Team Forecasting

Team forecasting allows multiple modelers to work on the same forecast simultaneously, as each team member has a copy of the master watershed forecast on their computer. Changes that are uploaded to the master watershed forecast can be downloaded and modified by other team members.

If the forecast requires data from the CWMS database, the team member creating the forecast is the only modeler that needs access to the CWMS servers. Once the forecast is created, it will contain all extracted data needed to run the forecast.

The following sections explain how to retrieve a team forecast from the master watershed, how to create a new team forecast, how to upload and download team forecast changes, and the available tools to help with this process.

Retrieving a Team Forecast

Once a forecast has be uploaded to the master watershed, it can be shared with other team members as a team forecast.

When retrieving team forecasts from the master watershed, a forecast cannot be open in the Modeling module. If a forecast is open, you will not be able to download a new team forecast.

To download a team forecast from a master watershed: 

1. From the CWMS CAVI main window, open the team watershed that is saved locally on your computer. Click the Modeling tab. If you have a forecast open, close the forecast.
2. From the Forecast module, click on the Team tab.
   
3. Click Download, and the Choose Forecast to Download dialog will open.
   
4. From the Existing section of the dialog window, select the forecast you would like to download and click Download. A Download from Master Watershed confirmation message will display.
5. Click Yes, and the download will begin. A Download tab will display in the Message Pane, providing status updates during the download process.
6. When the download is complete, a Download Complete window will display.
7. Click Yes, and the forecast will open.

Creating a Team Forecast

To create a team forecast, use your local copy of the master watershed and create a forecast. Once the forecast is created, you can upload it to the master watershed (before or after you compute the forecast run).

To create a team forecast: 

1. From the CWMS CAVI main window, open the local copy of the team watershed located on your computer and click the Modeling tab.
   
   

   Steps for creating a new forecast are detailed in CWMS Forecasts.

2. From the Forecast Run Details area, select a forecast. Click on the Team tab.
3. Click Upload.
   
4. In the Enter Upload Comments dialog, enter information about the upload click OK.
5. The forecast will temporarily close in CWMS and the upload will begin. Once the upload is complete, the forecast will display in the Modeling tab. More team forecasting information will display on the Team tab now that the forecast is a team forecast.
   

Uploading Forecast Changes

Changes made to the team forecast on your computer can be uploaded to the master watershed and shared with other team members. If other team members have the forecast open in CWMS, the team members will receive a notification message that the master watershed has been updated. The uploaded forecast changes can include all the forecast data or a single model alternative's data.

When uploading a single model alternative's data, only the model alternative's data and the model alternative's HEC-DSS records will be uploaded to the master watershed forecast. If uploading the entire forecast, all model alternatives and the entire forecast.dss file will be uploaded.

Before making changes and uploading forecast data, the status displayed in the Team tab needs to read Current. The Current status ensures you have a copy of the most recent changes from the master watershed on your computer. This copy can be changed once it is downloaded. The best practice would be to download the forecast to verify the current status and then make changes to the model alternatives. This prevents you from unintentionally erasing data that has been changed since you last updated your local data files.

To upload the changes for the team forecast to the master watershed: 

1. From the CAVI main window, open the team watershed that is on your computer and click the Modeling tab. From the Forecast menu, open a team forecast.
2. From the Forecast Run Details area, select a forecast. From the selected forecast tree, click on a model alternative. For example, in the figure below, the HEC-MetVue model alternative has been selected.
   
3. From the Actions box, click Upload, the Enter Upload Comments dialog will open. Enter comments on the upload in the text field and click OK. The upload will begin.

You can upload ALL data for the selected forecast by checking the Upload All Files checkbox located on the bottom left-hand side of the Enter Upload Comments dialog. This will override all the data for that forecast model in the master watershed, not just the changes.

If you try to upload changes for a model alternative and the current local revision number does not match what is on the master watershed, you will be notified that your model alternative is out-of-date and the dialog will prompt you to download the latest changes from the master watershed.

When the upload starts, the forecast will close and an Upload tab will appear in the Message Pane on the CAVI. The Upload tab displays information on the files uploading. When the upload is complete, the real-time notification messages will appear on the bottom right-hand side of your monitor screen and the forecast will be reopened in the CAVI.

When attempting to close a team forecast without first uploading changes to the master watershed, the Copy Model Changes dialog will prompt you to sync your changes.

To upload the changes to the master watershed from the Copy Model Changes dialog:

1. Select the model alternatives to sync with the master watershed by checking the appropriate boxes. Any model alternatives that do not match the copies in the master watershed will be checked by default.
2. Copy to Base updates changes in model files from the forecast folders back to the watershed "base" model folders.
3. Click Sync to Master, an Enter Upload Comments dialog will open for each model alternative selected to sync.
4. Enter upload comments and click OK to start the upload process. An Upload message tab will display in the Message Pane. The tab will display the status message during the upload.

If your local files are not current, you will receive an Out Of Date warning reminding you to sync with the master copy before making and uploading changes.

Downloading Forecast Changes

Changes made to the team forecast on the master watershed can be downloaded to your computer's copy of the team forecast. You can download the entire forecast or a single model alternative's data. When downloading a single model's data, only the model alternative's data and HEC-DSS records will be downloaded to your local copy. If downloading the entire forecast, all model alternatives and the entire forecast.dss file will be copied. 

It is important to download any files that have been updated before you start making revisions to the files on your copy. This will ensure you don't accidentally override another modeler's changes.

To download team forecast changes to your local copy of the forecast: 

1. Open the team forecast in the CAVI on your computer.
2. Select the forecast run or model alternative node in the Forecast Tree. For example, in the figure below the HEC-HMS Model Alternative is selected.
   
3. From the Team tab, click the Download button.
4. The Download from Master Watershed message will appear.
5. Click Yes to continue with the download. If you would like to override all files for the selected forecast node, check the Download All Files checkbox before clicking Yes.

The forecast will close in the CAVI and the download will start. A Download tab will appear in the Message Pane that displays information on the download. When the download is complete, the forecast will re-open in the CAVI and a real-time message will appear on the bottom right-hand side of your screen. The download will replace any out-of-date files for the selected Forecast Tree node on your computer with the files from the master watershed and the Revision information on the Team tab will update. Only the files that have had a revision update on the master watershed will be downloaded.

Team Forecasting Tab

The Team tab is located with the bottom of the Modeling tab and provides access to team forecasts and allows you to upload, download, and protect forecast data. It also provides detailed information on the forecast data's revision information and history. Each of these features are explained in more detail in the following sections.

The Forecasts box shows the Forecast Tree, which displays the different forecast runs and model alternatives for the team forecast. When a node is selected in the Forecast Tree, the bottom half of the tab will populate with information about forecast. For example, if a forecast run node is selected, the Team area reflects the information for that specific forecast run. If a model alternative is selected in the tree, the Team tab will display information on that particular model alternative in the forecast run. If there are no team forecasts open and the watershed is a master watershed, the Team tab will display a Download button that allows you to select a pre-existing team forecast on the master watershed and download it to your computer.

For example, in the figure below the HEC-MetVue model alternative NexradQPF is selected in the Forecast Tree and the Team tab displays information on that particular model alternative.

Action Buttons

The Actions area provides Upload, Download, Protect, UnProtect, and Diff... buttons, depending on what is selected in the Forecast Tree. These different options allow you to interact directly with the master watershed forecast.

The Actions box includes the following:

• Upload - Allows you to upload a new forecast or changes made to an existing team forecast to the master watershed.
  • When a forecast run is selected in the Forecast Tree, the Upload button will upload all changed data for the forecast run to the master watershed.
  • If a single model alternative is selected in the Forecast Tree, the Upload button will upload only changes made to that model alternative.
• Download - Allows you to download the whole team forecasts or its individual model alternative updates, depending on what is selected in the Forecast Tree. If a forecast is not opened in the Modeling module, the Download button allows you to download team forecasts available for the master watershed.
• Protect - Prevents others from uploading any changes for the forecast to the master watershed. You can protect a single model alternative or the entire forecast.
• Diff... - Allows you to compare what is on your local copy of the forecast to what is on the master copy of the forecast. 

If the forecast or model alternative are already protected, you will see an UnProtect option.

• UnProtect - Allows you to begin uploading changes for the forecast or model alternatives to the master watershed again.

Once you unprotect the data, Protect becomes available again.

If a forecast is not open on the Modeling tab, only the Download button will be available to download team forecasts from the master watershed.

Revision Pane

The Team Tab also displays information on team forecast revisions. This information can be found directly underneath the Actions box.

The information includes the following:

• Revision - Displays # Of #. The first number represents the version number of your local copy. The second number is the revision number of the forecast data of the master watershed copy. If the two numbers are the same, this means that you have the most recent copy of the master watershed data. If the first number is smaller than the second, the master watershed's copy is newer than your copy.
• Updated On - Reports the date, time, and username of the person who last updated the forecast data on the master watershed. The date is set by the computer date and time of the team member who made the revisions. The username displayed is that team member's CWMS login username.
• Status - reports if the version on your computer is Current or Out of Date. The Current status means that your computer's version of the watershed data and the master watershed data are the same. The Out of Data status means that the master watershed is newer than the copy that is currently stored on your computer.
• Comments - Displays any comments made on the last revision on the master watershed.
• History - Opens the Revision History dialog, which provides detailed information on all the revisions made to the master watershed data.

Revision History Dialog

The Revision History dialog is accessible from either the forecast's Team tab or the Out of Date with Master Watershed dialog. It displays detailed information on the versions for the watershed data selected in either the Forecast Tree or Synchronization Tree.

Clicking on a row of the table populates the bottom section of the dialog with expanded information from the columns: Node, Number, Author, Date, Type, and Description.

Revision Table and Details Panel

The Revision Table is located the top of the Revision History dialog, directly underneath the name of the master watershed. Each row in the table displays information on a revision that has been made. The revisions are grouped by forecast and then model alternative.

When a row is selected in the table, the information on the Details panel is populated for the selected revision in the lower half of the Revision History dialog.

The table and panel contain the following information:

• Node - Represents the Data Group the revision was made for. Revisions are made and grouped by forecast run and models
• Number - Displays the revision the row represents and is assigned based on the order that that revision to the master watershed was made
• Author - Displays which modeler submitted the revision to the master watershed data
• Date - Date of the revision, set by the team member who made the revision (computer date and time)
• Type - Indicates what caused the revision change. There are four types:
  • UPLOAD - Indicates the revision changed when the modeler uploaded new data to the master watershed.
  • DOWNLOAD - Indicates that a download has occurred.
  • PROTECTED - Displays when the modeler changed the status of the data to the Protected mode.
  • UNPROTECTED - Displays when a modeler has changed the status of the data to the Unprotected mode.

Additional information at the bottom of the Revision History dialog includes:

• Description - entered by the team member that made that revision and cannot be changed at a later time.
• Files - Contains a list of the modified files in the text field and only populates with the information of the revision that has been selected above in the Revision Table.

To display a list of files that were changed between the selected revisions in the Revision Table, click File Changes. The File Changes dialog will open, displaying the files that were changed between the selected revisions. File Changes is available when a revision row has been selected in the Revision Table.