Terminology

Here is a list of definitions related to Spine project, SpineOpt.jl, and Spine Toolbox.

• Arc Graph theory term. See Connection.

• Case study Spine project has 13 case studies that help to improve, validate and deploy different aspects of the SpineOpt.jl and Spine Toolbox.

• Connection an arrow on Spine Toolbox Design View that is used to connect project items to each other to form a DAG.

• Data Connection is a project item used to store a collection of data files that may or may not be in Spine data format. It facilitates data transfer from original data sources e.g. spreadsheet files to Spine Toolbox. The original data source file does not need to conform to the format that Spine Toolbox is capable of reading, since there we can use an interpreting layer (Importer) between the raw data and the Spine format database (Data Store).

• Data Package is a data container format consisting of a metadata descriptor file (datapackage.json) and resources such as data files.

• Data sources are all the original, unaltered, sources of data that are used to generate necessary input data for Spine Toolbox tools.

• Data Store is a project item. It’s a Spine Toolbox internal data container which follows the Spine data model. A data store is implemented using a database, it may be, for example, an SQL database.

• Design View A sub-window on Spine Toolbox main window, where project items and connections are visualized.

• Direct predecessor Immediate predecessor. E.g. in DAG x->y->z, direct predecessor of node z is node y. See also predecessor.

• Direct successor Immediate successor. E.g. in DAG x->y->z, direct successor of node x is node y. See also successor.

• Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) Finite directed graph with no directed cycles. It consists of vertices and edges. In Spine Toolbox, we use project items as vertices and connections as edges to build a DAG that represents a data processing chain (workflow).

• Edge Graph theory term. See Connection

• GdxExporter is a project item that allows exporting a Spine data structure from a Data Store into a .gdx file which can be used as an input file in a Tool.

• Importer is a project item that can be used to import data from e.g. an Excel file, transform it to Spine data structure, and into a Data Store.

• Node Graph theory term. See Project item.

• Predecessor Graph theory term that is also used in Spine Toolbox. Preceding project items of a certain project item in a DAG. For example, in DAG x->y->z, nodes x and y are the predecessors of node z.

• Project in Spine Toolbox consists of project items and connections, which are used to build a data processing chain for solving a particular problem. Data processing chains are built and executed using the rules of Directed Acyclic Graphs. There can be any number of project items in a project.

• Project item Spine Toolbox projects consist of project items. Project items together with connections are used to build Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAG). Project items act as nodes and connections act as edges in the DAG. See Project Items for an up-to-date list on project items available in Spine Toolbox.

• Scenario A scenario is a meaningful data set for the target tool.

• Spine data structure Spine data structure defines the format for storing and moving data within Spine Toolbox. A generic data structure allows representation of many different modelling entities. Data structures have a class defining the type of entity they represent, can have properties and can be related to other data structures. Spine data structures can be manipulated and visualized within Spine Toolbox while SpineOpt.jl will be able to directly utilize as well as output them.

• SpineOpt.jl An interpreter, which formulates a solver-ready mixed-integer optimization problem based on the input data and the equations defined in the SpineOpt.jl. Outputs the solver results.

• Source directory In context of Tool specifications, a source directory is the directory where the main program file of the Tool specification is located. This is also the recommended place for saving the Tool specification file (.json).

• Successor Graph theory term that is also used in Spine Toolbox. Following project items of a certain project item in a DAG. For example, in DAG x->y->z, nodes y and z are the successors of node x.

• Tool is a project item that is used to execute Python, Julia, GAMS, executable scripts, or simulation models. This is done by creating a Tool specification defining the script or program the user wants to execute in Spine Toolbox. Then you need to attach the Tool specification to a Tool project item. Tools can be used to execute a computational process or a simulation model, or it can also be a process that converts data or calculates a new variable. In general, Tools may take some data as input and produce an output.

• Tool specification is a JSON structure that contains metadata required by Spine Toolbox to execute a computational process or a simulation model. The metadata contains; type of the program (Python, Julia, GAMS, executable), main program file (which can be e.g. a Windows batch (.bat) file or for Python scripts this would be the .py file where the __main__() method is located), All additional required program files, any optional input files (e.g. data), and output files. Also any command line arguments can be defined in a Tool specification. SpineOpt.jl is a Tool specification from Spine Toolbox’s point-of-view.

• Use case Potential way to use Spine Toolbox. Use cases together are used to test the functionality and stability of Spine Toolbox and SpineOpt.jl under different potential circumstances.

• Vertex Graph theory term. See Project item.

• View A project item that can be used for visualizing project data.

• Work directory Tool specifications can be executed in Source directory or in work directory. When a Tool specification is executed in a work directory, Spine Toolbox creates a new work directory, copies all required and optional files needed for running the Tool specification to this directory and executes it there. After execution has finished, output or result files can be copied into a timestamped (archive) directory from the work directory.