DSS is a database system that was designed to efficiently store and retrieve scientific data that is typically sequential. Such data types include, but are not limited to, time series data, curve data, spatial-oriented gridded data, textual data, and others. The system was designed to make it easy for users and application programs to retrieve and store data.
DSS data is stored in blocks, or records, within a file, and each record is identified by a unique name called a pathname. The pathname is formulated in a way that makes it easy to group related data together. Software from HEC can read from and write to DSS files. This capability facilitates data exchange among the HEC software applications. For example, you could use HEC-ResSim to generate the time series data input for HEC-FIA. A pathname may consist of up to 391 characters and is, by convention, separated into six parts, which may be up to sixty-four characters each. Pathnames are automatically translated into all upper case characters. They are separated into six parts (delimited by slashes "/") labeled "A" through "F," as follows: /A/B/C/D/E/F/. Table 1 provides an example naming convention for regular-interval time series. A typical regular-interval time series might be:
/RED RIVER/BEND MARINA/FLOW/01JAN1995/1DAY/OBS/