The package reads ApacheCalc (CIBSE Heat Loss & Heat Gain Calculation), ApacheLoads (ASHRAE Heat Balance Method Calculation), ApacheSim dynamic thermal simulation files and real climate data files.
The Vista application workspace consists of distinct areas of user input. They are ordered vertically from top to bottom:
Vista View
The main Vista menu:
The Vista toolbar provides shortcuts to opening new results files and plotting new graphs or tables and is different for each type of file to be analysed:
Simulation files (*.aps):
Heating Loads (*.htg):
Cooling Loads (*.clg):
The model view area acts in the same way as in the other application workspaces. That is, clicking onto a room selects it. If you double click a room, it takes you down one decomposition level. You can navigate down to openings to get air flow rates, etc. Please note that you can also use the model browser on the left hand side of the screen to control what room is selected. If you select outside the model or select “Model” on the browser, then the results for the whole model are selected. The variables available for selection are different to the individual rooms.
Any change in selection of any part of the model is automatically reflected in the dialog bar (in terms of what level of the model is selected) and in the last-created graph or chart, in terms of which part of the model is used for results analysis.
The view toolbar acts in the same way as other application workspaces allowing you to control the level of decomposition of the model and what angle it is viewed from.
The dialog bar has a number of input areas, with each one distinctly labelled. These are described in more detail later in the manual. Suffice to say that, once you have created a new graph or table, then when you change the selections in this area of the screen, then the viewed output on the latest graph or table is updated accordingly. This makes it easy to browse around a model and the associated thermal results.
