When a watershed is configured to be a master watershed, HEC-RTS will keep track of the different versions of the watershed that exist, the main copy on the network drive and the local copies on the team member's workstations. HEC-RTS manages all the changes made to HEC-RTS files, but not files associated with the model alternatives (i.e., HEC-HMS, HEC-ResSim, HEC-RAS). HEC-RTS does not know what changes have been made since editing is done through the native models' interfaces. If you update your local copy, the version number on the local copy will not change, and the team synchronization dialogs will not indicate that your forecast or watershed files are more recent than the master. Future development goals include providing more complete information about differences between the local and master files.

When new files for a watershed are uploaded, HEC-RTS compares the local files with those on the master watershed. The size and sum of the local files are compared with the size and sum of the files on the server. If there are any differences, the files are updated. For downloads, the local and master watershed files are compared. If the version numbers are different, the system updates all of files that have undergone revisions between your local version and the version on the network drive. The following sections provide further details on these concepts.

Master Watershed Team Modeling Files

As part of the upload process for master watershed, there are new files created to track versions. In the master watershed, the main watershed directory and all sub-directories will contain a file labeled .block.revision.dss. These .block.revision.dss files contain a running history of all the file changes that have been made for the directory. Each time an upload occurs for a selected folder, the .block.revision.dss file will log a new entry that contains the name of the files that were changed on the master watershed, the user that performed the upload action, the date and time of the upload, and any comments entered at time of upload.

Local Watershed Team Modeling Files

In addition to the files that are created in the master watershed at the time of the upload, there are new files created for the local copy in the main watershed directory on your computer and all sub-directories as well. These files are labeled .block.revision. Unlike the DSS files on the master watershed, the local copy .block.revision files are XML files. The .block.revision files will contain information about the last update to the specified local folder, instead of a complete history like on the master watershed.

Version Information

CWMS manages the different master watershed .block.revision.dss and local .block.revision files to determine the proper versioning for your local copy of the master watershed. The Master Watershed Synchronization dialog (described in the section titled, Master Watershed Synchronization Dialog) will display information from both the local and master watershed revision files. When a team member selects a node in the Master Watershed Synchronization dialog, it will display the current revision number as defined locally and on the master watershed, the last updated date and time, the username who made the changes, Status, and Comments. If you click the History button at the bottom of the window, a Revision History dialog will launch. This dialog will display information from the master watershed's .block.revision.dss file, which contains the complete version history for the selected node. From the Revision History dialog, you can select two different uploads and click the File Changes button to see the differences between the two revision numbers. Please see the section titled Revision History for more information on using this dialog.