ADVANCE (WP2) Database (version 0.9):
This database hosts the results of the (ADVANCE (WP2)) modeling exercise. It is meant to make the data collection process more efficient and relies on accurately filled data templates as distributed in the ADVANCE (WP2) modeling exercise. Access to the database requires prior registration of model and users. Further, the registration procedure demands information about the regional composition of the model to be registered and how the native model regions map to set of predefined regions. This information needs to be provided in a registration form which can be downloaded here.
A short tutorial on the use of the web database can be found below. If you experience technical problems with this database, please contact the ADVANCE (WP2) Database Administrator.
A short tutorial on the use of the database
The Navigation tabs
At the upper end of the browser window five navigation tabs can be found that provide different functionality of the web database. These five tabs are described in more detail in the following section.About tab
The About tab provides information about the database and gives instructions on how to use the database. With exception of the About tab which can be viewed without special permissions, all other tabs require a valid user account (login and password) for the database. After entering the credentials the four additional tabs to navigate the database can be accessed. Which scenarios can be viewed depends on the individual user permissions (see User account). The difference between these three tabs for viewing is the way how scenario data can be combined for viewing.
Common Features of the Sectors, Series, and Scatter tabs
In all three view tabs the following selections can be made in the navigation bars on the upper left-hand side of the browser window:(1.) Regions: In the upper left area of the screen is a field named Regions. Depending on the tab (see above) you may select one or multiple regions for which the data is shown on the screen. Generally the regions are organized in the two folders Compare and Model Name. While in the Compare folder you can find regions that are (approximately) defined across many models (World, five macro regions and seven countries commonly compared in modeling comparison exercises, see Region definitions), the Model name folder contains the native regions that you report to the database.
(2.) Scenarios: This field includes the list of scenarios from which one or more scenarios can be selected. In addition to scenarios, for a number of variables historical and base year data can be shown to compare with scenario results. Note that historical data is only available for the regions in the Compare folder (see also previous paragraph) and that currently only some emission and energy variables are covered. Further, displaying historical data is at the moment restricted to the Sectors tab.
(3.) Variables: In this field the variables can be selected for which the data is shown on the screen. Note that in the Sectors tab it is necessary to not only required to tick one or multiple variables for selection, but also to mark a variable name (highlighted in blue) for the graph on the right hand side to be updated. It is not important which variable or variable category is marked to initiate the graph update.
The Chart Preview on the upper right-hand side of the browser window shows the graph of the selected data (variable + scenarios + regions). In addition, the horizontally oriented Query Results area in the middle of the screen shows the data in tabular format.
It is possible to export the data either into Excel or two different graphical formats (PNG = portable network graphics, SVG = scalable vector graphics). In order to do so, select one of the options in the Output Options window at the bottom of the browser window. The field titled Notes shows additional information or explanatory text for the selected variables. The availability of notes is still under development and ultimate the contents will depend on input from modeling teams.
Manage tab
The Manage tab provides an overview of the scenarios that are currently in the database, shows logs of scenario operations (additions and deletes) and allows users with sufficient permissions to upload and delete scenarios from the database.
Uploads can be initiated in the upper part of the Manage tab by means of a file selector that shows up when clicking the Browse... button. In the file selector a valid template in Microsoft Excel 2003 (*.xls) or 2007 (*.xlsx) formats can be chosen. By clicking the Upload file button the upload procedure is started. After the successful upload, a short message is shown above the file selector that acknowledges whether the upload itself has been successful and which next steps have been taken. If the uploaded file is a valid template, the import procedure will be initiated and a message in a green frame is shown. This "green" acknowledgment does not imply that the whole procedure was successful, but just means that the file upload was successful and the file has a format readable by the database import algorithm. In case the upload itself did not work or if the file has a format that is not supported by the import algorithm (e.g. Excel 1997 format which also has the *.xls extension), an error message with more details on the problem surrounded by a red frame is shown. As the import procedure, depending on the size of the template and the number of regions and scenarios, can take several minutes, you will be acknowledged about the progress by e-mail. Therefore it is important that your account information (see details about User account below) is up-to-date. The e-mail will contain information on whether the import was in general successful and the most important warnings (e.g. unknown variable names, variables not provided) and errors in its main text. A more extensive log file is attached to the e-mail. It is important that you check the log file carefully to ensure that not just the overall import was successful, but also that all data you provided made it to the database. Please note that uploading a scenario with the name of an existing scenario results in overwriting the previously existing scenarios. Upon successful import of the scenario(s), you can view the data using the three view tabs described above. It is strongly recommended to have a look at the data, making use of the online visualization capabilities of the database.
Below the upload section of the Manage tab, you can find the list of scenarios that are currently in the database. In case you are a modeling group member, you will only see the scenarios of your own model. If you are a project coordinator scenarios from multiple models will be shown here. If you have upload permissions a Delete button will be shown behind the scenario name. Clicking this button will delete the scenario from the database which cannot be reversed.
Further below the scenario table, a log section is displayed. The log section includes the date and time of successful imports, the user who uploaded the scenario(s), both model and scenario name, a link to original template file that was uploaded and a link to the log file of the respective import procedure (the same log file that was sent by e-mail).
User account
There are three types of database users:
- Modeling group members who can view scenarios of their model.
- Modeling group members who can view and upload scenarios of their model.
- Project coordinators who can view all scenarios of all models that belong to a specific comparison exercise.
Region definitions
The consolidated results in the database are shown at regional aggregations of... These regions are defined as follows:
Individual countries/regions used in this project
ABC = ABC
ADVANCE (WP2) Database, 2013
Available at: https://tntcat.iiasa.ac.at:8743/ADVANCEWP2DB
Responsible for this page: ADVANCE (WP2) Database Administrator