vdfx needed for Vensim 8+? vdf2vdfx?

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kleemax
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vdfx needed for Vensim 8+? vdf2vdfx?

Post by kleemax »

I have noticed that you have introduced a new file format: vdfx.
A model that is running on Vensim 6.4x32 is not running on Vensim 8.0.4 DPx64.
Could that be because Vensim 8+ requires vdfx instead of vdf files for data variables?

If so, is there a simple way to convert from vdf to vdfx? I'm trying to use vdf2xls and xls2vdf in a command script, but I'm struggeling (I get crashes and the resulting files are not usable).

What is the difference between vdf and vdfx anyway?

Kind regards,
Max
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Re: vdfx needed for Vensim 8+? vdf2vdfx?

Post by Administrator »

kleemax wrote: Tue Jan 26, 2021 5:06 pm I have noticed that you have introduced a new file format: vdfx.
A model that is running on Vensim 6.4x32 is not running on Vensim 8.0.4 DPx64.
Could that be because Vensim 8+ requires vdfx instead of vdf files for data variables?
No. Vensim 8 will read VDF files as well as VDFX.
kleemax wrote: Tue Jan 26, 2021 5:06 pmIf so, is there a simple way to convert from vdf to vdfx? I'm trying to use vdf2xls and xls2vdf in a command script, but I'm struggeling (I get crashes and the resulting files are not usable).
Can you email us the offending VDF file and the commands you are using?
kleemax wrote: Tue Jan 26, 2021 5:06 pmWhat is the difference between vdf and vdfx anyway?
VDFX can store huge amounts of data (VDF was limited to around 1.5gb). VDFX also stores values as doubles rather than floats.
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tomfid
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Re: vdfx needed for Vensim 8+? vdf2vdfx?

Post by tomfid »

For a quick solution, vdf2dat and dat2vdf is a formatless conversion, so it's very easy to specify in a cmd script. The only limitation is that the dat format is inefficient for large datasets, but I wouldn't worry about that until files are large (maybe 10 or 50 megabytes).
kleemax
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Re: vdfx needed for Vensim 8+? vdf2vdfx?

Post by kleemax »

Hi Tom, hi Admin,

wow, thanks a lot for the replies! That means I actually have two separate problems:
a) Vensim 8 does not run a model that runs fine in 6.4
b) conversion via command script from vdf to xls and vice versa, does not work.

Should we continue the discussion here or open separate threads?

Priority is on (a) for me. The question is: could vdfs still be the problem? I mean could there be something in the format of vdfs that offends Vensim 8.0.4, while it's not a problem for 6.4? And if so would that be solved in newer versions of Vensim?

I'll find out if I can provide vdfs,
The problem is: we use many different vdfs as data sources. I'm thinking if there is a way to narrow the issue down to one of them, I'm open for hints in that respect.
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Re: vdfx needed for Vensim 8+? vdf2vdfx?

Post by Administrator »

kleemax wrote: Wed Jan 27, 2021 7:07 ama) Vensim 8 does not run a model that runs fine in 6.4
b) conversion via command script from vdf to xls and vice versa, does not work.

Should we continue the discussion here or open separate threads?
Here is fine.

kleemax wrote: Wed Jan 27, 2021 7:07 amPriority is on (a) for me. The question is: could vdfs still be the problem? I mean could there be something in the format of vdfs that offends Vensim 8.0.4, while it's not a problem for 6.4? And if so would that be solved in newer versions of Vensim?

The problem is: we use many different vdfs as data sources. I'm thinking if there is a way to narrow the issue down to one of them, I'm open for hints in that respect.
What are the exact errors you are getting? And can you email us the offending files, that way we can check much easier to find out what is going wrong.
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kleemax
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Re: vdfx needed for Vensim 8+? vdf2vdfx?

Post by kleemax »

Update:
originally in the model the list of vdfs to be loaded had no file extensions, I have added file extensions ".vdf" and now the model does run.
This is strange, because when trying to simulate without file extensions I get a dialouge "Unable to open filename.vdfx Trying to open filename.vdf Successfully opened filename.vdf" Hence I had expected, that Vensim had understood that it needed to open vdfs instead of vdfx. However, the above behavior seems to indicate otherwise. I should mention, that we are importing many of vdf files for a simulation. So maybe Vensim has a problem when the amount of vdfs surpasses a certain limit? Also some of the vdfs have file names of only one character, e.g. "P.vdf". So you may wanna check if Vensim has an issue with such short file names.
tomfid
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Re: vdfx needed for Vensim 8+? vdf2vdfx?

Post by tomfid »

It would be helpful if we could test the model, because the vdf/vdfx guessing should work.

Short names should not be a problem. Weird unicode characters might, but that's unlikely.

I think we'd need the input xls to replicate the command script crash. It's possible that it has been fixed since 8.0.4 already.
Priyadarshan

Re: vdfx needed for Vensim 8+? vdf2vdfx?

Post by Priyadarshan »

I see I am not the only one having problem with Ver 8+ reading vdf files.
tomfid
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Re: vdfx needed for Vensim 8+? vdf2vdfx?

Post by tomfid »

If you have an example, we would be happy to have a copy for testing - upload or email works.
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