SMS:Dynamic Model Interface Schema

The dynamic model interface is available in SMS version 11.2 and later. It is primarily a tool for developers. The dynamic model interface provides a way to quickly generate an interface for a numeric model.

Dynamic dialogs are a quick way to generate dialogs without having to compile code. To add or delete a widget on a dynamic dialog, the user simply modifies the XML document. When the modified document is loaded, the new/modified dialog exists. The XML document defines the layout, behavior and the different dialog controls.

The dialog is divided into 2 sections, the tree and the widget view. The tree is on the left side of the dialog and it contains groups and items that represent data. Clicking on a group or item will result with the widget view being updated to match the selected tree or group item.

• Order of the tree items and groups will match the order defined in the XML file.
• Clicking on group will display all children items in the widget view.
• Clicking on a single item will display associated widgets in widget view.
• Tree item will also display the values in a non-editable field.
• Unique_name use format: file::unique_name#value
• Widgets or groups of widgets can be loaded from an outside file by using <link_to_xml>.
• Multiple widgets when displayed on right side can be expanded/collapsed – TO BE DETERMINED
• Can have nested groups
• Keywords are words SMS has reserved in the schema and can not be used as unique names. All keywords will start with a “#”. Here is a list of available keywords:

• #card_name
• #geom_name – name of geometry as it shows up in the project explorer
• #project_name
• #value
• #units
• #xmdf_path – path inside the XMDF file
• #file_name
• #file_path
• #sms_path – path in sms project explorer once inside a geometric item
• #count (used for a widget in a table for counting the rows/columns)
• #geom_guid

Projection keyword:

• #horizontal_datum: NAD83 |NAD27|LOCAL
• #horizontal_system: UTM|STATE_PLANE|GEOGRAPHIC|LOCAL
• #horizontal_units: FEET|METERS|DEGREES
• #horizontal_zone: 3104 etc
• #vertical_datum
• #vertical_units

Additional keywords are defined with the various custom control widgets.

Note: In changing from version 1 to version 2, all tags that were <custom_control_XXXX> were changed to <control_XXXX>.

Element <alignH>

Info	Align text horizontally in a text box. Keywords are LEFT, RIGHT, CENTER, and JUSTIFIED
Versions	1, 2
Attributes	none
Children	none
Used by	text_box
Example	<text_box> <unique_name>edtD50Units</unique_name> <alignH>CENTER</alignH> <text>mm</text> </text_box>

Element <alignV>

Info	Align text horizontally in a text box. Keywords are BOTTOM, TOP, and CENTER
Versions	1, 2
Attributes	none
Children	none
Used by	text_box
Example	<text_box> <unique_name>edtD50Units</unique_name> <alignV>TOP</alignV> <text>mm</text> </text_box>

Element <arc_att>

Info	Used to specify what attributes should be used for the arcs of a coverage.
Versions	2
Attributes	none
Children	menu_item
Used by	coverage
Example

Element <attribute_set>

Info	This represents an item in the project explorer that is some sort of grouping.
Versions	3
Attributes	none
Children	takes, menu_item
Used by	model
Example	See the model example.

Element <blue>

Info	The blue element of a color. Ranges from 0 to 255. Added in SMS 11.2.
Versions	1, 2
Attributes	none
Children	none
Used by	color
Example	This would change the text to a bright red color. <text_style> <color> <red>255</red> <green>0</green> <blue>0</blue> </color> <text_style>

Element <bold>

Info	Sets the text to be bolded. Added in SMS 11.2.
Versions	1, 2
Attributes	none
Children	none
Used by	text_style
Example	This would bold the text when the value in the edit_box is less than 0.0. <edit_box> <unique_name>edtA</unique_name> <default>1.0</default> <text_style> <bold></bold> <condition>edtA LESS_THAN 0.0</condition> <text_style> </edit_box>

Element <card>

Info	Determines the card name and format when the item is exported. For more examples see <export_format>.
Versions	1, 2
Attributes	none
Children	card_name, export_format, export_location, dependency, export_table (version 1), anything beginning with “process_each_”, export_group, export_optional
Used by	item (version 1), file_def (version 2)
Example	<item> <text>Formulation</text> <card> <card_name>FORMULATION</card_name> <export_format>card "formulationUnits"</export_format> </card>

Element <card_name>

Info	The name of the card which is used in the card file.
Versions	1, 2
Attributes	none
Children	none
Used by	card
Example

Element <check_box>

Info	Widget that displays text that is checked/unchecked.
Versions	1, 2
Attributes	none
Children	text, default, unique_name, dependency, export_text_checked, export_text_unchecked, text_style
Used by	item
Example	<check_box> <text>Calculate Sediment Transport</text> <default>checked</default> <unique_name>togCalcSedimentTransport</unique_name> <export_text_checked>ON</export_text_checked> <export_text_unchecked>OFF</export_text_unchecked> <dependency>…</dependency>… </ check_box >

Element <color>

Info	The color of an item, expressed in red, green and blue values ranging from 0 to 255. All 0 values for red, green and blue is black. Added in SMS 11.2.
Versions	1, 2
Attributes	none
Children	red, green, blue
Used by	text_style
Example	This would change the text to a bright red color. <text_style> <color> <red>255</red> <green>0</green> <blue>0</blue> </color> <text_style>

Element <column>

Info	Definition of the column in the table. A widget defined in a column will be the widget used for each cell in the column.
Versions	1, 2
Attributes	none
Children	text, read_only, optional, dependency, text_box, combo_box, edit_box, all elements starting with “custom_control”, check_box
Used by	< table >
Example	Column1 is read only, Column 2 isn’t read only and is also optional. This means the column can have empty fields and a warning message won’t be displayed. < table > … <column> <text>Column1</text> <read_only></read_only> </ column > < column > <text>Column2</text> <optional></optional> </ column > </ table >

Element <combo_box>

Info	Widget that displays list of options. Only 1 can be selected. If no default is specified and the optional tag is present, then an empty option will be added to the combo box. If there is no default tag, and no optional tag, then the first item will be default. In version 2, if a combo box has display_options_arc, and is part of a dialog that is used as an arc attribute, then a limited set of display options will appear for the options of the combo box. The display option for each option of the combo box will only be line thickness and color. The display option is NOT saved at any point and will be reset every time SMS is opened.
Versions	1, 2
Attributes	none
Children	option, unique_name, optional, dependency, text_style, display_options_arc(version 2)
Used by	item, row, column
Example	Creates a combo box with hours, minutes and seconds. Hours is the default item. <combo_box> <unique_name>cbxTransportUnits</unique_name> <option> <text>hours</text> <default></default> </option> <option> <text>minutes</text> </option> <option> <text>seconds</text> </option> <dependency>…</dependency>… </ combo_box >

Element <command_args>

Info	Defines the command line arguments to run a particular executable.
Versions	2
Attributes	none
Children	none
Used by	input_file, anything starting with process_
Example	See executable example.

Element <comment>

Info	Defines a character or sequence of characters that defines the start of a comment on a line. Comments are always terminated by an end of line.
Versions	2
Attributes	none
Children	none
Used by	file_def
Example	// The following example has a file where the exclamation point starts the comment. <file_def> ... <comment>!</comment> … </file_def>

Element <condition>

Info	Evaluates two or more objects using GREATER_THAN, GREATER_THAN_EQUALS, LESS_THAN, LESS_THAN_EQUALS, EQUALS, AND, OR, and NOT. If condition is not met, then message is displayed (if model_check) or widget is hidden/dimmed (if dependency). String literals, such as an entry in a combo-box, must be enclosed in double-quotes (ex. “Combo box entry”).
Versions	1, 2
Attributes	none
Children	none
Used by	model_check, dependency, text_style
Example	< table > <column> <text>A</text> <edit_box> <unique_name>colA</unique_name> </edit_box> </column> …// other columns also defined <model_check> <condition>( (colA EQUALS 0.0 OR colB LESS_THAN 0.0) AND NOT(colD NOT EQUALS EMPTY OR colE NOT EQUALS “Some value”))</condition> <message>Column D or E is required</message> </model_check> </ table >

Element <contains>

Info	Holds all the groups and items of a group.
Versions	2
Attributes	none
Children	group, item
Used by	group
Example

Element <control_curve>

Info	Displays an curve push button. When pushed the xy curve values can be updated and a curve is displayed.
Versions	2
Attributes	none
Children	max_rows, flags, x_column, y_column, unique_name, dependency
Used by	item, row, column
Example	This example creates a curve limited to 10 rows. <item> <control_curve> <unique_name>myCurve1</unique_name> <max_rows>10</max_rows> <flags>XY_USEDATE</flags> <x_column> <text>Time </x_column> <y_column> <text>Velocity</text> </y_column> </control_curve> …

Element <control_dataset>

Info	Displays an edit box, and push buttons for select, delete and create. Once selected, the dataset string is placed into the edit box. <dataset_type> can be scalar or vector. Possible keyword outputs are file_name (which is the name of the dataset without path), geom_name, and file_path (full path c:\somewhere) and sms_path.
Versions	1 (<custom_control_XXXX>), 2
Attributes	none
Children	push_button, dataset_type, unique_name, dependency, default, dataset_name, text_style, use_paramter (version 2)
Used by	item, row, column
Example	This example creates the custom control with only the select and delete buttons. <item> <control_dataset> <push_button>select<push_button> <push_button>delete</push_button> <dataset_type>scalar</dataset_type> </control_dataset>

Element <control_date>

Info	Displays date and time selector, where a date can be selected. Possible output is value, which will be the date formatted as specified in SMS preferences. Possible outputs are year, month, day, hour, minute, second. Keywords: #DAY_DIGIT #DAY_DIGIT_ZERO #DAYS_IN_YEAR #DAY_SHORT_NAME #DAY_LONG_NAME #MONTH_DIGIT #MONTH_DIGIT_ZERO #MONTH_SHORT_NAME #MONTH_LONG_NAME #YEAR_2 #YEAR_4 #HOUR #HOUR_ZERO #HOUR_24 #HOUR_24_ZERO #MINUTE #MINUTE_ZERO #SECOND #SECOND_ZERO #AM_PM #AM_PM_CAPS
Versions	1 (<custom_control_XXXX>), 2
Attributes	none
Children	unique_name, dependency, default, text_style
Used by	item, row, column
Example	<item> <text>Start date</text> <control_date> <unique_name>edtDate</unique_name> </control_date> <card> <card_name>DATE</card_name> <export_format>"%s Day:%s Month:%s Year:%s Hour:%s Minute%s Second:%s\n", #card_name, edtDate#DAY_DIGIT, edtDate#MONTH_LONG_NAME, edtDate#YEAR_4, edtDate#HOUR_24, edtDate#MINUTE_ZERO, edtDate#SECOND_ZERO</export_format> </card> </item>

Element <control_density>

Info	Displays an edit box and combo box. Combo box can contain kg/m^3, gr/cm^3, lb/ft^3. Possible outputs are value and units. Keywords: #MPV_MG_PER_L #MPV_G_PER_L #MPV_KG_PER_CU_M #MPV_G_PER_CU_CM #MPV_LB_PER_CU_FT
Versions	1 (<custom_control_XXXX>), 2
Attributes	none
Children	option, unique_name, dependency, range, default, text_style
Used by	item, row, column
Example	Displays kg/m^3 and lb/ft^3 in combo box. If kg/m^3 selected and exported, returns the text “kg m”. <item> <text>Density </text> <control_density> <option> <text>kg/m^3</text> <export_text>kg m</export_text> <unit_keyword>#MPV_KG_PER_CU_M</unit_keyword> </option> <option> <text>lb_ft^3</text> <export_text>lbs ft</export_text> <unit_keyword>#MPV_LB_PER_CU_FT</unit_keyword> </option> </control_density> …

Element <control_duration>

Info	Displays an edit box and combo box. Combo box contains days, hours, minutes, seconds. Possible outputs are value and units. Keywords: #TIME_SECONDS #TIME_MINUTES #TIME_HOURS #TIME_DAYS #TIME_WEEKS #TIME_YEARS
Versions	1 (<custom_control_XXXX>), 2
Attributes	none
Children	option, unique_name, dependency, range, default, text_style
Used by	item, row, column
Example	Displays only minutes and hours in combo box. If hours selected and exported, returns the text “hrs”. <item> <text>Transport Time Step</text> <control_duration> <option> <text>minutes</text> <export_text>min</export_text> <unit_keyword>#TIME_MINUTES</unit_keyword> </option> <option> <text>hours</text> <export_text>hrs</export_text> <unit_keyword>#TIME_HOURS</unit_keyword> <default></default> </option> </control_duration> …

Element <control_file_opener>

Info	Push button that opens a file open dialog to select files. Possible outputs are file_path.
Versions	1 (<custom_control_XXXX>), 2
Attributes	none
Children	filter, create_file, unique_name, dependency, default, text_style
Used by	item, row, column
Example	Opens a file dialog, filtering on files with *.h5 and *.cmcards extensions <item> <text>File:</text> <control_file_opener> <filter>Cmcards file (.cmcards)</filter> </control_file_opener> …

Element <control_length>

Info	Displays an edit box and combo box. Combo box can contain meters, cm, mm, um, ft, in. Possible outputs are value and units. Keywords: #LEN_MM #LEN_CM #LEN_M #LEN_KM #LEN_INCH #LEN_FT #LEN_YD #LEN_MILE #LEN_UM
Versions	1 (<custom_control_XXXX>), 2
Attributes	none
Children	option, unique_name, dependency, range, default, text_style
Used by	item, row, column
Example	Displays only cm, and mm in combo box. If cm selected and exported, returns the text “centimeter”. <item> <text>Length</text> <control_length> <option> <text>cm</text> <export_text>centimeter</export_text> <unit_keyword>#LEN_CM</unit_keyword> </option> <option> <text>mm</text> <export_text>mm</export_text> <unit_keyword>#LEN_MM</unit_keyword> <default></default> </option> </control_length>

Element <control_velocity>

Info	Displays an edit box and combo box. Combo box can contain m/sec, m/min, m/hours, etc.... Also could be m/sec, cm/sec, ft/sec, etc... The option tag specifies which options are displayed. The edit box will display doubles, within the given range, if provided. Possible outputs are value and units. Keywords: #VEL_M_PER_S #VEL_KM_PER_H #VEL_FT_PER_S #VEL_MPH #VEL_KNOTS #VEL_CM_PER_S #VEL_MM_PER_S
Versions	1 (<custom_control_XXXX>), 2
Attributes	none
Children	option, unique_name, dependency, range, default, text_style
Used by	item, row, column
Example	Displays m/sec and cm/sec in combo box. If m/sec selected and exported, returns the text “m sec”. <item> <text>Velocity </text> <control_velocity> <unique_name>ccVelocity</unique_name> <range>0-100</range> <option> <text>m/sec</text> <export_text>m sec</export_text> <unit_keyword>#VEL_M_PER_S</unit_keyword> </option> <option> <text>cm/sec</text> <export_text>cm sec</export_text> <unit_keyword>#VEL_CM_PER_S</unit_keyword> </option> </control_velocity> …

Element <control_volume_flow>

Info	Displays an edit box and combo box. Combo box can contain m^3/sec, m^3/min, m^3/hours, etc.... Also could be m^3/sec, cm^3/sec, ft^3/sec, etc... The option tag specifies which options are displayed. The edit box will display doubles, within the given range, if provided. Possible outputs are value and units.
Versions	2
Attributes	none
Children	option, unique_name, dependency, range, default, text_style
Used by	item, row, column
Example	Displays m^3/sec and cm^3/sec in combo box. If m^3/sec selected and exported, returns the text “m^3 sec”. <item> <text>Volume flow</text> <control_volume_flow> <unique_name>ccVolumeFlow</unique_name> <range>0-100</range> <option> <text>m^3/sec</text> <export_text>m^3 sec</export_text> <unit_keyword>#VFLOW_CU_M_PER_SEC</unit_keyword> </option> <option> <text>cm^3/sec</text> <export_text>cm^3 sec</export_text> <unit_keyword>#VFLOW_CU_CM_PER_SEC</unit_keyword> </option> </control_volume_flow> …

Element <coverage>

Info	Defines a coverage type for the model.
Versions	2
Attributes	z_is_elev
Children	coverage_type, point_att, arc_att, polygon_att, material_att, menu_item
Used by	model
Example	This defines a coverage that can be created. <coverage z_is_elev = “true”> <coverage_type>MyModel</coverage_type> <point_att> <menu_item> <text>Assign BC...</text> <link_to>NodeAtt</link_to> </menu_item> </point_att> <arc_att> <menu_item> <text>Assign BC...</text> <link_to>NodestringBC</link_to> </menu_item> </arc_att> <material_att> <link_to>MaterialProp</link_to> </material_att> </coverage>

Element <coverage_type>

Info	Gives the name to be used for a type of coverage.
Versions	2
Attributes	none
Children	none
Used by	coverage, take_coverage
Example	See the coverage example and the takes example.