How to setup and run multiple simulations in the batch runner

The batch runner tool enables you to quickly build up a batch run of multiple simulations from your current Flood Modeller project. All simulations can then be set running, managed by Flood Modeller and running concurrently or sequentially (depending on available processors).

A batch can be made up of any combination of 1D, 2D and integrated simulations. The procedure for running the batch runner is as follows:

1. Open a Flood Modeller project and add the simulations you want to run in a batch to your Project panel > Simulations section.

2. On the Simulations tab of the main toolbar select the Run Batch tool

   

3. The batch runner tool will open in a new window, as shown below:

   

   Click the Add from Project button (in the ribbon toolbar) to load all simulations in your current project. Alternatively use the Add from File button to browse to other model files, i.e. any combination of 1D ief files and 2D xml files.

   For reference: The functions provided in the batch runner toolbar are as follows:

   • Settings – enables you to override default settings to set number of concurrent simulations that the batch tool will start. It also provides settings to configure the data display during a batch simulation.

     

     • The default core setting is to utilise all but one of the available cores on your system (leaving one core free for other applications). It is recommended that you stick with this default setting (or use less cores). Selecting all cores can adversely affect performance of the batch runner (and your system as a whole). Furthermore, for batches that will include any 2D models (or 1D-2D linked models) it is recommended that this setting is 1. This is because 2D simulations will often utilise multiple cores which means running two or more concurrently can adversely affect the performance of these simulations.

     • You can change how often the batch runner will extract run time data from your simulations. The default for this is currently to sample every timestep. However, if you experience a reduction in model performance it is recommended this setting is increased (e.g. to 10).

     • The “Limit log output” option is ticked on by default. If ticked then the number of rows stored and shown in the output tab of your batch/cloud/single simulation is limited to the last n rows, where n is the setting in the “Show rows” box. There is no upper limit implemented for this setting, although if the value is very much higher than the default then this may slow your simulation performance. The minimum value for this setting is 1. Note that this box is only enabled if “Limit log output” is ticked. The default number of rows to show is 100,000.

     • If you view run details during a simulation, i.e. charts for each model (see Detail button below), then you have two options for configuring this display on your screen. The fit to screen option will display all your simulations at the same time, resizing them accordingly. However, if you select a large number of simulations to display together, this option might make each individual simulation illegible. In this case select the scroll horizontally option as this limits the interface to show no more than about 4 simulations on screen at a time, and provides a horizontal scroll bar to move between simulations. Note this setting cannot be changed mid-simulation.

     • If you are running multiple Flood Modeller 2D only models (not TUFLOW) then it is likely that faster performance will be achieved running these sequentially, one at a time. This will enable individual simulations to run utilising the maximum number of available threads (utilising the parallelisation functionality within the 2D solver). This is the default option in the settings window (set with the Run 2D models sequentially tick box). Unticking this option will then enable 2D only simulations to run concurrently, governed by the concurrent simulations slider control (however, this will reduce the number of parallel threads each simulation can use and likely slow overall performance of the batch).

   • Save – saves the current batch settings to a file (.ipf extension) to enable the same settings to be quickly recalled later

   • Add from project – automatically adds all simulation files from your current Flood Modeller project (i.e. 1D ief, 2D xml and 1D-2D linked models)

   • Add from file – displays browse window for you to select one or multiple simulation files from your system.

   • Remove – removes highlighted rows from the simulations table. Click on a row to highlight it (in blue), click with Shift or Ctrl keys depressed to highlight multiple rows.

   • Remove All – removes all simulations from the simulations table

   • Select All – marks all loaded simulations as selected for running, signified by a tick in the Run column of the simulations table

   • De-select All – removes all ticks from Run column of the simulations table, so no simulations are selected for running.

   • Run Selected – runs all ticked simulations

   • Cancel – ends currently highlighted runs early. To cancel all or multiple simulations within an active batch, select by highlighting rows in the table (not by ticking/unticking Run boxes) and then click the Cancel button. Note that only the currently active runs within the batch will be cancelled by this action (not runs not yet started).

   • Detail – display detailed progress windows for all selected simulations being run in a batch. A selected simulation is one with a tick in the Run column. Note runs can be unticked once a batch has started (and the simulations will still be run as part of the batch) to enable only a subset of simulation details to be shown. These data are displayed below the simulations table, using a separate window per run. Details can be displayed for all selected simulations on screen together or with a horizontal scroll bar to enable you to move between different simulations (with each one displayed bigger). See Settings options above for more on this.

4. Mark all loaded simulations to be run (by adding a tick in the Run column for each). Click the Run Selected button to start the batch run.

5. Click the Detail button to show progress through each simulation. This will display a progress window for each selected simulation. Click in the “Run” column to select or de-select a simulation. An active simulation will auto-update data displayed in its progress window at regular intervals through the run.

   Examples of the simulation progress window are shown below:

   

   Options are provided to change the data plotted or displayed in the table. Furthermore, you can drag any progress window to a different part of your display or expand to full screen.

   At any time, you can zoom in on part of a displayed chart. To zoom you need to hold down the shift key and then drag a zoom area on the graph (Alt + mouse click zooms out). Alternatively, you can also use the mouse scroll wheel to zoom in/out after clicking on the graph. If you do zoom in, it is best to zoom all the way out before switching plot type.

   At the end of a simulation the progress bar will turn green (if 100% is successfully reached) or red (if the model failed to complete).

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