Engineering Time Series Analyzer (ETA)
The Engineering Time Series Analyzer (ETA) is used to create, edit, display, and store time series.
ETA is an independent application module that is supplied with TOP-Energy. It can also be used independently of TOP-Energy.
ETA can exchange data with TOP-Energy. It can be started directly from TOP-Energy. Time series opened in ETA and linked to a TOP-Energy project are automatically updated in the ETA as soon as they are changed in TOP-Energy by a simulation.
A connection to TOP-Energy can also be established subsequently, in case ETA was started independently of TOP-Energy.
The articles on Working with Time Series provide an insight into the typical functions and applications of the ETA:
The article User Interface (ETA) provides an introduction to the user interface of the ETA.
The following Properties of time series are discussed in separate articles:
- General Properties,
- Equidistant or nonequidistant,
- Concrete or abstract,
- Time zone,
- Data source.
You can find out which graphical display options are available in the articles on Time Series Plots:
- Exporting plot windows,
- Synchronizing plot windows,
- XY-plots,
- XYZ-plots,
- Stacked plot windows,
- Simple time series plots.
The articles on Time Series Methods provide access to the numerous methods of ETA:
- Import and export methods,
- Generating time series (simple and constant, random, sinusoidal, from type days),
- Changing time series properties,
- Changing values,
- Changing points in time,
- Filtering,
- Converting, combining,
- Calculating with time series,
- Analytical methods (cross correlation, autocorrelation, regression, counting).
Start ETA
ETA can be started either independently from TOP-Energy or from TOP-Energy. It is only possible to save and load the views of the time series independently of TOP-Energy with a start that is independent of TOP-Energy. When starting ETA from TOP-Energy, the views of the time series can be saved with the Time_Series_Interface component.
ETA Independently of TOP-Energy
The following three options are available for starting ETA independently of TOP-Energy.
When starting the ETA independently of TOP-Energy, the default view with all plot windows, value tables, and properties windows is loaded that was last saved before closing the ETA (opened independently of TOP-Energy). When the ETA is closed, the following prompt appears asking whether the view should be saved as the default view for the next start.
Start ETA from TOP-Energy
There are basically different ways to start ETA from TOP-Energy:
- By clicking on the ETA button
or the adjacent triangle on the toolbar, in a drop-down menu, you can access three commands that start ETA in different ways:
- Start ETA,
- Open energy balance time series in ETA,
- Open input time series in ETA.
- In the input data forms of the components, start ETA with the button (Tooltip Add Time Series), which is available for all potentially time-variable input parameters. A time series is created in the ETA for the selected parameter. It contains the value entered in the component form as a constant. This time series is displayed in the Project Explorer of the ETA with the symbol
within a tree structure which is taken over from the TOP-Energy project. The time series is displayed graphically in the Plot Window.
The following figure shows these four possibilities to start ETA from TOP-Energy.
The article Project Tree (ETA) describes how TOP-Energy projects are transferred to ETA, edited, and returned to TOP-Energy.
Create a Project
A new ETA project can be created using the menu items File → 
New project. Right-click the new project in the Project Explorer, select 
Save Project from the context menu, and save the project in the desired location. ETA project files have the file extension .etax.
The selected project name is displayed in the ETA Project Explorer.
For more information about creating, saving, and opening ETA projects, see the Project Tree (ETA) article.
