The input file may be modified, printed,
and saved from within the editor. To run the engineering program, click on the Run CDEGS Program
button which is located at the top of the editor window. The corresponding engineering computation
database file (.F21) and computation results file (.F09) will be created in the same directory which
contains the .INP/.F05 file.

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10 SESCAD: A GRAPHICAL ENVIRONMENT

FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NETWORKS IN MALT,
MALZ AND HIFREQ.
The specification of the data defining the conductor network in MALT, MALZ and HIFREQ takes up most of the
time involved in preparing input files for these programs. With this in mind, SES has designed SESCAD, a
graphical utility for the development of conductor networks.

This CAD program uses an object-oriented approach to network development. Elementary objects (conductors
and observation profiles) can be created by simply drawing them or by entering data in dialogs. Composite
objects can be formed by grouping existing objects together.

Objects can be selected, copied, pasted and deleted in the standard way for Windows applications. Moreover,
toolboxes are available to automate certain tasks that could otherwise be highly time-consuming. These include
rotating, translating and scaling an object (or the duplicate of an object), aligning and distributing objects, and
examining the network for various defects such as overlapping conductors or undesirable gaps.

Power Tools are also available. They can be used, for instance, to force two conductors to meet at a given point or
to stretch a conductor until it meets another one, etc. These tools can be used to make sure that no gaps are present
in the network.

All operations carried out on objects can be easily undone. Several options are available to customize the behavior
of the tools.

The network can be viewed from any position using either a parallel projection view, a plan view, or a perspective
view. It is a possible to zoom in on a portion of the network by a factor of as much as 1 million, and to go back to
previous zoom levels.

The program also allows editing the soil model that is used during the computations by MALT, MALZ
and HIFREQ. SESCAD can save the data as a command file recognizable by MALT, MALZ or
HIFREQ. It can also read these file formats.

The remainder of this chapter is devoted to a detailed description of the SESCAD software. More information is
available in the extensive on-line help accompanying the program.

Conventions

Text enclosed in double quotes and displayed in bold face (e.g., “That Section”) refer to the section of this
manual with that title. Text displayed in bold face (without quotes) is used to represent a program command or
option. The pipe delimiter “|” is used to separate items. For instance, Display | Rotate View | Apply means:
Select the Display menu item, then the Rotate View sub-item of Display then the Apply option on the resulting
dialog.

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10.1 SESCAD: AN OVERVIEW

SESCAD is a program that allows viewing or editing three-dimensional networks consisting of straight-line
segments. It is specially adapted for users of SES’ MALT, MALZ and HIFREQ programs. The line segments
represent either metallic conductors or observation profiles. They can be viewed from any direction, in a variety
of ways. (See “Using Views”.)

The lines are treated as objects which can be selected, copied, pasted etc. They can be grouped together to form
larger objects. A rich set of tools is available to manipulate these objects. (See “Working With Objects”.)

SESCAD can read data from MALT, MALZ and HIFREQ input files and can save it back to these files. (See
“Working With Documents”)

The remainder of this document covers the following topics:

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• Coordinate System: defines the coordinate system used by the program. Distinguishes between World
Coordinates and Observer Coordinates. This distinction is important when using certain tools. Also, discusses
the differences that appear when using SES’ convention for the sign along the Z-axis.

• The Main Interface: briefly describes the most important features of the main screen of SESCAD.

• The Pointer Modes: describes the various modes in which the mouse pointer can operate.

• Working With Documents: shows how to open and save SESCAD documents and many other operations that
can be performed on documents.

• Working With Objects: shows how to create, edit or transform an object and how to use the provided tools to
quickly assemble complex three-dimensional objects.

• Using Views: describes how to control the appearance of the modeled network by moving or rotating the
observer coordinate system in the world coordinate system or by setting various options.

• Diagnosing Network Problems: describes the tools that are available to help detect common network
problems such as overlapping conductors or very short conductors.

• Finding Information About Objects: describes various ways to obtain information about the displayed
network objects.

• Working With System Objects: defines and describes the advanced notion of System Objects, which is used
mainly to model RETURN and BURIED objects for MALT.

• Specifying The Soil Model: shows how to use the Soil Structure dialog to define the soil model to be used by
the MALT, MALZ and HIFREQ programs for their computations.

• Using Object Databases: describes the SESCAD Object Database and its uses in the program.

• The Auto-Snap Feature: describes a feature of SESCAD which can be used to force objects which are at close
proximity to meet exactly.

• Definitions: regroups some useful definitions

10.2 COORDINATE SYSTEM

10.2.1 World And Observer Coordinate Systems

Two distinct coordinate systems are used in SESCAD: the World Coordinate System and the Observer
Coordinate System. It is important to be able to understand the distinction between these two coordinate systems
as some of the tools and editing features of SESCAD require input data in World Coordinates, others require data
in Observer Coordinates, and others still offer a choice between the two coordinate systems to enter the data. (See
“Working With Objects” for more details.)

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The World Coordinate System is used to define the coordinates of the objects that comprise the network. For
instance, the coordinates of the starting and ending points of a conductor are always expressed in this coordinate
system. This coordinate system is fixed and never moves during a SESCAD session. It is meant to represent a
coordinate system at a fixed location in the physical world.

By contrast, the Observer Coordinate System is free to move in physical space. Its importance stems from the fact
that the display window is assumed to be tied to this coordinate system. More precisely, the positive X-axis of the
Observer Coordinate System is a horizontal line going to the right on the screen, the positive Y-axis of the
Observer Coordinate System is a vertical line going up on the screen, and the positive Z-axis of the Observer
Coordinate System is assumed to be going out of the screen. Note that the origin of this coordinate system does
not necessarily appear on the screen since the action of the scroll bars, among other things, may force it to move
out of view. (See “Using Views” for more details.)

World And Observer Coordinates

As the Observer Coordinate System moves, the view being displayed in the window changes accordingly. The
precise relationship between the coordinates of an object as expressed in World Coordinates and the same
coordinates as expressed in Observer Coordinates depends on the position and orientation of the Observer
Coordinate System in the World Coordinate System. Generally, this can be expressed as a combination of a
translation and a rotation.

10.2.2 Z-Axis Sign Convention

Users of MALT, MALZ and HIFREQ are already familiar with the convention for the Z-axis sign that is used in
grounding. This convention says that points located above the ground are at negative Z , which is the opposite of
the normal convention.

With SESCAD, either convention can be used. (Check the option Use the Sign Convention for the Z-Axis that
is Used in Grounding in Options | General Options | General to use the grounding convention). When a
document is saved as an SES input file (see “Working With Documents”), the sign of the Z coordinates of all
objects is adjusted to account for this.

Internally, the program always uses the normal convention to store the geometrical data about the objects. The
input dialogs and output displays involving Z coordinates are, however, adjusted for the sign convention.

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10.2.3 System Of Units

SESCAD stores all data internally using the metric (SI) system of units. When data is displayed as text
(in a dialog or any other place), the data is first converted to the user-specified system of units. The
program saves the data in the user-specified unit system, and takes this unit system into account when
loading a file.

An advantage of keeping all internal data in the metric system is that files created using different
systems of units can be easily merged, with the networks from each file keeping their correct physical
dimensions.

The system of units can be specified in the Project Description dialog that can be accessed from
Advanced | Units and Other Settings.

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10.3 THE MAIN INTERFACE

The following figure shows the main screen of the SESCAD program. It is standard, multi-document interface,
with a menu bar, two tool bars and a status bar.

The Main Screen of SESCAD

SESCAD can edit simultaneously several documents. Data can also be exchanged between documents through the
clipboard. Several views of the same document can be simultaneously open. If the network changes in one of the
views, the change is immediately reflected in all other views of this document. (See “Working With
Documents” and “Using Views” for more details.)

Almost all of the features of SESCAD can be invoked from the menu. Many of these features can also be accessed
through the tool bars, through keyboard shortcuts, or through context-sensitive menus.

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• File Menu: contains the commands needed to open, save, close or print documents. Also contains commands
to use the SESCAD Object Database. (See “Working With Documents” and “Using Object Databases” for
details.)

• Edit Menu: contains the commands for creating objects (Create Object) and editing them (e.g. Cut, Paste,
Delete, Copy, Undo, Edit Object, Characteristics, Description etc. (See “Working With Objects” for
details.)

• Display Menu: contains commands to control the appearance of the displayed portion of the network. This
includes selecting a Parallel Projection View, a Plan View, or a specific view angle as with X-Y View or
else moving the observer to a desired location with Shift View, Rotate View and Align View. This also
includes various zooming options. (See “Using Views” for details.)

• Tools Menu: contains the commands to activate certain advanced tools for editing and selecting objects. This
includes Shift Objects, Rotate Objects, Scale Objects, etc. (See “Working With Objects” for details.).
This also contains commands to activate the network diagnostic tools. See “Diagnosing Network Problems”
for details.

• Advanced Menu: contains commands to enable the use of System Objects. These are used mainly in MALT to
represent buried structures or return-ground electrodes. See “Working With System Objects” for more
details. It also gives access to dialogs that allow the specification of the soil model and of other
settings to be used when running the engineering programs. Finally, it allows to view or edit the
Command Template that is created when a SES input file is loaded by the program. See “Working
With Documents” for details.
• View Menu: controls the appearance of SESCAD.

• Options Menu: contains commands to control the program’s settings. The settings can be controlled on a view
basis or for the entire application.

The vertical and horizontal tool bars (at the top and left of the screen) give quicker access to certain important
commands. They can be removed by unchecking the menu items Show Horizontal Tool Bar and Show Vertical
Tool Bar in the View menu.
The status bar can also be removed (uncheck Show Status Bar in the View menu). It displays, however, some
information that is not currently available anywhere else in the program, namely the current position of the cursor
in World Coordinates and other general information messages.

10.4 THE POINTER MODES

Eight different types of operations can be performed with the mouse in the drawing areas. These different modes
of action for the mouse pointer can be selected from the Options | Pointer Mode command or from the left
Toolbar. They are summarized below.

• Select Objects: allows the selection of objects. In this case, the mouse pointer is the normal arrow. (See
“Selecting Objects” for details.)

• Draw Conductors: allows drawing of conductors. In this case, the mouse pointer is a cross. (See “Drawing
Elementary Objects” for details.)

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• Draw Profiles: allows drawing of profiles. In this case, the mouse pointer is a cross. (See “Drawing
Elementary Objects” for details.)

• Edit Node: allows editing the network nodes and obtaining information about them. In this case, the mouse
pointer is a dark wedge. (See “Working With Nodes” for details.)

• Power Tool: evokes the Power Tool mini-dialog that permits the application of certain operations to a target
object, sometimes using data from a reference object. Examples of such operations are: attaching a target
object to a reference object, joining a target object to a reference object, etc. The mouse pointer will first
become a target to allow selection of the target object then, if necessary, it will turn into a dark arrow pointing
to the right to allow selection of the reference. The mini-dialog is closed by changing the pointer mode again.
(See “Using The Power Tools” for details.)

• Measurement Tool: invokes the Measurement Tool mini-dialog. This tool, which is similar to the
Power Tool, can be used to determine the distance between two points (in this case, the mouse
pointer is a ruler) or the angle between two lines (in which case, the mouse pointer is a protractor).
(See “Using the Measurement Tool” for details.)

• Zoom: allows the definition of a rectangular zoom area. In this case, the mouse pointer is a magnifying glass.
(See “Zooming” for details.)

• Explore: allows the observer to move around the modeled network. In this case, the mouse pointer is an
airplane. (See “Exploring The View” for details.)

10.5 WORKING WITH DOCUMENTS

10.5.1 Multiple Document Display

SESCAD can display simultaneously several documents. When two or more documents are displayed, the
window displaying the active document is indicated by having an asterisk in its title bar. Most editing operations
and tools apply only to the active document. This same asterisk is used to indicate the active view (see “Using
Views” for details.)

10.5.2 Supported File Formats

SESCAD supports two file formats: its native format (*.SCA) (obsolescent and maintained only for reasons
of backwards compatibility) and the SES input file format (*.F05 or *.INP). For the latter, only the MALT,
MALZ and HIFREQ input files are supported.

10.5.3 Creating A New Document

Use the File | New Document command to create a new, blank document. A command template can be associated
with the new document. See “General Options” for details. A document can also be created with a background
picture. See “Creating A Document With Background” for details.

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10.5.4 Opening A Document

Use the File | Open Document command to open existing documents. Several documents can be open
simultaneously. The last document open becomes the active document.
The program first attempts to open the file assuming it is in the SCA format. If this fails, it then attempts to open
it as a SES input file.
For the SES input file format, SESCAD normally creates a Command Template that consists of all the commands
it does not recognize (basically, everything except CONDUCTOR, PROFILE, SURFACE and VOLUME
commands). This template is then used to reconstitute a proper SES input file when saving (see “Saving A
Document” for more details). This feature assumes that the file follows a proper SES input file syntax. To bypass
this, in order for instance to read a file produced by a utility and which contains only CONDUCTOR commands,
use the Options button in the File Open dialog (or go to Options | General Options | File Open) and uncheck
Detailed Syntax Checking. The program will then load only the CONDUCTOR commands from the file,
regardless of the syntax.

SESCAD can also load graphical files and display them. Presently, the supported formats are WMF, EMF, JPEG
and BMP.

10.5.5 Saving A Document

Use the File | Save Document command to save the active document under its current filename (as indicated in
its title bar) or the File | Save Document As command to save it to a new filename. This last command brings up
the File Save Dialog, allowing you to specify the filename.

When saving to a file in the SES input file format, SESCAD writes all the necessary commands (e.g. NETWORK,
MAIN, etc.) to make the file syntactically correct. If a Command Template is associated with the document, the
commands in that template are also written to the SES input file.

Note that before overwriting data in an existing SCA, F05 or INP file, SESCAD creates a backup copy of the file.
The name of that backup file is ‘Backup of Original Filename’.

10.5.6 Including And Importing Documents

A document can be included in the active document by using the File | Include command. Similarly, a document
can be imported in the active document by using the File | Import command. The distinction between these two
operations is subtle and is related to the notion of system objects (i.e., MAIN, RETURN, BURIED) in MALT.
See “Working With System Objects” for more details.

With the Include command, the entire content of the included file is inserted in the active object ,i.e. the object
that is currently being edited. This is normally the MAIN or RETURN, etc. With the Import command, all of the
data in the MAIN of the imported file is inserted in the MAIN of the active document, all of the data in the
RETURN of the imported file is inserted in the RETURN of the active document, etc.

In addition to the usual SES and SCA formats, SESCAD can import or include AutoCAD files in the DXF format.

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10.5.7 Exporting Documents

SESCAD documents can be exported to the DXF format (for use with AutoCAD) as well as in three Windows
graphical formats, namely to the Standard Windows Metafile (*.WMF) format, the Enhanced Windows Metafile
Format (*.EMF), or as a bitmap (*.BMP). Use the File | Save As command and provide a file name with a DXF,
WMF, EMF or BMP extension.

10.5.8 Printing Documents

SESCAD documents can be printed (use the File | Print command) or previewed before printing with File | Print
Preview.

10.5.9 Creating A Document With Background

SESCAD documents can have a picture displayed in the background. This picture can, for example, be used as a
drawing guide. Certain restrictions apply when using this feature.

• The background is assumed to be located in the conductor drawing plane. See “Drawing Elementary
Objects” for details.
• A plan, X-Y view is automatically used and cannot be changed.
• The view cannot be rotated in any way.
• It is impossible to zoom to very large factors.
Only the first view of a document can have a background; if additional views of the same document are created,
they will not have this background.

To create a document with background, select File | Create Document With Background. You will be prompted
to provide the filename of a graphics file for the background. Once a valid filename is specified, a dialog will
invite you to specify the position and the size of the picture. Finally, the program will create the document and a
plan, X-Y view of it, with the background filling the entire view.

10.5.10 Defining the Size and Position of a Document

You can define the size (scale) of a document as well as the position of a point in the document with the Size and
Position of Document dialog. This dialog allows you to define the scale of the drawing by specifying the distance
between two known points, then clicking on successively those points. It also allows you to define the position of
a known point in the drawing by specifying the coordinates of the point, then clicking on the point in the drawing.

This is especially useful when using the Document with Background feature to define the scale of the SESCAD
document based on the information available in the background drawing.

To define the size of a document:

1. Click on the Edit menu, and select the Document Size and Position menu item. This loads the Size
and Position of Document dialog.

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2. In the Size and Position of Document dialog, select Define Document Size, and enter the distance
between two known points in Desired Size.
3. Click OK. The screen closes, and the mouse pointer transforms into a ruler.
4. Click on the first known point, then click on the second known point (a line tracks the movement of the
mouse during this operation). Once the second point is clicked, the drawing is resized so that the
distance between the two points clicked becomes equal to the specified distance.

To define the position of a document:

1. Click on the Edit menu, and select the Document Size and Position menu item. This loads the Size
and Position of Document dialog.
2. In the Size and Position of Document dialog, select Define Document Position.
3. Enter the X and Y coordinates of a known point. If desired, check the Modify Z Coordinate option
and specify a Z coordinate as well; if you do not choose this option, the Z coordinate of the chosen
point will not be modified by the operation.
4. Click OK. The screen closes, and the mouse pointer transforms into a target.
5. Click on the known point in the drawing: the drawing is shifted so that the point that was clicked ends
up at the specified coordinates.

In both cases, you can right-click in the drawing instead of clicking. If you do so, a popup menu appears, allowing
you to cancel the operation.

10.6 WORKING WITH OBJECTS

10.6.1 Overview
This section covers all of the commands and tools that are available in SESCAD to create and edit objects. Most
of the commands listed in the following topics can be undone by using Edit | Undo and redone (when first
undone) with Edit | Redo up to several levels.

“Creating Objects” shows how to create elementary objects (conductors, profiles) by either drawing them or
using dialogs to enter data. It also shows how to group and combine elementary objects to form composite
objects.

“Selecting Objects” describes how to select objects either as group or individually. This operation is very
important since most of the commands and tools apply only to selected objects.

“Operations On Selected Objects” describes elementary operations that can be performed on selected objects.
Some of these operations (Cut, Paste, Delete, Copy, …) are fairly standard. Others, such as Edit Object and
Assign Characteristics are specific to SESCAD.

“Working With Nodes” describes the operations that can be performed on network nodes.

“Using The Toolboxes” shows how to use the Move Toolbox and the Transform Toolbox to quickly shift,
rotate, scale, align and distribute selected objects.

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“Using The Power Tools” shows how to use the Power Tool pointer mode to attach or join objects together.

“Advanced Tools” describes tools that are available to distribute rods in selected parts of the network, create rods
at every conductor intersections in the network and to explicitly subdivide conductors at the points of intersection.

10.6.2 Creating Objects

Elementary objects (conductors and profiles) can be created by drawing them or by entering data in dialogs.
Conductors are always displayed as solid lines and profiles as dashed lines. Composite objects can be formed by
selecting and grouping or combining existing objects together. Certain common composite objects such as a
conductor grid, an observation surface, a wire or a spiral mat can also be created by entering data in dialogs.

Drawing Elementary Objects

To draw elementary objects, first select Draw Conductors or Draw Profiles for the Pointer Mode in the
Options menu or in the Vertical Toolbar. Then:

1. Click at the desired location of the starting point (origin) of the object.

2. Move the mouse without holding any mouse button down. A line should track the movement of the mouse.

3. Click at the desired location of the ending point (end) of the object.

If the Ctrl key is held down during step 3, the line being traced is constrained to make an angle with a magnitude
being a multiple of 15° with respect to the horizontal.

The position in three-dimensional World Coordinates of that line is inferred by assuming that it is entirely located
in the drawing plane. This plane is parallel to the observer view plane (see Error! Reference source not found.),
and is located at a user-definable distance from the World Coordinates origin. This distance can be specified
separately for profiles and conductors in the Conductor Drawing Depth and Profile Drawing Depth fields
under Options | View Options. It can also be specified directly in the Drawing Depth text area on the Horizontal
Toolbar.

Note that a positive drawing depth means that the drawn objects are located into the screen (with respect to the
origin in World Coordinates) and a negative drawing depth means that those same objects are located out of the
screen. While this description is quite complex, in practice it is relatively easy to use. For instance, when an X-Y
view is used, a positive drawing depth means that the drawn objects are in the ground and a negative drawing
depth means that the drawn objects are in the air. (See “Coordinate System” and “Using Views” for more
details.)

Normally, both the origin and end of the drawn object are subject to Auto-Snap. However, when the angle is
constrained using the Ctrl key, only the origin is subject to Auto-Snap. (See “The Auto-Snap Feature” for
more details.)

Note that the characteristics of the conductors and profiles that cannot be specified when drawing (such as the
conductor radius or the number of observation points in a profile) take on their default values. If other values are
desired for the characteristics, the objects will have to be edited. Note that the default values for the conductor
characteristics can be specified with Options | Default Conductor Characteristics. (See “Assigning Conductor
Characteristics” for more details.)

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Entering Data In Dialogs

Use Edit | Create Object to specify object data through the following dialog box. A conductor can be specified
by giving the X, Y and Z coordinates of its origin and end in World Coordinates, or by giving the coordinates of
its starting point and specifying its length and the angles it makes with the X axis and with the X-Y plane. The
Characteristics of the conductor can be assigned by clicking on the Characteristics button. See “Assigning
Conductor Characteristics” for more details.

Similarly, a profile can be specified by giving the X, Y and Z coordinates of its starting point as well as the
number of observation points in the profile and the step dX, dY, dZ between two points or by specifying the
coordinates of its start and end points, and specifying either the number of observation points in the profile or the
desired spacing between the points. All coordinates should be expressed in the World Coordinate system.

Common objects such as conductor grids and observation surfaces can also be specified using this dialog. There
are two ways to create a grid, Simple and Detailed. A Simple Grid is always located in a plane parallel to the
conductor drawing plane. The depth of the grid, however, can be different than the conductor drawing depth. It is
only necessary to specify its Width and Height as well as the desired Number of Horizontal Conductors and
Number of Vertical Conductors. A value smaller than 1 can be specified for the Compression Ratio if an
exponentially spaced grid is desired. The center of the grid is located at the projection of the origin of the World
Coordinate System on the drawing plane. It is also possible to specify a Simple Grid graphically. After clicking
on Define Graphically, the dialog disappears and the mouse cursor turns into a small grid attached to a cross.
Dragging the mouse in the viewing area defines a rectangular area which is used to calculate the position and size
of the grid. In this case, the Width and Height parameters are not used.

To create a Detailed Grid, specify the coordinates of three points A, B and C as well as the desired number of
conductors parallel to AB and the desired number of conductors parallel to AC. Again, a compression ratio can be
specified if an exponential grid is desired. The program will complete the parallelogram and generate the desired
conductors.

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The "Create Object" Dialog: Creating a Conductor, Creating A Profile

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The "Create Object" Dialog: Creating A Simple Grid; Creating A Detailed Grid.

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Parameters For The Creation Of A Grid.

Similarly, there are two ways to create a surface of observation points. A simple surface is very similar to a simple
grid in that only its Width, Height and Depth need to be specified, along with the desired number of profiles and
of points per profile, or the desired spacing between the profiles and between points.

To create a detailed observation surface, specify the coordinates of a reference point for the beginning of the first
profile (Profile Start), then the number of observation points (NPoints) along a profile and the step between
them (Point Step), then the number of profiles (NProfiles) and the step between them (Profile Step), or specify
the coordinates of the origin and end of the first profile and of the origin of the last profile in the surface, along
with either the number profiles or the spacing between the profiles, and the number of points per profile or the
spacing between the points.

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The “Create Object Dialog”: Creating a Simple Surface; Creating A Detailed Surface .

Both types of surfaces can be extended to create three-dimensional observation volumes.

To create a sagging wire, use Tools | Create Wire With Sag to load the Create Wire With Sag dialog. This
dialog allows you to define a wire with a specified sag, and can be used to generate realistic transmission line
wires.

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The Create Wire With Sag Dialog

Note that this dialog creates a wire but does not allow to edit the object as a wire; once created, the wire behaves
as a simple group of objects.

To create a spiral grid, use Tools | Create Spiral Mat to load the Create Spiral Mat dialog. This dialog allows
you to define a spiral of conductors. This is especially useful to create the spiral mats that are often used in
cathodic protection studies. It can be used, however, anytime a spiral is required, such as in the modeling of
windings.

The Create Spiral Mat Dialog

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Note that this dialog creates a spiral but does not allow to edit the object as a spiral; once created, the spiral
behaves as a simple group of objects.

To create a tower, use Tools | Create Tower to load the Create Tower dialog. This dialog allows you to create a
useful approximation of a transmission or a communication tower.

In all of the above cases, the object is optionally displayed in a preview window, along with all objects that are
currently present in the document.

Creating Composite Objects

Composite objects can be formed from elementary objects by first selecting several elementary or composite
objects and then grouping them (using the Edit | Group command) or combining them together (with Edit |
Combine). In either case, the resulting composite object can be manipulated in exactly the same way as the
elementary objects. (See “Selecting Objects” and “Operations On Selected Objects” for more details.)

10.6.3 Selecting Objects

Selecting objects is an important part of an SESCAD session since most operations only apply to selected objects.
It is possible to select objects only when the pointer mode is "Select Objects". This mode can be activated by
Options | Pointer Mode | Select Objects or by the corresponding button on the Vertical Toolbar.

Selected objects in SESCAD are displayed in a different color than ordinary objects. Handles appear at the
corners and sides of an invisible box that just surrounds the selected object. They can be used to stretch the object.
(See “Stretching Objects”).

There are three ways to select objects: by clicking on them, through marquee selection and by using the arrow
keys.

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Clicking on part of an object selects the entire object. For instance, clicking on a conductor which is part of a
larger composite object selects the entire composite object. Clicking on a space without an object cancels the
existing selection.

In marquee selection, a rectangular area (the marquee) is first defined by dragging the mouse in the viewing area.
All objects that appear entirely inside this rectangle are then selected.

With both methods of selection, any pre-existing selection is canceled and replaced by the new selection. This
behavior can be modified using the Ctrl or the Shift key. If the Ctrl key is held down while the selection is
carried out, the selection acts as a toggle: if an object that is about to be selected was already selected, it will be
deselected; conversely, if an object that is about to be selected was not selected, it will be selected. If the Shift
key is held down while the selection is carried out, the pre-existing selection is not canceled; the newly selected
objects are simply added to the existing selection.

A third way to select objects (or modify an existing selection) is through the use of the keyboard. The Tab key
selects each object in turn, cycling between them. When the Shift key is held down, the arrow keys extend the
selection.

Finally, it is possible to invert the existing selection by using Edit | Invert Selection and to select all objects with
the command Edit | Select All.

10.6.4 Operations On Selected Objects

The following simple operations are allowed on selected objects. More complex operations are described in
“Using The Tool Boxes”, “Using The Power Tools” and “Advanced Tools”.

Cutting Objects

The command Edit | Cut deletes the currently selected objects from the active document and puts a copy of those
objects on the clipboard.

Pasting Objects

The command Edit | Paste puts a copy of the content of the clipboard in the active document.

Copying Objects

The command Edit | Copy puts a copy of the selected objects to the clipboard.

Duplicating Objects

The command Edit | Duplicate duplicates the selected objects, i.e. creates a copy of the selected objects and
inserts it in the active document. Optionally, the duplicated objects can be shifted with respect to the originals by
a quantity that can be specified in Options | General Options | General | Default Motion Of Duplicate.

Deleting Objects

The command Edit | Delete deletes the currently selected objects.

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Moving Objects

To move selected objects with the mouse, first click on any part of the selected object and drag the mouse a little
bit. This will confirm that you really want to move the objects; the cursor will change and the selection box will
move. A circle will also appear around the pseudo node that is located on the object that was clicked and that is
located closest to the click point. This is the move reference node.

Drag the mouse to the desired location and release the mouse. The object will move to the new location. The
motion is confined to a plane parallel to the view plane and passing through the move reference node (see “Using
Views” for details).

This operation is subject to Auto-Snap in the sense that the move reference node will snap to anything close to its
new location. See “The Auto Snap Feature” for more details.

The keyboard can also be used to move the selected objects. Use the arrow keys to that effect, making sure that
the Shift key is not held down. The right (left) arrow moves the objects in the positive (negative) X direction in
Observer Coordinates and the Up (down) arrow moves the objects in the positive (negative) Y direction in
Observer Coordinates. The distance moved can not be controlled: it corresponds to about 1/5 of the width or
height of the screen. While this method does not give very precise control over the motion of the objects, it can be
useful to temporarily moving some objects out of the way (to gain access to other objects hidden underneath) and
to bring them back to their starting point.

A more complete approach for moving objects is described in “Using The Move Toolbox”.

Stretching Objects

To stretch selected objects, drag the appropriate handle of the selection box. The objects will be resized along the
X and Y directions in the Observer coordinate system only. The Z direction (i.e. the part that is perpendicular to
the view plane) in those same coordinates is left unaffected.

This restriction can have surprising consequences in perspective and parallel projection views. For example,
suppose you are using an X-Y view in perspective mode and a grounding rod (parallel to the Z axis) is selected.
This conductor is visible as a line segment in the view, yet any attempt to resize it will fail. For this reason, it is
recommend to use a plan view when resizing objects with the mouse. In this case, objects that are perpendicular to
the view plane are reduced to a point (they are displayed as circles) and it is immediately obvious that it is futile
to attempt to resize them. See “Using Views” for more details.

A better approach for stretching objects is described in “Using The Transform Toolbox”.

Grouping and Ungrouping Objects

Grouping Objects

You can group selected objects to organize a document into a hierarchy of related objects. The grouped objects
can be selected much more easily, which usually makes it easier to change their attributes, etc…

To group some objects together:

1. Select the objects to be grouped. There must be at least two selected objects.

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2. Click on the Edit menu, and select the Group menu item. The selected objects are now grouped, and
can be used as a unit.

Ungrouping Objects

You can ungroup objects that were previously grouped. There are three different ways to ungroup the selected
objects.

Ungroup

This function allows you to ungroup the currently selected group. The object to ungroup (and only the object to
ungroup) should be selected first.

To ungroup an existing group:

1. Select the group to be ungrouped. You can do this by clicking on any member of the group.
2. Click on the Edit menu, and select the Ungroup menu item. The selected group is ungrouped, and the
content of the group is transferred to the Active Object.

Ungroup All

This function allows you to ungroup all groups in the Active Object. This destroys all groups, even those that are
part of other groups (i.e., those are nested deeper in the group hierarchy). The end result of this operation is that
all elementary objects end up at the top level in the Active Object.

To ungroup all groups in the Active Object:

1. Click on the Edit menu, and select the Ungroup All menu item.

Ungroup To Level

This function allows you to ungroup the currently selected group up to a specified level. You can select the
desired level of ungrouping in the submenu. The object to ungroup (and only the object to ungroup) should be
selected first. This function destroys all groups starting from the top-level group in the selected group down to the
specified level; the remaining groups are kept intact.

To ungroup an existing group to a specified level:

1. Select the group to be ungrouped. You can do this by clicking on any member of the group.
2. Click on the Edit menu, select the Ungroup to Level menu item, then select the desired Level from
the sub-menu. The maximum level available corresponds to the depth of the object hierarchy of the
selected group.
3. The selected group is ungrouped, its sub-groups are ungrouped, their sub-groups are ungrouped, and so
on up to the specified level, and the content of all those groups is transferred to the Active Object.

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Note: Ungroup to level 1 is equivalent to a simple Ungroup.

Use Group Information

There are circumstances for which it would be preferable to ignore the grouping for certain operations. This
would be the case, for instance, if the properties of only some of the members of a group have to be modified.

The Use Group Information feature allows you to toggle on or off the usage of groups by the program. When
this option is off, all individual conductors and profiles are directly accessible. This makes it easier to change the
properties of a few objects in the group.

When the option is turned back on, the program attempts to reconstitute the groups as they were before the option
was turned off. Note that this may not always be possible. For instance, the program does not allow groups
containing a single object. This condition can happen while working with Use Group Information turned off.
When the feature is turned on again, the program finds all objects that would be alone in their own group and
promotes them to their parent group. Also, certain operations may cause a grid or a surface object to be restored as
a plain group of objects, losing the information about the grid or surface.

Note that the groups are not destroyed when using this option; their effect is only temporarily suppressed. When
saving the document, for instance, all groups are preserved, regardless of the Use Group Information setting.

To toggle the usage of group information by the program on or off:

1. Click the Edit menu. The current status of the usage of group information by the program is indicated
by a check mark next to the Use Group Information menu item: when this menu item is checked, the
program uses the group information.
2. Click on the Use Group Information menu item to toggle the status of the usage of group information
by the program.

Assigning A Name And A Description To An Object

Objects can be named and described by using the dialog obtained with the Edit | Description command. The
name is presently for documentation purposes only but it may be used as part of a macro language in future
versions. The description is for documentation purposes only. When the document is saved as a SES input file, the
description is saved as a comment. Conversely, when loading a SES input file, the comments are stored as
descriptions.

Note that descriptions can be applied only to single objects (be they elementary or composite). They cannot be
used on multiple selections.

Editing An Object

When a single elementary object or a composite object created with Create Object is selected, this object can be
edited using the Edit Object dialog that can be open with the Edit | Edit Object command. The interface of this
dialog is very similar to that of the Create Object dialog. See “Creating An Object” for more details.

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10.6.5 Assigning Characteristics to Conductors

The conductor characteristics in SESCAD record all the physical information about the conductor except the
coordinates of its origin and end. This includes not only the standard characteristics of the SES input files, i.e. the
coating type code, conductor type code, lead type code, and energization code but also the conductor’s radius and
the desired number of subdivisions.
The characteristics code, radius and subdivision number are defined exactly as in MALT, MALZ and HIFREQ.
Consult the documentation of these programs for more details. A minor improvement has been introduced with
regard to the subdivision number: it can be specified either explicitly or by giving the maximum length that a
segment of this conductor should have.
You can assign the characteristics to conductors directly, or you can assign the characteristics to a characteristics
class, then the conductors can be declared to have the characteristics of a given class.
This indirect way of proceeding provides a greater degree of flexibility. For example, all conductors (except
grounding rods) are created with the characteristics of the default characteristics class. The default characteristics
class can be selected quickly from a drop down located on the program’s main toolbar. (Alternatively, you can
use Options | Default Characteristics Class and select the default class from the resulting sub-menu.).
The program defines two characteristics classes automatically: the Rods class and the Standard class. The
characteristics of the Rods class are used whenever creating rods (either with the Power Tool, or with the Tools |
Create Rods dialog). Note that rods created with those tools always use the characteristics of the Rods class; this
is independent of the default class. The characteristics of the Standard class are used, by default, for all other
conductors, although this can be redefined by setting the default characteristics class as described above.
You can create new characteristics classes and customize the characteristics of any class, including the Standard
and Rods classes.

Assigning Characteristics To Conductors.

To modify the characteristics of conductors:

1. Select the conductors whose characteristics should be modified.
2. Click on the Edit menu, and select the Characteristics menu item. This loads the Characteristics
dialog that allows you to modify the characteristics of the selected conductors.
3. Modify the desired characteristics (e.g. Coating Type code, Conductor Type code, Lead Type code,
Energization code, Radius or Subdivision Options), and click OK to confirm the changes.

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The "Assign Characteristics" Dialog.

When the dialog first loads, characteristics that are common to all conductors in the selection are checked and
their values are indicated; those that are not common to all conductors are not checked. When the dialog is closed
by clicking OK, only those characteristics that are checked are assigned to the selected conductors.

The characteristics, radius and subdivision number are defined exactly as in MALT, MALZ and HIFREQ.
Consult the documentation of these programs for more details. A minor improvement has been introduced with
regard to the subdivision number: it can be specified either explicitly or by giving the maximum length that a
segment of this conductor should have.

The characteristics can also be copied from an existing conductor. When Assign From Object is clicked in the
dialog, the dialog disappears and the cursor becomes a horizontal arrow. When a valid conductor is clicked, the
characteristics of that conductor are assigned to all the selected conductors. As before, only those characteristics
that were checked before the dialog unloaded are affected by this operation. You can also assign the
characteristics of an existing characteristics class to the selected objects by clicking on Assign From Class.

This same dialog can be invoked from Options | Default Conductor Characteristics to define the default
characteristics of the conductor, i.e. those that are used when a conductor is first created.

Setting the Default Characteristics of Conductors

Conductors that are created by free-hand drawing are assigned default characteristics. Conductors that are created
with tools are also assigned default characteristics by default, although usually the tools offer a Characteristics
button that allows you to change the characteristics.
The default characteristics are the characteristics of the default characteristics class. See “Selecting the Default
Characteristics Class” for details.

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To define the characteristics of the default characteristics class:

1. Click the Options menu and select the Default Characteristics (<Class Name>) menu item. (The
<Class Name> in the caption of the menu item is the name of the current default characteristics class.)
This will load the Characteristics dialog that allows you to modify the characteristics of the default
characteristics class.
2. Modify the desired characteristics (e.g. Coating Type code, Conductor Type code, Lead Type code,
Energization code, Radius or Subdivision Options), and click OK to confirm the changes.

Selecting the Default Characteristics Class

The characteristics of the Default Characteristics Class are assigned to all conductors created in the SESCAD
program (unless specified otherwise). There are several ways to specify which characteristics class should be
considered the default class.

• Select the name of the class from the drop-down menu appearing on the toolbar on the program’s main
screen.
• Select the name of the class from the Options | Default Characteristics Class sub-menu.
• Use the Set As Default button in the Edit Characteristics Class dialog.

Changing the Name or Description of a Characteristics Class

You can modify the name and description of existing user-defined characteristics classes. You cannot, however,
modify the name or description of the ‘Standard’ and ‘Rods’ classes, which are defined by SES.

To edit the name or description of existing user-defined classes:

1. Click the Options menu, and select the Add / Edit Characteristics Classes menu item. This will load
the Edit Characteristics Class dialog.
2. Select the name of the characteristics class that should be modified from the Class drop-down menu. If
the selected class name is the name of a user-defined class, the Name and Description fields become
enabled.
3. Modify the Name or Description field (or both) as desired. Note that the Name must be unique.
4. If desired, return to Step 2 to modify or different class, or click OK to confirm the changes.

Defining the Characteristics of a Class

You can define the characteristics of one or more characteristics classes by proceeding as follows:

1. Click on the Options menu, and select the Define Characteristics of Classes menu item. This loads
the Define Characteristics of Classes dialog, allowing you to select the characteristics classes to edit.
2. Select the classes to edit in the Available Classes list, then click on Characteristics. This loads the
Characteristics dialog.

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3. In the Characteristics dialog, the characteristics that are common to all selected classes are checked,
while the others are unchecked. Define the desired characteristics in the screen, then click OK. Only
those options that are checked when clicking OK are assigned to the selected classes.

There is a quicker way to define the characteristics of the default Characteristics Class; see “Setting the Default
Characteristics of Conductors” for details.

Creating a New Characteristics Class

You can create new characteristics classes: this makes it easier to switch between, say, drawing grounding
conductors and drawing overhead wires.
To create a new characteristics class:
1. Click on the Options menu, and select the Add / Edit Characteristics Classes menu item. This loads
the Edit Characteristics Class dialog.
2. Click on New. This loads the New Characteristics Class dialog that allows you to define the
properties of the new class.
3. Enter a unique Name for the new class, and select the name of the existing class that should be used as
a template for the new class under Based On. Click OK to return to the Edit Characteristics Class
dialog.
4. At this point, you can edit the Description and/or the Characteristics of the new class. You can also
return to Step 2 to create other classes. When you are done, click on OK to confirm the changes.

Deleting a Characteristics Class

To delete an existing user-defined characteristics class:

1. Click on the Options menu, and select the Add / Edit Characteristics Classes menu item. This loads
the Edit Characteristics Class dialog.
2. Select the name of an existing user-defined characteristics class from the Class drop-down menu. (The
SES-defined classes cannot be deleted.)
3. Click on Delete. This deletes the selected class.
4. At this point, you can return to Step 2 to delete other classes. When you are done, click on OK to
confirm the changes.

Assigning the Characteristics of a Class to Selected Conductors

To assign the characteristics of a class to selected conductors:

1. Select the conductors whose characteristics should be modified.

2. Click on the Edit menu, and select the Characteristics menu item. This loads the Characteristics
dialog that allows you to modify the characteristics of the selected conductors.

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3. Click on the Assign From Class button in the Characteristics dialog. This loads the Select Class
dialog, allowing you to select the desired class.
4. Select the desired class, then click OK. The characteristics of the selected class are transferred to the
Characteristics screen.
5. Customize the characteristics further (if desired), then click OK to assign them to the selected
conductors.

10.6.6 The Generate Profiles Tool

The Generate Profiles tool allows you to quickly generate profiles that cover conductors located over a selected
part of the network. This tool can greatly reduce the number of observation points (and hence, the computation
time) that need to be specified in order to obtain a sufficient coverage of a grounding grid.

The profiles can be generated in several ways:

• Fill Bounding Box: An observation surface covering the bounding box of the selected conductors (i.e.,
the smallest rectangle that completely encloses the selected conductors) is created.
• Fill Minimal Surface: Observation profiles are generated to fill the minimal surface covering the
conductors. The "minimal surface" is the polygon of smallest surface area that completely encloses the
selected conductors.
• Create Strip Around Minimal Surface: Observation profiles are generated around the polygon of
minimal surface covering the conductors.
• Create Profiles At A Fixed Depth Over Every Conductor: Observation profiles are generated at a
fixed, specified depth over every selected conductor. All profiles generated in this way are therefore
horizontal (i.e., in the XY plane).
• Create Profiles At A Shifted Depth Over Every Conductor: Observation profiles are generated at a
fixed distance over every selected conductor. These profiles follow the inclination of the conductors, and
can therefore be slanted.

To create profiles covering selected conductors:

• Select the conductors that should be covered by profiles.

• Click on the Tools menu, and select the Generate Profiles menu item. This loads the Generate Profiles
dialog.
• In the Generate Profiles dialog, select the desired generation method in the Generate profiles by drop-
down menu, and enter the required data. Use the Preview window to verify the correctness of the
generated profiles.
• Click on the OK button to generate the profiles.

Defining the Default Spacing Between Profile Points

Observation profiles in MALT, MALZ and HIFREQ are linear arrays of equally spaced points at which the
results are computed.

There are two ways to specify the spacing between the points of a profile in SESCAD:

• By specifying a fixed number of points in a profile

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• By specifying an "ideal" distance between the points of a profile.

In the latter approach, the spacing between the observation points is maintained fixed, rather than the total number
of points in the profile. This makes the graphical manipulation of profiles much easier: when scaling a profile, for
instance, the number of observation points increases to maintain the spacing between the points approximately
constant.

The table below describes the behavior of the program when drawing or scaling a profile using both approaches:

Operation Fixed Number of Points Fixed Spacing

Drawing a Profile The profile is created with the specified The profile is created with a number of points
number of points. Profiles of different selected to yield approximately the specified
lengths therefore have the same number spacing. Profiles of different lengths therefore
of points, but a different spacing have a different number of points and the
between the points spacing between the points is approximately
equal for all profiles.

Scaling a Profile The number of points in the profile The number of points in the profile is adjusted
remains the same. The spacing between to keep the spacing approximately the same.
the points therefore changes as a result.

Note that there is a certain loss of determinacy when using the Fixed-Spacing mode. Since the number of points
per profile must be a whole number, it is not usually possible to create a profile of a specified length, using a
specified spacing between the points: either the length of the profile or the spacing between the points has to be
adjusted. Note, however, that this adjustment is typically quite small. The adjustment can be controlled from The
Observation Points Generation Dialog.

To define the default spacing between profile points:

1. Click the Options menu, and select the General Options menu item.
2. In the General Settings screen, select the General page.
3. Click on Observation Points. This will load the Observation Points Generation Options dialog,
allowing you to select the method used to define the spacing between the points.
4. Select the desired method, and specify the desired Number of observation points or Explicit spacing
between points, and define any other option as desired.
5. Click OK in the Observation Points Generation Options dialog, then click OK in the General
Settings screen to confirm the changes.

Notes:
1. The settings also apply to the determination of the number of profiles per surface.
2. The above operation only defines the default method to use to determine the number of pints per profile.
All dialogs allowing you to create profiles give you access to the Observation Points Generation
Options dialog, to allow you to customize those settings.

Changing the Spacing Between Profile Points

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You can change the spacing between the observation points on existing profiles and between the profiles in
existing surfaces by proceeding as follows:
1. Select the desired profiles.
2. Click on the Edit menu, and select the Observation Point Spacing menu item. This loads the
Observation Points Generation Options dialog that allows you to modify the settings. When more than
one profile is selected, the initial settings in the screen correspond to a randomly chosen profile.
3. Select the desired method, and specify the desired Number of observation points or Explicit spacing
between points, and define any other option as desired.
4. Click OK to confirm the changes. The selected spacing options are transferred to all selected profiles.

Note: In Step 1, you can include conductors in the selection: they are unaffected by the operation.

10.6.7 Creating Other Common Objects

Creating a Fence

It is often useful to create a conductor loop that surrounds other conductors, to simulate a fence for instance.
To create such a conductor loop:
1. Select the conductors to be enclosed by the fence.
2. Click on the Tools menu, and select the Polygon Operations menu item. This loads the Polygon
Operations dialog.
3. In the Polygon Operations dialog, select Surround Objects for the Type of Operation.
4. Select Conductors under Surround With.
5. Specify the distance (Shift Distance) that should separate the generated conductor loop from the edge
of the selected conductors. If this number is negative, the generated fence will be smaller than the
outline of the selected conductors; if it is positive, it will be larger.
6. Specify the Depth at which the fence loop should be created.
7. Click OK. The fence loop is generated.

The above procedure creates a fence that doesn’t have any posts. You can quickly model the posts by treating
them as rods, and using the Create Rods dialog. See “Creating Rods” for details.

Filling the Outline of a Grid with a Regular Mesh

The Fill Polygon operation of the Polygon Operations dialog allows you to fill a planar polygon with a mesh of
conductors. This can be used to fill a grid with a regular mesh, once you have already drawn the outline of the
grid.
To fill the outline of a grid with a regular mesh:

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1. Select the grid to be filled with a mesh. All conductors of the grid should be located in the same plane.
2. Click on the Tools menu, and select the Polygon Operations menu item. This loads the Polygon
Operations dialog.
3. In the Polygon Operations dialog, select Fill Polygon for the Type of Operation.
4. Under Attributes for Fill Polygon, select the option Fill Polygon With Both Horizontal and
Vertical Conductors.
5. Define the desired spacing between the conductors in the mesh. This can be done independently for the
vertical and the horizontal conductors.
6. Click OK. The selected grid is filled with the specified mesh.

Creating Objects that Follow a Path

It is often useful to be able to create objects that run parallel to other objects, at a fixed distance of those objects.
This can be used, for instance, to define a computations profile that runs along (or above) a specified set of
conductors (such as a fence line) or to create a mitigation wire running at fixed distance of a pipe.

The Create Object From Path dialog can be used to do that in SESCAD. It allows you to create conductors,
profiles or even individual observation points that follow a path formed by connected conductors, and remains at
a fixed, specified distance.

This operation can presently only be applied to sets of conductors that form a single open path. This means that
the conductors should form a single connected set with precisely two floating nodes. This is always the case for a
single isolated conductor. It is also normally the case for a pipeline, for instance.

To create objects that follow a path:

1. Select some conductors that form a single connected path.
2. Click on the Tools menu, and select the Path Operations menu item. If the selected conductors do not
form a single open path, an error message will be displayed. Otherwise, this will load the Create
Object From Path dialog.
3. In the Create Object From Path window, define the characteristics of the objects to be created. In
particular, define the type of Object to be created, and the shift to apply to the generated path. Up to
three different paths can be generated in a single operation, one on either side of the selected path, and
one right on top of it.
4. Click OK to create the objects.

Creating Rods

There are two ways to create rods in SESCAD: with the Create Rods Power Tool or with the Create Rods
dialog. In both cases, the created rods acquire the characteristics of the ‘Rods’ characteristics class, although in
the case of the Create Rods dialog, this can be modified.

Create Rods Power Tool

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The Create Rods Power Tool is used to create individual rods at specific locations in the network. The desired
locations are identified by clicking on them. These locations usually correspond to the intersections of ground
grid conductors, but they could be at any other location on a conductor. The created rods are always vertical: the
top of the rod is attached to the conductor that was clicked.

To use the Create Rods Power Tool:

1. Make sure that you are using an X-Y view of the drawing. This is because the created rods are always
perpendicular to the plane of the view. To make the view an X-Y view, click on the Display menu, and
check the X-Y View menu item.
2. Select the Power Tool pointer mode. To do this, click on the Options menu, select the Pointer Mode
menu item, then the Power Tool sub-item. This will load the Power Tool mini-window. You can also
do this by clicking on the Power Tool button in the toolbar to the left of the screen, or by using the
Ctrl + P menu shortcut.
3. In the Power Tool window, select Create Rod.
4. Define the desired length of the rod to be created.
5. Click the location in the drawing where you want the rod to be created. If this location is close enough
to a conductor, a rod with the specified length is created; otherwise, a message is issued in the
program’s status bar informing you that the operation wasn’t successful.
6. Repeat Steps 4 (optional) and 5 as often as desired.
7. To exit the power tool, select a different Pointer Mode, typically Select.

Create Rods Dialog

The Create Rods dialog is used to create rods over a selected portion of the conductor network. The rods can be
created:

• At the extremities of the selected conductors.

• At the intersection points of the selected conductors.
• At regularly-spaced locations along the selected conductors.

To use the Create Rods dialog:

1. Select the conductors to which the rods should be attached.

2. Click on the Tools menu, and select the Create Rods menu item. This loads the Create Rods dialog.
3. In the Create Rods dialog, select the Distribute Rods tab if you want create rods that are evenly
spaced over all selected conductors, or select the Create Rods at Nodes tab if you want to create rods
at the end points of conductors and/or at their intersection points. Enter the required data.
4. Define the attributes of the rods to be created in the Define Rod Attributes frame. The attributes
include the length of the rods (or the coordinates of the vector going from the top to the bottom of the
rod) and the rods characteristics.
5. Click on OK to create the rods.

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10.6.8 Working With Nodes

A limited set of operations is available for node editing. The first three operations can be performed only when
the pointer mode is Edit Node. This section makes use of the definitions of proper node and pseudo node that are
provided in the glossary.

Selecting A Node

A node can be selected by clicking anywhere on a conductor or profile. If the point clicked is sufficiently close to
an existing node, that node will be selected. If a node cannot be found in the vicinity of that point, then the pseudo
node that is located on the object that was clicked and that is closest to the clicked point will be selected.

A single node can be selected at a time. Clicking on a blank space cancels the selection.

The selected node is identified by a colored, hollow, circle located around it. Whenever a node is selected, some
reference nodes are also displayed. The reference nodes consist of the origin and end points of all objects that are
connected to the selected node, excluding the selected node itself. They are displayed as filled circles. This allows
for a quick verification of the connection integrity of the network. A more powerful way to verify the connection
integrity is described in “Diagnosing Problems In The Network”.

To select a node:
1. Change the pointer mode to Edit Node.
2. Click on any point on an object. The node or pseudo-node closest to that point is selected.

Moving A Node

A selected node can be moved by dragging it to another location. If the selected node is connected to only one
conductor, holding down the Control (Ctrl) key while dragging the node will restrict the motion to lie along that
conductor. In both cases, this operation is subject to Auto-Snap (see “The Auto-Snap Feature” for more details).

Creating A New Node

Double-clicking an existing conductor while the Control (Ctrl) key is held down creates a new node at
that point and breaks the original conductor in two.

Editing A Node

The Edit | Edit Object command can be used to invoke a simple dialog that allows manual modifications of the
coordinates of the node. The X, Y and Z World Coordinates of the node can be modified.

To edit the coordinates of a node:

1. Select the node to edit.
2. Click on the Edit menu, and select the Edit Object menu item. This loads the Edit Node dialog,
initialized with the coordinates of the node.
3. In the Edit Node dialog, modify the X, Y and Z coordinates of the node as desired, then click OK to
confirm the changes.

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Changing the X, Y or Z Coordinate of Several Nodes

You can modify the X, Y or Z coordinate of the nodes of all selected objects in a single operation. It is possible to
modify both the start and end points of the objects, or only the node that is closest to the specified coordinate.

When both end-points are modified, all selected objects end up in the same plane after the operation. This is
useful, for instance, to correct a situation where some conductors or profiles are slanted or are at the wrong depth.

To change a coordinate of the nodes of the selected objects:

1. Select some conductors and/or profiles whose nodes are to be modified.
2. Click on the Edit menu, and select the Edit Coordinates of Nodes menu item. This will load the Edit
Nodes Coordinate Dialog.
3. In the Edit Nodes Coordinate dialog, specify which coordinate to modify and the new value of the
coordinate under Coordinate Specification. You can also restrict the type of object and the type of
nodes to which the operation applies.
4. Click OK to complete the operation.

10.6.9 Using The Tool Boxes

Two toolboxes, the Move Toolbox and the Transform Toolbox, are provided with SESCAD to manipulate
objects. They can perform several basic operations on the selected objects. Other toolboxes are available to obtain
information about the display objects. These toolboxes are described in “Finding Information About Objects”.

All toolboxes are floating above the application to allow an easy interplay with the edited documents. The
toolboxes do not need to be closed in order to interact with the document.

Using The Move Toolbox

The Move Toolbox is used to either rotate the selected objects or to shift them in physical space. It can be open
with the Tools | Shift Objects or the Tools | Rotate Objects commands.

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The Move Object Tool.

The six buttons in the Quick (or Rotate) frame can be used to initiate motion along any of the three axes of the
Observer Coordinate System. Clicking one of these buttons produces the corresponding transformation of the
selected objects; holding it down repeats this transformation continuously until the button is released.

Selecting Apply To Duplicate instructs the program to create ‘Number Of Duplicates’ duplicates of the selected
objects before applying the requested operation. Only one duplication operation is carried out, even when the
transformation is applied continuously.

Shifting Objects:

In the Quick frame, Distance is the desired translation distance. When using one of the six buttons in this frame,
the translation is along the corresponding axis of the Observer Coordinate System.

In the Shift frame, it is possible to move the object to a specific location (Move To), to shift it by a specific vector
(Shift By) or to inquire as to the center of the selected objects (Show Origin). (The center of the selected objects
is defined as the center of the smallest three-dimensional box that can completely enclose the selected objects in
World Coordinates.) In the first case, the given X, Y and Z coordinates represent the new World Coordinates of
the center of the selected objects. In the second case, X, Y and Z are the components in World Coordinates of the
shift vector that should be applied to the selected objects. In both cases, pressing Apply carries out the shift while
pressing Reset will clear the X, Y and Z values.

Note that it is also possible to move objects by dragging them while they are selected. This method, however,
gives much less accuracy control.

Rotating Objects:

In the Rotate frame, Angle is the desired rotation angle. When using one of the six buttons in this frame, the
rotation is either clockwise or counterclockwise about the corresponding axis of the Observer Coordinate System.

In the Set Origin frame, it is possible to shift the fixed point (or origin) of the rotation to a specific location
(Move To), to shift it by a specific vector (Shift By) or to inquire as to the current location of the fixed point
(Show Origin). In the first case, the given X, Y and Z coordinates represent the new World Coordinates of the
fixed point. In the second case, X, Y and Z are the components in World Coordinates of the translation vector that
should be applied to the fixed point. In both cases, pressing Apply carries out the shift while pressing Reset will

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set the X, Y and Z values to those of the center of the selected objects. (See “Shifting Objects” for a definition of
the center of the selected objects).

A small set of axes (the Fixed Point Axes) initially oriented along the main axes of the Observer Coordinate
System and with its origin at the position of the fixed point is visible when in rotation mode. It is possible to
translate the fixed point by dragging this set of axes. This operation is subject to the Auto-Snap feature. (See
“The Auto-Snap Feature” for more details.)

Using The Transform Toolbox

The Transform Toolbox is used to scale, align, distribute or mirror objects. It can be open with the Tools | Scale
Objects, the Tools | Align Objects, the Tools | Distribute Objects or the Tools | Mirror Objects commands.

All of these operations can be carried out with respect to World Coordinates or Observer Coordinates. The nine
check boxes are used to select a reference point for the transformation. The leftmost checkbox on a given
horizontal line represents the lower end of the X, Y or Z coordinate of the bounding-box of the selected objects
(See “Definitions”) in the chosen system of coordinates. Similarly, the rightmost checkbox on a given horizontal
line represents the upper end of the X, Y or Z coordinate of this bounding-box and the middle checkbox
represents the mid-point X, Y or Z coordinate of this bounding-box. When no checkbox is checked, the
transformation is not applied for this coordinate.

Selecting Apply To Duplicate instructs the program to create a duplicate of the selected objects before applying
the requested operation.

In all cases, Apply carries out the transformation while Reset restores default values for the various setting.

Scaling Objects:

In this case, the reference point represents the fixed point of the transformation. The objects are scaled by the
amounts indicated under Ratio. A ratio of 1 indicates that no scaling is to take place and is equivalent to having
the corresponding coordinate unchecked. The radius of conductors can also be scaled with this operation.

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Mirroring Objects:

In this case, the reference point represents the fixed point of the transformation. The objects are mirrored across
this fixed point.

Aligning Objects:

In this case, the reference point indicates against what planes the objects should be aligned. Objects can therefore
be aligned in the X direction against planes located at the lower X-coordinate of the bounding box, the middle
coordinate of the bounding box and the upper coordinate of the bounding box, and similarly along the other
directions. The bounding box can be computed with respect to all selected objects or with respect to the last
selected object.

Distributing Objects:

Distributing objects consists in moving objects so that they end up evenly spaced. Consider for instance the X
coordinate. The objects that are located at the extremities of the selection, that is those that have the largest and
the smallest X values do not move. The X coordinates of the other objects are adjusted to obtain an even spacing.
The question arises as to what is meant by “X values” of an object. This is determined by the reference point. For
the leftmost checkbox, the “X value” of an object is the lower value of the X coordinate of its bounding box, etc.

10.6.10 Using The Power Tools

The Power Tools are a set of commands that are very useful for the development of line networks where
connections between the lines are important, as is the case in conductor networks. They can be invoked by
selecting the Power Tool pointer mode. This will launch the following dialog, which can be closed by selecting a
different pointer mode.

Power Tools are used by first selecting a point on a target object. This point is known as the target node. For
some commands (Create Rod, Flip, Break), this is enough: the program immediately carries the command. For
other commands (Attach, Join, Extend, Join To End, Make Parallel), a point on a reference object (the
reference node) must also be selected: the command is carried out upon selection of a valid reference object or is
otherwise canceled. See “Definitions” for more details. For these last commands, it is possible to cancel the
operation after the first step by clicking on the Cancel button.

The selection of points on both the target and the reference is subject to the Auto-Snap feature. (See “The Auto-
Snap Feature” for more details.)

Flip

This command simply interchanges the origin and end of the target conductor. It ignores the fact that the
conductor may be part of a larger, composite object. This command is ignored if the target is a profile. This

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command can be useful because some functionality in SES programs (in particular, the energization in HIFREQ)
is dependent on which point of a conductor is the origin.

Break

Breaks the target conductor at the selected point. It ignores the fact that the conductor may be part of a larger,
composite object. Does nothing when the requested break is too close to a node (origin or end) of a conductor or
when the target is a profile. The two new conductors acquire the same characteristics as the original one.

Create Rod

Creates a rod at the selected point on the target conductor. The rod length can be specified in the Power Tools
dialog. The rod is assumed to go in the negative Z direction in Observer Coordinates, i.e. to go into the screen.
However, entering a negative number for the rod length will make the rod get out of the screen. This command
ignores the fact that the conductor may be part of a larger, composite object and does nothing when the target is a
profile. The characteristics of the rods are those of the ‘Rods’ characteristics class.

Attach

Moves the target object as a whole so that its target node coincides with the reference node on the reference
object. The reference node may or may not be a pre-existing node; it will be created if necessary.

Join

Moves the target node of the target conductor or profile to a selected point on the reference object. The other node
of that object remains fixed. The reference node may or may not be a pre-existing node; it will be created if
necessary. This command ignores the fact that the conductor may be part of a larger, composite object.

Join To End

Moves the target node of the target conductor or profile to one of the end-points of the reference object. The other
node of that object remains fixed. The reference node may or may not be a pre-existing node; it will be created if
necessary. The node that is used as a reference is the one that was closest to the mouse location when the
reference object was selected. This command ignores the fact that the conductor may be part of a larger,
composite object.

Extend

Extends the target conductor or profile parallel to itself by moving the target node until it meets the reference
object, as seen in the Active View. The other node of this object remains fixed. If the two objects can not meet,
the command is canceled. Note that the judgment as to whether the objects meet is carried out using the 2-D
projections (the View). If the objects are found to intersect in the view, they are actually connected in the 3-D
physical world. (See “Using Views” and “The Auto-Snap Feature” for more details.)

There are two modes of operation when an extension of the target can not meet the reference, but could meet an
extension of the reference. In the normal mode of operation (shown below), the reference object is stretched to
meet the target. In the restricted mode, which is obtained by holding the Ctrl key while selecting the reference,
the operation is cancelled.

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When the extension of the target does meet the reference, the restricted and normal modes give the same result,
shown below.

Make Parallel

Rotates the selected objects in such a way that the target conductor or profile becomes parallel to the reference
object. The rotation origin (or fixed-point) is located at the position of the target node on the target object. The
rotation is such that the rotated target object lies in the plane spanned by the reference object and the target node.
Optionally, the selected objects can be stretched along the length of the target object in such a way that the length
of the target object becomes the same as that of the reference object.

The Create Arc Power Tool

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The Create Arc Power Tool creates a circular arc joining two conductors. It creates an arc made of a specified
number of conductors and that join two selected conductors as "smoothly" as possible, i.e. such that the tangent of
the created circle at the two points where it meets the selected conductors is as close as possible to the slope of the
selected conductors.
The created arc joins the end points of the two conductors that are closest to the points that were clicked on the
conductors. Note that the two conductors must be located in the same plane for the operation to work.

10.6.11 Advanced Tools

Some advanced tools are available to create rods or to break conductors at desired locations. These tools can help
create a large number of conductors with a few simple commands. All of those tools ignore profiles.
Other tools exist to help you create a wire, a spiral mat or to surround selected objects with either conductors or
profiles.
Create Rods

With the Create Rods dialog (Tools | Create Rods), a conductor can be created in one of the following ways:

• At several points distributed evenly along a selected part of the network.

• At every node in the selected part of the network.
This is typically used to add rods to a grounding grid.

When using the option to distribute the rods in the network, the rods are distributed so that they end up at a
specified distance apart (if the Maximum Spacing option is selected) or so that a specified number of created
conductors is reached (when the Total Number Of Rods option is selected). Normally, the program distributes
the rods evenly between pairs of intersection points along all selected conductors. This is to make sure that rods
are not created very close to an intersection point but not exactly on it; this last condition is known to occasionally
cause computational problems in MALT, MALZ and HIFREQ. Uncheck this option if you want to turn off this
safeguard. In that case, the rods will be spread evenly along all selected conductors, regardless of any intersection
points they might have with other network conductors.

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When creating rods at network nodes, the conductors can be created only at pseudo nodes (the Create Rods At
Origin And End Of Conductors option), only at proper nodes (the Create Rods At Intersections Of
Conductors option), or at both. In the latter case, only a single conductor is created per node, even when a node
is a pseudo node on one conductor and a proper node on another.

The coordinates of the created conductors can be specified in two ways, Simple and Detailed. In both cases, the
origin of the conductor is at a network node. The end point of the conductor is obtained by adding the specified
coordinates to the origin of the conductor when the Detailed option is used. When the Simple option is used, the
end point of the conductor is calculated in the same way as for the Create Rod tool in the Power Tool. (See “The
Power Tools” for more details.)

The created rods acquire the characteristics of the ‘Rods’ characteristics class, although this can be modified by
clicking on Rod Characteristics.

Break Conductors At Every Conductor Intersection

As its name indicates, the command Tools | Break Conductors At Every Conductor Intersection breaks all
selected conductors at the intersections (or proper nodes) that occur amongst the selected conductors.

Break Conductors At Plane

The command Tools | Break Conductors At Plane breaks all selected conductors at a specified value of X, Y or
Z in World Coordinates. The data is specified in the following dialog:

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This is used typically to break conductors explicitly at a soil layer interface.

Expand / Surround

The command Tools | ‘Expand / Surround’ allows you to create a closed polygon made of either conductors or
profiles and that completely encloses all selected objects. This can be used, for instance, to create the outline of a
fence surrounding selected conductors or to quickly specify a series of observation profiles surrounding the
selected objects.

10.7 USING VIEWS

The documents edited or viewed with SESCAD can be displayed in a variety of ways. The three-dimensional
model is projected on the screen in three different ways: there is a Parallel Projection View, a Plan View and a
Perspective View.

The view angle can be chosen at will. Some standard view angles are offered, namely the X-Y View, X-Z View
and Y-Z View. These are named after the plane of the World Coordinate System that occupies the X-Y plane of
the Observer Coordinate System.

Several views of the same document can be simultaneously open. The Active View is identified by having an
asterisk in its title bar.

Views can be scrolled and the viewpoint can be moved at will. It is possible to zoom in on any region in the view
by a factor of as much as 1 million. It is also possible to Explore the view using the mouse pointer and to restore
previous viewpoints.

10.7.1 The View Model

A view of the modeled network is defined by the projection of the network’s lines on the X-Y plane of the
Observer Coordinate System (see “Coordinates” for details). This plane is called the View Plane. The way in
which this projection is carried out affects the appearance of the view.

In a Parallel Projection View, the coordinates X′, Y′ and Z′ of a point in 3-D Observer Coordinates are projected
into the coordinates X and Y in the view by:

X = X′

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Y = Y′ + sin(α) ∗ Z′

with α a suitably chosen angle. It gets its name from the fact that lines that are parallel in the three-dimensional
world also appear parallel in the view. For a Plan View, the Z′ coordinate is ignored, i.e. α = 0 in the above
equations. The equations governing the perspective view are more complex; they can result in more realistic
renditions of the network.

Generally, the view window occupies only a small portion of the total view. By using the scroll bars, other
portions of the view can be accessed.

Several other planes, parallel to the view plane, are of importance in defining views.

The World Origin plane is a plane parallel to the View Plane and passing through the origin in World
Coordinates. This plane serves as a reference in depth measurements.

The drawing plane is a plane parallel to the World Origin plane and located at a specified depth from it. Drawing
planes can be specified independently for profiles and conductors. By default, objects that are drawn with the
mouse are located in their respective drawing planes.

The Focus Plane in a perspective view, is a plane parallel to the View Plane and located at a negative depth with
respect to that plane. The eye of the observer is assumed to be located in that plane. All objects located at negative
depth (with respect to that plane) can not be seen.

10.7.2 Creating New Views

When a document is first created, it automatically creates a default view. To create other views of the Active
Document, use the Display | New View command. The type of projection can be selected with Display | Parallel
Projection View, Display | Plan View and Display | Perspective View.

Other view options can be defined using Options | View Options.

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10.7.3 Setting View Options

The commands Options | General Options and Options | Active View Options give access to the View Options
dialog to allow to set the default values of the options for all newly created views or to customize the views of the
active document, respectively.

The more commonly used options, such as the View Orientation, View Type and scaling factors are regrouped
under Common View Options. You can control the appearance of the drawing grid and guidelines in the
Drawing Grid Options and Guidelines Options. You can define the appearance of the drawings with
Appearance Settings. Other options, such as the initial size of the views, are available under Advanced View
Options.

Common View Options

Show: Regroups certain attributes of the plot that can be optionally displayed. This frame controls three different
aspects of the display:

• Element Data: Selects which of conductors, profiles or both are displayed.

• Labeling: Selects if conductors and/or profiles are to be labeled with their respective numbers.

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• Orientation: Selects whether the orientation of conductors and/or profiles is to be displayed.

Default Drawing Depth: Sets the drawing depthDepth for the elementary objects. The drawing depth determines
the Z coordinate (in Observer Coordinates) of an object that is drawn in a view without the benefit of Auto-Snap.
This can be set independently for conductors and profiles.

For Conductors: Sets the default conductor drawing depth.

For Profiles: Sets the default profile drawing depth.

View Orientation: Allows the selection of a standard orientation for the view. Three predefined orientations are
available. They are named after the plane of the World Coordinate system that lies in the X-Y plane of the
Observer Coordinate system.

• X-Y View: The X-Y plane of the World Coordinate system coincides with the X-Y plane of the
Observer Coordinate system. This is often useful to build grounding grids.
• X-Z View: The X-Z plane of the World Coordinate system coincides with the X-Y plane of the
Observer Coordinate system. This is useful to build tower structures and other objects with a sizable
extension along the Z Axis.
• Y-Z View: The Y-Z plane of the World Coordinate system coincides with the X-Y plane of the
Observer Coordinate system. This is useful to build tower structures and other objects with a sizable
extension along the Z Axis.
Use the Explore pointer mode or the Move View tool to achieve more general orientations for a view.

View Type: Selects the method used to project the coordinates of the displayed objects from the Observer
Coordinate system to the View Plane.

Scaling Factors: Defines two different scaling factors that can be applied to the data before it is drawn.

• Aspect Ratio In View: Scaling factors to be applied to the X, Y and Z coordinates of an object in the
Observer Coordinate system before they are projected on the View Plane.
• Global Scaling Factors: Scaling factors to be applied to the X, Y and Z coordinates of an object in the
World Coordinate system before they are projected on the View plane.

Drawing Grid Options

It is possible to display a drawing grid in the background of a drawing. The drawing grid consists of regularly
spaced horizontal and vertical lines that help in establishing the size of the drawing. In drawing operations, these
lines can be used to snap objects into place, thereby making it easier to create networks having regularly spaced
features. Optionally, the coordinates of the lines of the drawing grid can be displayed at the border of the drawing
and the mouse cursor can carry extended cross hairs (the Guidelines) that reach the border of the drawing.

The purpose of the various settings is detailed below:

• Show Drawing Grid: Check this option to show the drawing grid.

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• Display As: Selects the display mode of the drawing grid. The grid can be displayed as lines or as dots
located at the intersection of the lines.
• Show Coordinate Values: Controls whether coordinate values are shown at the border of the drawing.
• Snap to Drawing Grid: Controls whether snapping to the drawing is enabled. When this option is
enabled, all operations for which snapping is operational will use the drawing grid as a potential snap
target.
• Position (X and Y): Coordinates of the origin of the drawing grid. These coordinates are assumed to be
specified with respect to the origin of the drawing plane. The grid is therefore entirely contained in the
drawing plane. This means that all objects that snap to the drawing grid will snap at a depth equal to the
drawing depth.
• Automatically determine the spacing when loading a file: Use this option to instruct the program to
determine a suitable spacing between the drawing grid lines when first loading a file. The spacing is
computed based on the data contained in the file. When this option isn’t used, the spacing is deduced
based on the settings specified below.
• Use the same inter-line spacing along the X and Y axes: Use this option to force the program to use the
same spacing between the drawing lines along both the X and Y axes.
• Spacing along X (Y) axis: Explicitly specified value of the spacing between the drawing grid lines along
the X (or Y) axis.
• Allow automatic fill-in of lines: This option instructs the program to re-compute the spacing so as to
maintain the Target Number of Lines approximately constant. The spacing will never get smaller than
the value specified above as a result of this operation, but it may get smaller. This is especially useful
when zooming on a drawing.
• Target Number of Lines: Desired number of lines when applying the fill-in operation. Note that this
also indirectly specifies the maximum number of lines in the drawing grid, which is set at 3 times this
value.

Guidelines Options

This Guidelines Options allow you to control the behavior of the drawing guidelines. The drawing guidelines are
extended cross hairs that reach the border of the drawing and that track the movement of the mouse.

The following options are available:

• Never show the guidelines: Select this option to turn off the display of the guidelines.
• Always show the guidelines: Select this option to display of the guidelines at all times.
• Show the guidelines only in drawing operations: Select this option to display the guidelines only when
drawing conductors or profiles.

Appearance Settings

This screen allows you to customize the default appearance of the drawing (i.e. the appearance settings used when
creating any new view).

The default appearance can be customized independently for normal views and for views with a background
picture. The reason for this is that the presence of a background picture may affect the visibility of certain items.
For instance, conductors (normally drawn in black on a white background) may not display well if the

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background picture is dark; using a lighter color for the conductors in a View with a background picture may
improve their visibility.

For both types of view, it is possible to request that the default appearance settings be taken as those of the last
view of this type that was displayed by the program. When this option is selected, any modifications made to the
appearance settings of the active view are automatically carried over to all new views of the same type created
thereafter. It is also possible to specify the default settings explicitly, either by using those of the Active View, or
by loading the Edit Appearance Settings screen.

The following settings are available:

Type of View: Selects the type of view for which the remaining settings on the screen apply. The settings can be
defined independently for normal Views and for Views with a background picture.

Use the settings of the last view of this type: Use this option to instruct the program to update the default
settings for the selected Type of View from the settings specified for the Active View, when it is of the same
type. When this option is selected, any modification made to the appearance settings of the Active View are
mirrored in the default settings for this same type of view.

Define the settings explicitly: Use this option to define the default appearance settings explicitly for the selected
Type of View.

• Like Active View: Click this button to transfer the appearance settings of the Active View (regardless of
its type) to the default appearance settings for the selected Type of View.
• Edit: Launches the Edit Appearance Settings window, allowing you to edit the settings manually.

Advanced View Options

Copy the settings of the Active View when creating an extra View of the Active Document: Instructs the
program to make a copy of the Active View whenever creating a new view of an already open document. This
not only copies the settings of the view, but also its dimensions and zooming areas.

Location of View Plane: Defines the Z coordinate (in Observer Coordinates) where the View Plane is located.

Perspective View: Regroups the options specific to a perspective view.

Distance To Focal Plane: Distance behind the View Plane where the focus point (3D eye) is located.

Projection View: Regroups the options specific to a parallel projection view.

Fore-Shortening Factor: Factor controlling how much of the Z-Coordinate is projected to the X Axis in a
parallel projection view.
Projection Angle: Controls the ratio of the projection of the Z coordinate on the X Axis and the Y Axis.
Initial Size: Regroups the settings related to the initial size of the view
Maximized: When this option is selected, the view fills the entire space available.
Percentage of Application Screen: This options allows you to define the initial size of the views as a
percentage of the main screen of the application

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Width: Desired width of the view as a percentage of the width of the application’s main screen.
Height: Desired height of the view as a percentage of the height of the application’s main screen.

10.7.4 Moving The Viewpoint

A viewpoint is defined by the position of the origin of the Observer Coordinate System and by its orientation as
well as by the scale of the view. There are four ways to move the viewpoint: by using the standard predefined
viewpoints, by using the Shift View and Rotate View toolboxes, by using the Align View dialog or by using the
Explore mouse pointer mode.

• Using Standard View Points: Three standard view points are offered, namely the X-Y View, X-Z View and
Y-Z View. These are named after the plane of the World Coordinate System that occupies the X-Y plane of
the Observer Coordinate System. The commands Display | X-Y View, Display | X-Z View and Display | Y-
Z View are used to adopt those view points. The program may change the scale of the view to make sure that
all objects that were visible in the previous view are still visible.

• Using The Shift View And Rotate View Toolboxes: These toolboxes are very similar in look to the Shift
Objects and Rotate Objects toolboxes. Their use is also very similar. The main distinction is, of course, that
the translations and rotations here apply to the Observer Coordinate System so that the objects in the view
only appear to move. Their World coordinates remain the same. Also, the concept of duplicate is meaningless
here, and this option is not offered. See “Using The Move Toolbox” for more details. The commands
Display | Shift View or Display | Rotate View should be used to open the Move View tool.

• Using The Align View Dialog: The Align View dialog (Display | Align View) can be used to align the view
so that the projection of a selected elementary object in the X-Y plane of the Observer Coordinate system is
aligned along either the X or Y axis. This can be useful because some of SESCAD’s tools work better on
objects that are oriented along the X, Y or Z axis of the observer coordinate system. Note that this will have
no effect if the selected object lies along the Z Axis in observer coordinates.
• Explore Mouse Pointer Mode: This is covered in detail in the section entitled “Exploring The View”.

10.7.5 Zooming
Zooming on a desired part of a view can be achieved in several ways in SESCAD. Zoom ratios of up to 1 million
can be achieved

• Using The Zoom Mouse Pointer: First, the program must be put in Zoom Pointer Mode using the Options |
Pointer Mode | Zoom command. Then, dragging the mouse in the view area defines a rectangular zooming
area. Upon release of the mouse, the program zooms to that rectangular area.

• Zooming In Or Out By Fixed Increments: The commands Display | Zoom In and Display | Zoom Out can be
used to zoom in the picture or out of the picture by increments of 10%.

• Zooming On Selected Objects: The command Display | Zoom To Selected Objects allows to zoom on the
currently selected objects.

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• Zooming To All Objects: This useful command (Display | Zoom To All Objects) repositions the viewpoint so
that all objects in the document are visible in the view.

• Defining The Zoom Region: Use the Define Zoom Region dialog (Display | Define Zoom Region) to define
explicitly the zoom region by specifying the coordinates of a 3-D box that contains the region of interest.

Yet another way to zoom will be described in the section entitled “Exploring The View”.

10.7.6 Exploring The View

When in Explore pointer mode (obtained with Options | Pointer Mode | Explore) the view point can be
modified interactively by simply moving the mouse.

The main functionality is activated by dragging the mouse in the view area. There are three possible behaviors,
depending on the status of the Ctrl and Shift keys.

• Neither key is held down: Moves the origin of the Observer Coordinate System in its own X-Y plane. The
orientation of the Observer Coordinate System is unaffected.

• The Ctrl key is held down: Rotates the Observer Coordinate System around a point located at the center of the
objects that are currently visible in the view. The rotation angle and axis are deduced from the motion of the
mouse.

• The Shift key is held down: here, the behavior depends on whether the view is a perspective view or another
type of view. For a perspective view, this moves the origin of the observer Coordinate System along its Z
axis, thereby changing the depth of the view. For the other types of view, the motion of the mouse is
translated into a zoom in or out of the picture.

10.7.7 Restoring Previous Viewpoints

The changes to the viewpoint introduced by the operations on views described above are stored up to several
levels and can be recovered. It is therefore possible to backtrack along viewpoints in case some operation
transformed the view into something not really useful.

This functionality can be accessed by the Display | Previous Viewpoint command. The command Display | Next
Viewpoint can also be used to go forward in the list of viewpoints.

10.7.8 Controlling the Appearance of a View

The appearance (color, line thickness, line type, fonts, etc…) of several elements of the drawings can be
customized. This can help enhancing the visibility of certain parts of the drawing. The appearance can be
customized for the current drawing only, or the settings can be applied by default to all drawings created in
SESCAD.

To customize the appearance of the active view:

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1. Click the Options menu, and select the Appearance menu item. This loads the Edit Appearance
Settings dialog.
2. In the Edit Appearance Settings dialog, select the category of item to be modified from the Categories
drop-down menu, then select the particular item to modify from the Available Items list. If you do not
know in which category a particular item is, you can use All Categories to show all customizable
items.
3. Modify the desired settings for the selected item.
4. Repeat Steps 2 & 3 for all items that you wish to modify.
5. Click OK to confirm the changes. The changes take effect immediately.

To customize the default appearance of a view:

1. Click the Options menu, and select the General Options menu item. This loads the General Settings
dialog.
2. Select the Appearance page.
3. In the Appearance page, select the Type of View that you want to customize. You can customize
Normal views and Views With Background independently.
4. Select whether to Use the settings of the last view of this type, or to Define the settings explicitly.
5. If you choose to define the settings explicitly, click on Like Active View to make the default settings
the same as those of the active view, or click on Edit to load the Edit Appearance Settings dialog. In
this last case, proceed as above to modify the appearance settings.
6. Repeat Steps 3 to 5 if you want to customize a different type of view.
7. Click OK to confirm the changes.

10.8 DIAGNOSING NETWORK PROBLEMS

It is not uncommon, when using SESCAD, to create very short or overlapping conductors. These can cause
problems to the engineering programs (MALT, MALZ and HIFREQ). For this reason, SESCAD incorporates
some diagnostic tools to help resolve these difficulties.

10.8.1 Network Diagnostic

To help identify and fix those problems quickly, the program analyzes the conductor network and the profiles that
you specified constantly while you work, and reports any problems it found in the Ambiguity Viewer window.
You can then use the information displayed in the Ambiguity Viewer window, as well as the commands available
on that screen, to repair the problems.

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The Background Diagnostics Process

The background diagnostics are initiated whenever a change is made to the drawing in any way, e.g. by creating
new conductors or profiles, editing existing ones, importing files, undoing an operation etc…

The first phase of the process is to wait a while to see if you are going to do something else. The reason for this is
that the background diagnostics can require quite a few resources, and may slow down your computer somewhat.
The diagnostics per se only start when the program judges that there has been no user input for a specifiable
amount of time.

Once this “idle time” has elapsed, the program starts the diagnostics, and periodically verifies whether they are
complete. When they are, the results are displayed either in the Ambiguity Viewer window, or in the program’s
status bar.

Finally, the current ambiguity (if there is one) is optionally displayed in the active drawing (typically by drawing
the involved conductors or profiles in blue).

Activating and Deactivating the Background Diagnostics

By default, the program always carries out the background diagnostics. There is therefore no need to activate the
feature.

You may want to deactivate the background diagnostics if you feel that the performance of the program is
adversely affected. The way to deactivate the feature is rather indirect.

To deactivate the background diagnostics:

1. Click on the Options menu, and select the General Options menu item. This loads the General Settings
dialog.
2. In the General Settings dialog, select the Network Diagnostics page.

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3. Select the option Only when the Ambiguity Viewer window is loaded under Carry out background
diagnostics checks. This instructs the program to carry out the background diagnostics only when the
Ambiguity Viewer window is visible, thereby giving a way to interrupt the background diagnostics by
closing the Ambiguity Viewer window.
4. If you want to deactivate the background diagnostics permanently, make sure to uncheck the option Show
Ambiguity Viewer at Startup. This will prevent the Ambiguity Viewer from loading automatically
whenever you start the program (which would start the background diagnostics automatically).
5. Click OK in the General Settings dialog to confirm your changes.
6. If the Ambiguity Viewer window is loaded, close it. The background diagnostics will stop.

To reactivate the background diagnostics after you have deactivated them:

1. Click on the Tools menu, and select the Show Ambiguity Viewer menu item. This loads the Ambiguity
Viewer window and starts the background diagnostics.

You can also reverse the steps used to deactivate the background diagnostics to restore the default option of
carrying out the background diagnostics at all times.

You can also suspend temporarily the background diagnostics by proceeding as follows:

1. Click on the Tools menu, and select the Show Ambiguity Viewer menu item. This loads the Ambiguity
Viewer window (if it isn’t already loaded).
2. Make sure the Suspend/Resume Background Diagnostics button (the one with the lock icon on the
toolbar) is pressed. As long as this button is pressed, the background diagnostics are not carried out. To
restart the background diagnostics, depress this button.

Selecting the Diagnostics to Carry Out

Several types of diagnostics are available. You can choose which ones the program should carry out, and define
the numerical tolerances used in the analysis by proceeding as follows:

1. Click on the Tools menu, and select the Show Ambiguity Viewer menu item. This loads the Ambiguity
Viewer window (if it isn’t already loaded).
2. In the Ambiguity Viewer window, click the Select Background Diagnostics button on the toolbar. This
loads the Network Diagnostics Selection dialog that allows you to make the selection.
3. In the Network Diagnostics Selection dialog, select the desired diagnostics and define the parameters
controlling the diagnostics, then click OK to confirm the changes. The diagnostics immediately start
using the new specifications, and the results are eventually reported in the Ambiguity Viewer window.

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Navigating the Ambiguity List

The Ambiguity Viewer window displays detailed information about only one ambiguity at a time, the current
ambiguity. There are often several ambiguities that are detected by the program. There are several ways in which
you can change the current ambiguity in the Ambiguity Viewer window.

• To go to the next ambiguity in the ambiguity list, click the Next Ambiguity button (right-pointing arrow)
on the toolbar.

• To go to the previous ambiguity in the ambiguity list, click the Previous Ambiguity button (left-pointing
arrow) on the toolbar.

• To go to the first ambiguity of a given type, click the type of ambiguity in the summary list. This has an
effect only when there are ambiguities of this type.

• To go to the last ambiguity of a given type, click the type of ambiguity in the summary list while holding
the Ctrl key down. This has an effect only when there are ambiguities of this type.

Also, the program automatically moves to the next ambiguity in the list whenever the current ambiguity is
repaired.

Repairing Ambiguities

Once the program detected problems in your data, the results are reported in the Ambiguity Viewer window. You
do not have to resolve these ambiguities right away. Nevertheless, it is usually preferable to look carefully at these
ambiguities, since they may cause problems later on in the engineering programs. There are two ways to repair the
ambiguities: manual and automatic.

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To repair an ambiguity automatically:

1. Click on the Tools menu, and select the Show Ambiguity Viewer menu item. This loads the Ambiguity
Viewer window (if it isn’t already loaded).
2. Navigate to the ambiguity that should be repaired. If the ambiguity is repairable, the Repair button on the
toolbar will be enabled.
3. Click on the Repair button. The ambiguity is repaired, and the background diagnostics start to verify if
the operation didn’t create any new ambiguities.

Alternatively, you can click the Repair All button on the toolbar at Step 2 to repair all ambiguities that are judged
repairable.

In manual repair mode, you can use all the usual editing tools of SESCAD to modify the conductors or profiles
and eliminate the ambiguities. When an ambiguity is eliminated, the background diagnostics start to verify if this
operation didn’t create new ambiguities.

The Diagnostics View

The Diagnostic View is a special view of a document that simplifies the task of repairing the ambiguities found in
a document. This view automatically zooms on the current ambiguity whenever the current ambiguity changes
(see “Navigating the Ambiguity List”). This makes it much easier to locate the ambiguities.

To open a diagnostic view:

1. Click on the Tools menu, and select the Show Ambiguity Viewer menu item. This loads the Ambiguity
Viewer window (if it isn’t already loaded).
2. In the Ambiguity Viewer window, make sure that the button Show/Hide the Diagnostic View is pressed
on the toolbar.

To close a diagnostic view, close it as you would any other view window, or:

1. Click on the Tools menu, and select the Show Ambiguity Viewer menu item. This loads the Ambiguity
Viewer window (if it isn’t already loaded).
2. In the Ambiguity Viewer window, make sure that the button Show/Hide the Diagnostic View is not
pressed on the toolbar. If the diagnostic view is the last view of its document, this operation doesn’t close
the view: rather, the view becomes a normal view.

Applying the Diagnostics When Saving

You can execute network diagnostics whenever you save a file. If some problems are detected, you are prompted
to examine them with the Ambiguity Viewer, or to save the file anyway.

This feature is mainly useful if you have deactivated the background network diagnostics. By default, the program
carries out the network diagnostics when you save only if you press the Shift key when saving. Note that this
doesn’t work if you save using the Ctrl + S keyboard shortcut; you should use the File | Save menu item, or the
Save button on the toolbar for the Shift key to be recognized.

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You can choose to have the program always carry out the diagnostics when saving (regardless of the state of the
Shift key) and you can also customize which diagnostics are carried out in the process.

To customize this feature:

1. Click on the Options menu, and select the General Options menu item. This loads the General
Settings dialog.
2. In the General Settings dialog, select the File Save page.
3. In the File Save page, define the desired settings in the Diagnostics frame. In particular, select the
option Always run the diagnostics if you want the diagnostics to be carried out whenever you save
(with or without the Shift key pressed), and define the diagnostics to be carried out under Diagnostic
Settings.
4. Click OK in the General Settings screen to confirm your modifications.

Interactive Diagnostics

It is possible to carry out interactive diagnostic sessions. One of the main advantage of interactive diagnostics is
that they can be restricted to apply only to selected objects, which can help identify problems more quickly. It can
also be useful if you want to try different diagnostic settings to see what the results might be, without modifying
your interactive settings.

To carry out an interactive diagnostics session:

1. If you want to restrict the analysis to some objects, select those objects.
2. Click on the Tools menu, and select the Network Diagnostics menu item. This loads the interactive
version of the Network Diagnostics Selection dialog.
3. In the Applies to frame of the Network Diagnostics Selection dialog, specify whether the analysis
should be restricted to the selected objects or should apply to the entire document. Define the desired
diagnostics and tolerances under Detect. You can choose to use the diagnostics specified in this screen
for subsequent background diagnostics by checking the Use the same settings for background
diagnostics option.
4. Click OK in the Network Diagnostics Selection screen. The program analyzes the network (this may
take a while), then loads the Ambiguity Viewer window (if necessary) to display the results.

Note that the Ambiguity Viewer is set in Locked mode when displaying the results of interactive diagnostics
session, in order to allow you to examine the results without having the background diagnostics interfere. You can
restore it to normal mode by clicking the Suspend / Resume button (the Lock icon) in the toolbar, or by simply
closing the Ambiguity Viewer window.

Configuring the Diagnostics

Several aspects of the background diagnostics process can be configured. As described in “Activating and
Deactivating the Background Diagnostics”, you can configure the activation mode of the background
diagnostics. You can also configure the frequency at which the background diagnostics are made. This can help
optimize the performance of the background diagnostics for your system.

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To configure the frequency at which the background diagnostics are made:

1. Click on the Options menu, and select the General Options menu item. This loads the General Settings
dialog.
2. In the General Settings dialog, select the Network Diagnostics page.
3. In the Frequency of Background Checks frame, enter the Time to wait before starting a background
check and the Time interval between verification of completion. Both times are specified in
milliseconds.
4. Click OK in the General Settings dialog to confirm your changes.

10.8.2 Checking Network Connectivity

You can check the integrity of the conductor network with the Detect Connected Components Tool. This tool
allows you to visualize the conductor network as one or more connected components. The conductors in each
connected component are such that there is a conductive path between any two conductors in the component.

The analysis can apply to the entire network, or can be restricted to only the selected conductors.

To check the connectivity of the network:

1. If you want to restrict the analysis to some objects, select those objects.

2. Click on the Tools menu, and select the Detect Connected Components menu item. This loads the
Detect Connected Components tool.

3. In the Applies to frame of the Detect Connected Components tool, specify whether the analysis should
be restricted to the selected objects or should apply to the entire document, then click on Find Connected
Conductors.

The analysis starts (this can take a while). When it completes, the program reports the number of connected
components that were found, and highlights the first connected component in all views of the document.

To change the highlighted connected component, use the Next Connected Component button (the one
with a right-pointing arrow) and the Previous Connected Component button (the one with a left-
pointing arrow). To clear all highlighted components, click on the Clear button, or close the Detect
Connected Components Tool.

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10.8.3 Add/Edit Anchors

The engineering applications MALT, MALZ and HIFREQ often issue error or warning messages about specific
coordinates in the conductor network. This dialog, which can be open with Tools | Add/Edit Anchors, can be
used to quickly identify a given location by displaying an anchor icon at any specified set of coordinates. The
anchors can also be used as target for the Auto-Snap feature, and can therefore serve as useful reference points.

10.8.4 Find Object By Index

The engineering applications MALT, MALZ and HIFREQ often issue error or warning messages referring to
specific conductor number in the network. The conductor number refers to the order of the conductor command in
the corresponding SES input file. This dialog, which can be open with Tools | Find Object By Index highlights a
conductor or a profile based on its conductor or profile number.

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Note that these numbers are subject to change the moment any operation on selected objects is carried
out. Therefore, if this is to be used as a diagnostic tool, it should be used immediately after an SES input
file is loaded in the program.
To eliminate the highlight on all objects, use Tools | Clear All Highlight.

10.9 FINDING INFORMATION ABOUT OBJECTS

There are four main ways in which you can obtain information about network objects: the Quick Info tool, the
Object Browser , the Properties dialog and the Measurement Tool.

10.9.1 The Quick Info Tool

The Quick Info tool can be used to quickly access information about conductors and profiles. It can be accessed
using Tools | Quick Info. Its purpose is to provide quick information about the geometry and characteristics of
conductors, profiles, grids, and surfaces. When this dialog is visible, moving the mouse above a conductor,
profile, grid, and surface causes this object to change color and the object data to be displayed in the Quick Info
dialog.

Note that the view from which information is to be obtained must be the application's active window for this
feature to work. (If it isn't, just click anywhere in the window to make it active.) Use the arrow button to convert
this dialog from a tab format to a single screen format and vice-versa.

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10.9.2 The Properties Dialog

The Properties dialog displays various properties of the Active Document, the Active View or the
selected objects. It can be reached by Display | Properties or through various context-sensitive menus
(right mouse button).

These properties cannot be modified through this dialog.

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10.9.3 The Measurement Tool

The Measurement Tool is a small dialog that operates in much the same way as the Power Tool dialog. It makes
it possible to measure the distance between two points on or around the network and to measure the angle
between two network conductors or profiles. This can be invoked by selecting the Measurement Tool pointer
mode. This will launch the following dialog, which can be closed by selecting a different pointer mode.

Measuring Distances

To measure distances between two points with the Measurement Tool, first select the Distance mode in the
dialog. Select the first point by clicking at the desired location in the active view, then move the mouse to the
desired location of the second point. A dashed line will track the motion of the mouse. Click at the second point;
the distance between the two points will appear in the Measurement Result field in the dialog.

Neither point needs to be located on a network conductor or profile; if they are, however, they will both be subject
to Auto-Snap.

The operation can be cancelled after the first point is defined by clicking on Cancel in the dialog.

Measuring Angles

To measure the angle between two elementary objects with the Measurement Tool, first select the Angle mode in
the dialog. Select the first elementary object by clicking at any point on it, then the second in the same way. The
angle will be reported in the Measurement Result field in the Measurement Tool dialog. The tool always reports
the absolute value of the acute angle ( < 90 degrees) between the elementary objects.

The operation can be cancelled after the first point is defined by clicking on Cancel in the dialog.

10.9.4 Filters and Categories

A filter is a condition that makes it possible to separate objects into several sets, based on some of their properties.
The filtered objects can be displayed in different colors, and their properties can be modified.

This can be useful, for instance, to classify conductors according to their radius, to quickly detect which
conductors are energized or which conductors are coated, etc. The following filters are presently supported:

• Filter by Radius
• Filter by Energization Type
• Filter by Coating Type
• Filter by Conductor Type

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• Filter by Depth
• Filter by Angle

An object is said to match a filter when its properties are such that the filter’s condition is satisfied.

A category regroups all objects that match a filter and that have the same properties. For instance, when the
conductors are filtered according to their Coating Type, one category could consist of all conductors having
coating type –1, another could consist of all conductors having coating type 0, etc.

The filtered objects can either be displayed all at once (in which case objects belonging to different categories are
displayed with different colors), by categories (all objects that belong to a given category are displayed using a
color different than the background) or individually (one object at a time, among the selected category, is
displayed using a color different than the background).

In addition, it is possible to define up to 3 custom filters (the Find filters) that allow you to filter objects based on
essentially all their characteristics and coordinates. These filters do not define categories.

The filter features can be controlled from the Filter Toolbar, a toolbar that appears at the bottom of every drawing,
or from the Display | Filter menu (and sub-menus).

Selecting a Filter

By default, the view shown in an SESCAD drawing is unfiltered. Proceed as follows to activate a filter:

Click on the Display menu, select the Filter menu item, then select one of the following sub-items:

• Conductor Type
• Coating Type
• Energization Type
• Radius
• Depth
• Angle
• Find 1, 2 or 3

Alternatively, click on the corresponding button on the Filter Toolbar. The drawing should be updated and show
the filtered objects.

Customizing Filters

The Conductor Type, Coating Type, Energization Type and Radius filters are built-in, and cannot be
modified. The Depth, Angle and Find filters, however, can be modified.

To modify the Depth filter:

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1- Click on the Display menu, select the Filter menu item, then the Customize Depths sub-item. This
will load the Define Category Boundaries dialog, allowing you to define the depths that demarcate
the categories in the filter.
2- In the Define Category Boundaries dialog, enter the desired depths in the grid. They need not be
ordered. Categories are created for each range of depth that you specify. In addition, a category is
created going from -∞ to the smallest value you specified, and another from the largest value you
specified to +∞.
3- Click OK to confirm the changes.

Instead of Step 1, you can select the Depth filter, then click on the Customize button on the Filter
Toolbar.

To modify the Angle filter:

1- Click on the Display menu, select the Filter menu item, then the Customize Angles sub-item. This
will load the Define Category Boundaries dialog, allowing you to define the angles that demarcate
the categories in the filter.
2- In the Define Category Boundaries dialog, enter the desired angles in the grid, in degrees. They
need not be ordered. Categories are created for each range of angle that you specify. In addition, a
category is created going from 0 to the smallest value you specified, and another from the largest
value you specified to 90 degrees.
3- Click OK to confirm the changes.

Instead of Step 1, you can select the Angle filter, then click on the Customize button on the Filter
Toolbar.

To modify a Find filter:

1- Click on the Display menu, select the Filter menu item, then the Customize Find sub-item. This
will load the Find dialog, allowing you to specify the criteria that define the Find.
2- In the Find dialog, select which objects the search should apply to under Target Objects, then
specify the search criteria under Filter By.
3- In the Store In drop-down menu, select which Find (e.g., Find 1, Find 2 or Find 3) should store the
specified settings.
4- Click OK to confirm the changes.

Instead of Step 1, you can select the desired Find filter, then click on the Customize button on the Filter
Toolbar.

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Note that these procedures only change the filters for the active document. See “Defining Default Filter
Settings” to customize the default settings regarding filters.

Selecting Filtered Objects

You can select the objects that match a filter. The behavior of the program depends on the current Filter Display
Mode. When the Filter Display Mode is Display All, or Display by Categories, this action selects the active
category; when it is Display by Individual Objects, it selects the filtered object.

Note that this feature is available only when the filtered objects can be selected as a unit. This is not the case, for
instance, when the filtered objects belong to two different groups.

To select filtered objects:

1. Select the filter that you want to use.

2. If necessary, select the desired Filter Display Mode: click on the Display menu, select the Filter menu
item, then select one of the sub-items Show All Matched Results, Show Matched Results by Category,
Show Matched Results by Individual Objects, or click the corresponding button on the Filter toolbar.
3. Use the navigation functions on the Filter Toolbar to highlight the objects of interest.
4. Click on the Display menu, select the Filter menu item, then the Select Filtered Objects sub-item, or
click on the corresponding button on the Filter Toolbar.

Zooming on Filtered Objects

You can zoom on the objects that match a filter. The behavior of the program depends on the current Filter
Display Mode. When the Filter Display Mode is Display All, or Display by Categories, this action zooms on
the active category; when it is Display by Individual Objects, it zooms on the filtered object.

To zoom on filtered objects:

1. Select the filter that you want to use.

2. If necessary, select the desired Filter Display Mode: click on the Display menu, select the Filter menu
item, then select one of the sub-items Show All Matched Results, Show Matched Results by Category,
Show Matched Results by Individual Objects, or click the corresponding button on the Filter toolbar.
3. Use the navigation functions on the Filter Toolbar to highlight the objects of interest.
4. Click on the Display menu, select the Filter menu item, then the Zoom on Filtered Objects sub-item, or
click on the corresponding button on the Filter Toolbar.

Viewing Information on Filtered Objects

You can view some information on the filtered objects, on the attributes of the filter itself, or on the filer category
by invoking the Filter Legend. The displayed information depends on the Filter Display Mode.

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To show the Filter Legend:

1. Select the filter that you want to use.

2. If necessary, select the desired Filter Display Mode: click on the Display menu, select the Filter menu
item, then select one of the sub-items Show All Matched Results, Show Matched Results by Category,
Show Matched Results by Individual Objects, or click the corresponding button on the Filter toolbar.
3. Click on the Display menu, select the Filter menu item, then check the Show Legend sub-item if it isn’t
checked already. Alternatively, make sure that the Show Legend button on the Filter toolbar is pressed.

The Filter Legend window remains visible at all times, as long as a filter is active. It is immediately updated as
soon as the drawing changes, or as soon as any of the attributes of the filter are changed. The window is
automatically hidden if you turn off filtering, even if the Show Legend option is turned on.

Defining Default Filtered Settings

You can customize the default values used for the filters in a new document.

To set the default values:

1. Click on the Options menu, and select the General Options menu item. This loads the General Settings
dialog.
2. In the General Settings dialog, select the Filter page.
3. In the Filter page, click on the Depth, Angle, or Find buttons to customize the default settings for those
filters. You can also configure the default state of the Filter Display Mode and the Show Legend option.
4. Click on OK to confirm the changes.

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10.10 USING THE OBJECT DATABASE

The SESCad Object Database (File | Database Manager) is used for two purposes: to provide fully
constructed objects that can be inserted in your documents and to allow you to store your own objects,
for later use.

The Object Database can be used as follows.

To insert objects from the database into the active document, first select an object among those offered
in the tree, define some scaling factors, if desired, and then click on Paste In Document. The object will
be inserted in the active object.
To store an object in the database, first select the object in the Active Document, then choose Edit |
Export To Database. Select a section in which to store the object by clicking the section name in the
tree, or create a new section with the New Section button. Note that you cannot store an object in the
SES section. Enter a name for the object. This name should be unique for the chosen section. Finally,
click on Save To Database to complete the operation.

10.11 WORKING WITH SYSTEM OBJECTS

By System Objects, it is meant the MAIN, RETURN, FALL-OF-POTENTIAL, and BURIED objects of
the MALT program. These objects are special in that they only serve as containers for other objects:
they can not be selected or grouped with other objects.

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In SESCAD, this notion is generalized to that of the Active Object. The Active Object is a composite object that
serves as the recipient of all newly created objects. The conductors and profiles in the Active Object are displayed
in a darker color and are the only ones that can be edited.

When a document is first created, its Active Object is the MAIN System Object. This can be modified by the user.
Use System | Go To Next System Object to go to the next System Object. Alternately, use the list box on the
Top Toolbar to go directly to the System Object of interest. New Buried Structures can be created with System |
New Buried Structure.

The Active Object is not restricted to System Objects. When a composite object is selected, use System | Set As
Active Object to make that object the active one. Use System | Set Parent As Active Object to return to the
parent object.

Note that while the objects that are not part of the Active Object can not be edited, they can still serve as
references for Auto-Snap.

10.12 THE AUTO-SNAP FEATURE

The Auto-Snap feature is a useful feature whereby a point (the target point) which appears to be sufficiently close
to another point (the reference point) is made automatically to coincide exactly with the reference point.

It is important to stress that the target and reference points only have to appear to be close for the feature to work.
Because of the projection of the 3-D world on the view plane (See “Using Views” for details), points that appear
to be close in the view may in fact be separated by large distances in the 3-D world. SESCAD uses a proximity
test based on distances measured in the view plane to judge whether or not two points are close. If they are found
to be close, the target point is made to coincide exactly in the 3-D world with the reference points. This means
that the adjustment on the target point can be very large. Such behavior may seem undesirable: however, it leads,
more often than not, to highly intuitive behavior.

The Auto-Snap feature is used in several contexts in SESCAD. The target point can be:

• the beginning and end points of drawn conductors and profiles (See “Working With Objects | Creating
Objects”)

• the origin of the Fixed Point Axes (See “Working With Objects | Using The Toolboxes | Using The Move
Toolbox”)

• a node of the target conductor when using the Power Tools. (See “Working With Objects | Using The
Power Tools”)

• any point on a conductor or profile (for the Break or Create Rod features).

For the reference point, SESCAD usually looks for the existence of the following, in that order:

1. A pseudo-node.

2. A proper-node of the network.

3. Any other point on a conductor or a profile.

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It is often necessary to control when Auto-Snap should be applied. There are two modes of execution for Auto-
Snap: the feature can be applied by default and cancelled when the Shift key is pressed or the feature can be
applied only when the Shift key is pressed. The desired option can be selected in Options | Default Settings |
General | Auto-Snap.

10.13 USING THE KEYBOARD

Many of the operations available in SESCAD can be carried out using the keyboard. Certain key combinations
(the keyboard shortcuts) can be used to invoke the most important dialogs and to execute the most important
commands. In addition, certain key combinations (the modifiers) can be used to obtain alternate behavior for
several commands.

10.13.1 Keyboard Shortcuts

Several operations in SESCAD can be accessed quickly from the keyboard. This topic summarizes the most
important keyboard shortcuts available in the program.

Access Keys

First, many menu items and data entry fields have an associated access key. The access key is underlined in the
item’s caption and must be typed while the Alt key is held down. Several access keys may be typed in succession
to access deeper items.

Menu ShortCut Keys

In addition, menu items are often associated with a shortcut key. Menu shortcut keys, which are often used in
combination with the Ctrl key, are indicated to the right of the caption of the corresponding menu item

List of Keyboard Shortcuts

It is relatively easy to remember access keys and menu shortcut keys since it is always possible to go to the
corresponding menu item or data entry field to verify what it is. For this reason, only a few of those shortcuts will
be listed here. Several other features that are available through the keyboard have no visual interface
correspondence, however. These will be listed in full.

Document Management And Application Control

Alt + F + O, Ctrl + O: Opens an existing document

Alt + F + N, Ctrl + N: Creates a new, blank document
Alt + F + C: Closes the active document
Alt + F + S, Ctrl + S: Saves the active document under its current name
Alt + F + A: Saves the active document under a different name
Alt + F + 0, …: Opens the most recently open document
Alt + F + X: Exits SESCAD

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Object Creation and Editing

Ctrl + W, Alt + E + B: Creates a new object

Ctrl + E, Enter, Alt + E + E: Edits an existing object
Ctrl + C, Alt + E + C: Copies the selected objects
Ctrl + V, Shift + Insert, Ctrl + Insert, Alt + E + P: Pastes an object in the active document
Ctrl + X, Shift + Delete, Alt + E + T: Cuts the selected objects
Delete, Alt + E + D: Deletes the selected objects
Ctrl + G, Alt + E + G: Groups the selected objects
Ctrl + U, Alt + E + U: Ungroups the selected object
Ctrl + Z: Undoes the last operation
Ctrl + Q, Alt + E + R: Redoes the last operation undone
Ctrl + H, Alt + E + H: Lauches the Characteristics dialog
Ctrl + A, Alt + E + A: Selects all objects
Tab: Selects the next object
Shift + Tab: Selects the previous object.
Esc: Cancels all selection
Arrow keys: Move the selected objects in the X – Y plane of the active view by a fixed fraction of the size of the
view.

Navigation

Ctrl + F, Alt + D + M: Zooms to all objects

Alt + D + S: Zooms to the selected objects
Ctrl + K, Alt + D + P: Go to the previous viewpoint
Ctrl + L, Alt + D + T: Go to the next viewpoint
Arrow keys: Move the active view by a fixed fraction of its size (when no objects are selected)
F9, Enter, Alt + A + A: Makes the selected object the active object.
Shift + F9, Backspace, Alt + A + P: Makes the parent of the selected object the active object

Tools

F2, Alt + T + O: Shows the Object Browser

F3, Alt + T + T: Shows the Shift Objects tool
F4, Alt + T + R: Shows the Rotate Objects tool
F5, Alt + T + S: Shows the Scale Objects tool

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F6, Alt + T + A: Shows the Align Objects tool

F7, Alt + T + D: Shows the Distribute Objects tool
F8, Alt + T + M: Shows the Mirror Objects tool
Ctrl + I, Alt + T + I: Shows the Quick Info tool
Ctrl + P, Alt + O + P + P: Shows the Power tool
Ctrl + M, Alt + O + P + M: Shows the Measurement tool
Ctrl + Y, Alt + T + N: Shows the Network Diagnostic Tool

10.13.2 Keyboard Modifiers

Certain key combinations can be used to modify the normal behavior of the program: the normal behavior obtains
when no keys are held down and a related behavior obtains when some key is held down. This is normally
combined with mouse operations. The keys that are most often used for that purpose are the Alt, Shift and Ctrl
keys.
This section lists the various operations in SESCAD that are affected by modifiers and describes the effects of the
modifier on the operation. These effects are already described in the sections on the corresponding operations;
they are collected here for ease of reference.
Object Creation and Editing

Auto-Snap: Whenever you are editing objects, you can use the Shift key to turn the Auto-Snap feature on or off.
Selecting Objects: When selecting objects, holding the Ctrl key toggles the selection status of the objects while
holding the Shift key makes it impossible to deselect any objects.
Drawing Objects: When drawing elementary objects, holding the Ctrl key constrains the angle between the
object and the X axis in Observer Coordinates to be a multiple of 15 degrees.
Moving Objects: When moving elementary objects, the motion can be restricted to lie along the X or the Y axis
in the Observer Coordinate System by holding the Ctrl key.
Scaling Objects: When scaling objects by dragging the one of the scale handles, the fixed point used in scaling is
normally the handle opposite the one that is dragged; when the Ctrl key is held, the fixed point is the center of the
object.
Moving Nodes: When moving a node, holding the Ctrl key restricts the motion of the node along the elementary
object that contains it.
Creating Nodes: When using the Node Editor, double-clicking on a conductor while holding the Ctrl key breaks
the conductor.

Navigation

Exploring The View: When exploring the view, holding the Ctrl key rotates the view and holding the Shift key
zooms in and out of the view.

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10.14 DEFINITIONS
Elementary Object: either a conductor or a profile.

Origin Of An Elementary Object: first point which is clicked when the object is drawn or the first triplet of
numbers entered in a dialog.

End Of An Elementary Object: last point which is clicked when the object is drawn or the second triplet of
numbers entered in a dialog.

Pseudo Node: the beginning or end of an elementary object.

Proper Node: a point at which at least two elementary objects intersect

Composite Object: collection of elementary objects that is treated and manipulated as a whole. Usually obtained
by grouping elementary objects together.

World Coordinates: fixed, global coordinate system. The coordinates of all elementary objects are expressed in
this system.

Observer Coordinates: coordinate system that is tied to the observer. This system moves, rotates, etc. to
provide different views of the modeled objects.

Depth: distance of a point to the origin of the World Coordinate System as measured along the Z Axis in the
Observer Coordinate System.

View Plane: plane occupying the X-Y plane of the Observer coordinate system. The three-dimensional objects
are projected onto this plane for viewing.

World Origin Plane: plane parallel to the View Plane and passing through the origin in World Coordinates

Drawing Plane: plane parallel to the view plane and located at a user-specified depth. By default, objects are
drawn in this plane.

Focus Plane: in a perspective view, plane parallel to the View Plane and located at a negative depth with respect
to that plane. The eye of the observer is assumed to be located in that plane.

Bounding Box: smallest rectangular region that can completely enclose a given set of objects.

Center Of Selected Objects: position of the center of the bounding box of the objects in World Coordinates.

Active Document: the document that is currently being edited. Identified by an asterisk in its title bar.

Active View: view of the Active Document that is currently being edited. Indicated by an asterisk in its title bar.

Active Object: composite object that is currently edited and that serves as recipient of all newly created objects.

Power Tool Target: object that can be modified by a Power Tool operation.

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Power Tool Target Node: special node on the Target object. Depending on the operation, it can be the point on
the Target that is closest to the point clicked or the pseudo-node on the Target that is closest to the point clicked.

Power Tool Reference: object whose properties are used to determine the nature of the operation carried out by
a Power Tool.

Power Tool Reference Node: special node on the Reference object. Depending on the operation, it can be the
point on the Reference that is closest to the point clicked or the pseudo-node on the Reference that is closest to the
point clicked.

Connected Component: collection of conductors in a network that are connected to each other but completely
disconnected from other parts of the network.

Command Template: list of all SICL commands from a F05 or an INP file that are not recognized by SESCAD.

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 Chapter 11 VERSION: A Utility To View Version Numbers

11 VERSION.EXE: A UTILITY THAT DISPLAYS

THE VERSION NUMBERS OF EXECUTABLE FILES.
With the advent of frequent software updates via the Internet or other means, it often becomes difficult
to know precisely which version of a program is currently installed. The Version utility takes care of
this problem. It can display the version numbers of selected executable files (*.EXE, *.DLL, *.OCX). It also
displays other useful information, such as the modification date and the size of the files. The files to be scanned
for version information can be specified explicitly or through a search engine.

The version information can optionally be saved to a report file. This file can be sent to SES with a support
request. This will make it easier for us to identify and solve the reported problems.

To use this utility, locate version.exe in your SESSoftware installation directory and double-click it.

Select the files whose version numbers you want to obtain. This can be done in two ways: either explicitly or
through the use of the search facility.

Selecting the files explicitly: Click on Select Individual Files… This will bring up a standard file browser
which will allow you to select the desired files. Multiple selection is allowed. The version information will be
obtained as soon as the file browser is dismissed.

Using the Search engine: Click on the Search For Files… button. This will bring up a dialog allowing you to
specify a start-up directory for the search. Optionally, the sub-directories of this folder can also be searched. You
can specify which file types to search for under Search Options. The search will start immediately after you
clicking on OK and begin the gathering of the version information. Click Stop Search if you want to cancel an
on-going search.

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The on-screen report should look as follows.

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 Chapter 12 AMPACITY

12 AMPACITY
The Ampacity module can compute the following quantities:

• Minimum conductor size;

• Ampacity (i.e., maximum fault current rating);
• Temperature rise during a fault (computed in terms of the final temperature after the fault).

One of the 3 values is computed each time the calculation is launched. Note that when one value is to be
calculated, the other two values become required input data. The input form reflects this by greying out the
quantity being computed and allowing the other two to be specified.

Assumptions made in this computation are as follows:

• No heat loss into the surrounding soil (i.e., the heating process is adiabatic);
• The thermal capacity per unit volume (i.e., the product of specific heat and specific weight) of each conductor
remains constant during the heating process: this is usually the case for fault durations on the order of a few
seconds or less.

The basic equation used in this module is the detailed equation provided in ANSI/IEEE Standard 80 for the
calculation of ampacity for symmetrical currents. To account for asymmetrical current characteristics (i.e., dc
offset), the symmetrical current is increased in accordance with the decrement factor presented in the same
standard.

Consult the on-line help for more details on the specification of input data for this program.

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 Chapter 13 The SESPLOT Plotting Package

13 THE SESPLOT PLOTTING PACKAGE

13.1 OVERVIEW
SESPLOT is a plotting utility which was created to allow CDEGS users to obtain plots quickly after the
completion of CDEGS run. Unlike most commercial graphics packages which often have a rather strict
limitation on the number of data points they can plot, SESPLOT can handle a very large number of data
points. The capacity of the program for the number of data points is in principle determined only by the
memory of your PC. Furthermore, SESPLOT can be customized easily to suit the special needs of
plotting data from CDEGS runs.

In the present release, SESPLOT can only produce 2D and 3D perspective plots. Other options, such as
spot-fill or contour plots, will be implemented in a future release.

The plots produced by SESPLOT can be displayed on screen and saved to a file. Many graphics
protocols are supported.

The following sections give more details about the program’s capabilities. The section entitled “Using
SESPLOT” describes the basic steps needed to create a plot with the program. The section
“Constructing the Data Series” gives more details on how to import data in SESPLOT. Finally, the
“SESPLOT Reference” describes the program’s interface and functionality in detail.

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13.2 USING SESPLOT

The following figure shows the main screen of SESPLOT.

Typically, the creation of a plot proceeds through the following steps.

• Specify the Type of Plot as either 2D or 3D – Perspective. This option should be specified first
because the way the data to be plotted is specified in SESPLOT differs depending on this setting.

• Click on Source Data…. This will load the Source Data dialog which allows you to specify the
file(s) containing the data to be plotted as well as the characteristics of each curve (for 2D plots).
This in itself can be a multi-step process. See the section entitled “Constructing the Data Series” for
more details.

• Once the data files and the characteristics of the curves are defined, click on OK in the Source Data
dialog to return to the main screen.

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• Define various attributes for the plot, among those offered on the main screen. Note that it is unwise
to change the Type of Plot at this stage since the data corresponds to the type of plot that was
specified before loading it and may not be compatible with any other type of plots. See the section
entitled “The SESPLOT Main Screen” for more details.

• Finally, click on Draw. Depending on the setting for the Draw option, the plot is either produced in
a file called SESPLOT.F30 located in the same folder that the data was loaded from and/or the plot
is displayed on screen.

13.3 CONSTRUCTING THE DATA SERIES

The Source Data dialog, which can be accessed by clicking on the Source Data… button in the main
screen of SESPLOT, is used to specify the data that will be plotted. This dialog is shown in the
following figure.

The way in which the data is defined depends on the type of plot that should be produced. This is
defined in the Type of Plot field in the main screen. In both cases, the process begins by clicking on the
Load Data… button. This allows you to browse to an existing data file. In the present version,
SESPLOT can read data files consisting of several columns of data separated by spaces. Next, the data
series must be specified. A data series basically defines the columns of the data file that should be used

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as x-axis data or as y-axis data. The precise way in which this is done varies depending on whether a 2D
or a 3D-perspective plot is desired.

2D PLOT
For 2D plots, each data series is plotted as a separate curve. The data series for 2D plot may come from
different data files; they may also consist of different columns in the same data file.

The attributes of each data series in 2D plot include:

• Source data file

• Unique column indices of used for the X axis and Y axis

• Line type

• Title of each data series

To construct a collection of data series for 2D plot, first click on the Load Data… button to load a
source data file, then assign the attributes to a data series and click Add Series. This will add the data
series into the collection of the data series of your 2D plot. Delete Series is used to remove a data series
from the present data series collection. Whenever you decide to modify the attributes of an existing data
series, use Save Series to save the attribute changes you have made. The data entry for Title allows you
to label each data series. The text entered here will appear in the legend of the plot.

3D PLOT
Currently, the data series for 3D plot can only come from a single file. Each data series in the 3D plot
should contain the same number of data points. This restriction will be removed in a future release.

After specifying the columns to be used for the X and Y axis data, the number of data points of each
data series for the 3D plot should be specified manually in the Number of Points data entry field . Note
that this field is not editable in the 2D plot option. Based on the total number of data points which was
originally displayed in this field, the program will automatically determine the total number of curves
(data series) available for making a 3D plot. The first Number of Points data points will be associated
to the first data series, the next Number of Points with the second, etc…

13.4 SESPLOT REFERENCE

The program’s functionality is accessible from two screens, which are described in detail in the
following sections. The section entitled “The SESPLOT Main Screen” describes the main screen of
the application, which is used to control the appearance of the plots. The section “The Source Data
Dialog” describes a dialog used to import data in the program and to associate this data with curves to
be plotted.

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13.5 THE SESPLOT MAIN SCREEN

The following settings can be controlled from this screen

• Titles: Specifies the plot title (Main Title) as well the title displayed on all axes (X-Axis, Y-Axis,
and Z-Axis)

• Type of Plot: Specifies the type of plot that should be produced. In this release, only the 2D and 3D
Perspective plots are available.

• Defining Axes: Allows you to control the labeling of the axes. Choose Automatic to have the
program select the parameters automatically. Select User-Defined to define those parameters
manually. Note that in this case, you will need to define all parameters for the program to work
correctly.

• Type of Axes: Selects the type of scale used when plotting.

• XY-Linear: Both the X and Y axes are plotted on a linear scale.

• XY-Logarithmic: Both the X and Y axes are plotted on a logarithmic scale.

• Y-Logarithmic: The Y axis is plotted on a logarithmic scale, the X axis on a linear scale.

• Y-Percent: The Y axis data is plotted as a percentage of the range of the data.

• Graphics Language Protocol: Selects the graphics protocol to be used when the plot is produced in
a file.

• Font: Selects the font to be used when printing the plot and axes titles, as well as the legend.

• Color Rendition: Choose between a Color or Gray-Scale rendition for the plot.

• Draw: Creates the plot. When the Screen option is selected, the plot is displayed on screen only.
When the File option is selected, the plot is produced in a file called “SESPLOT.F30” located in the
last folder from which data was loaded. This file is created in the graphics format specified under
Graphics Language Protocol. When the option Both is selected, the plot is produced in the file and
displayed on screen as well.

• Source Data…: Loads the Source Data dialog that allows you to specify the data that should be
plotted.

Graphics Setup: Customize the appearance of the plot. Inactive in the present release.

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13.6 THE SOURCE DATA DIALOG

This window allows you to specify which data should be plotted as well as the properties of each curve
(for a 2D plot). The controls in the Define Data Series frame allow you to select a data series; those of
the Properties of Data Series frame allow you to set their properties.

Define Data Series

• Data Series: Allows you to select a data series by specifying its index in the collection of data series.

• Total Series: Displays the total number of data series currently defined.

• Add Series: Defines a new data series, with the properties as displayed in the Properties of Data
Series frame.

• Delete Series: Removes the currently selected data series from the collection of data series.

• Save Series: Assigns the properties currently displayed in the Properties of Data Series frame to
the currently selected data series.

Properties of Data Series

• File Name: Name of the file where the data of the currently selected data series is located or from
which a new data series can be created. Note that several data files can be loaded simultaneously for
a 2D plot.

• Number of Points: Just after loading the file, this shows the total number of data points loaded from
the file. For a 2D plot, this field cannot be modified. When creating a 3D plot, the value of this field
is interpreted as the number of points per curve to be plotted. If the value is left unchanged, a single
curve can be plotted. By entering a value smaller than the total number of points in the file, the
program will automatically create a sufficient number of data series such that the first Number of
Points data points are assigned to the first data series, the next Number of Points data points are
assigned to the second data series, etc… The resulting data series can then be plotted as a 3D-
perspective plot.

• Number of Columns: Displays the number of space-separated columns in the data file.

• View Data: Displays the contents of the file shown in the File Name field.

• Load Data: Loads a new data file. For a 3D plot, the data must be taken from a single file. For a 2D
plot, the data series can be selected from any number of different data files, and the newly loaded
file is added to the list of data files available in the File Name field.

• Line Type: Specifies the line type to be used when plotting the currently selected data series as a
curve in a 2D plot.

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• Title: Title of the currently selected data series for a 2D plot. This title will be printed in the plot’s
legend.

• X Series Column: Column in the data file from which the X axis data is to be taken

• Y Series Column: Column in the data file from which the Y axis data is to be taken.

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14 FFT21DATA: A DATA EXTRACTOR FOR

FFTSES

14.1 INTRODUCTION
FFT21Data is a utility that allows you to extract data directly from FFTSES’ output database files
(FT_*.F21) and to export it in a spreadsheet-compatible format or in a format recognized by the
SESPLOT utility. It can also display this data in graphical form, and create animation plots of the data.

FFT21Data extracts (or displays) the data as a function of space (i.e., point number, profile number or
conductor segment number). The data can be examined at a specified instant in time; alternatively, the
maximum (minimum) value that the data takes at all times can be examined.

This functionality complements what is already available in Output Toolbox. Output Toolbox for
FFTSES allows you to examine the time-variation or frequency-variation of the computation results at a
given point in space. Output Toolbox for HIFREQ (or MALZ) allows you to examine the spatial
variation of the computed quantities at a given frequency. In this sense, FFT21Data is analogous to
Output Toolbox for HIFREQ or MALZ, except that it works with time-domain data.

By combining plots taken at several instants of time, the utility can also display animated plots, showing
the time evolution of the computation results along a specified range of computation points or conductor
segments.

14.1.1 Program Limitations

The FFT21data program can export any type of data stored in a FFTSES computation database.
However, its plotting capabilities are restricted to two-dimensional plots. As such, it can only plot the
spatial variation of the electromagnetic fields or potential along a single profile at a time.

Also, the program supports only the notion of conductor segment numbers when extracting or displaying
data. This must be kept in mind when interpreting the data extracted with FFT21Data, since the segment
numbers are not guaranteed to be order consecutively from the beginning of a conductor to its end.

14.1.2 Sample Files

Some sample files are available to help exercise the functionality of the program. These files are located
in the Examples\Tools\FFT21Data\Horizontal Wire folder of your SESSoftware installation folder.

The files are:

FT_Horizontal Wire.F21: A FFTSES computation database that stores the HIFREQ computation results.

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FT_Horizontal Wire.FFT: A FFT21Data session file for this database.

FT_Horizontal Wire.F05: The FFTSES input file that can be used to generate this database.

HI_Horizontal Wire.F05: The HIFREQ input file that can be used to generate this database.

The file FT_Horizontal Wire.F21 stores the results of the computation of the earth potential along four
different profiles, for the first 10 points of those profiles. (The profiles actually consist of 24 points.)
The network consists of a single horizontal conductor energized at one end.

FFT21Data can open the first two files directly. The other two are provided for reference.

14.2 GETTING STARTED

14.2.1 Using FFT21Data

The main screen of FFT21DATA is shown below.

A typical session begins by either opening an existing FFTSES Database Manager file (File | Open
FFTSES Database Manager Session) or by creating a new one (File | New FFTSES Database
Manager Session). When creating a new session, you are prompted to provide the name of a FFTSES
Output Database file (ft_JobID.F21). The program then reads this output database file, and displays a
summary of its content under Extract Following Quantities.

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After selecting the desired quantities among those displayed, you can choose the Extraction Criteria.
Three types of data can be extracted at present: the maximum value (in time) of the selected data, the
minimum value (in time) of the selected data or the value of the selected data at a specified time. The
data can be exported into two formats: a generic, spreadsheet-compatible format and the format
supported by the SESPLOT utility. The data can be exported in a single file, or a different file can be
generated for every profile or segment range selected.

At this point, you must select one of the available Actions. Choose Actions | Export Selected Data to
export the data, Actions | Plot Selected Data to create a plot of the same data and Actions | Create
Animation Plot to create an animated plot of the selected data.

Note that the two plotting options are only available when a single quantity is selected. Also, when
creating an animation plot, the information entered under Extraction Criteria is ignored (except for
Use Absolute Value).

Once the session is complete, the settings can be saved with File | Save Session.

See the section “FFT21Data Command Reference” for more details.

14.2.2 Exporting Data

The following screen shows the options that are available when exporting data.

The Format option controls the format used to write the data to the file. Both available options
(SESPlot Input Data File and Spreadsheet Compatible) generate files that are human-readable. The
SESPlot Input Data File format is the format understood by the SESPlot utility that ships with the
CDEGS software. The Spreadsheet Compatible format is a generic format recognized by most
spreadsheet programs, such as Microsoft Excel.

The File Generation options control how many files are created by the export process, and which data
gets written to which file. When the option Save All Points in the Same File is selected, all the data
goes in a single file. When the data to be exported consists of several profiles or segment ranges, it can
be preferable to use the option Generate One File per Profile or Segment Range. This can make it
easier to identify quickly where the data for one profile or segment range can be found.

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Consult the section entitled “The Export Options Dialog” for more details about these options.

Once all the options are set, a filename must be selected for the export file. Finally, click on OK to
generate the file(s).

14.2.3 Creating an Animation Plot

Select Actions | Create Animation Plot to request an animated plot of the data. The following screen
will appear, allowing you to further refine the data selection.

Consult the section entitled “The Select Plot Data Dialog” for more details on how to use this screen.
Once the selections on the screen are satisfactory, click OK to bring the Plot window and look at the
animated results.

The following screen should appear.

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(The appearance of the plot that you will get will be somewhat different than in the above screen. The
appearance of the above plot was modified to make it look better on the printed page. See the section
“Customizing the Plots” to see how this can be done.)

An animation plot consists of several frames, one for each time sample selected above. Several options
are available to control how those frames are displayed. You can display the animation continuously,
forwards or backwards. You can also display one frame at a time, or examine a specified frame.

These options are available from both the Animation menu and the Animation Toolbar, shown at the
bottom of the Plot window. The section entitled “The Plot Window” describes in greater detail the
function of the various buttons and menus of this screen.

14.2.4 Creating a Regular Plot

It is also possible to create a “regular” plot, i.e. a single, not animated, plot. This is especially useful
when plotting the maximum of the data. Such a plot reports the maximum value of the time-domain
quantity over all computed times for each observation point or conductor segment. It therefore
represents a kind of “worst case” curve.

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The steps to generate the plot or to customize it are exactly the same as for the animation plots, except
that the Animation menu and the corresponding toolbar are not available.

14.3 WORKING WITH PLOTS

14.3.1 Displaying an Animation Plot

Several options are available to control the display of an animation plot. They are regrouped in the
Animation menu in the plot window. Most of the settings can also be accessed from the Animation
Toolbar at the bottom of that screen.

The animation can be displayed continuously, or on a frame-by-frame basis. It can be displayed

forwards or backwards. You can also freeze it at any point, and examine any desired frame by
specifying the frame number.

The section entitled “Animation Features” gives greater details on the controls that are available.

14.3.2 Changing the Selected Data

You can change the data being displayed and the number of frames (time samples) by using View |
Select Plot Data. This brings up the Select Plot Data dialog. This dialog can be used in much the same
way as is done when first loading the plot window.

14.3.3 Customizing the Plots

A limited set of options is available to customize the plot. You can customize the plot title and the
captions displayed on the X and Y axes, as well as the range of values displayed along the Y axis. You
can also modify some aspects of the appearance of the plots.

To customize those settings, use Options | Plotting Options. The resulting screen is shown below.

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For the Titles and Y Axis Limits settings, you can let the program use a default value by checking the
Automatic option, or specify your own by typing it in the accompanying text field.

The Appearance settings can be customized independently for the plots displayed on screen, and the
printed plots. You can also request that the printed plots use the same settings as the screen plots. Click
on Define Settings to customize the settings. This will bring up the following screen.

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The following aspects of the plot can be customized:

• The color of the axes and the font used to display the captions on the axes.
• The background color of the plot.
• The color, line-type and thickness of the plotted curve.
• The color and font of the title of the plot.

Note that a quicker way to customize the appearance of screen plots is to use Options | Appearance,
which loads the above screen directly.

See the sections “The Plotting Options Dialog” for more details on how to use this screen and “The
Appearance Dialog” for details on how to customize the appearance of the plots.

14.3.4 Saving and Printing the Plots

The individual frames of an animation plot can be saved using File | Save. The program supports the
following file formats: the Windows Enhanced Metafile format (EMF), the Windows Metafile Format
(WMF) and the Windows Bitmap format (BMP).

The individual frames can also be printed using File | Print, although the printing capabilities are quite
rudimentary for this release.

It is not possible yet to save the animated movie as a whole.

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14.4 FFT21DATA COMMAND REFERENCE

14.4.1 Commands Available From The Menu Bar

This topic describes the commands that are available as menu items in the main screen of FFT21Data. In
addition, several of these commands are also available as toolbar buttons.

File Menu

• New FFTSES Database Manager Session: Creates a new session, initializing all data in the
process and prompting for the name of a FFTSES Output database.
• Open FFTSES Database Manager Session: Opens an existing session data file. This file, which
has a “fft” extension, should have been previously saved with Save Current Session or Save
Current Session As.
• Save Current Session: Saves the selected options and settings to disk.
• Save Current Session As: Saves the selected options and settings to disk under a new filename.
• Exit: Exits the current session.

Actions Menu

• Export Selected Data: Launches the Export Options Dialog that allows you to export the selected
data.
• Plot Selected Data: Creates a regular plot of the selected data. This launches the Plot window.
• Create Animation Plot: Creates an animation plot of the selected data. This launches the Plot
window.

Options Menu

• Time Scale: Selects the time scale used when displaying data on screen and in the plots. Three
options are available: Seconds, Milliseconds, and Microseconds.

Help Menu

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• Contents: Shows FFTSES Database Manager’s help file.

• About FFTSES Database Manager: Displays the program information.

14.4.2 Commands Available From The Main Screen

Extract Following Quantities

When a FFTSES Output Database is first open by the program, the fields in the grid are filled with
information defining the available content of the database. This includes the various quantities (e.g.,
Electric Field, GPR, etc…) that are available as well as the point, profile and segment numbers for
which they are available. You can then chose to export only some of those quantities, for a restricted
range of profiles, points and segment numbers by redefining the Starting Point, Ending Point,
Starting Profile, Ending Profile, Starting Segment, Ending Segment fields and by choosing the
Selected field.

• Computations: Displays and allows modification of the data related to the available computation-
type quantities, i.e. Electric Field, Magnetic Field, Scalar Potential and Touch and Step voltages.
• Configuration: Displays and allows modification of the data related to the available configuration-
type quantities, i.e. those quantities related to the conductor network, such as In-Flowing Current,
Leakage Current, Metal GPR, etc….
• Quantity Number: Index distinguishing the various quantities.
• Selected: Indicates whether this quantity should be exported. Can be toggled on or off.
• Quantity: Indicates the type of the quantity, e.g. Electric Field, Scalar Potential, Leakage Current,
GPR, etc… Cannot be modified.
• Starting Point: When a FFTSES Output database is first loaded, this field indicates the first point
in every profile in the Points and Profiles range available for a Computation-type quantity. Can be
modified to export only a subset of the points.
• Ending Point: When a FFTSES Output database is first loaded, this field indicates the last point in
every profile in the Points and Profiles range available for a Computation-type quantity. Can be
modified to export only a subset of the points.
• Starting Profile: When a FFTSES Output database is first loaded, this field indicates the first
profile in the Points and Profiles range available for a Computation-type quantity. Can be modified
to export only a subset of the profiles.
• Ending Profile: When a FFTSES Output database is first loaded, this field indicates the last profile
in the Points and Profiles range available for a Computation-type quantity. Can be modified to
export only a subset of the profiles.
• Starting Segment: When a FFTSES Output database is first loaded, this field indicates the first
segment in the Segments range available for a Configuration-type quantity. Can be modified to
export only a subset of the segments.

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• Ending Segment: When a FFTSES Output database is first loaded, this field indicates the last
segment in the Segments range available for a Configuration-type quantity. Can be modified to
export only a subset of the segments.
• Refresh From Database: Refreshes all fields in the grid with information from the database,
destroying any modifications made to those fields.
• Select All: Turns the Selected field to Yes for all available quantities (both Computation and
Configuration)
• Clear Selection: Turns the Selected field to No for all available quantities (both Computation and
Configuration)

Extraction Criteria

This is used to specify which kind of computed data should be extracted and exported from the FFTSES
output database. These databases contain a lot of information (Modulated and Unmodulated Frequency
spectrum, Time-Domain response, Recommended computation frequencies, etc… Only a small subset
of these are available for export in this version. Specifically, only limited information regarding the
time-domain response for the selected quantities can be exported, namely their maximum value in time,
their minimum value in time, or their value at a given instant of time.

• Extract Minimum of Data: Extracts the minimum value reached by all selected quantities, at all
selected segments and points.
• Extract Maximum of Data: Extracts the maximum value reached by all selected quantities, at all
selected segments and points.
• Extract Data at a Given Time: Extracts the value reached by all selected quantities, at all selected
segments and points for a specified time. Use Time Value to specify the desired time.
• Time Value: Computation time, in microseconds, for which the selected quantities should be
extracted, for all selected segments and points. Applies only when the Extract Data at a Given
Time option is selected.
• Use Absolute Value: Reports the absolute value of the result.

Reset

Reloads all data from the last saved version of the FFTSES Database Manager Session.

14.4.3 The Plot Window

This screen is used to display, save and print regular and animation plots in FFT21Data. The following
functions are available:

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File Menu

• Save: Saves the current plot to disk. You are prompted to provide a valid filename. The
program supports three graphical formats: Enhanced Windows Metafile (EMF), Windows
Metafile (WMF) and Windows Bitmap (BMP). The file is saved using the appearance settings
for Screen plots.
• Print: Prints the current plot. The appearance settings for Printer plots are used.
• Exit: Closes the Plot window.

View Menu

• Refresh: Refreshes the current plot.

• Select Plot Data: Launches the Select Plot Data dialog, which allows you to redefine the data
that is being plotted.

Options Menu

• Plotting Options: Launches the Plotting Options dialog, which allows you to customize the
labels and axes limits of the plot.
• Appearance: Launches the Appearance dialog, which allows you to control the appearance of
the plot.

When creating animation plots, the Animation menu is also available. Consult the section entitled
“Animation Features” for more details.

14.4.4 Animation Features

The following features are available in the Plot window to control the display of animation plots. Most
of them are available both through the Animation menu item and through the Animation Toolbar at
the bottom of the screen.

• Play Forwards: Plays the animation forwards by displaying consecutive frames until the last
frame is reached or the Stop or Pause function is invoked.
• Play Backwards: Plays the animation backwards by displaying consecutive frames until the first
frame is reached or the Stop or Pause function is invoked.
• Pause: Temporarily suspends the animation.
• Stop: Stops the animation and reset the current frame to the first frame.
• Set Current Frame: Loads a dialog allowing you to define the current frame being displayed.
• Next Frame: Displays the next frame of the animation.
• Previous Frame: Displays the previous frame of the animation.

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14.4.5 The Export Options Dialog

This screen allows you to control how and where the selected data is exported. The data can be exported
in one or several files, depending on the chosen options. In any case, an export file name must be
specified under Export To File. This filename is used when a single file is generated; if multiple files
are generated, their names are constructed by appending a number to the specified file name. An output
file which summarizes what was exported (and where) is also created. This file has a name obtained
from the specified file name by replacing its extension by “.log”.

• Export To File: Specifies the name of the file which should contain the exported data.
• Format: Defines the format used to export the data. Two formats are presently supported. The
Spreadsheet-Compatible format produces output that can readily be imported by most
spreadsheet and database packages. The SESPLOT Input Data File format produces a file that
can be used as input to the SESPLOT utility, described elsewhere in these pages. The data is saved
in three columns for computation-type data and in two columns for configuration-type data. The
last column is always the actual data. The other columns identify the point, profile or segment. For
configuration-type data, the first column is always the segment number. For computation-type data,
the content of these columns is controlled with the Computation Points Identification option.
• Save All Points in the Same File: Chose this option to have all the selected data points written to
the file specified under Export To File.
• Generate One File Per Profile Or Segment Range: Chose this option to have the program create
one export file for every distinct profile or segment range. The filenames are generated as follows.
Starting from the file name specified under Export To File, a number is appended in parentheses
to the base name (i.e., the file name stripped of its extension), then the extension is added back. For
example, for a specified filename myfile.myext, the following sequence of file names would be
generated: myfile(1).myext, myfile(2).myext,…The numbers appearing in the file names are
computed as follows: starting with the first computation-type quantity, the number is incremented
for every profile of every quantity. Then, it is incremented for every configuration-type quantity. In
any case, a single ‘log’ file is produced, with a file name obtained from the specified file name by
replacing its extension by “.log”; this file lists precisely which files were created in the export
process and what they contain.
• Computation Points Identification: Selects how the computation points should be identified in
the exported file, i.e. it defines the content of the first two columns of that file. Presently, a single
option is available, namely Export Points and Profile Numbers. With this option, the first
column contains the point number and the second contains the profile number.

14.4.6 The Select Plot Data Dialog

This screen is used to refine the data selection made on FFT21Data’s main screen for the purpose of
creating a plot.

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When creating a plot of a computation-type quantity, you can select which profile to plot, and the
range of points to plot from this profile. Similarly, when creating a plot of a configuration-type
quantity, you can select the range of segments to plot. In both cases, the available selection is a subset
of what was selected on the program’s main screen.

When creating an animation plot, you can also define the start and end time of the animation, as well as
the number of samples (frames) to use in the animation.

Point and Profile Information (Available when plotting computation quantities)

Allows you to specify the number of the profile and the range of observation points on that profile that
should be plotted.

Profile Number: Number identifying the profile for which the selected quantity should be plotted. The
default value is the first profile in the range selected on the main screen.
Start Point Number: Number identifying the first point on the above profile for which the selected
quantity should be plotted. The default value is the first point in the range selected on the main screen.
End Point Number: Number identifying the last point on the above profile for which the selected
quantity should be plotted. The default value is the last point in the range selected on the main screen.

If the specified End Point is smaller than the Start Point, their roles are reversed.

Segment Information (Available when plotting configuration quantities)

Allows you to specify the range of conductor segments for which the quantity should be plotted.

Start Segment Number: Number identifying the first conductor segment for which the selected quantity
should be plotted. The default value is the first segment number in the range selected on the main
screen.
End Segment Number: Number identifying the last conductor segment for which the selected quantity
should be plotted. The default value is the last segment number in the range selected on the main
screen.

If the specified End Segment is smaller than the Start Segment, their roles are reversed.

Time Information (Available when creating animation plots)

Allows you to specify the start and end time of the animation, as well as the number of time samples to
display.
Start Time: Starting time of the animation. The units for this time are as specified in the program’s
options. The default value is 0.

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End Time: Ending time of the animation. The units for this time are as specified in the program’s
options. The default value is the entire duration of the response stored in the database.
Number of Time Samples: Number of time samples to use when displaying the animation. The larger
this number, the slower the animation will be. The default value is the total number of time samples
stored in the database.

If necessary, the program interpolates the results to provide any missing sample. If the specified End
Time is smaller than the Start Time, their roles are reversed.

Other Information

Show this screen before loading the Plot window: Uncheck this option to prevent this dialog from
showing up whenever you create a plot. When this window is not shown, the program uses all of the
above default values. You can always access this screen from the View | Select Plot Data menu item
in the Plot window, however. If you want to restore this option after having turned it off, use Options |
Plotting Options in the Plot window, and select the option Show the “Select Plot Data” dialog when
loading the plot window.
Animated Quantity: Displays which quantity is currently selected for plotting, as defined on the
program’s main screen.

14.4.7 The Plotting Options Dialog

This screen can be used to customize certain aspects of both animation and regular plots. You can
specify the title and the X and Y axes’ captions, the limits for the Y axis, and the overall appearance
(colors, fonts, etc…) of the plot.

Titles
The following items can be customized:
Plot Title: Defines the overall title of the plot, displayed at the top. The default is Automatic, in which
case the title is constructed from the name of the quantity being the displayed, the profile number being
displayed and the time for the current frame.
X Axis: Defines the caption for the X axis. The default is Automatic, in which case the caption is either
Point Number or Segment Number.
Y Axis: Defines the caption for the Y axis. The default is Automatic, in which case the caption is
constructed from the name of the quantity being displayed and its measurement units.

Y Axis Limits
The following items can be customized:
Maximum: Defines the maximum value to be plotted. The default is Automatic, which displays all
computation results.

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Minimum: Defines the minimum value to be plotted. The default is Automatic, which displays all
computation results.
Delta: Defines the spacing between major ticks. The default is Automatic, for which the program
determines a suitable number.

Appearance
The appearance of Screen and Printer plots can be customized independently.
Use Screen Settings: Available only for Printer plots. When this option is selected, plots produced for
the printer use exactly the same settings as those produced on screen.
Define Settings: Launches the Appearance dialog that allows you to customize the settings. Note that
this isn’t available for Printer plots when the Use Screen Settings option is used.

Other Settings and Functions

Show the “Select Plot Data” dialog when loading the Plot window: When this option is checked, the
Select Plot Data dialog is shown before loading the plot window every time a plot is created to allow
you to customize the data being plotted.
Restore Defaults: Restores all settings to their default values.
Reset: Resets the settings to the state they had when the screen was loaded.

14.4.8 The Appearance Dialog

This screen allows you to customize some aspects of the appearance of the plots. To use it, select one
item in the Available Items list; a short description of the item appears at the right of the screen, and
the settings that can be customized become enabled.

The following items can be customized:

Axes: The color used to draw the axes as well as the font used to draw the axes’ captions.
Background Color: The background color of the entire plot.
Curve: The color, thickness and line style used to plot the data curves.
Title: The font used to draw the title.

Customizing an Outline or Fill Color

A colored rectangle displays the currently selected color. Click on Define to load a color selection
dialog and change the selected color.

Customizing a Line Style

Select a new line style from the drop-down menu.

Customizing a Line Thickness

Enter a number in the text field, or use the arrows to increase or decrease the value by 1. The thickness
is specified in pixels. The sample to the left of the number shows the actual thickness of the line.

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Customizing a Size
Enter a number in the text field. Any positive floating point number is usually acceptable.

Customizing a Font
The sample shows a preview of the current font. Click on Define Font to load a font selection dialog
and change the selected font. Note that you can also change the color of the font in the same dialog.

Functions
The following functions are available.

Reset:
Resets the settings for the currently selected item to the values they had when the screen was loaded.

Restore:
Restore the settings for the currently selected item to their default values.

Reset All:
Resets the settings for all items to the values they had when the screen was loaded.

Restore All
Restore the settings for all items to their default values.

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 Chapter 15 SESSCRIPT: A Scripting Tool for SES Software

15 SESSCRIPT: A SCRIPTING TOOL FOR SES

SOFTWARE

15.1 INTRODUCTION
The use of parametric analysis is becoming increasingly frequent in engineering studies. In such studies,
a system is modeled and simulated for several values of one or more parameters, usually to find the
optimal combination of those parameters according to some engineering or economic criteria.

The software produced by SES already includes some built-in capabilities for parametric analyses (in
Right-of-Way and SPLITS, for instance) but it is difficult, if not impossible, to make the software
capable of performing parametric analyses for all possible combinations of parameters that could be of
interest in practice.

This is where SESScript steps in. This utility, available as SESScript.exe in your SESSoftware
installation folder, is a script interpreter that adds programming capabilities to SES input files. This
program can generate hundreds of files from a single input file containing a mixture of the SICL
command language and scripting code.

Using this program requires some computer programming skills and is therefore not entirely
straightforward. Nevertheless, those of you who are familiar with programming may find it a useful,
time saving tool.

15.1.1 Getting Started

See the section “Using SESScript” for a quick introduction to the program. You may also want to try the
samples to develop a better appreciation of the capabilities of the program. Two samples are provided.
The first is a simple example based on a TRALIN input file. The second is a more advanced example
based on a SPLITS file.

You can also consult the section entitled “Scripting Syntax Reference” for a deeper look at the scripting
syntax supported by SESScript, and the “Reference” section for the various tools and options available
in the program.

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15.2 USING SESSCRIPT

15.2.1 Overview
The typical use of the SESScript program involves a few steps:

1. Creating a script file. This file can contain any text, and should normally contain special
instructions that are to be interpreted by SESScript.

2. Loading the file in SESScript. At this point, the program analyses the file for any instructions it
might contain.

3. Specifying any relevant parameters. The script file may contain several unspecified
parameters. SESScript offers you to replace those parameters with specific values.

4. Processing the script file. The processing can generate several files, with typically different
values of the parameters in each of the files.

The following sections describe each of those steps in greater detail.

15.2.2 Creating a Script File

Before using the SESScript program, a script file must first be created. This can be done in any text
editor, including the Multipad text editor included with the CDEGS package. Script files contain a
mixture of ordinary text and scripting commands.

Typically, the “ordinary text” will be in the form of SICL commands (coming, for instance, from an SES
F05 input file), but it isn’t restricted to SICL commands and could be any text whatsoever.

The areas of the file containing scripting commands are defined by enclosing them in tags, e.g. <%
Command %>. The scripting commands can be written using either the VBScript or the JScript
language. The complete structure of a typical script file is shown below.

<%@ SCRIPT LANGUAGE=VBScript

Sub Test()
Output.WriteLine "Test" Processing
End Sub Instructions
@%>
MALT
OPTIONS
RUN-ID, Test Plain Text
SYSTEM
NETWORK

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MAIN
CONDUCTOR,<%exp(-Context.Parameters("Factor"))%>,0, & Plain Text and Code
1, 100, 0, 1, 0.01, 1
ENDPROGRAM Plain Text

See the “Scripting Syntax Reference” section for a detailed description of the syntax of the file.

15.2.3 Loading a Script File

To load a script file in the program, select File | Open Script File (or click on the Open button on the
Toolbar), and browse to the desired file. Once the file loads, it is analyzed for the presence of
Parameters commands (see the “Reference” section).

The program then shows all the parameter definitions that it found in the file, and allows you to specify
values for each of those parameters. In the processing step, the program can generate one file for each
combination of the values of the parameters that you specify.

If the script file contains no Parameters commands, then the program proceeds immediately to the
processing step without allowing you to specify any parameters, since no user-input is necessary. In this
case, you are prompted to provide a filename for the resulting output file.

15.2.4 Specifying Parameters

If some parameters were defined in the input file, the main screen of the program will be configured to
allow you to enter values for the parameters. Normally, each combination of values for the parameters
should be associated to a distinct output filename. This filename will be used to store the results of
processing the script file for the corresponding value of the parameters.

There are two ways to define the value of the parameters and of the corresponding filenames. The
quickest way (when it is applicable) is to use the Parameter Specification tool (Tools | Parameter
Specification). This tool allows you to define several values for one or more parameters, and to
automatically associate them to filenames that are based on the values of the parameters.

The other way is to enter those values directly in the main screen. Note that you can combine the two
modes, and use the Parameter Specification tool as many times as necessary to fill the Parameter
Definition table.

15.2.5 Processing a Script File

Once the parameters for the script file have been defined, simply select Actions | Process Script (or
click Process on the toolbar) to generate the requested files. This does two things:

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1. It initializes the Context and Output objects based on the information provided in the Parameter
Definition table.

2. It processes the script file created in step two for all values specified in the Parameter
Definition table.

This last step may generate errors if the original script file contained coding mistakes. Assuming that
everything went fine, the files that are defined in the Parameters Definition table should be created.

Note that if no valid filenames are specified in the Parameter Definition table when processing a script,
then you will be prompted to specify a filename for the (unique) output file created by the processing.
All the parameters will be replaced by blanks in this case.

15.2.6 Setting Program Options

Several aspects of the behavior of the program can be customized. You can control which symbols to
use to define the coding and processing instruction tags as well as the word substitutions that should be
done on the script prior to processing it. You can also elect to save the intermediate "pure code" script
file that is created by the program when loading a script file. This can be useful when coding errors are
reported when processing the script.

To define the options, use Tools | Options, or click the Options button in the toolbar. The section
entitled “Script Processing Options” gives more detail on the available settings.

These options are saved at the end of a SESScript session, and restored at the beginning of a session.

15.2.7 Closing the Program

To close the program, select File | Exit. All settings modified in the Script Processor Settings Dialog
during the session are saved.

15.3 SAMPLES
Two sample files are available to help you get familiar with the SESScript program. The files are
located in the folder Examples \ Tools \ SESScript in your SESSoftware installation folder.

The files are:

• TR_Script.txt, located in the TRALIN folder: This file illustrates a simple use of SESScript using a
TRALIN input file.

• SP_Script.txt, located in the SPLITS folder: This file illustrates a more advanced use of SESScript
using a SPLITS input file.

These two examples are described in greater detail in the remaining topics of this section.

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15.3.1 Simple Example (TRALIN)

Introduction
This example shows how to generate several TRALIN input files from a single TRALIN script file. The
input files are obtained by replacing the value of the frequency in the TRALIN script file by a value
taken from a list.

Preparing the TRALIN Script File

The following shows an abbreviated form of a sample script file (TRALIN Script File).

TRALIN
OPTIONS
UNITS,BRITISH
RUN-IDENTIFICATION,Surge Arresters
PARAMETERS
BASE-VALUES
FREQUENCY,<%Output.Write Context.Parameters("Frequency")%>
SOIL-TYPE
UNIFORM,277.85,1.0,1.0
SYSTEM
ENDPROGRAM

This example shows how to generate several TRALIN input files from a single TRALIN script file. The
input files are obtained by replacing the value of the frequency in the TRALIN script file by a value
taken from a list.

Copy the file TR_Script.txt to TR_Script.f05, in any folder. The remainder of this section is based on
this file to illustrate how to run the script to generate multiple files.

This simple file can be used to generate hundreds of TRALIN files where the computation frequency is
replaced by different user-specified values. The section entitled “Scripting Syntax Reference” gives a
detailed description of the syntax required for a script file. In this section, we examine only the most
important aspects.

The above file contains a single scripting command, namely:

Output.Write Context.Parameters("Frequency")

This command (which is in VBScript, the default language of SESScript) does two things: first, it
queries the system for the value of the "Frequency" parameter, then writes it at the location where the
TRALIN input file expects it. When SESScript encounters Context.Parameters("ParameterName") in a
script block, the program prompts you to provide one or several value(s) for the parameter. The program
will generate one file for each provided value of the parameter. This works also when several such
parameters are used in the file: in this case, the program will generate one file for each combination of

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parameter values specified. The Output.Write command does just what you think: it writes its argument
to the output file.

Running the Script

To run the script, first start the SESScript program from your SESSoftware installation folder.

Click on the Open button on the Toolbar and browse to the TR_Script.f05 file that was copied in the
previous step. This script file contains one parameter definition (“Frequency”). The main screen of
SESScript should look as follows:

At this point, it is necessary to specify one or more values for the “Frequency” parameter as well as
suitable filenames for the output file to be generated for each parameter value.

This could be done directly from this screen, but a more efficient way is to use the Parameter
Specification dialog, by clicking on Parameters. This brings up the following dialog:

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The main advantage of this approach of parameter specification is that it automatically generates the
filenames to use for the various parameter combinations. To specify the parameter values, first select the
Parameter Name (here, we have only one, namely “Frequency”).Click on Load to load the values from a
file (the values should be written in a single column in a plain text file). This is the approach we will use
here, using the file Frequencies.txt (available from your CD-ROM).

Click OK to return to the main screen. This should fill the grid with 84 lines, as shown on the following
screen.

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At this point, it is possible to manually modify certain entries, if necessary. Finally, clicking on Process
generates the 84 files. A report file is created in the same folder as TR_Script.F05. This report file lists
all the files that were generated in the operation, along with the values of all parameters for every file.

15.3.2 Advanced Example (SPLITS)

The previous section illustrated the behavior of the program with a simple example that generated a
large number of TRALIN input files. In this section, those files will be used to construct a more
complex example, involving several SPLITS input files. The idea is to import in SPLITS the F27 files
produced when running TRALIN for all of those files. The first step is therefore to run the TRALIN
files obtained in the previous example. This is easily done using SESBAT. Once this is done, load the
file SP_Script.F05 into SESScript. This file, shown below, contains the SPLITS commands and the
scripting code needed to import the files.

This file is designed to obtain a parameter (called FileIndex) from SESScript, open a F27 file
corresponding to this FileIndex and insert the data from this file at all sections for the first two

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terminals. In the process, the shunt impedance computed by TRALIN is replaced by a constant
resistance of 24 Ohms for bus 2.

Test Script file (SP_Script.f05)

The file SP_Script.txt, once copied to SP_Script.f05, can be run just like the previous case. Again, there
is a single parameter (“FileIndex”). To specify values for this parameter, go to the Parameter
Specification dialog, right-click the Values grid and select fill cells. In the resulting dialog, enter 84 for
the Ending Row, then enter 1 for both Starting Value and Row Increment and click OK. This will fill
the grid with the numbers 1 to 84 (corresponding to the number of TRALIN files generated). Next, click
OK in the Parameter Specification screen, then Process in the main screen. This will generate the 84
SPLITS files.

15.4 USER INTERFACE

15.4.1 SESScript’s Main Screen

The main screen of SESScript is the central point of the of the program. You can use it to initiate all of
the operations in the program, such as loading a script file, defining parameters for the script, setting
options for the program or processing the script.

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The functions available in the program are regrouped in the menu bar and the toolbar. In addition, you
can define the values of the parameters that are to be used when processing the script as well as the
name of the files that should be generated directly from this screen. See the section “Options Available
on the Main Screen” for more details.

15.4.2 The Parameter Specification Dialog

The Parameter Specification dialog is a tool that helps in generating several combinations of values for
the parameters defined in a script file. It is mainly useful when the values follow a regular pattern, or are
already stored as a simple list in a text file.

This tool can save a lot of time when specifying values for several parameters simultaneously. The main
power of the tool resides in its ability to generate unique filenames for each combination of the value of
the parameters that are defined. The generated filenames follow a pattern that can be customized, to
some extent.

The section “Using the Parameter Specification Tool” explains the use of this tool in greater detail.

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15.4.3 The Script Processor Settings Dialog

The Script Processor Settings Dialog (accessible from Tools | Options) can be used to specify
program options that are independent of the script file being processed. These settings are loaded at the
beginning of every session, and saved at the end of a session.

There are options to control the syntax of the script language (Macro Language Syntax), and to control
whether or not a debug script file is created whenever a script file is processed. You can also specify
symbol substitutions that should be carried out in the original script file before processing it.

The section “Script Processing Options” gives more details about the available options.

15.5 REFERENCE

15.5.1 Menu and Toolbar Functions

The following functions are available from the menu bar and toolbar on the main screen of SESScript.

File
Open Script File (Open on the toolbar): Opens a script file, and analyses it to find if it contains any
parameter specifications. If none are found, the program immediately processes the file, asking you first
to provide a filename for the output file. If the script file does contain parameter specifications, the
definitions are loaded to allow you to define values for the parameters.

Exit: Closes the program.

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Actions
Process Script (Process on the toolbar): Processes the currently loaded script, generating all requested
files.

Tools
Parameter Specification (Parameters on the toolbar): Loads the Parameter Specification Dialog that
allows you to specify the parameter values more quickly.

Options (Options on the toolbar): Loads the Script Processor Settings Dialog that allows you to define
program options.

Help
Contents (Help on the toolbar): Shows this help file.

About SESScript: Shows program information.

15.5.2 Options Available on the Main Screen

The main screen of SESScript allows you to specify the following data.

The Parameter Definition Table

Use this table to specify directly the values of any parameters, and the corresponding filenames. This
table always contains at least one column (the Filename column). It also contains one additional column
for each of the parameters that are found by the program when loading a script file. The name of these
additional columns is the same as that of the corresponding parameter.

When processing the script file, the program generates one output file for each row of the table that has
a valid filename defined. The remaining parameters are optional, in the sense that blanks are allowed.
Since the program doesn't know anything about those parameters, they are not validated in any way.

Filename: Full name and path of the file to be generated by the program. If a file with this name already
exists, the program creates a backup of the existing file. When clicking in a cell in the first column, an
ellipses button (...) that allows you to evoke a file browser to select the filename.

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Report File Options

The program can optionally generate a report file when processing a script. This report file lists all the
files that were generated in the processing operation, along with the corresponding values of all the
parameters.

Generate Report File: Check this option to instruct the program to generate the report file.

Report File Name: Name of the report file. If you leave this blank, the program creates the report under
a filename obtained from the script input file name by removing its extension and appending
"_Report.txt". For example, if the input file is "c:\temp\tr_Script.f05", the report file would be
"c:\temp\tr_script_Report.f05". If the specified name doesn't include a full path, the file name is
understood to be relative to the folder containing the script input file. Finally, if a full path and name is
specified, then it is used without modifications.

15.5.3 Using the Parameter Specification Tool

The Parameter Specification Dialog is used to quickly specify several combinations of parameter values
and filenames for the Parameter Definition Table. It allows you to specify several values for each of the
parameters found in the file, and fills the Parameter Definition table with one entry for each possible
combination of the parameter values. For example, if the file contains 3 parameters, and you specify 4
values for the first, 3 values for the second and two for the third, the tool generates 4 3 2 = 24 entries
in the table. The filename for the entries are generated according to a controllable pattern, and are
guaranteed unique.

Parameters
The options in this frame allow you to specify the parameter values quickly. To specify the parameter
values, first select the Parameter Name then fill the grid with the desired values for this parameter.
Alternatively, click on Load to load the values from a file.

Parameter Name: Selects the name of the active parameter. The data that is currently defined for this
parameter should appear in the data table, and can be edited. The data can be viewed or edited for only
one parameter at a time.

Load: Opens a file browser, allowing you to select a file containing the values for this parameter. The
values should be written one per line in a simple text file. The loaded values are appended to the data
grid for the active parameter.

Parameter Data Table: The parameter data table (to the right of the Parameter Name drop-down
menu) allows you to modify directly the values for the parameter. You can take advantage of the Fill
Cells feature of the table (obtained by selecting a group of cells in the table, then right-clicking and
selecting Fill Cells) to quickly fill a portion of the table.

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File Name Generation Options

The options under File Name Generation Options control how the filenames that are associated with
the various values of the parameters are generated. All approaches use Root Filename (without the
extension) as a starting point, and then do the following to make sure that the generated filenames are
unique:

• If Include Parameter Indices is not checked, a sequential index is appended to the root filename,
as in TR_Script_1.f05, TR_Script_2.f05, …

• If Include Parameter Indices is checked, then a parameter identifier is appended to the filename
for every parameter appearing in the Parameter Name list. This parameter identifier has the general
form _‘Index’‘Name’(‘Value’), where Index is the index number of the parameter in the Values
table, Name is the parameter name (shown only when the Include Parameter Names option is
selected) and Value is the parameter value (shown only when the Include Parameter Values option
is selected). For example, for a parameter called "Frequency", and a value of "60" (being the first
value specified in the Values table), the parameter identifier would be "_1Frequency(60)" if both the
parameter name and value are included, "_1Frequency" if only the parameter name is included and
"_1(60)" if only the value is included.

Note that when there is only one parameter, the bare Include Parameter Indices option (i.e., without
either of the sub-options) does exactly the same thing as selecting no options at all. Note also that if the
Include Parameter Name option is selected, then all parameters names should be valid for a filename,
and similarly, if the Include parameter Values option is selected, all parameter values should be valid
when used in a filename.

Root Filename: Root filename used to generate all filenames as per the above prescription. By default,
this is equal to the script input file, but you can specify any other valid filename. When the filename
specified here does not contain a full path, it is understood to be relative to the folder containing the
script input file.

Include Parameter Indices: Controls whether or not the index of each parameter is included as part of
the filename as per the above description.

Include Parameter Names: Controls whether or not the name of each parameter is included as part of
the filename as per the above description.

Include Parameter Values: Controls whether or not the value of each parameter is included as part of
the filename as per the above description.

Other Options
Append Results to Existing Data: Select this option if you want the entries generated by this tool to be
appended to the Parameter Definition table.

Overwrite Existing Data: Select this option if you want to erase any existing data in the Parameter
Definition table before the entries generated by this tool are written to the table.

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15.5.4 Script Processing Options

The Script Processor Settings dialog can be used to define various options that control the behavior of
the program. These options are saved at the end of every session, and restored at the beginning.

Macro Language Syntax

Regroups options that control the interpretation of the script language.

Default Processing Language: Selects the language to use when processing script files which do not
contain an explicit LANGUAGE instruction.

Opening Script Tag: Defines the symbol(s) that identify the beginning of a block of script code.
Redefine this if your script must contain the default value of the opening tag for a purpose other than
identifying a block of code. The specified value should be used only to identify blocks of code,
otherwise the results are unpredictable.

Closing Script Tag: Defines the symbol(s) that identify the end of a block of script code. Redefine this
if your script must contain the default value of the closing tag for a purpose other than identifying the
end of a block of code. The specified value should be used only to identify blocks of code, otherwise the
results are unpredictable.

Opening Directive Symbol: Defines the symbol(s) that distinguish the opening tag of a processing
instruction from that for a block of code. The opening tag for a processing instruction is formed by
appending this symbol to the Opening Script Tag.

Closing Directive Symbol: Defines the symbol(s) that distinguish the closing tag for a processing
instruction from that for a block of code. The closing tag for a processing instruction is formed by
appending the Opening Script Tag to this symbol.

Symbol Substitutions
Defines a list of symbol substitutions that are to be carried out by the program before executing the
script. Whenever the program encounters one of the symbols defined under Original, it replaces it by
the corresponding Substituted symbol.

Other Options

Create Debug Script File: Check this option to instruct the program to save the "pure code" script file
to disk. This file is created when loading a script file. It is useful when the script generates errors when
running: this file can then be used for debugging.

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 Chapter 15 SESSCRIPT: A Scripting Tool for SES Software

15.6 SCRIPTING SYNTAX REFERENCE

The syntax of the language supported by SESScript is similar to that of Microsoft’s ASP (Active Server
Pages).

There are three elements in a SESScript file:

1. Processing Instructions: These instructions are used define the programming language, to
include external files in the script, etc.

2. Scripting Code: This is computer code inserted in the file to carry out the desired tasks.

3. Plain Text: This is any ordinary text, i.e. anything that isn't a processing instruction or scripting
code.

In addition, SESScript creates and exposes two scripting objects (the Context and the Output objects)
that can be called from within the scripts.

Note: The discussion in this section assume that you are using the default settings for the tag delimiter
symbols (i.e., <% and %>).

15.6.1 Processing Instructions

Processing instructions are instructions that are carried out before the script is executed. They can be
thought of as instructions to the script interpreter.

Processing instructions (PI) must be enclosed within the following tags:

<%@ PI ‘Body’ @%>

The general form of a processing instruction consists of the instruction name followed (optionally) by a
series of parameter name-value pairs, all separated by white space. They must be contained within a
single line of text.

PI = ‘Instruction Name’ ‘Parameter1 = Value1’ ‘Parameter2 = Value2’ …

The instruction name and parameter names must not contain blanks. If the values contain blanks, they
must be embedded in quotes (“”).

The body of the directive consists of script code that can optionally follow the processing instruction.
Not all instructions support a body. When supported, the body can span several lines.

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 Chapter 15 SESSCRIPT: A Scripting Tool for SES Software

Two processing instructions are presently available in SESScript. They are explained below.

SCRIPT:

Syntax <%@ SCRIPT LANGUAGE=’Language Name’ ‘Body’ @%>

Description Defines the scripting language used in a script file and global variables and
procedures.
LANGUAGE Optional. Language used in scripting sections. Presently, the only allowed
values are VBScript and JScript. VBScript is used if the LANGUAGE
parameter is not specified.
Body Contains global variables and procedures used throughout the script.
Remarks A single SCRIPT directive can be used in a file. When specified, it must
occur as the first instruction in a file. If not specified, the LANGUAGE
used by default is VBScript.

INCLUDE:

Syntax <%@ INCLUDE FILE=’File Path’ @%>

Description Includes the contents of the file pointed to by ‘File Path’ at this point in the
file. The file may contain script code and / or plain text but no processing
instructions.
FILE Required. Full path to the file to be included.
Body Not supported for this instruction.

15.6.2 Scripting Code

The scripting code contains the logic of the script file. The script code blocks should always be enclosed
in the following tags

<% Code %>

The code must be in the language specified in the SCRIPT processing instruction. It can include
anything supported by the language except procedure and class definitions, which must go in the
SCRIPT processing directive’s body.

As mentioned previously, the only supported languages are VBScript and JScript. The language
reference for these languages can be found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/scripting/.

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 Chapter 15 SESSCRIPT: A Scripting Tool for SES Software

Both languages are object-based. SESScript takes advantage of this fact to create and expose two objects
that you can use in your scripts.

• The Output object: used to write text to the output file generated while processing the script.

• The Context object: exposes some of the input data specified in the user-interface of the program.

15.6.3 Scripting Objects

Two objects are defined by SESScript and available to your scripting code. These objects give you
programmatic access to the parameters defined in SESScript, and to the output file created by the
program.

The Output Object

The Output object is actually a TextStream object from the Microsoft Run-Time Scripting Library. This
object is created by SESScript and initialized to allow you write to the output file. The full description
of this object is available at the same address as above. The methods of this object that are important for
SESScript are described below:

Output.Write(Text)

Description: Writes Text to the output file.

Text: String to be written in the output file.

Output.WriteLine(Text)

Description: Writes Text to the output file, followed by a NewLine character.

Text: String to be written in the output file.

Note: Do not use the Close method of this object at any point in your script.

The Context Object

The Context object is created and exposed by SESScript. It allows you to access certain parameters that
are defined interactively when running the SESScript program. The methods of this object are described
below.

Context.Filename

Description: Returns the filename of the present script file.

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 Chapter 15 SESSCRIPT: A Scripting Tool for SES Software

Context.Path

Description: Returns the name of the folder where the present script file is located.

Context.Parameters(ParameterName)

Description: Returns the value of the parameter identified by ParameterName.

ParameterName: Name of the parameter whose value is desired.

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 Chapter 15 SESSCRIPT: A Scripting Tool for SES Software

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 Chapter 16 TransposIT: Phase Transposition Utility for SPLITS

16 TRANSPOSIT: PHASE TRANSPOSITION

UTILITY FOR SPLITS

16.1 INTRODUCTION
TransposIT is an SES software utility that automates the analysis of the optimum transposition scenario
on a power system network. In this release, the automation is implemented on the data specification
only. Future releases, will add automation to the algorithm used to determine the optimum transposition
based on a set of criteria defined by the user.
This utility, works on circuit data defined by the SPLITS module. Therefore, it is useful to the
MultiLines and Right-of-Way software packages.

16.2 OVERVIEW OF TRANSPOSIT

It is well known that substantial current unbalance can develop within and between the circuits of a
transmission line when the phases are not regularly transposed, even when the loads are balanced.
Studying the effects of the characteristics of such transpositions (their location, direction of rotation,
etc…) in order to arrive at an optimal configuration is a tedious task, requiring manual modification of
the network model at every transposition location. Moreover, a huge number of different transposition
scenarios may have to be examined.
The TransposIT utility was created to simplify this task. This utility takes a reference SPLITS file as
input and produces on output a different SPLITS file, with transpositions applied at user-defined
locations, on user-specified circuits.
The program’s interface allows you to specify the transpositions either visually through a graphical
interface, using windows screens through a tabular approach, or using a command input file. Either way,
the transpositions are immediately displayed visually: this makes it easier to confirm that the
transpositions really have the desired characteristics. All three modes of input are fully synchronized.
This is the first release of this program. Future versions will include the ability to automatically :
• Run and analyze the results of the SPLITS files
• Compute the unbalance levels, to create several SPLITS files simultaneously, all transposed
following certain user-specified patterns
• Find the optimal configuration of the transpositions according to some user-specified criteria

Consult the program’s on-line help for details on how to use this program.

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 Chapter 16 TransposIT: Phase Transposition Utility for SPLITS

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 Chapter 17 SESGSE: SES Grounding System Estimator

17 SESGSE: SES GROUNDING SYSTEM

ESTIMATOR

17.1 INTRODUCTION
The SES Grounding System Estimator (SESGSE) program is a simple tool which allows you to
quickly determine the type of grounding system required to achieve a specified grounding resistance
value (Get Dimension), or to compute the grounding resistance of simple structures (Get Resistance).
A uniform soil model is assumed.

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 Chapter 17 SESGSE: SES Grounding System Estimator

17.2 AVAILABLE STRUCTURES AND SYSTEM PARAMETERS

The System Selection group allows you to select the type of grounding system. Each of these systems
can be completely specified by a few parameters, as described below. In all cases, the soil resistivity
should be specified.

• Single Horizontal Wire: The grounding system is made of a single straight horizontal wire which
is horizontally laid on the earth surface or buried in the soil. The diameter of the wire and its depth
should always be specified. The length of the wire can be computed (if the resistance is known) or
should be specified (if the resistance is to be computed).
• Single Vertical Wire: The grounding system is made of a single straight vertical wire buried in the
soil. The diameter of the wire should always be specified. The length of the wire can be computed
(if the resistance is known) or should be specified (if the resistance is to be computed).
• Circular Array of Vertical Wires: Represents a grounding system made of vertical wires or rods
equally spaced from each other and distributed along a circle. The diameter of the wires, the radius
of the wire array and the length of the wires should always be specified. The number of wires in the
array can be computed (if the resistance is known) or should be specified (if the resistance is to be
computed).
• Linear Array of Vertical Wires: Represents a grounding system made of vertical wires or rods
equally spaced from each other and distributed along a straight line. The diameter of the wires, the
radius of the wire array and the length of the wires should always be specified. The number of
wires in the array can be computed (if the resistance is known) or should be specified (if the
resistance is to be computed).
• Very Dense Grounding Grid: This is a grounding system which consists of a large number of
horizontal wires forming a very dense grid. It is almost equivalent to a metallic plate buried close to
the surface of the soil and having about the same area as the grounding system. When the resistance
is to be computed, the width and length of the grid should be specified. When the resistance is
known, the program computes the surface area of the grid.
• Hemispherical Electrode: This type of grounding system is made of a hemispherical volume of
metal buried in the soil. It is usually used to emulate a dense 3-D structure made of metallic wires
occupying a soil volume equal to the volume of the hemisphere. The radius of the electrode can be
computed (if the resistance is known) or should be specified (if the resistance is to be computed).
• Buried Wire Ring: This type of grounding system is made of a circular wire (ring) horizontally
buried in the soil. This structure is a good approximation to a single square mesh loop having the
same area. The diameter of the wire and the depth of the ring should always be specified. The
radius of the ring can be computed (if the resistance is known) or should be specified (if the
resistance is to be computed).
• Buried Circular Plate: This type of grounding system consists of a circular metal plate buried in
the soil. This structure approximates a very dense grounding grid having the same area reasonably
well. The depth of the plate should always be specified. The radius of the plate can be computed (if
the resistance is known) or should be specified (if the resistance is to be computed).

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 Chapter 17 SESGSE: SES Grounding System Estimator

• Buried Radial Wires: This type of grounding system consists of a number of wires originating
from the same point and forming a star-shaped array of conductors. The program gives accurate
results when the number of wires is on the order of 35 or less (because the fault current distribution
along the wires is assumed to be uniform. When the number of radial wires exceeds 35, the current
density along the origin of the wires is significantly non-uniform). The diameter, length, and depth
of the wires should always be specified. The number of wires in the structure can be computed (if
the resistance is known) or should be specified (if the resistance is to be computed).

17.3 RUNNING THE PROGRAM

To run SESGSE, first define the input data, as described in the previous section, then click Run to start
the computations and get a quick summary of the results, or Report to get a more comprehensive
computation report.

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 Chapter 17 SESGSE: SES Grounding System Estimator

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 Chapter 18 CETU: Current Energization Transfer Utility for Conductive Interference Studies

18 CETU: CURRENT ENERGIZATION

TRANSFER UTILITY FOR CONDUCTIVE
INTERFERENCE STUDIES
CETU is a interference analysis utility that automates the transfer of leakage currents computed by
Right-of-Way and SPLITS to a conductive analysis software such as MALZ or HIFREQ. This is useful,
for example in order to carry out the conductive interference analysis required to obtain the total (i.e.,
inductive and conductive) interference levels. These leakage currents usually correspond to transmission
line tower currents or substation ground currents injected into soil during fault conditions in substations
or along the transmission lines as explained hereafter.
The induced potentials computed by SPLITS or Right-of-Way represent the inductive component of the
potential impressed on the victim circuits (pipelines, rail tracks, telecommunication lines, etc.) during
fault conditions. In the absence of nearby energized buried metallic structures, the local soil potential
will be near that of remote soil (i.e., zero) and the stress voltages of the victim circuits will simply be
equal to the induced potentials. That is typically the case when conducting a steady state interference
analysis where no significant conductive interference exists.
In most cases, the victim circuit is near grounding systems such as electric substations, power plants,
transmission line structures and distribution poles. Therefore, a conductive component also exists due to
the energization of the surrounding soil by the current leaking from these grounding systems.
Consequently, it is necessary to calculate the conductive component of the victim circuit using the
MALZ or HIFREQ engineering modules of the CDEGS software package. The total potentials are then
determined by combining the inductive potentials computed by SPLITS or Right-of-Way with the
conductive potentials obtained from MALZ or HIFREQ.
In order to determine the conductive components of the interference, it is necessary to transfer the
known fault current distribution from the SPLITS or Right-of-Way computation results to MALZ or
HIFREQ. This can be done by extracting manually the required leakage currents from the inductive
computation results (a lengthy operation that is prone to errors) or automatically and reliably using the
CETU utility.

18.1 GETTING STARTED

The main screen of CETU is shown below:

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 Chapter 18 CETU: Current Energization Transfer Utility for Conductive Interference Studies

SP T1L3S20.F21

1 3 20

MZ_template.f05

11

Figure 1: CETU Main Screen

18.2 PREPARING THE INPUT FILES

Mandatory input files:
1. Induction Computation Database File (Right-of-Way or SPLITS)
2. Conduction Input File (MALZ or HIFREQ)

Optional input file:

3. Soil Type Input File

Proceed as follows to prepare the input files required by CETU:

a) Provide a SPLITS Database File (generated either by the Right-of-Way fault module or by a
SPLITS run)

The monitoring fault module of the Right-of-Way software allows the user to specify a number of
locations at which faults are to be simulated along any transmission line. For each span or “section”
at which a fault is simulated, Right-of-Way generates a SPLITS database file containing all the

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 Chapter 18 CETU: Current Energization Transfer Utility for Conductive Interference Studies

computation results for that fault. The name of the file is indicative of the fault location it represents:
SP_TTerminalNoLLineNoSSectionNo.F21 as shown in Figure 1 above.

b) Provide a MALZ (or HIFREQ) reference input file (i.e., template).

Example of a MALZ reference template: MZ_template.f05

MALZ
TEXT,COMPUTE CONDUCTIVE COMPONENTS OF PIPELINE
TEXT,GROUNDING SYSTEM INCLUDES:
TEXT,SES Substation+SES_Plant + Transmission Line Poles + Pipelines
OPTIONS
UNITS,BRITISH
RUN-IDENTIFICATION,interf_conductive
Soil Type section here will be
SOIL-TYPE,LIMITED-LAYER
HORIZONTAL replaced by the Soil Type input
LAYER,TOP,369.384,1.987,, file data if provided by the user
LAYER,BOTTOM,63.83,,,
COMPUTATIONS
DETERMINE,POTENTIAL
OBSERVATION-POINTS
PROFILES,100,40,-3860,0.0,6.0,0,0
SURFACE,11,0,-10,0
SYSTEM
ENERGIZATION,,-7.14,39.55,TermNo.,Bus/LineNo.,SectNo.,R,X
ENERGIZATION,,-5.21,36.27,
ENERGIZATION,,-3.40,33.08,
ENERGIZATION,,-1.71,29.95 This represents the Total Number
ENERGIZATION,,-0.13,26.90 of Energization Busses: 11
ENERGIZATION,,1.90,22.86
ENERGIZATION,,3.25,20.08
The tower current data will be
ENERGIZATION,,4.56,17.36
ENERGIZATION,,-5.21,36.27,
fetched from the induction
ENERGIZATION,,-3.40,33.08, computation database file for each
ENERGIZATION,,-1.71,29.95 energization command line
SYSTEM

CHARACTERIST

CONDUCTOR-TY,12,250,0.0

c) Provide a Soil Type definition file

This is an optional file and if not provided, the soil structure defined in the MALZ or HIFREQ reference
file is retained.

18.3 SELECT THE CURRENT ASSIGNMENT OPTION

The Main Screen exhibits a “Current Assignment” radio button with two exclusive options:

ƒ Automatic
ƒ Specific

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 Chapter 18 CETU: Current Energization Transfer Utility for Conductive Interference Studies

18.3.1 Automatic Current Assignment Mode

When a SPLITS output file generated by the Right-of-Way monitoring fault module is provided as
the induction database input file, the fault location data is automatically known from the filename
convention, as shown in Figure 1. In the example shown, the MALZ reference template provided by
the user indicates a total of 11 energization busses to be considered when fetching the tower current
data from the SPLITS database file. Under the Automatic Current Assignment option, CETU will
automatically determine which tower currents are to be retrieved from the SPLITS database file and
assigned to each of the energization busses in the MALZ template file. To illustrate the concept and
logic for the Automatic Current Assignment mode, we will refer to the Figure 1 input files as our
example and illustrate in further detail hereafter. Note that this mode allows one faulted terminal and
a central site configuration setting. To account for multiple faulted terminals, a Specific Current
Assignment option should be used.

Figure 2: A Typical SPLITS Circuit Configuration Setting

The circuit diagram presented above illustrates a typical SPLITS setup to model a fault scenario. Terminals 1,
2, …, N are interconnected via a central site. The letters A, B, C and D shown in the diagram represent the
phase name or bus/line name. Each tower shown in the diagram (circled) represents a section between a
terminal and the central site. The computational data, such as shunt current, shunt potential and longitudinal
current associated with each section (or tower) is available from the induction database file.

The figure below illustrates a monitoring fault at Section (Tower) 20 of Terminal 1. The Right-of-Way
SPLITS file used in this example is SP_T1L3S20.F21.

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Chapter 18 CETU: Current Energization Transfer Utility for Conductive Interference Studies

Figure 3: Circuit model of a fault scenario at Terminal 1, Bus/Line 3, Section 20

Conventions defined in CETU:

• The lowest tower (or section) number is that which is closest to the central site – tower numbers
increment as the terminal is approached.

• The fault at the section (tower) number always starts at the middle of the total number of energized
busses defined in MALZ template file (as shown in Figure 4). When the total number of energized
busses turn out to be an even number, the number of sections to consider to the right of the faulted
tower (towards the central site) should always be one more than the number of sections to the left of
the faulted tower.

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 Chapter 18 CETU: Current Energization Transfer Utility for Conductive Interference Studies

Energization
command line no. 6
(representing faulted
tower 20).

The shunt tower

current data for
Terminal 1, Line/Bus
3 and Section 20 will
be retrieved from
SP_T1L3S20.F21
database file and
d i thi li

Figure 4: Total Number of Energization Busses in MALZ template file (11 in this example)

There are two unique features offered exclusively with the Automatic Current Assignment option. One
is the Fictitious Towers Filtering function and the other is the Repeat Run feature. Each of these will be
explained in Sections 1.3.1.1 and 1.3.1.2 respectively.

18.3.1.1 Automatic Filtering of Fictitious (Dummy) Towers

Without filtering, CETU assumes that all sections (towers) in the SPLITS input file represent actual
towers. On the other hand, when Right-of-Way is used to create a SPLITS file, sections frequently occur
where there is no real tower present: in this case, the user typically represents the fictitious or a dummy
tower by a large shunt impedance.

In order for CETU to correctly assign tower currents from the SPLITS output file to the energization
busses in the MALZ input file, it is necessary for CETU to filter the dummy towers from the real ones.
In order to accomplish this task, CETU automatically filters out fictitious towers based on user-defined
criteria. Figure 5 shows the screen in which the user specifies a threshold impedance for this filter.

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 Chapter 18 CETU: Current Energization Transfer Utility for Conductive Interference Studies

Repeat Run is enabled only

when the input SPLITS
induction database file filename
is in the following format:
SP_TTerminalNoLLineNoSSectionNo.F21

When checked,
user-defined
criteria are
made available
for input.

Figure 5: Automatic Current Mode – Assign Energization Busses Screen

18.3.1.2 Repeat Run

In order to invoke this feature, not only must the automatic mode be selected, the SPLITS database filename must
follow the naming convention illustrated at the beginning of this article. In this case, the database files generated
by the Right-of-Way Monitor Fault Utility are best suited for this feature: multiple MALZ input files can be
generated based on a range of different fault locations, all in one single run.

As an illustration, we will use our example of the SPLITS input file SP_T1L3S20.F21 as input, and
MZ_template.f05 MALZ reference file as shown in Figure 1. Ensure that the Automatic Current Assignment
option is selected (default), and then click on the Assign Energization Busses button on the main screen. The
window shown in Figure 5 above will be displayed on the screen.

By default, the checkbox for “For all faults located” is not checked. To invoke the Repeat Run feature, you must
check the checkbox and specify the starting and the ending section as shown below:

Starting Section

Ending Section

The starting section and the ending section indicate to the program to use the SPLITS database files
SP_T1L3S15.F21 up to SP_T1L3S19.F21, inclusive, as input files in the batch sequence, so that
multiple MALZ input files can be created independently (using the same MALZ template) based on

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 Chapter 18 CETU: Current Energization Transfer Utility for Conductive Interference Studies

each input file specified in the repeat run. Note that the program will automatically assume the same
filename convention described above and further assumes that subsequent files specified for the repeat
run will be located in the same directory as the initial SPLITS file specified on the main screen.

18.3.2 Specific Current Assignment Mode

This mode allows the user to arbitrarily specify which terminal, which bus/line and which section is associated
with the SPLITS file for retrieving the shunt current data to each energization command line in MALZ or
HIFREQ template file. In some instances, due to the analysis requirements, the total interference level must be
collected and examined on multiple substations and terminals and on different segments within a network.

Consequently, the specified mode is designed to provide the flexibility for the user to define which segment data
is required from the induction database file and to which energization bus to assign this data to. The energization
assignment screen for the Specific Mode is shown below:

Figure 6: Specific Current Assignment Mode: Energization Assignment Table

The data shown in the grid can be specified by using the dropdown list provided. The grid has one row for each
energization bus obtained from the MALZ template file. The first column in the grid shows the energization bus
number for each row. You can assign each energization bus to correspond to any arbitrary terminal number,
bus/line number and the section number defined in the induction database input file. The Status column parameter
will switch from an Undefined to a Defined status when an energization bus is appropriately assigned.

One other way to assign energization busses and make association to the SPLITS input file quickly is by editing
the MALZ template file as shown below:

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 Chapter 18 CETU: Current Energization Transfer Utility for Conductive Interference Studies

MALZ
TEXT,COMPUTE CONDUCTIVE COMPONENTS OF PIPELINE
TEXT,GROUNDING SYSTEM INCLUDES:
TEXT,SES Substation+SES_Plant + Transmission Line Poles + Pipelines
OPTIONS
UNITS,BRITISH
RUN-IDENTIFICATION,interf_conductive Edit the energization
SOIL-TYPE,LIMITED-LAYER command line in MALZ
HORIZONTAL template with the following
LAYER,TOP,369.384,1.987,, terminal no., line/bus no.
LAYER,BOTTOM,63.83,,, and section no. association
COMPUTATIONS
for each command line
DETERMINE,POTENTIAL
OBSERVATION-POINTS
PROFILES,100,40,-3860,0.0,6.0,0,0
SURFACE,11,0,-10,0
SYSTEM ENERGIZATION,,,,1,3,20
ENERGIZATION,,,,2,3,3
ENERGIZATION,,-7.14,39.55,TermNo.,Bus/LineNo.,SectNo.,R,X
ENERGIZATION,,,,1,4,7
ENERGIZATION,,-5.21,36.27,
ENERGIZATION,,,,2,4,20
ENERGIZATION,,-3.40,33.08,
ENERGIZATION,,,,2,5,4
ENERGIZATION,,-1.71,29.95
ENERGIZATION,,,,1,2,3
ENERGIZATION,,-0.13,26.90
ENERGIZATION,,,,1,2,27
ENERGIZATION,,1.90,22.86
ENERGIZATION,,,,1,3,15
ENERGIZATION,,3.25,20.08
ENERGIZATION,,,,2,3,24
ENERGIZATION,,4.56,17.36
ENERGIZATION,,,,2,2,10
ENERGIZATION,,-5.21,36.27,
ENERGIZATION,,,,1,3,30
ENERGIZATION,,-3.40,33.08,
ENERGIZATION,,-1.71,29.95
SYSTEM

CHARACTERIST

CONDUCTOR-TY 12 250 0 0

When the above MALZ template file is loaded, the specific mode energization grid data will be
populated automatically with the terminal, line/bus and section data as specify in the MALZ template
file for each energization command line as shown in Figure 6.

The syntax of the energization command line in MALZ or HIFREQ template is defined as follows:

ENERGIZATION, Qualifier, Real_Current, Imaginary_Current, TermNo., Bus/LineNo., SectionNo.,

TowerResistance, TowerReactance

The Energization parameters (highlighted in bold) are introduced specifically for the specific mode
current assignment. The Real_current and Imaginary_current parameters are retrieved from the SPLITS
database file.

18.4 PROCESS
When the Process button is pressed, an output file will be generated. The schematic diagram below
shows the data transfer from various input files to generate the output conduction file by the program.

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 Chapter 18 CETU: Current Energization Transfer Utility for Conductive Interference Studies

Input files Output file (MZ_SP_T1L3S20.F05)

SPLITS induction MALZ

file
C …….

MALZ Template file …….

A
SOIL-TYPE

Soil Type File B ……..

……..

ENERGIZATION,,

A
The output file is an exact copy of the input MZ_template.f05 except for the Soil-Type and Energization
command section data. The output filename created will follows this naming convention:

MZ_induction input filename.F05 or HI_induction input filename.F05 depending on whether the template file
used is a MALZ or HIFREQ reference template.

B
As mentioned earlier, if the Soil-Type file is provided, the SOIL-TYPE command data in the Soil-Type input file
will be copied to the SOIL-TYPE command section of the output file. If it is not provided, the SOIL-TYPE
command data from the template file is retained.

C
The Energization Command lines data will be retrieved from SPLITS induction database file depending on user
specifications. Refer to section 1.3.1 and 1.3.2 for Automatic Current Assignment Mode and Specific Assignment
Mode respectively for details.

Consult CETU’s on-line help for more details about this utility.

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 Chapter 19 AutoGroundDesign: An efficient and Automated Grounding Grid Design Utility

19 AUTOGROUNDDESIGN: AN EFFICIENT
AND AUTOMATED GROUNDING GRID DESIGN
UTILITY
AutoGroundDesign engineering tool offers powerful and intelligent functions that help electrical engineers design
safe grounding installations quickly and efficiently. A two-step approach is used for the automated grounding
system design. First, an initial design is refined recursively using rule-based techniques and algorithms to improve
its performance and meet the safety constraints, while reducing the overall cost of the grid. The grid database is,
optionally, the starting point of any automated design and will cover most grids that are encountered in practice.
Extensive collections of predefined grids have been analyzed, constructed and can be easily updated by the user.
A strategy has been devised to quickly find an appropriate grid, while at the same time minimizing the size of the
database. The time devoted to design a safe and cost-effective grounding grid is minimized by the use of such
automation techniques and appropriate databases.

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 Chapter 19 AutoGroundDesign: An efficient and Automated Grounding Grid Design Utility

19.1 INTRODUCTION
The design of grounding systems is often based on rough guidelines, derived from engineering experience. It is
frequently a trial and error procedure and can be quite time consuming, since it is too difficult to account for the
large number of variables (geometrical proportions of the grid, its depth, the nature of the soil and of the grid’s
conductors, whether or not grounding rods are attached to the grid, etc…) that can affect the grid’s performance.
The ultimate objective of AutoGroundDesign is to use a database and rule based automated grounding system
design method to meet design requirements (such as ground potential rise, touch voltage, step voltage, and ground
resistance limits), given the soil structure, dimensions of the grid area, characteristics of conductors, configuration
of the grid, and fault current discharged by the grid.

19.2 FEATURES
The 2004 release version of AutoGroundDesign has the following unique features:

• Generates grounding system designs based on a simple description of the substation site. The data entry
requirements are reduced to a minimum: environment settings, soil data, grounding grid zone, fault
current in the grid, safety related data, and automated design parameters and controls.

• Models grounding systems and evaluates their performance; it is suited to analyze and design a grounding
grid as long as the longitudinal impedances of the ground conductors can be neglected.

• Analyzes and designs rectangular grounding grids consisting of horizontal and vertical arrangements of
bare conductors buried in uniform and multilayered soils.

• Carries out automation design with several procedures, such as Automatic, Midpoint, Linear, and User-
Defined methods. These procedures will specify the performance and progress of the automated design
process appropriately and use ground grid databases, smart search algorithms and techniques, and user-
supplied criteria and constraints more efficiently.

• Allow users to specify if ground rods are to be used in the design of the final grid and ground rod
characteristics. If yes, the rods will be distributed over the whole grid area.

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 Chapter 19 AutoGroundDesign: An efficient and Automated Grounding Grid Design Utility

• Computes earth potential calculations at specific soil locations called observation points that are
determined automatically by the program.

19.3 PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT HISTORY

SES implemented the first automated grounding grid design software in the early 90’s. It had a character-based
(DOS-based) menu interface and was called AutoGrid. It was restricted to rectangular grids buried in uniform and
two-layer soils. Computation time was the main obstacle to the systematic use of this automated feature.

Computer speed and memory size have since increased significantly and it was time to reconsider implementing
this automated feature in the current SES’s grounding software. This is more pertinent today, since SES has
developed a new and unique automated design method that promises to reduce considerably the time needed to
determine an adequate design for arbitrarily shaped grounding systems buried in various soil types.

Consequently, SES has decided to proceed with the development of this efficient automated design method and
this initial version of AutoGroundDesign, which supports any rectangular grid buried in multilayered soils is now
available.

19.4 GROUNDING SYSTEM DESIGN TECHNOLOGIES AND

PROCEDURES
Consider the traditional process of designing a substation grounding system. Based on experience and on the
substation ground bonding requirements, a preliminary grounding system configuration is developed and
analyzed. The calculated results are examined to determine if all design requirements are met. If all design
requirements are not met or if these requirements are exceeded by a considerable margin suggesting possible
significant savings, design modifications to the grounding system and the design analysis is restarted again.

To produce an optimized design, better knowledge of the soil structure and the actual fault current flowing into
the substation is needed. Also, a large number of factors such as the geometrical proportions of the grid, its depth,
the type of grid conductors and whether or not grounding rods are attached to the grid are essential.

The automated grounding system design uses the following technologies and procedures.

First, an appropriate preliminary grid design is selected and retrieved from a database of predefined grids, based
on the input data provided, such as the size and the geometrical proportions of the grid, the soil structure, the fault
current injected, and the safety criteria. These predefined grids have been previously analyzed and stored in
databases which contain grid performance information in uniform and layered soil models. The database can be
dynamically updated based on the currently analyzed grounding systems.

Second, this initial design is refined automatically and dynamically by varying the number of horizontal and
vertical conductors in the grid in an attempt to improve its performance and meet the safety constraints, while
reducing the overall cost of the grid. Note that the real soil model (not the equivalent layered soil used in the
database search) is used in this process. The analysis and safety evaluation are carried out by a grounding analysis
module. The ground potential rise (GPR), touch and step voltages are computed and compared to the maximum
values given by the IEEE or IEC standards, or by user-supplied thresholds. Horizontal or vertical conductors are
added or removed depending on the GPR, touch and step voltage deviations from the desirable safe values. The
method used to conduct the design refinement steps employs approximate functions to determine the number of

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 Chapter 19 AutoGroundDesign: An efficient and Automated Grounding Grid Design Utility

conductors that can be added or removed from the design at each step of the iteration. These functions have been
derived based on observations and analysis of the extensive results stored in the database.

The process provides a manual option that allows the user to provide an initial grid design defined by the number
of conductors along the grid sides, and the characteristics of the conductors and rods. The program then refines
this grid automatically.

19.5 AUTOMATED GROUNDING SYSTEM DESIGN

STRUCTURE
The automated grounding system design software integrates the following modules and has a structure shown
below.

Automated Grounding Design Central Module

This core and controlling module has a simple interface that allows a user to establish an automated grounding
system design quickly and efficiently. The ultimate objective of this module is to manage and coordinate input
data, safety criteria and progress decisions in order to obtain a grid design that meets all requirements. The overall
automated design parameters are controlled by this module to select the methodology used to obtain the initial
design of the grounding systems, specify which grid database methodology is to be used for the automated design,
and specify the maximum number of design iterations as well as the rate at which the design of the grid evolves.

Grounding Analysis Module

This module is used to analyze power system ground networks subjected to AC or DC power frequency currents
discharged into various soil structures. It computes the safety performance of the grounding grid, in terms of
GPR, touch and step voltages. Since it is assumed that the grid is an equipotential structure, the locations of the
current injection points within the ground network do not play a significant role, i.e. the longitudinal impedances
of the ground conductors can be neglected.

Soil Analysis Module

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 Chapter 19 AutoGroundDesign: An efficient and Automated Grounding Grid Design Utility

This module is dedicated to the development of equivalent earth structure models based on measured soil
resistivity data. It can generate models with many horizontal layers, as well as vertically and exponentially
layered soil models.1

Fault Current Distribution Analysis Module

This module calculates the fault current distribution in multiple terminals, transmission lines and distribution
feeders using minimum information and a simple set of data concerning the network. It provides the actual fault
current flowing into a grounding grid, as well as currents in the shield wires, tower structures and cable sheaths.
Self and mutual impedances of the shield wires and cable sheaths are also computed and available.

Safety Module

This module generates safety threshold values based on IEEE 80 Standard, IEC 479 Standard, user’s own
standard or a hybrid combination of these standards. Thus, the computed safety voltage limits are used to decide
whether to stop or continue the design process. The parameters to determine the safety voltage limits are: fault
clearing times, earth surface covering layer (e.g., crushed rock) resistivities, earth surface covering layer
thickness, equivalent subsurface layer resistivity (this is the resistivity of the soil beneath the earth surface
covering layer), body, foot, and other protective, such as gloves or boot resistance, and fibrillation current
1
threshold methods.

View, Plot and Report Tools

A CAD-based module is used to view or edit three-dimensional grounding grids consisting of straight-line
segments. The line segments represent either metallic conductors or observation profiles. They can be viewed
from any direction, in a variety of ways. Another report and graphics module serves as a powerful output
processor to display the computation results in various graphical or print formats. This module also has the
capability to view the input data and even launch the grounding analysis module.

19.6 FURTHER ENHANCEMENTS

Further enhancements to the automated procedures are being developed presently based on the discoveries that
are generated by examining the data stored in the continuously evolving database.

1
These modules are presently stand-alone modules. They will be integrated into the AutoGroundDesign package in the
next update.

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 Chapter 20 SESTLC: SES Transmission and Distribution Line Calculator for Rapid EMF, Line
Parameters, and Induced Voltage Estimates

20 SESTLC: SES TRANSMISSION AND

DISTRIBUTION LINE CALCULATOR FOR RAPID EMF,
LINE PARAMETERS, AND INDUCED VOLTAGE
ESTIMATES

20.1 INTRODUCTION
The TLC software package is a Transmission (and distribution) Line Calculator for rapid EMF, line parameter,
and induced voltage estimates. It can be used to quickly estimate line parameters, electric fields, and magnetic
fields associated with arbitrary configurations of parallel transmission and distribution lines. It also estimates
induced voltages and currents on other parallel metallic utilities, such as pipelines and railways. TLC has been
designed with simplicity in mind, providing much useful information with minimal data entry, when applied to
simple system configurations. This can be very helpful for preliminary analyses of more complex systems. Keep
in mind that for more complex systems or more detailed studies, the Right-Of-Way software package or the
HIFREQ engineering module are recommended.

The main functions of TLC are summarized as follows:

1. Line parameter calculation;

2. Electric field calculation;

3. Magnetic field calculation;

4. Steady-state condition inductive interference calculation;

5. Fault condition inductive interference calculation.

20.2 USER INTERFACE

When TLC is started, a Start Page screen will appear as shown in Figure 1. The Start Page allows you to specify a
working directory and a Job ID, and start a new project or load an existing project. For a new project, after the
working directory and Job ID are specified, the Start Page invokes the New Project Wizard, which walks you
through the process of data entry. Once this process is completed, a standard screen appears which is similar to
the one shown in Figure 2 (in this example, the selected computation type is the Fault Condition Induction).

The standard screen offers a menu bar, a toolbar and a status bar. Below the toolbar, there are two panels. The left
panel gives quick access to the computation types by selecting them from the dropdown menu. The data items
(pages) corresponding to each computation type is refreshed when you switch from one type to another. The right
panel displays the input data pertaining to the page you have selected (by clicking on the Select Page item). Note
that the New Project Wizard will go through each data item (page) in the left panel sequentially. After completion
of all the data items, you can go to a specific data item for more modifications. To run the program, simply click
Process.

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Chapter 20 SESTLC: SES Transmission and Distribution Line Calculator for Rapid EMF, Line
Parameters, and Induced Voltage Estimates

Figure 1. The TLC start page screen.

Figure 2. The TLC standard screen.

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 Chapter 20 SESTLC: SES Transmission and Distribution Line Calculator for Rapid EMF, Line
Parameters, and Induced Voltage Estimates

20.3 GRAPHIC PRESENTATION

TLC presents computation plots using the Array Visualizer application. The plots can be displayed on screen
immediately after the computations or saved in files which can be displayed later. Figure 3 shows a 3D plot of the
electric field produced by a transmission line near a tower. Figure 4 shows the induced potential on a pipeline
which is parallel to a transmission line. Figure 5 shows the pipeline coating stress voltage which includes both the
inductive and conductive components.

Figure 3. 3D plot of electric field generated by a transmission line near a tower.

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 Chapter 20 SESTLC: SES Transmission and Distribution Line Calculator for Rapid EMF, Line
Parameters, and Induced Voltage Estimates

Figure 4. Induced potential on a pipeline which is parallel to a transmission line.

Figure 5. Pipeline coating stress voltage due to both the inductive and conductive interference.

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 Chapter 20 SESTLC: SES Transmission and Distribution Line Calculator for Rapid EMF, Line
Parameters, and Induced Voltage Estimates

20.4 FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS

Future enhancements will include the following:

1. Extensive databases will be implemented which will provide a wide selection of typical electric line
configurations as well as a rich collection of conductor types.

2. Pipeline deviations with respect to the transmission or distribution line will be allowed in the calculation
of induced potential under steady state and fault conditions.

3. Tower conductors will be subdivided automatically for the computation of electric fields.

4. Graphic presentation of the results will be improved.

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 Chapter 21 AutoTransient: Automation of FFTSES and HIFREQ for the Analysis of Transient
Phenomena

21 AUTOTRANSIENT: AUTOMATION OF
FFTSES AND HIFREQ FOR THE ANALYSIS OF
TRANSIENT PHENOMENA

21.1 INTRODUCTION
The AutoTransient tool automates the “mechanical” parts of an analysis of transient phenomena with HIFREQ
and FFTSES. It runs both programs in turn, using the computation frequencies recommended by FFTSES to run
HIFREQ, until user-defined termination criteria are met. It also builds the FFTSES computation databases from
the resulting HIFREQ databases (F21 files).

21.2 TECHNICAL HIGHLIGHTS

• The AutoTransient program carries out the standard steps of a HIFREQ-FFTSES transient study
automatically. Starting from template FFTSES and HIFREQ files (generated with CDEGS Input Toolbox,
or any other editor), the program runs the Forward FFTSES and finds the first set of recommended
computation frequencies. After running HIFREQ at those frequencies and building the FFTSES Input
Databases, the program runs the Inverse FFTSES and deduces the next set of recommended frequencies.
This last step is repeated until the termination criteria are met.

• You can choose to stop the program once there are no more recommended frequencies, when a specified
amount of time has elapsed, or when a specified number of cycles of the above procedure have been
carried out.

• When running HIFREQ, you can choose to run all recommended frequencies, or to run only one
frequency at a time. This last method, which would be very cumbersome to do manually, gives a lot of
flexibility since many electrical properties (resistivities, permeabilities, etc…) can be varied as a function
of frequency. The program allows you to specify frequency-dependent soil characteristics through a
simple dialog. With a little bit of programming effort, You can specify a frequency-dependence for any
non-geometrical quantity defined in the HIFREQ template file.

• The program performs basic data cross-validation between HIFREQ and FFTSES, to help avoid the most
common data entry problems in a transient analysis.

• You can interrupt the analysis at any time, then restart it where you left off.

Consult AutoTransient’s on-line help for more details about this automation tool.

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