Dear Jon, dear ESP-r community, As I use ESP-r more and more I found some of the limitations of the fileformats in my way. Naming constraints is one of them so I really enjoy the idea of phrase naming. I have a few points to suggest about the rest of the format: [Disclaimer: I have not evaluated the consequences of my suggestions in terms of code change requirements, yet. They are just wishes from a user point of view.] - If wee choose comas as a field separator for names, what about sticking with it and use it for every fields? Using the quite common "leading and trailing blanks strip" would allow users to arrange the file as columns if they wish. Last but not least I guess it could make the parser simpler. - Now that wee have opening and closing tags for the class (*class, *endclass), wee do not need to put the number of items anymore. It is kind of a redundance with the item tags in between. - I like your idea of giving *outer and *inner attributes for passing to Radiance. What about giving a Radiance "modifier" instead of RGB values? It would allow any color/pattern/texture/... available for Radiance to be used by the MLC database. I have two questions, though: 1) What is the "1 # number of classifications" for? I guess the "*end" is related but I do not see the point. 2) Is there still a need for class indices? If names (phrase names?) are enough to sort items out and write the file, removing class indices would make it coherent with the new MLC way. I hope those comments will help. Best regards, Olivier Bounhoure PS : feedback about my English will be wellcome, too :) The modifications I suggest from Jon's file: --- *Constructions, 2 *date, Sat Jun 23 12:15:16 2012 # construction defined in ./multicon.dba # based on materials ./material.db3.a *doc, ESP-r MLC Constructions including required materials for UK code complience. Additional infomation and documentation uses standard assumptions which should be updated as required. 1 # number of classifications # # Constructions have the following attributes: # *item, name (phrase up to 32 char), documentation (remainder of the line) # *attrib, optical name (up to 32 char), key phrase SYMMETRIC or NONSYMMETRIC or another MLC name # *layer, thickness (m) material name (up to 32 char), material documentation (remainder of the line) # *gap, thickness (m), 3 or 5 comma separated resistance values, name (remainder of the line) # *enditem # # *class, class index, description (32 char) # followed by a line of class documentation # *endclass signals the end of the class of constructions # *class, 1, Walls Class ( 1) Exterior walls includes a range of constructions. Based on data traditionally distributed with ESP-r. # *item, extern_wall, older brick block external wall *attrib, OPAQUE, NONSYMMETRIC *layer, 0.1000, Lt brown brick, Light brown brick *layer, 0.0750, glasswool, Glasswool (generic) *gap, 0.0500, 0.170, 0.170, 0.170, air *layer, 0.1000, breeze block, Breeze block *enditem *item, insulated metal panel, insulated metal panel achieving U 0.46 *attrib, OPAQUE, NONSYMMETRIC *layer, 0.0040, grey cotd alum, Grey coated aluminium *layer, 0.0800, glass fibre quilt, Glass Fibre Quilt *layer, 0.0040, wt cotd alum, White coated aluminium *enditem *item, Wall_NI_noti, Northern Ireland Notional wall for UK code *attrib OPAQUE, NONSYMMETRIC # mat ref thickness (m) mat descr & air gap R *layer, 0.1020, Brick outer leaf, Brick (UK code) *layer, 0.0900, Mineral wool batt 100mm, Insulation (Mineral wool batt default 100mm) *layer, 0.1000, Concrete med density (1800), Blockwork (UK code) *gap, 0.0220, 0.180, 0.180, 0.180, air *layer, 0.0130, Plasterboard (UK code), Plasterboard (UK code) *enditem *item, AWI_06 IBO, Wall type AWI_06 from the IBO reference manual *atrib, OPAQUE, NONSYMMETRIC *layer, 0.0250, weatherboard, Weatherboard (source does not clarify what it is) *gap, 0.0500, 0.050, 0.050, 0.050, air *layer, 0.0160, MDF, MDF based on info in IBO PassivHaus (diffusion is a guess) *layer, 0.1000, celulose fiber flakes, cellulose fibre insulation flakes from IBO Pass *layer, 0.1000, celulose fiber flakes, cellulose fibre insulation flakes from IBO Pass *layer, 0.1000, celulose fiber flakes, cellulose fibre insulation flakes from IBO Pass *layer, 0.0180, OSB, OSB wood based on the SBEM database *layer, 0.0500, lambswool felt insulation, lambswool insulation felt from IBO PassivHa *layer, 0.0250, white gypboard, White paintedd Gypboard *enditem *endclass # *class, 2, Partitions & doors Class ( 2) Internal partitions and doors. Based on data traditionally distributed with ESP-r. *item, intern_wall, Plaster board over concrete block partition *attrib, OPAQUE, SYMMETRIC # mat ref thickness (m) mat descr & air gap R *layer, 0.0120, perlite plasterboard, Perlite plasterboard *layer, 0.1500, breeze block, Breeze block *layer, 0.0120, perlite plasterboard, Perlite plasterboard *enditem *item, door, Solid Oak door *attrib, OPAQUE, SYMMETRIC *layer, 0.0250, oak, Oak (radial cut) *enditem *endclass # *class, 3, Glazing Class ( 3) A variety of glazing products which are matched to optical properties. *item, double_glazing, 6mm uncoated inner and outer glass with air fill *attrib, DCF7671_06nb, SYMMETRIC # mat ref thickness (m) mat descr & air gap R *layer, 0.0060, plate glass, Plate glass with placeholder single layer optics *gap, 0.0120, 0.170, 0.170, 0.170, air *layer, 0.0060, plate glass, Plate glass with placeholder single layer optics *enditem *item, fictitious, almost-not-there construction used between zones *attrib, SC_fictit, SYMMETRIC *layer, 0.0040, fict, fictitious material (almost not there) with matching single laye *enditem *item, tripglz_1.8, non-coated tripple glazing with air spaces *attrib, trip_glz_18, SYMMETRIC *layer, 0.0060, clear float, 4mm clear float glass with optics from UK national method *gap, 0.0120, 0.170, 0.170, 0.170, air *layer, 0.0060, clear float, 4mm clear float glass with optics from UK national method *gap, 0.0120, 0.170, 0.170, 0.170, air *layer, 0.0060, clear float, 4mm clear float glass with optics from UK national method *enditem *item, tripglz_1.08, low-e coated tripple glazing with air spaces *attrib, trip_gl_kai, NONSYMMETRIC *layer, 0.0060, clear float, 4mm clear float glass with optics from UK national method *gap, 0.0120, 0.367, 0.367, 0.367, low-e and air *layer, 0.0060, clear float, 4mm clear float glass with optics from UK national method *gap, 0.0120, 0.371, 0.371, 0.371, low-e and air *layer, 0.0060, clear float, 4mm clear float glass with optics from UK national method *enditem *endclass *end --- <div class="gmail_quote">2012/9/10 Jon Hand <<a href="mailto:jon@esru.strath.ac.uk" target="_blank">jon@esru.strath.ac.uk</a>> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"> I have drafted a syntax for holding common constructions (MLCs) for ESP-r. It introduces a version number, date stamp, categories with documentation, documentation for individual constructions and a tag data format which should be easier to parse. The format allows the names of MLC to be phrases up to 32 characters with documentation up to ~248 character (the remainder of the line). It also allows for the optical properties name and pointers to 'reversed' MLC to be up to 32 characters. As with the materials categories, categories can have one to one-less-than-the-max-number-of-items. In a direct translation from current MLC files the names will and attributes will be 12 characters. New entries or conversions after editing would support longer names but would not be usable with older versions of ESP-r. Commas are used to separate tokens which are potentially phrases with spaces. If you look in the examples below I have been trying a comma-single-space separator which is a bit more human readable than a pure comma separated list of tokens. Otherwise spaces are used for separation. The newer format zone geometry file is able to handle phrases for constructions names and optical names and the zone constructions file should require little or no alteration to use construction names phrases. There might be further attributes which would be useful to include in the MLC file. One could be to add an *outer and an *inner line of attributes for each item which could hold the solar and visual and perhaps colour (rgb) attributes at the outer and inner face. These would be instantiated via a scan of the materials. Such entities would remove the need for scanning materials properties and RGB values would allow for exporting Radiance models which could be colour rather than just grey-scale. To support acoustic analysis one would need names for acoustic properties for the overall construction as well as each layer. These could be fitted into the scheme. Comments please.... Regards, Jon Hand An example of the format is shown below.... *Constructions 1 *date,Sat Jun 23 12:15:16 2012 # construction defined in ./multicon.dba # based on materials ./material.db3.a *doc ESP-r MLC Constructions including required materials for UK code complience. Additional infomation and documentation uses standard assumptions which should be updated as required. 1 # number of classifications # # Constructions have the following attributes: # *item class index, type (OPAQ|TRAN), name (phrase up to 32 char), documentation (remainder of the line) # *attrib optical name (up to 32 char), key phrase SYMMETRIC or NONSYMMETRIC or another MLC name # *layer thickness (m) material name (up to 32 char), material documentation (remainder of the line) # *gap thickness (m) 3 or 5 resistance values, name (remainder of the line) # *enditem # # *class class index, number of items, description (32 char) # followed by a line of class documentation # *endclass signals the end of the class of constructions # *class 1 4 Walls Class ( 1) Exterior walls includes a range of constructions. Based on data traditionally distributed with ESP-r. # *item 1 OPAQ, extern_wall, older brick block external wall *attrib OPAQUE, NONSYMMETRIC *layer 0.1000 Lt brown brick, Light brown brick *layer 0.0750 glasswool, Glasswool (generic) *gap 0.0500 0.170 0.170 0.170, air *layer 0.1000 breeze block, Breeze block *enditem *item 1 OPAQ, insulated metal panel, insulated metal panel achieving U 0.46 *attrib OPAQUE, NONSYMMETRIC *layer 0.0040 grey cotd alum, Grey coated aluminium *layer 0.0800 glass fibre quilt, Glass Fibre Quilt *layer 0.0040 wt cotd alum, White coated aluminium *enditem *item 1 OPAQ, Wall_NI_noti, Northern Ireland Notional wall for UK code *attrib OPAQUE, NONSYMMETRIC # mat ref thickness (m) mat descr & air gap R *layer 0.1020 Brick outer leaf, Brick (UK code) *layer 0.0900 Mineral wool batt 100mm, Insulation (Mineral wool batt default 100mm) *layer 0.1000 Concrete med density (1800), Blockwork (UK code) *gap 0.0220 0.180 0.180 0.180, air *layer 0.0130 Plasterboard (UK code), Plasterboard (UK code) *enditem *item 1 OPAQ, AWI_06 IBO, Wall type AWI_06 from the IBO reference manual *atrib QPAQUE, NONSYMMETRIC *layer 0.0250 weatherboard, Weatherboard (source does not clarify what it is) *gap 0.0500 0.050 0.050 0.050, air *layer 0.0160 MDF, MDF based on info in IBO PassivHaus (diffusion is a guess) *layer 0.1000 celulose fiber flakes, cellulose fibre insulation flakes from IBO Pass *layer 0.1000 celulose fiber flakes, cellulose fibre insulation flakes from IBO Pass *layer 0.1000 celulose fiber flakes, cellulose fibre insulation flakes from IBO Pass *layer 0.0180 OSB, OSB wood based on the SBEM database *layer 0.0500 lambswool felt insulation, lambswool insulation felt from IBO PassivHa *layer 0.0250 white gypboard, White paintedd Gypboard *enditem *endclass # *class 2 2 Partitions & doors Class ( 2) Internal partitions and doors. Based on data traditionally distributed with ESP-r. *item 2 OPAQ, intern_wall, Plaster board over concrete block partition *attrib OPAQUE, SYMMETRIC # mat ref thickness (m) mat descr & air gap R *layer 0.0120 perlite plasterboard, Perlite plasterboard *layer 0.1500 breeze block, Breeze block *layer 0.0120 perlite plasterboard, Perlite plasterboard *enditem *item 2 OPAQ, door, Solid Oak door *attrib OPAQUE, SYMMETRIC *layer 0.0250 oak, Oak (radial cut) *enditem *endclass # *class 3 4 Glazing Class ( 3) A variety of glazing products which are matched to optical properties. *item 3 TRAN, double_glazing, 6mm uncoated inner and outer glass with air fill *attrib DCF7671_06nb, SYMMETRIC # mat ref thickness (m) mat descr & air gap R *layer 0.0060 plate glass, Plate glass with placeholder single layer optics *gap 0.0120 0.170 0.170 0.170, air *layer 0.0060 plate glass, Plate glass with placeholder single layer optics *enditem *item 3 TRAN, fictitious, almost-not-there construction used between zones *attrib SC_fictit, SYMMETRIC *layer 0.0040 fict, fictitious material (almost not there) with matching single laye *enditem *item 3 TRAN, tripglz_1.8, non-coated tripple glazing with air spaces *attrib trip_glz_18, SYMMETRIC *layer 0.0060 clear float, 4mm clear float glass with optics from UK national method *gap 0.0120 0.170 0.170 0.170, air *layer 0.0060 clear float, 4mm clear float glass with optics from UK national method *gap 0.0120 0.170 0.170 0.170, air *layer 0.0060 clear float, 4mm clear float glass with optics from UK national method *enditem *item 3 TRAN, tripglz_1.08, low-e coated tripple glazing with air spaces *attrib trip_gl_kai, NONSYMMETRIC *layer 0.0060 clear float, 4mm clear float glass with optics from UK national method *gap 0.0120 0.367 0.367 0.367, low-e and air *layer 0.0060 clear float, 4mm clear float glass with optics from UK national method *gap 0.0120 0.371 0.371 0.371, low-e and air *layer 0.0060 clear float, 4mm clear float glass with optics from UK national method *enditem *endclass *end _______________________________________________ esp-r mailing list <a href="mailto:esp-r@lists.strath.ac.uk">esp-r@lists.strath.ac.uk</a> <a href="http://lists.strath.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/esp-r" target="_blank">http://lists.strath.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/esp-r</a> </blockquote></div>