Working with Cases
Case management tasks
A case file is a single file containing the data of some identifiers in an AIMMS model. The Data menu is the main tool through which you can accomplish tasks such as saving, loading, merging, and comparing case files. This menu item is part of the developer menu and is available by default on all end-user pages.
The active case
In AIMMS, all the data that you are currently working with, is referred to as the active case. If you have not yet loaded or saved a case file, the active case is unnamed, otherwise the active case is named after the name of the last loaded or saved case file on disk. If the active case is named, its name is displayed in the status bar at the bottom of the AIMMS window.
Saving a case file
When you save a named active case, AIMMS will save it to the associated case file on disk by default, thereby overwriting its previous contents. If the active case is unnamed, or when you try to save a case using the Data-Save Case As menu, AIMMS will open the Save Case dialog box illustrated in The Save Case File dialog box.
Fig. 59 The Save Case File dialog box
In the Save Case File dialog box you can enter the name of the case file, and, optionally, select the folder in which the case file is to be stored. After successfully saving a case file through the Save Case File dialog box, the active case will become named.
Loading a case file
AIMMS supports three modes for loading the data of a case file, as summarized in the following table:
mode |
changes name of active case |
replaces data |
merges data |
|---|---|---|---|
load as active |
✓ |
✓ |
|
load into active |
✓ |
||
merge into active |
✓ |
The modes are explained in more detail below.
Load as active
The most frequently used mode for loading a case file is loading the case file as active, through the Data-Load Case-As Active menu. Loading a case file as active completely replaces the active data of all identifiers in the case file being loaded. Data of identifiers that are not stored in the case file, remain unchanged. In addition, the active case will be named after the loaded case file. Before loading a case file as active, AIMMS will ask you whether the current active case data needs to be saved whenever this is necessary.
Load into active
Loading a case file into active, through the Data-Load Case-Into Active menu, is completely identical to loading a case as active, with the exception that the name of the active case will not be changed. Thus, by loading data into the active case you can replace part, or all, of the contents of the active case with data obtained from another case file.
Merge into active
Merging a case file into active, through the Data-Load Case-Merge Into Active menu, does not change the name of the active case either. Merging a case file into the active case partially replaces the data in the active case with only the nondefault values stored in the loaded case file. Data in the active case, for which no associated nondefault values exist in the merged case file, remain unchanged.
Starting a new case
Using the Data-New Case menu item, you can instruct AIMMS to start a new, unnamed, active case. However, the data in the active case will remain unchanged. Before starting a new case, AIMMS will ask you whether the current active case data needs to be saved.