Introduction to MIKE+ Import/Export

Importing various data from external systems into a MIKE+ project is one of critical parts of the modelling work. Efficiency and versatility of the import workflow contributes significantly to the overall productivity. Exporting the MIKE+ project into various external formats is equally important. As a variety of formats are commonly used for storage and management of water systems data, very flexible and versatile import/export tools are required.

MIKE+ comes with some standard (automated) routines for import and export from and to commonly used formats. These include the following:

• Import of projects from MIKE URBAN formats (*.mdb and *.gdb)
• Import of MIKE HYDRO River and MIKE 11 model files
• Import of MIKE 21 and MIKE FLOOD model files
• Import of EPANET model files
• Import of SWMM model files
• Export of CS and River model setups to MIKE1D engine input file (*.m1dx)
• Export of WD model setup to EPANET model file
• Export of SWMM collection system model setup to SWMM model file
• Backing up the MIKE+ database by cloning it in SQLite or PostGIS formats

In addition to this, the ‘Import and export’ tool facilitates configuration of custom imports and exports from and to various formats.

This chapter provides detailed information on the technical background and practical user guide for the ‘Import and export’ tool.

The Import/Export tool available in MIKE+ (Tools|Import and Export) provides a versatile and flexible environment for exchanging data between various external repositories and the MIKE+ database. The data can be imported to and exported from the MIKE+ database. The Import/Export tool features the following:

• Variety of supported data formats, both on target and source sides
• Multi-section and multi-job batch processing in user-controlled sequence
• User-specified variables
• Control of source strings format (decimal separator)
• Automatic creation of a network on basis of feature geometries
• Auto-mapping identity assignment
• Assignment expressions supported by various functions and operators, including a conditional clause
• Preview of source and target data
• Automatic unit conversion
• Automatic verification of import configuration
• Saving of import job configurations for later reuse

 

Figure: Import/Export GUI is divided in two boxes: in the left box, import jobs are specified, and in the right box import sections are specified. Additionally, there are several action buttons and a toolbar, including all functionalities for a full control over the import definition process.

The common word used for an import/export procedure is 'job'. A job may consist of one or more 'table configurations'. An import/export job will normally consist of several table configurations (called 'sections'), making up a complete import/export. Each table configuration in the job relates to an individual table or feature class.

When importing data into a MIKE+ database from an external data source, the external data is referred to as the 'source' and the MIKE+ database is referred to as the 'target'. For the export jobs, the situation reverses - the MIKE+ database is then referred to as the 'source' and the database or file that you wish to export the MIKE+ data to is referred to as the 'target'.

The procedure of importing/exporting data is done through a generic 'engine' as shown in the figure below.

 

Figure: Generic presentation of Import/Export process

As the illustration suggests, import and export jobs are always executed following the same process scheme, involving storage drivers ('muStorages') - programs which read data from the source into the computer memory ('cache') and write data from the computer memory i.e. from 'cache' to the target, and a data converter ('muBridge') - a program which 'translates' the data from the source cache into the target cache.