WaterCAD uses an assortment of data, input, and output files. It is important to understand which are essential, which are temporary holding places for results and which must be transmitted when sending a model to another user. In general, the model is contained in a file with the wtg.sqlite (WaterGEMS, WaterCAD, HAMMER) or stsw.sqlite (SewerGEMS, SewerCAD, StormCAD, CivilStorm) extension. This file contains essentially all of the information needed to run the model. This file can be zipped to dramatically reduce its size for moving the file.

The .wtg (or .stsw) file and the drawing file (.dwh, dgn, dwg or .sqlite) file contain user supplied data that makes it easier to view the model and should also be zipped and transmitted with the model when moving the model.

Other files found with the model are results files. These can be regenerated by running the model again. In general these are binary files which can only be read by the model. Saving these files makes it easy to look at results without the need to re- compute the model. Because they can be easily regenerated, these files can be deleted to save space on the storage media.

When archiving a model at the end of the study, usually only the *.wtg.sqlite/stsw.sqlite, *.wtg/.stsw files, and the platform specific supporting files (*.dwh, *.dgn, *.dwg or *.sqlite) need to be saved. The file extensions are explained below:

• .bak - backup files of the model files
• .cri - results of criticality analysis
• .dgn - drawing file for MicroStation platform
• .dwg - drawing file for AutoCAD platform
• .dwh - drawing file for stand alone platform
• .mdb - access database file for ArcGIS platform
• .nrg - results of energy calculations
• .osm - outage segmentation results
• .out - primary output file from hydraulic and water quality analyses

  .swm - primary output file from SWMM solver

  .sw2 - secondary output file from SWMM solver

  .map - auxillary output file from SWMM solver

  .rpt – report file data generate by SWMM solver

  .alm – result file with cache of data used by Alerts

  .fin – result file generate by 2D calculations

  .hdf5 – result file of gridded values from 2D calculations

  .srb – auxillary output file from 2D calculations

  .srm – tertiary output file from 2D calculations

  .out.fl - output file from flushing analysis

• .out - primary output file from hydraulic and water quality analyses
• .out.fl - output file from flushing analysis
• .rpc - report file from hydraulic analysis with user notifications
• .seg - results of segmentation analysis
• wtg.sqlite - main model file
• .wtg/.stsw - display settings (e.g. color coding, annotation)
• .xml - xml files, generally libraries, window and other settings. Some modules like ModelBuilder also use .xml files to store settings independent of the main model.
• .hof - results of transient analysis used by the transient results viewer
• .hmr - results of transient analysis
• .hut - transient analysis output log
• .rpt - transient analysis detailed report file
• .lbf - LoadBuilder configuration file

Using the Custom Results File Path Option

When the Specify Custom Results File Path option (found under Tools > Options > Hydraulic Model Tab) is on for the hydraulic model, the result files will be stored in the custom path specified when the hydraulic model is closed. When the hydraulic model is open, most of the applicable result files (if any) will be moved (not copied) to the temporary directory to be worked on. All the result files, but those resulting from 2D calculations, will then be moved back to the custom directory when the hydraulic model is closed.

The advantages of this are that moving a file on disk is very quick, as opposed to copying a file, which can be very slow. Also, if you have your hydraulic model stored on a network drive and you specify a custom results path on your local disk, then you will avoid network transfer times as well. The disadvantages are that, should the program crash or the hydraulic model somehow doesn’t close properly, then the results files will not be moved back and will be lost.

If you then wish to share these results files with another user of the model, you can use the Copy Results To Hydraulic Model Directory command (Tools > Database Utilities > Copy Results To Hydraulic Model Directory) to copy the results files to the saved location of the model. The user receiving the files may then use the Update Results From Hydraulic Model Directory command (Tools > Database Utilities > Update Results From Hydraulic Model Directory) to copy the results files from the hydraulic model directory to their custom results file path.

Drag-and-drop File Open

You can open model files by simply dragging them (from Windows Explorer, for example) into the application window (stand alone version only). You can drag either the .wtg or the .sqlite associated with the model.

You can drag multiple files into the application at once. All files must be of a valid type (.wtg./stsw or .sqlite) for this to work.