Adding data

This section describes the available tools to add new data. Note that after adding data to a Spine Database, it still needs to be committed in order for the changes to take effect beyond just the current session in the Spine Database Editor. More information about this in the chapter Committing and History.

Adding entity classes

From Entity Tree

Right-click on the root item in Entity Tree to display the context menu, and select Add entity classes.

The Add entity classes dialog will pop up:

Select the number of dimensions using the spinbox at the top. The amount of dimensions determines the number of dimension names that need to be selected. With 0-dimensional classes, like in the image above, only the name of the created entity class is required. The class’s name is to be entered below the header entity class name. In other cases like in the image below, in addition to the created classes name, also the classes making up the new class need to be selected:

They need to be filled under the headers dimension name (1) through dimension name (N) where N is the selected dimension. Note that because of this, there needs to be at least N entity classes already defined in the database when creating an N dimensional entity class. To display a list of available classes, start typing or double click on the cell below the header. Optionally, you can enter a description for each class under the description header. Double clicking the cell under the header display icon will open up the icon editor where the visual representation of the class can be modified:

This editor can also be opened by right clicking on the corresponding cell and selecting Open display icon editor. From the right click context menu, the display icon id can also be copied. This might be useful if there is a need to have multiple classes use the same icon, since the value can just be pasted into the cells.

The boolean value of active by default will determine whether the entities created under the created class will have the value under entity alternative set as true or false by default. Finally, select the databases where you want to add the entity classes under databases.

Multiple additions can be at once. When some information is inserted into the preceding row, a new empty row will appear in the dialog where a new class with the same dimensions can be defined. Delete entire rows from the dialog with Remove selected rows. When you’re ready, press Ok to make the additions.

Tip

All the Add… dialogs support pasting tabular (spreadsheet) data from the clipboard. Just select any cell in the table and press Ctrl+V. If needed, the table will grow to accommodate the exceeding data. To paste data on multiple cells, select all the cells you want to paste on and press Ctrl+V.

Adding entities

From Entity Tree or Graph View

Right-click on the root item in Entity Tree and select Add entities, or click on an empty space in the Graph View and select Add entities… from the context menu.

This will open up the Add entities dialog:

Select the class where you want to add the entities from Entity class. It will list all of the entity classes. To narrow down the list, instead of opening the dialog from the root item, open it from a specific entity class item in the Entity Tree. This way the class will be preselected from the list and the list will overall only contain other classes that are relevant to the selected class.

Enter the names of the entities under entity name. Finally, select the databases where you want to add the entities under databases. When you’re ready, press Ok. Rows can once again be deleted with the Remove selected rows -button.

With N-D entity classes, the elements need to be specified. After defining the elements the entity’s name can be modified:

New entities for an existing N-D entity class can also be created easily from the Graph view. Make sure all the entities you want as members in the new entity are in the graph. To start the new N-D entity, either double click on one of the entity items in the graph, or right click on it to display the context menu, and choose the class from Connect entities. After selecting the class the mouse cursor will adopt a cross-hairs shape.

When hovering over a entity item, the cursor will aid by indicating an entity that can’t be a member by turning into a red restriction -sign. When nearly all of the selections made and only the last member needs to be selected, the cursor will turn into a green checkmark when hovering over an appropriate entity. Click on each of the remaining member entities one by one to add them to the new entity. Once you’ve added enough members for the entity class, a dialog will pop up. In the dialog, all of the possible permutations of the selected members are presented. Check the boxes next to the entities you want to add, and press OK.

From Pivot View

To add an entity to a specific 0-D entity class, bring the class to Pivot View using either Value or Index (see Using Pivot View and Frozen Table). There under the class name just type a new name and the new entity will be added under the class. Note that is only possible to add 0-D entities this way even if you have selected an N-D class from the Entity Tree.

To enter a new entity to an N-D class, select the Element -view from the hamburger menu. This view contains all of the possible combinations of elements in the selected class. The entities can be added by checking the boxes and removed by unchecking them.

Duplicating entities

To duplicate an existing entity with all its parameter values and other associated data, right-click over the corresponding entity item in Entity Tree to display the context menu, and select Duplicate entity. The new entity will have the same name with an added (1) to indicate that it is a copy of the original entity. It can be renamed to be something else afterwards.

Adding entity groups

Right-click on an entity class item in Entity Tree, and select Add entity group from the context menu.

The Add entity group dialog will pop up:

Enter the name of the group, and select the database where you want the group to be created. Select the members under Non members, and press (>>) to add the members and ( <<) to remove them. Multiple selection is supported with Ctrl and Shift. Finally press OK to create the group.

When you’re happy with your selections, press OK to add the group to the database.

Adding parameter definitions

From Table View

To add new parameter definitions for an entity class, just fill the last empty row of Parameter definition. Only two of the fields are required when creating a new parameter definition: entity_class_name and parameter_name. Enter the name of the class under entity_class_name. To display a list of available entity classes, start typing in the empty cell or double click it. For the name of the parameter choose something that isn’t already defined for the specified entity class. Optionally, you can also specify a parameter value list, a default value and a description.

In the column value_list_name a name for a parameter value list can be selected. Leaving this field empty means that later on when creating parameter values with this definition, the values are arbitrary. Meaning that the value could for example be a string or an integer. When the parameter value list is defined in the parameter definition, only the values in the list will be allowed to be chosen. For the creation of parameter value lists, see Adding parameter value lists.

In the default_value field, the default value can be set. The default value can be used in cases where the value is not specified. The usage of default_value is really tool dependent, meaning that the Spine Database Editor doesn’t use the information of the default value anywhere, but it is instead left to the tool creators on how to utilize the default value. A short description for the parameter can be written in the description column.

The parameter is added when the background of the cells under entity_class_name and database become gray.

From Pivot View

To add a new parameter definition for a class, bring the corresponding class to Pivot View using the Value input type (see Using Pivot View and Frozen Table). The parameter header of Pivot View will be populated with existing parameter definitions for the class. Enter a name for the new parameter in the last cell of that header.

Adding parameter values

From Table View

To add new parameter values for an entity, just fill the last empty row of the Parameter value -table. Enter the name of the class under entity_class_name, the name of the entity under entity_byname, the name of the parameter under parameter_name, and the name of the alternative under alternative_name. Optionally, you can also specify the parameter value right away under the value column. The database where the value will be added to is displayed in the last column of the table. To display a list of available entity classes, entities, parameters, or alternatives, just start typing or double click under the appropriate column. The parameter value is added when the background of the cells under entity_class_name and database become gray.

Note

To add parameter values for a 0-D entity, the entity has to exist beforehand. However, when adding parameter values for an N-D entity, you can specify any valid combination of elements by double clicking the cell under entity_byname, which opens up the Select elements -dialog. The specified N-D entity will be created if it doesn’t yet exist.

From Pivot View

To add parameter value for any entity, bring the corresponding class to Pivot View using the Value input type (see Using Pivot View and Frozen Table). Then, enter the parameter value in the corresponding cell in the table body.

Tip

All Tables Views and Pivot Views support pasting tabular (e.g., spreadsheet) data from the clipboard. Just select any cell in the table and press Ctrl+V. If needed, Table Views will grow to accommodate the exceeding data. To paste data on multiple cells, select all the cells you want to paste on and press Ctrl+V.

Adding entity alternatives

To add an entity alternative, open the Entity Alternative -Table View. There under entity_class_name select the class. Under entity_byname select the specific entity from that class and from alternative_name select the alternative. Then set the value of the active -column to either true or false by double clicking it. The background of the cells under entity_class_name and database should become gray, indicating that the entity alternative has been added.

Adding alternatives

From Alternative

To add a new alternative, just select the last item under the appropriate database, and enter the name of the new alternative.

You can also copy and paste alternatives between different databases.

From Pivot View

Select the Scenario input type (see Using Pivot View and Frozen Table). To add a new alternative, enter a name in the last cell of the alternative header.

Adding scenarios

From Scenario Tree

To add a new scenario, just select the last item under the appropriate database, and enter the name of the scenario.

To add an alternative for a particular scenario, drag the alternative item from Alternative and drop it under the corresponding scenario. The position where you drop it determines the alternative’s rank within the scenario. Alternatives can also be copied from Alternative and pasted at the appropriate position in Scenario Tree.

If it is desirable to base a scenario on an existing one, scenarios can be duplicated using the Duplicate item in the right-click context menu. It is also possible to copy and paste scenarios between databases.

Note

Alternatives with higher rank have priority when determining the parameter value for a certain scenario. If the parameter value is specified for two alternatives, and both of them happen to coexist in a same scenario, the value from the alternative with the higher rank takes precedence.

Note

As noted in the tooltip, scenario names longer than 20 characters may become shortened in generated files. This can happen for example when exporting the scenarios using the Exporter -project item. This can lead to confusion later on if the first 20 characters of the scenario names are identical. Therefore it is recommended to have a unique identifier for each scenario in the first 20 characters of its name.

From Pivot View

Select the Scenario input type (see Using Pivot View and Frozen Table). To add a new scenario, enter a name in the last cell of the scenario header.

From Generate scenarios

Scenarios can be added also by automatically generating them from existing alternatives. Select the alternatives in Alternative (using Ctrl and Shift while clicking the items), then right click to open a context menu. Select Generate scenarios…

Give the scenario names a prefix. An index will be appended to the prefix automatically: prefix01, prefix02,… Select appropriate operation from the Operation combo box. Checking the Use base alternative check box will add the selected alternative to all generated scenarios as the lowest rank alternative. The Alternative by rank list allows reordering the ranks of the alternatives.

Adding parameter value lists

To add a new parameter value list, go to Parameter Value List and select the last item under the appropriate database, and enter the name of the list.

To add new values for the list, expand the list with the right-arrow and select the last empty item under the corresponding list item, and enter the value. To enter a complex value, right-click on the empty item and select Edit… from the context menu to open the value editor.

Note

To be actually added to the database, a parameter value list must have at least one value.

Adding metadata and item metadata

To add new metadata go to Metadata and add a new name and value to the last row.

To add a new link metadata for an item, select an entity from one of the entity trees or a parameter value from one of the parameter value tables. Then go to Item metadata and select the appropriate metadata name and value on the last row.