PLEXOS 7.000 Release Notes

1. Upgrade Compatibility
   1. Deprecated Classes
      1. Escalator -> Variable
      2. Condition - > Variable
      3. Escalated Condition Properties -> Variable
      4. Variable Condition Properties -> Variable
2. Features
   1. The Variable Class
   2. Templates
   3. Generic Lists
3. User Interface

Released

June 2, 2014

Previous Version

6.400

Next Version

7.100

1. Upgrade Compatibility

PLEXOS 7 will upgrade Version 6 databases automatically.

NOTE: At the time of writing the converted databases are not backwardly compatible with PLEXOS 6.

The feature set of this version is directly comparable to 6.302.

1.1. Deprecated Classes

The following classes have now been deprecated: - Escalator - Condition

The functionality of these classes have been merged into the variable class.The conversion rules are as follows:

1.1.1. Escalator -> Variable

• Create a variable object with its name based on the escalator object name (e.g. "Escalator {escalator name}")
• Convert the Escalator [Index] data into Variable [Profile] data
• Update all properties which were tagged with this escalator with the new variable object, while setting the "Action" field to "Multiply" (x).

1.1.2. Condition -> Variable

• Create a variable object with its name based on the condition object name (e.g. "Condition {condition name}")
• Convert:
  1. Condition [Sense] attribute to Variable [Condition]
  2. Condition [Is Active] attribute to Variable [Profile] (0 or -1)
  3. Condition [RHS] attribute to Variable [Profile]
  4. Condition [Condition Logic] to Variable [Condition Logic]
• Update all properties which were tagged with this escalator with the new variable object, while setting the "Action" field to "Test" (?).
• Copy all Condition . "X" memberships to Variable . "X" memberships

1.1.3. Escalated Condition Properties -> Variable

The old classes allow for a combination of both escalators and conditions, so these need to be handled separately. The conversion rules here are:

• Create a variable object with its name based on the condition/escalator name (e.g. "{escalator name}*{condition name}")
• Update all properties which were tagged with this combination with the following expression: if({condition name}, {variable name})

For example, if we had the following PLEXOS 6 data:

Class	Name	Category
Region	Australia	-
Escalator	Incr	-
Condition	IsOn	-

Collection	Name	Property	Value	Units	Escalator	Condition
Region	Australia	Load	100	MW	Incr	IsOn

Then this will be converted into the following:

Class	Name	Category
Region	Australia	-
Variable	Incr	-
Variable	IsOn	-
Variable	Incr*IsOn	Conditional Escalators

Collection	Name	Property	Value	Units	Action	Expression
Region	Australia	Load	100	MW	?	if(IsOn, Incr*IsOn)

1.1.4. Variable Condition Properties -> Variable

The old classes allow for a combination of both variable and conditions, so these need to be handled separately. The conversion rules here are:

• Update all properties which were tagged with this combination with the following expression:
  if ({condition name}, {variable name})

2. Features

2.1. The Variable Class

PLEXOS 7 combines the Escalator, Condition and Variable class into a single more powerful variable class. You'll find all the features of those classes in the revised property list and the upgrader will take care of converting your PLEXOS 6 objects to Variable objects.

You will find on the dynamic property page an Action column whereby a Variable can be defined based on either a 'leading' Variable, one defined by data only (including a stochastic series), or on one other 'dependant' variable. Complex equations can be described as a series of operations in similar to RPN. For example:

• (leading) Variable x = 10
• (dependant) Variable y = f(x) = 41+ x
• (dependant) Variable z = f(y) = y/100

NOTE: Free expressions are not yet support so you may only apply one action at a time

2.2. Templates

PLEXOS 7 introduces the concept of templates whereby an object can inherit data and memberships from a template object.

2.3. Generic Lists

The new List class provides a mechanism whereby objects of any type can be listed together and used to filter the user interface, or to filter solution values. List also replace the concept of collections under the Report class.

3. User Interface

The user interface has been substantially updated. A comprehensive guide is available starting with Chapter 1 and supplemented with Map Visualization and Graph Layout.