Introduction to eplusr

This vignette introduces eplusr class structure, how to read EnergyPlus IDFs and perform modifications on them. Familiarity with data.table is useful, but not essential to follow this vignette.

Class structure

Below shows the class structure in eplusr.

Basically, eplusr uses Idf class to present the whole IDF file and IdfObject class to present a single object in an IDF. Both Idf and IdfObject class contain member functions for helping modify the data in IDF so it complies with the underlying EnergyPlus IDD (Input Data Dictionary). Similarly, IDD file is wrapped into two classes, i.e. Idd and IddObject.

Besides, Epw class is used to present EnergyPlus Weather files; EplusJob and GroupEplusJob to run single and multiple EnergyPlus simulations and collect outputs, ParametricJob to run parametric EnergyPlus simulations and collect all outputs.

It is highly recommended to read the documentation to get a thorough understanding on each class.

Preparation

Parsing an IDF requires the IDD data of that version, which serves as the schema. The IDD file will be parsed first and an Idd object will be created and cached. That Idd object will be reused whenever parsing IDFs with that version. For more details, please see ?use_idd() and ?idd.

Locate EnergyPlus

Usually, when you try to edit an IDF, the corresponding EnergyPlus is likely to be installed already. If EnergyPlus is installed in standard location (C:\EnergyPlusVX-Y-0 on Windows, /usr/local/EnergyPlus-X-Y-0 on Linux and /Applications/EnergyPlus-X-Y-0 on macOS), eplusr is able to find it and use the Energy+.idd file distributed with that release to parse the input IDF.

You can get all detected EnergyPlus versions using avail_eplus() and meta data of EnergyPlus configuration using eplus_config().

avail_eplus()
#> [1] '23.1.0'

eplus_config("23.1")
#> $version
#> [1] '23.1.0'
#> 
#> $dir
#> [1] "/usr/local/EnergyPlus-23-1-0"
#> 
#> $exe
#> [1] "energyplus"

If your EnergyPlus was not installed in standard location, you can add that location using use_eplus(). After adding, all models of that version will use this path to call EnergyPlus.

use_eplus("C:/EnergyPlusV23-1-0")

If the needed version of EnergyPlus was not installed, you can use install_eplus() to install it.

install_eplus(ver = "23.1")

Download EnergyPlus IDD

Sometimes you may just want to edit the model without installing the whole EnergyPlus software. You can just download the IDD file of that version using download_idd() or set download to TRUE in use_idd(). The code below will download IDD file for EnergyPlus v23.1.0, parse it and create an Idd object that will be used whenever parsing all EnergyPlus models of version v23.1.

path_idd <- download_idd("23.1", dir = tempdir())
use_idd(path_idd)

# OR
use_idd("23.1", download = TRUE)

Read and parse IDF

All IDF reading process starts with function read_idf(), which returns an Idf object. The IDF will be printed in a similar style you see in IDF Editor, with additional heading lines showing the Path, Version of the model. The classes of objects in the model are ordered by groups and the number of objects in classes are shown in square bracket.

Now let’s read an IDF file distributed with EnergyPlus 23.1. As we have already got the IDD, we can just ignore the idd argument.

Note: Once an EnergyPlus version X.Y is successfully located, all IDFs with versions lower than X.Y can be parsed. For example, if you have EnergyPlus v9.1 installed, all IDFs from v7.2 to v9.1 can be parsed using simply read_idf(path) without specifying idd. This is because eplusr will use IDD files distributed with EnergyPlus VersionUpdater program.

path <- path_eplus_example("23.1", "5Zone_Transformer.idf")
model <- read_idf(path)
#> IDD v23.1.0 has not been parsed before.
#> Try to locate 'Energy+.idd' in EnergyPlus v23.1.0 installation folder '/usr/local/EnergyPlus-23-1-0'.
#> IDD file found: '/usr/local/EnergyPlus-23-1-0/Energy+.idd'.
#> Start parsing...
#> Parsing completed.

model
#> ── EnergPlus Input Data File ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>  • Path: '/usr/local/EnergyPlus-23-1-0/ExampleFiles/5Zone_Transformer.idf'
#>  • Version: '23.1.0'
#> 
#> Group: <Simulation Parameters>
#> ├─ [01<O>] Class: <Version>
#> │─ [01<O>] Class: <SimulationControl>
#> │─ [01<O>] Class: <Building>
#> │─ [01<O>] Class: <SurfaceConvectionAlgorithm:Inside>
#> │─ [01<O>] Class: <SurfaceConvectionAlgorithm:Outside>
....

Methods in `Idf` class

Idf class provides lots of methods to programmatically query and modify EnergyPlus models. See table below. This vignette will demonstrate some of them.

Methods of `Idf` class
Category	Method	Functionality
Basic Info	`$version()`	Get Idf version
	`$path()`	Get Idf file path
	`$group_name()`	Get group names
	`$class_name()`	Get class names
	`$is_valid_group()`	Check group existence
	`$is_valid_class()`	Check class existence
Definition	`$definition()`	Get corresponding `IddObject`
Object Info	`$object_id()`	Get object unique ID
	`$object_name()`	Get object name
	`$object_num()`	Get object number in class
	`$is_valid_id()`	Check object ID existence
	`$is_valid_name()`	Check object name existence
Object Relation	`$object_relation()`	Get object relation with others
Object Query	`$object()`	Get single object
	`$objects()`	Get multiple objects
	`$object_unique()`	Get the unique object
	`$objects_in_class()`	Get objects in class
	`$objects_in_group()`	Get objects in group
	`$objects_in_relation()`	Get objects in relation
	`$search_object()`	Get objects using regular expression
Object Modification	`$dup()`	Duplicate objects
	`$add()`	Add new objects
	`$set()`	Modify existing objects
	`$del()`	Delete existing objects
	`$purge()`	Delete unused resource objects
	`$duplicated()`	Detect duplicated objects
	`$unique()`	Delete duplicated objects
	`$rename()`	Change object names
	`$insert()`	Add new objects from other `IdfObject`s
	`$load()`	Add new objects from strings and data.frames
	`$update()`	Update object values from strings and data.frames
	`$paste()`	Add new objects from IDF Editor `Copy obj`
	`$search_value()`	Get objects whose values match regular expression
	`$replace_value()`	Modify object values using regular expression
Validation	`$validate()`	Check any errors in `Idf`
	`$is_valid()`	Check if no error exists in `Idf`
Data Extraction	`$to_table()`	Extract `Idf` data in data.frames
	`$to_string()`	Extract `Idf` data in strings
Save	`$is_unsaved()`	Check if unsaved changes exist
	`$save()`	Save `Idf` to an `.idf` file
Clone	`$clone()`	Create an copy
Run	`$run()`	Run `Idf` together with an `Epw`
Geometry	`$geometry()`	Extract `Idf` geometry and perform operations on them
	`$view()`	Show `Idf` 3D geometry using the rgl package
Print	`$print()`	Print `Idf` in different details

Below will show same example usage of methods listed above.

Basic Info

If you want to see what groups and classes exist in your model, use $group_name() and $class_name() respectively.

model$group_name()
#>  [1] "Simulation Parameters"                        
#>  [2] "Location and Climate"                         
#>  [3] "Schedules"                                    
#>  [4] "Surface Construction Elements"                
#>  [5] "Thermal Zones and Surfaces"                   
....

model$class_name()
#>  [1] "Version"                                   
#>  [2] "SimulationControl"                         
#>  [3] "Building"                                  
#>  [4] "SurfaceConvectionAlgorithm:Inside"         
#>  [5] "SurfaceConvectionAlgorithm:Outside"        
....

# categorize by group names
model$class_name(by_group = TRUE)
#> $`Simulation Parameters`
#> [1] "Version"                            "SimulationControl"                 
#> [3] "Building"                           "SurfaceConvectionAlgorithm:Inside" 
#> [5] "SurfaceConvectionAlgorithm:Outside" "HeatBalanceAlgorithm"              
#> [7] "Timestep"                          
....

You can use $is_valid_group() and $is_valid_class() to check if curtain groups or names exist in current model.

model$is_valid_group("Schedules")
#> [1] TRUE
model$is_valid_class("ZoneInfiltration:DesignFlowRate")
#> [1] TRUE

Class definition

You can get class definition using $definition(), which returns an IddObject. All required fields in each class are marked with *. For example, you can get the IddObject of class Material:

def_mat <- model$definition("Material")
def_mat
#> <IddObject: 'Material'>
#> ── MEMO ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>   "Regular materials described with full set of thermal properties"
#> 
#> ── PROPERTIES ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>   * Group: 'Surface Construction Elements'
#>   * Unique: FALSE
#>   * Required: FALSE
#>   * Total fields: 9
#> 
#> ── FIELDS ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>   1*: Name
#>   2*: Roughness
#>   3*: Thickness
#>   4*: Conductivity
#>   5*: Density
#>   6*: Specific Heat
#>   7 : Thermal Absorptance
#>   8 : Solar Absorptance
#>   9 : Visible Absorptance

You can also achieve this using methods in Idd class.

idd <- use_idd("23.1")
idd$Material

# OR
# idd$object("Material")

# OR
# idd_object(23.1, "Material")

With the IddObject, you can easily get class and field properties using methods it has.

For example, you can get all default field values using $field_default(). As we did not give any field index or name, a list is returned containing default values of all fields. The type of each value will be consistent with field definition.

NOTE: For numeric fields with default values being "autosize" or "autocalculate", the type of returned values will be “character”.

def_val <- def_mat$field_default()
str(def_val)
#> List of 9
#>  $ Name               : chr NA
#>  $ Roughness          : chr NA
#>  $ Thickness          : num NA
#>  $ Conductivity       : num NA
#>  $ Density            : num NA
#>  $ Specific Heat      : num NA
#>  $ Thermal Absorptance: num 0.9
#>  $ Solar Absorptance  : num 0.7
#>  $ Visible Absorptance: num 0.7

Please see ?IddObject for detailed documentation on IddObject class.

Get object

In an Idf, each object in the model is assigned with an unique ID according to its appearance sequence in the IDF file. You can find all valid IDs using $object_id().

model$object_id(c("Material", "Construction"))
#> $Material
#>  [1] 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52
#> 
#> $Construction
#> [1] 66 67 68 69 70 71 72

You can get all object names using $object_name(). If the class does not have name attribute, NA will returned.

model$object_name(c("Version", "Material", "Construction"))
#> $Version
#> [1] NA
#> 
#> $Material
#>  [1] "WD10" "RG01" "BR01" "IN46" "WD01" "PW03" "IN02" "GP01" "GP02" "CC03"
#> 
#> $Construction
#> [1] "ROOF-1"               "WALL-1"               "CLNG-1"              
#> [4] "FLOOR-SLAB-1"         "INT-WALL-1"           "Dbl Clr 3mm/13mm Air"
#> [7] "Sgl Grey 3mm"

Object number in each class can be retrieved using $object_num().

model$object_num(c("BuildingSurface:Detailed", "Material", "Output:Variable"))
#> [1] 40 10 13

Having the object ID or name, you can easily get any object using $object() which returns an IdfObject or using $objects() which returns a list of IdfObjects.

NOTE: The matching of object names is case-insensitive. For instance, model$object("rOoF") is equivalent to model$object("roof").

model$objects(c("WD10", "ROOF-1"))
#> $WD10
#> <IdfObject: 'Material'> [ID:43] `WD10`
#> Class: <Material>
#> ├─ 1*: "WD10",         !- Name
#> │─ 2*: "MediumSmooth", !- Roughness
#> │─ 3*: 0.667,          !- Thickness {m}
#> │─ 4*: 0.115,          !- Conductivity {W/m-K}
#> │─ 5*: 513,            !- Density {kg/m3}
#> │─ 6*: 1381,           !- Specific Heat {J/kg-K}
#> │─ 7 : 0.9,            !- Thermal Absorptance
#> │─ 8 : 0.78,           !- Solar Absorptance
#> └─ 9 : 0.78;           !- Visible Absorptance
#> 
#> $`ROOF-1`
#> <IdfObject: 'Construction'> [ID:66] `ROOF-1`
#> Class: <Construction>
#> ├─ 1*: "ROOF-1",   !- Name
#> │─ 2*: "RG01",     !- Outside Layer
#> │─ 3 : "BR01",     !- Layer 2
#> │─ 4 : "IN46",     !- Layer 3
#> └─ 5 : "WD01";     !- Layer 4

If you want to get all objects in a single class, use $objects_in_class().

model$objects_in_class("Material")
#> $WD10
#> <IdfObject: 'Material'> [ID:43] `WD10`
#> Class: <Material>
#> ├─ 1*: "WD10",         !- Name
#> │─ 2*: "MediumSmooth", !- Roughness
#> │─ 3*: 0.667,          !- Thickness {m}
#> │─ 4*: 0.115,          !- Conductivity {W/m-K}
#> │─ 5*: 513,            !- Density {kg/m3}
#> │─ 6*: 1381,           !- Specific Heat {J/kg-K}
#> │─ 7 : 0.9,            !- Thermal Absorptance
#> │─ 8 : 0.78,           !- Solar Absorptance
#> └─ 9 : 0.78;           !- Visible Absorptance
#> 
#> $RG01
#> <IdfObject: 'Material'> [ID:44] `RG01`
#> Class: <Material>
#> ├─ 1*: "RG01",     !- Name
#> │─ 2*: "Rough",    !- Roughness
#> │─ 3*: 0.0127,     !- Thickness {m}
#> │─ 4*: 1.442,      !- Conductivity {W/m-K}
#> │─ 5*: 881,        !- Density {kg/m3}
#> │─ 6*: 1674,       !- Specific Heat {J/kg-K}
#> │─ 7 : 0.9,        !- Thermal Absorptance
#> │─ 8 : 0.65,       !- Solar Absorptance
#> └─ 9 : 0.65;       !- Visible Absorptance
#> 
#> $BR01
#> <IdfObject: 'Material'> [ID:45] `BR01`
#> Class: <Material>
#> ├─ 1*: "BR01",         !- Name
....

Also, you can get all objects in a single class using "$" or "[[". Class names can be given in underscore-style. For example, you can just use model$Material_NoMass instead of model$`Material:Nomass` to save some typing.

model$Material_NoMass
#> $CP01
#> <IdfObject: 'Material:NoMass'> [ID:53] `CP01`
#> Class: <Material:NoMass>
#> ├─ 1*: "CP01",     !- Name
#> │─ 2*: "Rough",    !- Roughness
#> │─ 3*: 0.367,      !- Thermal Resistance {m2-K/W}
#> │─ 4 : 0.9,        !- Thermal Absorptance
#> │─ 5 : 0.75,       !- Solar Absorptance
#> └─ 6 : 0.75;       !- Visible Absorptance
#> 
#> $`MAT-SB-U`
#> <IdfObject: 'Material:NoMass'> [ID:54] `MAT-SB-U`
#> Class: <Material:NoMass>
#> ├─ 1*: "MAT-SB-U",    !- Name
#> │─ 2*: "Rough",       !- Roughness
#> │─ 3*: 0.117406666,   !- Thermal Resistance {m2-K/W}
#> │─ 4 : 0.65,          !- Thermal Absorptance
#> │─ 5 : 0.65,          !- Solar Absorptance
#> └─ 6 : 0.65;          !- Visible Absorptance
#> 
#> $`MAT-CLNG-1`
#> <IdfObject: 'Material:NoMass'> [ID:55] `MAT-CLNG-1`
#> Class: <Material:NoMass>
#> ├─ 1*: "MAT-CLNG-1", !- Name
#> │─ 2*: "Rough",      !- Roughness
#> │─ 3*: 0.65225929,   !- Thermal Resistance {m2-K/W}
#> │─ 4 : 0.65,         !- Thermal Absorptance
#> │─ 5 : 0.65,         !- Solar Absorptance
#> └─ 6 : 0.65;         !- Visible Absorptance
#> 
....
# OR
# model[["Material_NoMass"]]

Based on the above, if you want to get the first object in class RunPeriod, you can simply run:

rp <- model$RunPeriod[[1]]

For unique object, such like SimulationControl and Building, you can use $object_unique() which returns a single IdfObject object.

model$object_unique("Building")
#> <IdfObject: 'Building'> [ID:3] `Building`
#> Class: <Building>
#> ├─ 1: "Building",     !- Name
#> │─ 2: 30,             !- North Axis {deg}
#> │─ 3: "City",         !- Terrain
#> │─ 4: 0.04,           !- Loads Convergence Tolerance Value {W}
#> │─ 5: 0.4,            !- Temperature Convergence Tolerance Value {deltaC}
#> │─ 6: "FullExterior", !- Solar Distribution
#> │─ 7: 25,             !- Maximum Number of Warmup Days
#> └─ 8: 6;              !- Minimum Number of Warmup Days

# OR just
# model$Building

Many fields in a model can be referred by others. For example, the Outside Layer and other fields in Construction class refer to the Name field in Material class and other material related classes. Here it means that the Outside Layer field refers to the Name field and the Name field is referred by the Outside Layer. $object_relation() provides a simple interface to get this kind of relation. It takes a single object ID or name and also a relation direction, and returns an IdfRelation object which contains data presenting such relation above.

model$object_name("Material:NoMass")
#> $`Material:NoMass`
#> [1] "CP01"        "MAT-SB-U"    "MAT-CLNG-1"  "MAT-FLOOR-1"
model$object_relation("mat-clng-1")
#> ── Refer to Others ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> Target(s) does not refer to any other field.
#> 
#> ── Referred by Others ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>  Class: <Material:NoMass>
#>  └─ Object [ID:55] <MAT-CLNG-1>
#>      └─ 1: "MAT-CLNG-1";  !- Name
#>         ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#>         └─ Class: <Construction>
#>            └─ Object [ID:68] <CLNG-1>
#>               └─ 2: "MAT-CLNG-1";  !- Outside Layer
#>     
#> 
#> ── Node Relation ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> Target(s) has no node or their nodes have no reference to other object.

Above shows that no-mass material MAT-CLNG-1 is used at the outside layer of a construction named CLNG-1. You can extract both of them using $objects_in_relation().

mat_const <- model$objects_in_relation("mat-clng-1", "ref_by")
mat_const
#> $`MAT-CLNG-1`
#> <IdfObject: 'Material:NoMass'> [ID:55] `MAT-CLNG-1`
#> Class: <Material:NoMass>
#> ├─ 1*: "MAT-CLNG-1", !- Name
#> │─ 2*: "Rough",      !- Roughness
#> │─ 3*: 0.65225929,   !- Thermal Resistance {m2-K/W}
#> │─ 4 : 0.65,         !- Thermal Absorptance
#> │─ 5 : 0.65,         !- Solar Absorptance
#> └─ 6 : 0.65;         !- Visible Absorptance
#> 
#> $`CLNG-1`
#> <IdfObject: 'Construction'> [ID:68] `CLNG-1`
#> Class: <Construction>
#> ├─ 1*: "CLNG-1",     !- Name
#> └─ 2*: "MAT-CLNG-1"; !- Outside Layer

After you get the objects, you can perform detailed modifications on them using methods $set() in both Idf and IdfObject class.

Similarly, you can use "$" and "[[" to get a single value in an IdfObject class or "[" to get multiple values just like normal lists in R.

rp$Begin_Day_of_Month
#> [1] 14

# OR
# rp[["Begin Day of Month"]]
# rp[[3]]

You can also make a chain.

model$RunPeriod$WinterDay$Begin_Day_of_Month
#> [1] 14

Modify object

There are two ways to modify objects in eplusr. One is using methods in Idf which works on multiple objects, and the other way is using methods in IdfObject which only works for a single object.

NOTE: Validations are performed during object modifications under different strictness level (none, draft, final or custom yours using custom_validate()). For detailed explanations, please see ?level_checks.

Object IDs will be appended after new objects are added, and the most-newly added object will always have the max ID. Object IDs will never be reused, even when their bound objects have been deleted.

Duplicate existing objects (`Idf$dup()`)

$dup() duplicates objects specified by object IDs or names. If the target classes have a name attribute, you can assign new names to the duplicated objects in form new_name = "old_name". If new name is not given, the newly added object will have the same name as the original object except a appended suffix of “1”, “2” and etc.

model$dup(c(my_roof = "ROOF-1", "ROOF-1", "WALL-1"))
#> New names of duplicated objects not given are automatically generated:
#>  #2| Object ID [324] in class 'Construction' --> New object name 'ROOF-1 1'
#>  #3| Object ID [325] in class 'Construction' --> New object name 'WALL-1 1'
#> $my_roof
#> <IdfObject: 'Construction'> [ID:323] `my_roof`
#> Class: <Construction>
#> ├─ 1*: "my_roof",  !- Name
#> │─ 2*: "RG01",     !- Outside Layer
#> │─ 3 : "BR01",     !- Layer 2
#> │─ 4 : "IN46",     !- Layer 3
#> └─ 5 : "WD01";     !- Layer 4
#> 
#> $`ROOF-1 1`
#> <IdfObject: 'Construction'> [ID:324] `ROOF-1 1`
#> Class: <Construction>
#> ├─ 1*: "ROOF-1 1", !- Name
#> │─ 2*: "RG01",     !- Outside Layer
#> │─ 3 : "BR01",     !- Layer 2
#> │─ 4 : "IN46",     !- Layer 3
#> └─ 5 : "WD01";     !- Layer 4
#> 
#> $`WALL-1 1`
#> <IdfObject: 'Construction'> [ID:325] `WALL-1 1`
#> Class: <Construction>
#> ├─ 1*: "WALL-1 1", !- Name
#> │─ 2*: "WD01",     !- Outside Layer
#> │─ 3 : "PW03",     !- Layer 2
#> │─ 4 : "IN02",     !- Layer 3
#> └─ 5 : "GP01";     !- Layer 4

Add new objects using lists (`Idf$add()`)

You can add new objects using $add(). With .default being TRUE, the default behavior, all empty fields are filled with default values, if possible. Only minimum fields will be added by default. But you can change it by setting .all to TRUE.

Fields can be given using either indices or names. Field index X is specified in format ..X. Field name can be given in underscore-style, e.g. all Begin Month, begin month and begin_month refer to the same field.

You can also add new comments alongside with new values using the special element .comment.

For example, here we add two new objects with comments in RunPeriod class:

rp1 <- list(RunPeriod = list("rp_test_1", 1, 1, NULL, 2, 1, .comment = c("Comment for new object 1", "Another comment")))

model$add(rp1,
  RunPeriod = .(name = "rp_test_2", begin_month = 3, begin_day_of_month = 1,
    ..5 = 4, ..6 = 1, .comment = "Comment for new object 2"
  )
)
#> $rp_test_1
#> <IdfObject: 'RunPeriod'> [ID:326] `rp_test_1`
#> ── COMMENTS ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> !Comment for new object 1
#> !Another comment
#> ── VALUES ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> Class: <RunPeriod>
#> ├─ 1*: "rp_test_1", !- Name
#> │─ 2*: 1,           !- Begin Month
#> │─ 3*: 1,           !- Begin Day of Month
#> │─ 4 : <Blank>,     !- Begin Year
#> │─ 5*: 2,           !- End Month
#> │─ 6*: 1,           !- End Day of Month
#> └─ 7 : <Blank>;     !- End Year
#> 
#> $rp_test_2
#> <IdfObject: 'RunPeriod'> [ID:327] `rp_test_2`
#> ── COMMENTS ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> !Comment for new object 2
#> ── VALUES ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> Class: <RunPeriod>
#> ├─ 1*: "rp_test_2", !- Name
#> │─ 2*: 3,           !- Begin Month
#> │─ 3*: 1,           !- Begin Day of Month
#> │─ 4 : <Blank>,     !- Begin Year
#> │─ 5*: 4,           !- End Month
#> │─ 6*: 1,           !- End Day of Month
#> └─ 7 : <Blank>;     !- End Year

Note that the use .() inside $add(). It is just an alias of list().

If you want to create multiple objects in one go, you can use :=, instead of =. For instance, below we create 3 materials. Note that field values with shorter length are automatically recycled.

model$add(Material := .(
  sprintf("mat%i", 1:3),
  c("Rough", "MediumSmooth", "Smooth"),
  c(0.05, 0.1, 0.2),
  0.72,
  c(1800, 1850, 1800),
  840
))
#> $mat1
#> <IdfObject: 'Material'> [ID:328] `mat1`
#> Class: <Material>
#> ├─ 1*: "mat1",     !- Name
#> │─ 2*: "Rough",    !- Roughness
#> │─ 3*: 0.05,       !- Thickness {m}
#> │─ 4*: 0.72,       !- Conductivity {W/m-K}
#> │─ 5*: 1800,       !- Density {kg/m3}
#> └─ 6*: 840;        !- Specific Heat {J/kg-K}
#> 
#> $mat2
#> <IdfObject: 'Material'> [ID:329] `mat2`
#> Class: <Material>
#> ├─ 1*: "mat2",         !- Name
#> │─ 2*: "MediumSmooth", !- Roughness
#> │─ 3*: 0.1,            !- Thickness {m}
#> │─ 4*: 0.72,           !- Conductivity {W/m-K}
#> │─ 5*: 1850,           !- Density {kg/m3}
#> └─ 6*: 840;            !- Specific Heat {J/kg-K}
#> 
#> $mat3
#> <IdfObject: 'Material'> [ID:330] `mat3`
#> Class: <Material>
#> ├─ 1*: "mat3",     !- Name
#> │─ 2*: "Smooth",   !- Roughness
#> │─ 3*: 0.2,        !- Thickness {m}
#> │─ 4*: 0.72,       !- Conductivity {W/m-K}
#> │─ 5*: 1800,       !- Density {kg/m3}
#> └─ 6*: 840;        !- Specific Heat {J/kg-K}

Set new values and comments using lists (`Idf$set()`)

Changing values of existing objects can be conducted using $set() in Idf and IdfObject:

Note that you can also use .() here as an alias of list().

model$set(
  rp_test_1 = .(name = "rp_test_3", begin_day_of_month = 2,
    .comment = c(format(Sys.Date()), "begin day has been changed.")
  )
)
#> $rp_test_3
#> <IdfObject: 'RunPeriod'> [ID:326] `rp_test_3`
#> ── COMMENTS ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> !2024-07-27
#> !begin day has been changed.
#> ── VALUES ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> Class: <RunPeriod>
#> ├─ 1*: "rp_test_3", !- Name
#> │─ 2*: 1,           !- Begin Month
#> │─ 3*: 2,           !- Begin Day of Month
#> │─ 4 : <Blank>,     !- Begin Year
#> │─ 5*: 2,           !- End Month
#> │─ 6*: 1,           !- End Day of Month
#> └─ 7 : <Blank>;     !- End Year

You can modify all objects in a class using class := list(...):

model$set(RunPeriod := .(
  ..8 = c("Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday"),
  ..10 = "No"
))
#> $WinterDay
#> <IdfObject: 'RunPeriod'> [ID:8] `WinterDay`
#> Class: <RunPeriod>
#> ├─ 01*: "WinterDay", !- Name
#> │─ 02*: 1,           !- Begin Month
#> │─ 03*: 14,          !- Begin Day of Month
#> │─ 04 : <Blank>,     !- Begin Year
#> │─ 05*: 1,           !- End Month
#> │─ 06*: 14,          !- End Day of Month
#> │─ 07 : <Blank>,     !- End Year
#> │─ 08 : "Monday",    !- Day of Week for Start Day
#> │─ 09 : "Yes",       !- Use Weather File Holidays and Special Days
#> │─ 10 : "No",        !- Use Weather File Daylight Saving Period
#> │─ 11 : "No",        !- Apply Weekend Holiday Rule
#> │─ 12 : "Yes",       !- Use Weather File Rain Indicators
#> └─ 13 : "Yes";       !- Use Weather File Snow Indicators
#> 
#> $SummerDay
#> <IdfObject: 'RunPeriod'> [ID:9] `SummerDay`
#> Class: <RunPeriod>
#> ├─ 01*: "SummerDay", !- Name
#> │─ 02*: 7,           !- Begin Month
#> │─ 03*: 7,           !- Begin Day of Month
#> │─ 04 : <Blank>,     !- Begin Year
#> │─ 05*: 7,           !- End Month
#> │─ 06*: 7,           !- End Day of Month
#> │─ 07 : <Blank>,     !- End Year
#> │─ 08 : "Tuesday",   !- Day of Week for Start Day
#> │─ 09 : "Yes",       !- Use Weather File Holidays and Special Days
#> │─ 10 : "No",        !- Use Weather File Daylight Saving Period
#> │─ 11 : "No",        !- Apply Weekend Holiday Rule
#> │─ 12 : "Yes",       !- Use Weather File Rain Indicators
#> └─ 13 : "Yes";       !- Use Weather File Snow Indicators
#> 
#> $rp_test_3
#> <IdfObject: 'RunPeriod'> [ID:326] `rp_test_3`
#> ── COMMENTS ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> !2024-07-27
#> !begin day has been changed.
#> ── VALUES ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> Class: <RunPeriod>
#> ├─ 01*: "rp_test_3", !- Name
#> │─ 02*: 1,           !- Begin Month
#> │─ 03*: 2,           !- Begin Day of Month
#> │─ 04 : <Blank>,     !- Begin Year
#> │─ 05*: 2,           !- End Month
#> │─ 06*: 1,           !- End Day of Month
#> │─ 07 : <Blank>,     !- End Year
#> │─ 08 : "Wednesday", !- Day of Week for Start Day
#> │─ 09 : <"Blank">,   !- Use Weather File Holidays and Special Days
#> └─ 10 : "No";        !- Use Weather File Daylight Saving Period
#> 
#> $rp_test_2
#> <IdfObject: 'RunPeriod'> [ID:327] `rp_test_2`
#> ── COMMENTS ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> !Comment for new object 2
#> ── VALUES ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> Class: <RunPeriod>
#> ├─ 01*: "rp_test_2", !- Name
#> │─ 02*: 3,           !- Begin Month
#> │─ 03*: 1,           !- Begin Day of Month
#> │─ 04 : <Blank>,     !- Begin Year
#> │─ 05*: 4,           !- End Month
#> │─ 06*: 1,           !- End Day of Month
#> │─ 07 : <Blank>,     !- End Year
#> │─ 08 : "Thursday",  !- Day of Week for Start Day
#> │─ 09 : <"Blank">,   !- Use Weather File Holidays and Special Days
#> └─ 10 : "No";        !- Use Weather File Daylight Saving Period

If the target class is store as a variable, e.g. cls <- "RunPeriod", you can input it inside ..(), i.e. model$set(..(cls) := list(...))

Multiple objects can be grouped inside .() or c():

model$set(.("WinterDay", "SummerDay") := .(..10 = "Yes"))
#> $WinterDay
#> <IdfObject: 'RunPeriod'> [ID:8] `WinterDay`
#> Class: <RunPeriod>
#> ├─ 01*: "WinterDay", !- Name
#> │─ 02*: 1,           !- Begin Month
#> │─ 03*: 14,          !- Begin Day of Month
#> │─ 04 : <Blank>,     !- Begin Year
#> │─ 05*: 1,           !- End Month
#> │─ 06*: 14,          !- End Day of Month
#> │─ 07 : <Blank>,     !- End Year
#> │─ 08 : "Monday",    !- Day of Week for Start Day
#> │─ 09 : "Yes",       !- Use Weather File Holidays and Special Days
#> │─ 10 : "Yes",       !- Use Weather File Daylight Saving Period
#> │─ 11 : "No",        !- Apply Weekend Holiday Rule
#> │─ 12 : "Yes",       !- Use Weather File Rain Indicators
#> └─ 13 : "Yes";       !- Use Weather File Snow Indicators
#> 
#> $SummerDay
#> <IdfObject: 'RunPeriod'> [ID:9] `SummerDay`
#> Class: <RunPeriod>
#> ├─ 01*: "SummerDay", !- Name
#> │─ 02*: 7,           !- Begin Month
#> │─ 03*: 7,           !- Begin Day of Month
#> │─ 04 : <Blank>,     !- Begin Year
#> │─ 05*: 7,           !- End Month
#> │─ 06*: 7,           !- End Day of Month
#> │─ 07 : <Blank>,     !- End Year
#> │─ 08 : "Tuesday",   !- Day of Week for Start Day
#> │─ 09 : "Yes",       !- Use Weather File Holidays and Special Days
#> │─ 10 : "Yes",       !- Use Weather File Daylight Saving Period
#> │─ 11 : "No",        !- Apply Weekend Holiday Rule
#> │─ 12 : "Yes",       !- Use Weather File Rain Indicators
#> └─ 13 : "Yes";       !- Use Weather File Snow Indicators

For setting a single value on one object, you can write it in a chain:

(model$RunPeriod$rp_test_2$End_Day_of_Month <- 2)
#> [1] 2

Also, if the modified fields are referenced by fields in other objects, the corresponding fields will also be updated.

mat <- model$Material$CC03

mat$value_relation("Name")
#> ── Refer to Others ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> Target(s) does not refer to any other field.
#> 
#> ── Referred by Others ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>  Class: <Material>
#>  └─ Object [ID:52] <CC03>
#>      └─ 1: "CC03";        !- Name
#>         ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#>         └─ Class: <Construction>
#>            └─ Object [ID:69] <FLOOR-SLAB-1>
#>               └─ 2: "CC03";        !- Outside Layer
#>     
#> 
#> ── Node Relation ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> Target(s) has no node or their nodes have no reference to other object.

mat$set(name = "CC03_renamed")
#> <IdfObject: 'Material'> [ID:52] `CC03_renamed`
#> Class: <Material>
#> ├─ 1*: "CC03_renamed", !- Name
#> │─ 2*: "MediumRough",  !- Roughness
#> │─ 3*: 0.1016,         !- Thickness {m}
#> │─ 4*: 1.31,           !- Conductivity {W/m-K}
#> │─ 5*: 2243,           !- Density {kg/m3}
#> │─ 6*: 837,            !- Specific Heat {J/kg-K}
#> │─ 7 : 0.9,            !- Thermal Absorptance
#> │─ 8 : 0.65,           !- Solar Absorptance
#> └─ 9 : 0.65;           !- Visible Absorptance

mat$value_relation("Name")
#> ── Refer to Others ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> Target(s) does not refer to any other field.
#> 
#> ── Referred by Others ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>  Class: <Material>
#>  └─ Object [ID:52] <CC03_renamed>
#>      └─ 1: "CC03_renamed";!- Name
#>         ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#>         └─ Class: <Construction>
#>            └─ Object [ID:69] <FLOOR-SLAB-1>
#>               └─ 2: "CC03_renamed";!- Outside Layer
#>     
#> 
#> ── Node Relation ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> Target(s) has no node or their nodes have no reference to other object.

Sometimes, you may want to get all possible values of fields before you change them. You can achieve that by using $value_possible() method in IdfObject class.

mat$value_possible(c(2, 7))
#> ── 2: Roughness ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> * Auto value: <NA>
#> * Default: <NA>
#> * Choice:
#>   - "VeryRough"
#>   - "Rough"
#>   - "MediumRough"
#>   - "MediumSmooth"
#>   - "Smooth"
#>   - "......"
#> * Source: <NA>
#> 
#> ── 7: Thermal Absorptance ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> * Auto value: <NA>
#> * Default: 0.9
#> * Choice: <NA>
#> * Source: <NA>

Insert objects from another IDF (`Idf$insert()`)

Sometimes it may be useful to insert objects from other IDFs. For example, you may want to import some design days and update location data from a “.ddy” file. You can achieve that using $insert().

# read ddy file as normal IDF
path_ddy <- path_eplus_weather("23.1", "USA_CA_San.Francisco.Intl.AP.724940_TMY3.ddy")
ddy <- read_idf(path_ddy, idd = model$version(), encoding = "Latin-1")

model$insert(ddy$SizingPeriod_DesignDay)
#> $`San Francisco Intl Ap Ann Htg 99.6% Condns DB`
#> <IdfObject: 'SizingPeriod:DesignDay'> [ID:331] `San Francisco Intl Ap Ann Htg 99.6% Condns DB`
#> ── COMMENTS ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> ! Using Design Conditions from "Climate Design Data 2009 ASHRAE Handbook"
#> ! San Francisco Intl Ap_CA_USA Extreme Annual Wind Speeds, 1%=12.8m/s, 2.5%=11.…
#> ! San Francisco Intl Ap_CA_USA Extreme Annual Temperatures, Max Drybulb=1.8°C M…
#> ! San Francisco Intl Ap_CA_USA Annual Heating Design Conditions Wind Speed=2.2m…
#> ! Coldest Month=JAN
#> ! San Francisco Intl Ap_CA_USA Annual Heating 99.6%, MaxDB=3.8°C
#> ── VALUES ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> Class: <SizingPeriod:DesignDay>
#> ├─ 01*: "San Francisco Intl Ap Ann Htg 99.6% Condns DB",  !- Name
#> │─ 02*: 1,                  !- Month
#> │─ 03*: 21,                 !- Day of Month
#> │─ 04*: "WinterDesignDay",  !- Day Type
#> │─ 05 : 3.8,                !- Maximum Dry-Bulb Temperature {C}
#> │─ 06 : 0,                  !- Daily Dry-Bulb Temperature Range {deltaC}
#> │─ 07 : "DefaultMultipliers",  !- Dry-Bulb Temperature Range Modifier Type
#> │─ 08 : <"Blank">,          !- Dry-Bulb Temperature Range Modifier Day Schedule…
#> │─ 09 : "Wetbulb",          !- Humidity Condition Type
....

# get location data
loc <- ddy$Site_Location$value()

model$Site_Location$set(loc)
#> <IdfObject: 'Site:Location'> [ID:10] `San Francisco Intl Ap_CA_USA Design_Conditions`
#> Class: <Site:Location>
#> ├─ 1*: "San Francisco Intl Ap_CA_USA Design_Conditions",  !- Name
#> │─ 2 : 37.62,              !- Latitude {deg}
#> │─ 3 : -122.4,             !- Longitude {deg}
#> │─ 4 : -8,                 !- Time Zone {hr}
#> └─ 5 : 2;                  !- Elevation {m}

Load objects using characters or data.frames (`Idf$load()`)

Here load means insert. You can use character vectors or data.frames to load new objects.

mat_chr <- c("Construction,", "new_const1,", paste0(model$Material[[1]]$name(), ";"))
model$load(mat_chr)
#> $new_const1
#> <IdfObject: 'Construction'> [ID:349] `new_const1`
#> Class: <Construction>
#> ├─ 1*: "new_const1", !- Name
#> └─ 2*: "WD10";       !- Outside Layer

# extract first construction data in a data.table
dt <- model$Construction[[1L]]$to_table()
# modify value
dt[1, value := "new_const2"]
model$load(dt)
#> $new_const2
#> <IdfObject: 'Construction'> [ID:350] `new_const2`
#> Class: <Construction>
#> ├─ 1*: "new_const2", !- Name
#> │─ 2*: "RG01",       !- Outside Layer
#> │─ 3 : "BR01",       !- Layer 2
#> │─ 4 : "IN46",       !- Layer 3
#> └─ 5 : "WD01";       !- Layer 4

The relation is automatically generated whenever new fields are added or modified.

model$object_relation("new_const1")
#> ── Refer to Others ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>  Class: <Construction>
#>  └─ Object [ID:349] <new_const1>
#>      └─ 2: "WD10";        !- Outside Layer
#>         v~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#>         └─ Class: <Material>
#>            └─ Object [ID:43] <WD10>
#>               └─ 1: "WD10";        !- Name
#>     
#> 
#> ── Referred by Others ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> Target(s) is not referred by any other field.
#> 
#> ── Node Relation ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> Target(s) has no node or their nodes have no reference to other object.
model$object_relation("new_const2")
#> ── Refer to Others ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>  Class: <Construction>
#>  └─ Object [ID:350] <new_const2>
#>     ├─ 2: "RG01",        !- Outside Layer
#>     │  v~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#>     │  └─ Class: <Material>
#>     │     └─ Object [ID:44] <RG01>
#>     │        └─ 1: "RG01";        !- Name
#>     │  
#>     ├─ 3: "BR01",        !- Layer 2
#>     │  v~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#>     │  └─ Class: <Material>
#>     │     └─ Object [ID:45] <BR01>
#>     │        └─ 1: "BR01";        !- Name
#>     │  
#>     ├─ 4: "IN46",        !- Layer 3
#>     │  v~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#>     │  └─ Class: <Material>
#>     │     └─ Object [ID:46] <IN46>
#>     │        └─ 1: "IN46";        !- Name
#>     │  
#>     └─ 5: "WD01";        !- Layer 4
#>        v~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#>        └─ Class: <Material>
#>           └─ Object [ID:47] <WD01>
#>              └─ 1: "WD01";        !- Name
#>        
#> 
#> ── Referred by Others ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> Target(s) is not referred by any other field.
#> 
#> ── Node Relation ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> Target(s) has no node or their nodes have no reference to other object.

Update objects using characters or data.frames (`Idf$update()`)

Here update means set. You can use character vectors or data.frames to update existing objects.

mat_chr <- model$Material$WD10$to_string()
# change material density
mat_chr[6] <- "600,"
model$update(mat_chr)
#> $WD10
#> <IdfObject: 'Material'> [ID:43] `WD10`
#> Class: <Material>
#> ├─ 1*: "WD10",         !- Name
#> │─ 2*: "MediumSmooth", !- Roughness
#> │─ 3*: 0.667,          !- Thickness {m}
#> │─ 4*: 0.115,          !- Conductivity {W/m-K}
#> │─ 5*: 600,            !- Density {kg/m3}
#> │─ 6*: 1381,           !- Specific Heat {J/kg-K}
#> │─ 7 : 0.9,            !- Thermal Absorptance
#> │─ 8 : 0.78,           !- Solar Absorptance
#> └─ 9 : 0.78;           !- Visible Absorptance

# extract roof construction data in a data.table
dt <- model$Construction$`ROOF-1`$to_table()
# modify value
dt[1, value := "ROOF"]
model$update(dt)
#> $ROOF
#> <IdfObject: 'Construction'> [ID:66] `ROOF`
#> Class: <Construction>
#> ├─ 1*: "ROOF",     !- Name
#> │─ 2*: "RG01",     !- Outside Layer
#> │─ 3 : "BR01",     !- Layer 2
#> │─ 4 : "IN46",     !- Layer 3
#> └─ 5 : "WD01";     !- Layer 4

Delete existing objects (`Idf$del()`)

$del() will delete objects specified by object IDs or names. For example, in current model, there is a material named "MAT-CLNG-1" in class Material:NoMass. Let’s see if it has been referred by other objects.

model$Material_NoMass$`MAT-CLNG-1`$value_relation()
#> ── Refer to Others ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> Target(s) does not refer to any other field.
#> 
#> ── Referred by Others ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>  Class: <Material:NoMass>
#>  └─ Object [ID:55] <MAT-CLNG-1>
#>      └─ 1: "MAT-CLNG-1";  !- Name
#>         ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#>         └─ Class: <Construction>
#>            └─ Object [ID:68] <CLNG-1>
#>               └─ 2: "MAT-CLNG-1";  !- Outside Layer
#>     
#> 
#> ── Node Relation ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#> Target(s) has no node or their nodes have no reference to other object.

As we can see, MAT-CLNG-1 has been referred by a construction named "CLNG-1".

First, let’s try to direct delete Material MAT-CLNG-1.

model$del("mat-clng-1")
#> Error: Cannot delete object(s) that are referred by others:
#> 
#>   Class: <Material:NoMass>
#>   └─ Object [ID:55] <MAT-CLNG-1>
#>       └─ 1: "MAT-CLNG-1";  !- Name
#>          ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#>          └─ Class: <Construction>
#>             └─ Object [ID:68] <CLNG-1>
#>                └─ 2: "MAT-CLNG-1";  !- Outside Layer
#>

We got an error, because directly deleting MAT-CLNG-1 will introduce invalid reference in Construction CLNG-1.

In some cases, you may still want to delete that object. You can achieve this by setting .force to TRUE.

model$del("mat-clng-1", .force = TRUE)
#> Deleting object(s) [ID: 55]
#> 
#> Object relation is shown below:
#>  ── Referred by Others ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>   Class: <Material:NoMass>
#>   └─ Object [ID:55] <MAT-CLNG-1>
#>       └─ 1: "MAT-CLNG-1";  !- Name
#>          ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#>          └─ Class: <Construction>
#>             └─ Object [ID:68] <CLNG-1>
#>                └─ 2: "MAT-CLNG-1";  !- Outside Layer
#>      
#>

Purge unused resource objects (`Idf$purge()`)

$purge() will delete resource objects specified that are not used by any objects. Resource objects refer to objects that can be referenced by other objects, e.g. Material, Construction, Schedule:Compact and etc.

Below we remove all schedules that are not currently used.

model$purge(group = "Schedules")
#> Object(s) below have been purged:
#>  #1| Object ID [18] (name 'On/Off') in class 'ScheduleTypeLimits'
#>  #2| Object ID [19] (name 'FlowRate') in class 'ScheduleTypeLimits'

Find and remove duplicates (`Idf$duplicated()` & `Idf$unique()`)

$duplicatd() and $unique() can be used to detect and remove duplicated objects, respectively. Here duplicated objects refer to objects whose field values are the same except the names. Object comments are ignored during comparison. These two methods can be useful when doing model cleaning.

print(model$duplicated(group = "Schedules"))
#>                  class    id                               name duplicate
#>                 <char> <int>                             <char>     <int>
#>  1: ScheduleTypeLimits    14                         Any Number        NA
#>  2: ScheduleTypeLimits    15                           Fraction        NA
#>  3: ScheduleTypeLimits    16                        Temperature        NA
#>  4: ScheduleTypeLimits    17                       Control Type        NA
#>  5:   Schedule:Compact    20                           OCCUPY-1        NA
#>  6:   Schedule:Compact    21                           LIGHTS-1        NA
#>  7:   Schedule:Compact    22                            EQUIP-1        NA
#>  8:   Schedule:Compact    23                          INFIL-SCH        NA
#>  9:   Schedule:Compact    24                            ActSchd        NA
#> 10:   Schedule:Compact    25                      ShadeTransSch        NA
#> 11:   Schedule:Compact    26                       Htg-SetP-Sch        NA
#> 12:   Schedule:Compact    27                 PlenumHtg-SetP-Sch        NA
#> 13:   Schedule:Compact    28                       Clg-SetP-Sch        NA
#> 14:   Schedule:Compact    29                 PlenumClg-SetP-Sch        NA
#> 15:   Schedule:Compact    30            Zone Control Type Sched        NA
#> 16:   Schedule:Compact    31                       Min OA Sched        NA
#> 17:   Schedule:Compact    32                      FanAvailSched        NA
#> 18:   Schedule:Compact    33              CoolingCoilAvailSched        NA
#> 19:   Schedule:Compact    34              CoolingPumpAvailSched        NA
#> 20:   Schedule:Compact    35               ReheatCoilAvailSched        32
#> 21:   Schedule:Compact    36              CW Loop Temp Schedule        NA
#> 22:   Schedule:Compact    37              HW Loop Temp Schedule        NA
#> 23:   Schedule:Compact    38                       PlantOnSched        34
#> 24:   Schedule:Compact    39 Seasonal Reset Supply Air Temp Sch        NA
#> 25:   Schedule:Compact    40     OA Cooling Supply Air Temp Sch        NA
#> 26:   Schedule:Compact    41     OA Heating Supply Air Temp Sch        NA
#> 27:   Schedule:Compact    42                          Always On        34
#>                  class    id                               name duplicate

model$unique(group = "Schedules")
#> Duplications for object ID [32] (name 'FanAvailSched') in class 'Schedule:Compact' have been removed:
#>   #1| Object ID [35] (name 'ReheatCoilAvailSched')
#> 
#> Duplications for object ID [34] (name 'CoolingPumpAvailSched') in class 'Schedule:Compact' have been removed:
#>   #1| Object ID [38] (name 'PlantOnSched')
#>   #2| Object ID [42] (name 'Always On')

Paste objects from IDF Editor (`Idf$paste()`)

Once an IDF file is opened in IDF Editor, you can copy objects by clicking the Copy Obj button in IDF Editor, and use $paste() to insert those objects into current Idf. Note that IDF Editor only exists on Windows, which means that $paste() will also work only on that platform.

Check possible field errors (`Idf$validate()`)

$validate() checks if there are any errors in current Idf under specified validation level. You can customize what kind of errors to check by changing the level argument. The default validation level is equal to eplusr_option("validate_level").

There are 10 different validation check components in total. Three predefined validation level are included, i.e. "none", "draft" and "final". To get what validation components those levels contain, use level_checks().

eplusr_option("validate_level")
#> [1] "final"
str(level_checks("final"))
#> List of 10
#>  $ required_object: logi TRUE
#>  $ unique_object  : logi TRUE
#>  $ unique_name    : logi TRUE
#>  $ extensible     : logi TRUE
#>  $ required_field : logi TRUE
#>  $ auto_field     : logi TRUE
#>  $ type           : logi TRUE
#>  $ choice         : logi TRUE
#>  $ range          : logi TRUE
#>  $ reference      : logi TRUE

In the previous section, we deleted a material named MAT-CLNG-1.

The final validation level turns all checking components on. We can just trigger invalid reference checking using custom_validate() function.

model$validate(custom_validate(reference = TRUE))
#>  ✖ [1] Errors found during validation.
#> ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
#> 
#> ── [1] Invalid Reference ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>    Fields below are not one of valid references:
#> 
#>     Class: <Construction>
#>     └─ Object [ID:68] <CLNG-1>
#>        └─ 2: "MAT-CLNG-1";  !- Outside Layer
#>

As we can see, the invalid reference in construction CLNG-1 is successfully detected.

In this example, we already knows that CLNG-1 is the invalid object. In many cases, we don’t know that information in advance. As $validate() returns a list of data.tables, we can extract invalid objects for different types directly using $validate(). Below we extract all objects that have invalid reference errors.

(id <- model$validate()$invalid_reference$object_id)
#> [1] 68
model$objects(id)
#> $`CLNG-1`
#> <IdfObject: 'Construction'> [ID:68] `CLNG-1`
#> Class: <Construction>
#> ├─ 1*: "CLNG-1",     !- Name
#> └─ 2*: "MAT-CLNG-1"; !- Outside Layer

Then we can use $set() to correct them. We can get all possible values for field Outside Layer using $value_possible() method in IdfObject class.

model$object(id)$value_possible("Outside Layer")$source
#> [[1]]
#>  [1] "WD10"          "RG01"          "BR01"          "IN46"         
#>  [5] "WD01"          "PW03"          "IN02"          "GP01"         
#>  [9] "GP02"          "CC03_renamed"  "mat1"          "mat2"         
#> [13] "mat3"          "CP01"          "MAT-SB-U"      "MAT-FLOOR-1"  
#> [17] "AL21"          "AL23"          "CLEAR 3MM"     "GREY 3MM"     
#> [21] "CLEAR 6MM"     "LoE CLEAR 6MM" "AIR 6MM"       "AIR 13MM"     
#> [25] "ARGON 13MM"

Now let’s change the construction’s Outside Layer to WD10.

model$object(id)$set(Outside_Layer = "WD10")
#> <IdfObject: 'Construction'> [ID:68] `CLNG-1`
#> Class: <Construction>
#> ├─ 1*: "CLNG-1",   !- Name
#> └─ 2*: "WD10";     !- Outside Layer

Save to an IDF file (`Idf$save()`)

You can save your model using $save(). If no path is given, the path of model itself will be used. This may overwrite the current file which has a risk of losing your original file and data. You have to set overwrite to TRUE to confirm the process.

(model$save(tempfile(fileext = ".idf")))
#> [1] "/tmp/Rtmp3XcBrZ/file1ec4519092b.idf"

model$save(overwrite = TRUE)
#> Replace the existing IDF located at /tmp/Rtmp3XcBrZ/file1ec4519092b.idf.

Summary

So far we have went through core methods in Idf class to modify an IDF file and save the results.

Let’s turn our attention to run EnergyPlus simulations in the next vignette “Run simulation and data exploration”.

Hongyuan Jia

2024-07-27

Class structure

Preparation

Locate EnergyPlus

Download EnergyPlus IDD

Read and parse IDF

Methods in Idf class

Basic Info

Class definition

Get object

Modify object

Duplicate existing objects (Idf$dup())

Add new objects using lists (Idf$add())

Set new values and comments using lists (Idf$set())

Insert objects from another IDF (Idf$insert())

Load objects using characters or data.frames (Idf$load())

Update objects using characters or data.frames (Idf$update())

Delete existing objects (Idf$del())

Purge unused resource objects (Idf$purge())

Find and remove duplicates (Idf$duplicated() & Idf$unique())

Paste objects from IDF Editor (Idf$paste())

Check possible field errors (Idf$validate())

Save to an IDF file (Idf$save())