CaseGen_General.py limitation

[briantempleton]

To whom it may concern,

I noticed that for example 01_aeroelasticse/run_general.py, it does not appear to allow setting OpenFAST parameters that are lists. E.g., if one adds the following line as part of the case inputs, one gets an error related to CaseGen_General.py (error at bottom):

`case_inputs[("Fst","LinTimes")]       = {"vals":[[30,60]], "group":0}`

This is also a problem if passing a scalar--the function does not seem to "play well" with openfast_io's FAST_writer.py for OpenFAST parameters that can accept lists. If one wants to pass a scalar value for an OpenFAST parameter that can accept a list value, a quick work around is to modify the relevant line in openfast_io so that it is similar to lines for other parameters for scalars.

I do not currently have a more general/better fix (e.g., would involve generalizing CaseGen_General.py), but may look at it more.

Thanks,
-Brian

---

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "[UserDir]\Code\WEIS\weis\aeroelasticse\CaseGen_General.py", line 138, in CaseGen_General
matrix_out = np.asarray(matrix_out, dtype=str)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ValueError: setting an array element with a sequence. The requested array has an inhomogeneous shape after 2 dimensions. The detected shape was (6, 17) + inhomogeneous part.

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "[UserDir]\Code\WEIS\examples\01_aeroelasticse\run_general.py", line 81, in
case_list, case_name_list = CaseGen_General(case_inputs, dir_matrix=fastBatch.FAST_runDirectory, namebase="iea15mw")
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "[UserDir]\Code\WEIS\weis\aeroelasticse\CaseGen_General.py", line 140, in CaseGen_General
matrix_out = np.asarray(matrix_out)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ValueError: setting an array element with a sequence. The requested array has an inhomogeneous shape after 2 dimensions. The detected shape was (6, 17) + inhomogeneous part.

[dzalkind]

Hi Brian,

I have a solution that uses the changes in an upcoming PR: https://github.com/WISDEM/WEIS/pull/396/files#diff-3db4cea80a6253b517922c6844600fe2142a69d39afe7e5d7b9b078d4ac56d53

Along with setting up the case input like this:

case_inputs[("Fst","LinTimes")]       = {"vals":['[30,60]'], "group":0}

These changes will work with openfast_io, but I think that module could be made a little more flexible. I use arrays of arrays with case_inputs in many places, and I think your input should work in an eventual solution.

Some more helpful error messages as inputs to CaseGen_General might also go a long way in a long-term fix.

I will keep you posted. I am hoping to merge that PR this week to the develop branch.

Best, Dan

[briantempleton]

Hi Dan,

Thank you for your help and quick response! I was able to test the solution we have been using it!

-Brian