VFE and VBE Saving Suggestion

[wnijs]

A suggestion for both VFE and VBE.

 

When I create a set or when choosing commodities, for example by excluding some commodities, VEDA ends up with a list of chosen commodities.

I have the problem that with a limited commodity list, I cannot combine for example COST_ACT (a commodity independent attribute) with VAR_FOUT (commodity based attribute).

 

It would be helpful to have the possibility to select a “-“ commodity in the table definition, like it is possible in the results table of VBE and VFE (but not possible to save).

 

Is it possible to include “-“ commodity, both in the selection criteria of VFE and VBE ?

This would help the saving of useful tables. Other ideas to solve the problem are welcome.

Wouter

[Gary]

Hey Wouter,

That's what the "Include nulls" checkbox is for on the bottom left of the Table specification form - above New Table.

Gary

[wnijs]

Thanks, Gary.

I completely forgot this facility for VBE.
What about VFE (where today I disovered my problem) ?

Wouter

[Gary]

nope, nothing in VFE for this.

[AKanudia]

I guess you are trying to do some fancy browsing using sets that have been defined in VBE. The BE sets support was added mainly so that these sets could be used in scenario files. Simple browsing is OK, but they easily break the browser with combinations of browse filters. I can put this on a lower priority todo list.

And while it is very convenient to use BE sets in FE scenario files (transformation tables in general), it is a less robust approach compared to explicit filters:

• The connection between BE and FE is not very tight and BE does not know that a particular set has been used by FE. You may edit/delete a set in VBE not realizing its implicaitons on the FE scenario files.
• Using BE sets in scenario files makes them less readable as you may not remember the precise definition of your set. I find explicit filters easier to read.
• You have to remember to include this file if you are sharing your model with others. Others may not be as careful with their BE sets as you are. FE does issue a warning is a set definition is not found, but it will not tell you if it has changed.

All these problems exist because sets management is a VBE responsibility at this point. I have been contemplating a separate application that would be called by both FE and BE for this purpose. I would probably start using such sets in scenario files if this concept materializes.