Table of Contents

Class IdfReader

Namespace
EpNet
Assembly
EpNet.dll

Provides methods to manipulate an idf model by accessing to the different idf classes and their fields.

public class IdfReader : List<IdfObject>
Inheritance
IdfReader
Extension Methods

Examples

var Idf = new IdfReader();
foreach (var m in Idf["Material"].Where(m=>m["Name"].Contains("Insulation")))
m["Conductivity"].Number = 0.03;

Constructors

IdfReader()

Creates an IdfReader object loading in.idf and Energy+.idd from the standard DesignBuilder installation path.

public IdfReader()

IdfReader(string)

Creates an IdfReader object loading Energy+.idd from the standard DesignBuilder installation path.

public IdfReader(string idfFile)

Parameters

idfFile string

Path to an idf file or a string with the contents of the file

IdfReader(string, Idd)

Creates an IdfReader object from an idf file path (or text content) and the Idd object from another IdfReader.

public IdfReader(string idfFile, Idd idd)

Parameters

idfFile string

Path to an idf file or a string with the contents of the file

idd Idd

Reference to the Idd from another IdfReader

IdfReader(string, string)

Creates an IdfReader object from an idf file path (or text content) and the path to Energy+.idd file.

public IdfReader(string idfFile, string iddFilePath)

Parameters

idfFile string

Path to an idf file or a string with the contents of the file

iddFilePath string

Path to the Energy+.idd file corresponding to the E+ version of the idf file.

Properties

DsbFileName

Filename of the dsb file from which the idf has been generated.

public string DsbFileName { get; }

Property Value

string

dsb filename

DsbFolder

Folder where the original dsb file is located.

public string DsbFolder { get; }

Property Value

string

dsb file folder

DsbPath

Full path of the dsb file from which the idf has been generated.

public string DsbPath { get; }

Property Value

string

Path of the dsb file.

EnergyPlusPath 

public string EnergyPlusPath { get; set; }

Property Value

string

Idd

Reference to the Idd object that holds the variable names from the Energy+.idd

public Idd Idd { get; set; }

Property Value

Idd

Idd object

Idf

Provides a single Idf instance to be shared between scripts.

public static IdfReader Idf { get; }

Property Value

IdfReader

IdfEncoding 

public Encoding IdfEncoding { get; set; }

Property Value

Encoding

IdfPath

Path to the idf file

public string IdfPath { get; set; }

Property Value

string

Path to the loaded idf file

this[string]

List of all the idf objects from the specified idf class.

public List<IdfObject> this[string idfClass] { get; }

Parameters

idfClass string

idf class to use as a filter

Property Value

List<IdfObject>

idf objects list from a class

Examples

var allZones = Idf["Zone"];

this[string[]]

List of all the idf objects from the specified idf classes.

public List<IdfObject> this[params string[] idfClasses] { get; }

Parameters

idfClasses string[]

idf classes to use as a filter

Property Value

List<IdfObject>

idf objects list from a list of classes

Examples

var zoneEquipment = Idf["ZoneHVAC:FourPipeFanCoil","ZoneHVAC:PackagedTerminalAirConditioner","ZoneHVAC:PackagedTerminalHeatPump"];

Methods

Add(IdfObject) 

public void Add(IdfObject value)

Parameters

value IdfObject

AddDesignVariable(string, string, int, string)

Adds a design variable for parametric/optimisation. Use in BeforeEnergySimulation hook.

public void AddDesignVariable(string idfClass, string name, int field, string variableKey)

Parameters

idfClass string

The idf class for the object to modify. e.g. "Material"

name string

Name of the object to modify. e.g. Insulation (searches for a name starting by that)

field int

Number of the field to change. e.g. 2

variableKey string

Name of the variable key given in DesignBuilder as Custom IDF. e.g. "insulationthickness"

Examples

Test different thickness values for a insulation material: AddDesignVariable("Material","Variable Insulation", 2, "insulationthickness"); Idf.Save();

AddDesignVariable(string, string, int, string, Func<double, double>)

Adds a design variable for parametric/optimisation. Use in BeforeEnergySimulation hook.

public void AddDesignVariable(string idfClass, string name, int field, string variableKey, Func<double, double> variableKeyFunction)

Parameters

idfClass string

The idf class for the object to modify. e.g. "Material"

name string

Name of the object to modify. e.g. Insulation (searches for a name starting by that)

field int

Number of the field to change. e.g. 2

variableKey string

Name of the variable key given in DesignBuilder as Custom IDF e.g. "insulationthickness"

variableKeyFunction Func<double, double>

Function to apply to the variableKey

Examples

Test different thickness values for a insulation material: AddDesignVariable("Material","Variable Insulation", 2, "insulationthickness", x=>x/100); Idf.Save();

AddKpi(Environment, string, double)

Adds a Kpi result for parametric/optimisatin. Use in AfterEnergySimulation hook. Also as an extension method for DB.Api.Environment ApiEnvironment)

public void AddKpi(Environment ApiEnvironment, string kpiName, double kpiValue)

Parameters

ApiEnvironment Environment
kpiName string
kpiValue double

Clone()

Returns a new cloned instance of the IdfReader

public IdfReader Clone()

Returns

IdfReader

Cloned IdfReader instance

Clone(IdfObject)

Makes a copy of a specified idf object and add it to the idf model.

public void Clone(IdfObject idfObject)

Parameters

idfObject IdfObject

idf object to clone.

GetByIdfClasses(IEnumerable<string>)

List of all the idf objects from the specified idf classes.

public List<IdfObject> GetByIdfClasses(IEnumerable<string> idfClasses)

Parameters

idfClasses IEnumerable<string>

idf classes to use as a filter

Returns

List<IdfObject>

GetDataFromEso(string)

Retrieves a value from the eso file saved with the SaveDataInEso method.

public double? GetDataFromEso(string key)

Parameters

key string

Name of the key or variable to retrieve.

Returns

double?

GetVariable(string)

Gets the value of the parametric variable defined in DesignBuilder optimization module as a Custom Idf variable.

public string GetVariable(string name)

Parameters

name string

Variable key used in DesignBuilder

Returns

string

String holding the value of the variable.

Load(string)

Loads a portion of idf to an existing idf model. Do not include comments.

public void Load(string idf)

Parameters

idf string

Text containing the idf to load.

Load(string[])

Loads a single IdfObject its sequence of elements

public void Load(string[] fields)

Parameters

fields string[]

idfclass, field1, field2 ...

ReadData(string)

Reads data from the precomments of the file

public string ReadData(string key)

Parameters

key string

Returns

string

RemoveData(string)

Removes data from the precomments of the file

public void RemoveData(string key)

Parameters

key string

Save(bool)

Saves the idf file overwriting the original.

public void Save(bool comments = true)

Parameters

comments bool

Include idf comments in the file.

Save(string, bool, bool)

Saves the idf file.

public void Save(string idfFilePath, bool comments = true, bool ordered = false)

Parameters

idfFilePath string

Path for the idf file. Use filename only to save in original idf folder.

comments bool

Include idf comments in the file.

ordered bool

Order idf clases by name.

SaveASCII(bool)

Saves the idf file overwriting the original.

public void SaveASCII(bool comments = true)

Parameters

comments bool

Include idf comments in the file.

SaveASCII(string, bool, bool)

Saves the idf file removing diacritics (á,é,ü...) and Spanish ñ

public void SaveASCII(string idfFilePath, bool comments = true, bool ordered = false)

Parameters

idfFilePath string

Path for the idf file. Use filename only to save in original idf folder.

comments bool

Include idf comments in the file.

ordered bool

Order idf clases by name.

SaveDataInEso(string, double)

Creates a numeric value than can be retrieved after simulation from the Eso results file.

public void SaveDataInEso(string key, double value)

Parameters

key string

Name of the key or variable to be used later for retrieval.

value double

Value of the variable

ToString()

Whole idf content as a text string.

public override string ToString()

Returns

string

idf content.

WriteData(string, string)

Writes data to the precomments of the file

public void WriteData(string key, string value)

Parameters

key string
value string