RAPS-China
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How can I include my own data?

You can add your own data to the RAPS-China input files. However, you must painstakingly adhere to the following procedure, because otherwise the RAPS software may not be able to read your new input data.

First, you must open and modify or expand the original MS-EXCEL data file, which we have included in the RAPS-China tool. Please follow the following steps:
1. Use the Windows Explorer (or some other method) to navigate to the default RAPS-China database directory. Usually it would be: "C:\Program Files\IIASA\database" (if you have used the default setup version). Here you find three sub-directories: "custom", "original", and "workspace" and "xls", which includes the MS-EXCEL data file: "RAPS_ALL_Dimensions.xls". Open this xls-data file by double-clicking its name.
2. The "RAPS_ALL_Dimensions.xls" original data file consists of three worksheets: "Original", "Normalized", "Absolute". The raw data are in the "Original" worksheet. The "Normalized" and "Absolute" worksheets automatically produce the corresponding RAPS-China input files.
3. Open the "Original" worksheet and add or modify data records.
Do not add or modify data in the "Normalized" and "Absolute" worksheets!
However, when you have added data records to the "Original" worksheet you must switch to the "Absolute" and "Normalized" worksheets to add the corresponding number of rows to the sheets (so that they can automatically calculate the corresponding normalized and absolute values). Just copy the last line in the "Absolute" or "Normalized" worksheet the appropriate number of times at the bottom. Again - do not copy the additional rows from the "Original" worksheet.
4. The "Normalized" and "Absolute" worksheets are the MS-EXCEL version of the RAPS input data files. You just have to save them as plain ASCII data files. This needs some care: First make sure that the whole RAPS_ALL_Dimensions.xls file is properly saved. Then switch to the "Normalized" worksheet and select "Save As" from the File menu. Save this worksheet as type "Text (Tab delimited) (*.txt)". MS-EXCEL will then ask you several questions. Make sure that you really save the "Normalized" worksheet as a Tab-delimited text file.
5. Now you can leave the MS-EXCEL program. Use MS-Word (or some other program for editing text files) to open the newly created Tab-delimited text file from the "Normalized" worksheet. You will see a densely packed text file in which the individual data items are separated by "Tabs" (typically you may not actually see the Tabs, because they are made invisibly in most text processors). Since the RAPS-China tool needs semi-colon separated text file, you must now replace the "Tabs" with ";" (Semicolons). You can quickly do this with the "Replace All" option.
6. Open the file "RAPS-Header.txt"; copy everything into the clipboard. Now open the newly created "Normalized.txt" file and paste the header information at the top of this file. Now re-name the file to "RAPS-NOR1_Data.csv". This file should now have the same structure as the original RAPS-China input data file, which you can find in "C:\Program Files\IIASA\database\original\normalized\RAPS-NOR1_Data.csv".
7. You can now copy the new, semicolon separated text file to its appropriate subdirectory "C:\Program Files\IIASA\database\original\normalized". If you have done everything exactly as described above, RAPS-China should be able to immediately recognize the new (modified or expanded) input file.
Attention!
Please be absolutely sure that you have not accidentally included some non-ASCII character or some character in the data section that may be invisible in certain text processors, such as the CR (Enter) character. If RAPS-China finds such a character it aborts the program.
Too complicated?
If you think this data upgrade procedure is too complicated we can do it for you. However, we must charge a fee that covers our labor costs. For details, please contact Dr. Gerhard K. Heilig by e-mail (heilig@iiasa.ac.at; or gerhard.heilig@chello.at).
 

 

 
Heilig, G.K. (2004): RAPS-China. A Regional Analysis and Planning System. Laxenburg, Austria