The user can view output for the frequency analysis directly from the Volume Frequency Analysis editor (Tabular and Graphical output) or by using the plot and view report buttons at the bottom of the editor. The output consists of tabular results, an analytical frequency curve plot, a graphical frequency curve plot, and a report documenting the data and computations performed.

Tabular Output

Once the computations for the analytical frequency analysis are completed, the user can view tabular output by opening the Tabular Results tab under the Analytical analysis tab. The details of this table were discussed above. The tabular results can be printed by using the Print button at the bottom of the Volume Frequency Analysis editor. When the print button is pressed, a window will appear, giving the user options for how the table is to be printed.

Graphical Output

Graphical output can be opened by selecting one of the plot buttons at the bottom of the Volume Frequency Analysis editor or by selecting the Plot tab under the Analytical or Graphical tabs. There are three plot buttons at the bottom of the Volume Frequency Analysis editor, Plot Duration Data, Plot Analytical Curve, and Plot Graphical Curve. Pressing the Plot Duration Data button will open a new window containing a graph showing the systematic data plotted using the user-defined plotting position method. Pressing the Plot Analytical Curve button will open a new window containing a graph with both the systematic data and the computed analytical frequency curves, as shown in Figure 1. Pressing the Plot Graphical Curve button will open a new window containing a graph with both the systematic data and the user-defined frequency curves.

All plots opened by selecting one of the plot buttons at the bottom of the Volume Frequency Analysis editor contain menu options for printing, editing, and saving the plots.

Plots can be sent to the printer by selecting the Print option located on the File menu. Additional printing options available from the File menu are Page Setup, Print Preview, and Print Multiple (used for printing multiple graphs on the same page). The plot can also be sent to the Windows Clipboard by selecting Copy to Clipboard from the File menu. Additionally, the plot can be saved to a file by selecting the Save As option from the File menu. When the Save As option is selected, a window will appear allowing the user to select a directory, enter a filename, and select the format for saving the file. Currently, four file formats are available for saving the plot to disk: windows metafile, postscript, JPEG, and portable network graphic. The data contained within the plot can also be tabulated by selecting Tabulate from the File menu. When this option is selected, a separate window will appear with the data tabulated. Additional options are available from the File menu for saving the plot properties as a template (Save Template) and applying previously saved templates to the current plot (Apply Template).

The Edit menu contains several options for customizing the plot properties. These options include Plot Properties, Configure Plot Layout, Default Line Styles, and Default Plot Properties. Also, the user can right-click on a line or data point in the plot area or in the legend and a shortcut menu will open with customization options. Both the Y and X-axis properties can be edited by placing the mouse on top of axis and clicking the right mouse button. Then select the Edit Properties menu option in the shortcut menu. For example, the user can turn on minor tic marks for the y-axis and modify the minimum and maximum scale for the x-axis. The graphic customizing capabilities within HEC-SSP are very powerful, but are also somewhat complex to use. The code used in developing the plots in HEC-SSP is the same code that is used for developing plots in HEC-DSSVue and several other HEC software programs. Please refer to the HEC-DSSVue User's Manual for details on customizing plots.

Viewing the Report File

Computational results for a volume frequency analysis are written to a report file. The report file lists all of the input data and user settings, plotting positions of the data points, intermediate results, each of the various statistical tests performed (i.e. high and low outliers, historical data, etc…), and the final results. This file is often useful for understanding how the software arrived at the final frequency curves. Press the View Report button at the bottom of the Volume Frequency Analysis editor to open the report, as shown in Figure 2.

Plots, tables and reports can also be created by selecting menu options from the Results menu. At least one volume frequency analysis must be selected in the study explorer before selecting one of the menu options on the Results menu. Results from multiple analyses are combined in one graph if they are selected in the study explorer when the Graph menu option is selected. The Results | Summary Report menu option will create a summary table of statistics and frequency curve ordinates for the selected analyses as shown in Figure 3.