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File Formats |
File Formats (and Names)Joule uses four different types of file:
All of these files are JavaScript Object Notation (json) files. While you probably don't need to be too familiar with JSON to process (or produce) meter data files with other programs, you will need a good understanding to edit configuration or tree data files. There are multiple sources of information on json on the web. JSON.org is probably a good place to start. A good json checker can be found at jsonlint.com. It is extremely inadvisable to put a hand editted file into Joule without running it through a json checker.
The meter data files provide the (vast) bulk of the information used by Joule. Meter data files are organised as a directory of meter directories each with files covering specific time periods (e.g. a month) for the meter.
Carbon intensity information allows Joule to transform energy data into carbon data. These are similar in format to the meter data files. A the moment there is one file per year.
Configuration files that do not have embedded tree data are relatively small and there is only one per visualisation. They are also reasonably self-documenting. The logical description of how the meters relate to each other is called a tree file, since the logical structure is tree-like (although other features are allowed). The tree information can optionally be included within the configuration file. Most of the complexity relating to the visualisation is contained in the tree file. You can use the navigation on the left to find more details on formats of these files. |