See Also
The ability to access power system data for different objects through various Simulator Automation Server functions is based on variables defined in Simulator that can be referred to as Object Field Variables. Each object (i.e. bus, generator, etc.) can have numerous fields associated with it. Each of these fields, in turn, has a variable associated with the field to enable access to the field for the purpose of acquiring or changing data. For example, the GetParameters function has a parameter called ParamList, which is intended to store a list of Object Field Variables for a particular type of object. When the function is called, the Simulator Automation Server will return the values associated with each particular field variable for the type of object specified. These field variables allow for complete flexibility by the user in specifying as many or as few fields for a particular object when acquiring or changing data.
Examples of Field Variables
PWBusGenMW
PWBusNum
Simulator has literally hundreds of parameters spanning numerous types of device and option specifications. Rather than list all of the field variables and the value they represent in this help file, we have enabled Simulator to automatically generate a text file containing the field variables and a description of what value the variable represents. PowerWorld Corporation highly recommends that you examine this list. To generate this text file, run PowerWorld Simulator and access the Help menu. Choose the option Export Object Fields… Specify a file name and location for saving the file, and click Save. Simulator will save out the field variables, the type of variable (string, integer, etc.), and a description of the value the field variable represents, with key fields for different objects marked with an asterisk. The field variables will also be split into sections based on the type of object they are valid for. Note that the same field variable may be available for more than one object, but that the value represented by the field variable might vary for different objects.
Examples of Field Variables in Listing
PwBusGenMW Real 'Bus Gen MW'
* PwBusNum Integer 'Bus Number' (* denotes key field in text file)
ATC_MaxLimElements Integer 'Max # Limiting Elements'
The last note on the Object Field Variables is that some of the object field variables are reused for more than one value for an object. For example, a transmission line has "from" and "to" buses associated with the line. Rather than have separate field variables for values at each terminal bus, the same field variable is used for both, with a colon followed by a number appended to the variable to signify which bus the value represents. As an example, consider the field variable for bus per unit voltage, which is PWBusPUVolt. Since there are two buses per line, the "From" bus voltage would be represented as PWBusPUVolt:0, and the "To" bus voltage would be represented as PWBusPUVolt:1. The enumeration of the field variables always starts with 0 for the first instance. You may note that in the text file of field values that you don't see any field variables with :0 appended to them. Since we did not want you to have to always append the :0 on all field variables, the default for a field variable with no appended :# is 0. Thus you would only need to be concerned with appending the :# for field variables that require a number greater than 0.