openLCA archived user forum

Morning,

I am a new user of OpenLCA and really liking it so far.

However, I am having a problem when trying to create a process from a flow that I have created specially for that process:
I began setting up a model by creating my own flows and then using them as the Quantitative References when setting up a process. That was fine for a while and I created a Produce System that way. But now the flows that I have created and any new flows I try to create, while listed within the Flows tree, do not appear in the Quantitative Reference box when creating a process. So I cannot pick them and the only option left to me is to let the new process dialogue create a flow on my behalf.

Have I done something to lose the flows I created? Or can I get them back somehow?

I am running v1.4.0 64bit on a Win 7 system. I have also imported the ELCD database.

Thanks for any help.

James

Hi James,
you can only select product flows as quantitative reference. These are the flows with the blue icon (the gear-wheels) in the input/output sheet, see also the screenshot below. The type of flow (being product, waste or elementary flow) is determined when creating the flow. If you created elementary flows accidentally, then you should delete them and create product flows instead.
Hope this helps,
Andreas

Hi Andreas,
Thanks for the fast response!
Ah, yes that would certainly explain some of the disappearances.
But (I have done a little more digging resulting from your reply), I've realised that there are still some are present in the Flows tree which are missing from the Quantitative Reference in the new process dialogue box. Some of them I have created (Accounting Test Flows and CLEVER in the picture), but the rest I have not (I think they were installed with openLCA, or ELCD). I have checked and there are flows in the missing folders which are products, as opposed to elementary ones. Any idea on what might cause that?
Picture is a screen grab. On the left is the flow tree and on the right a portion of the new process dialogue box. Thanks for you help - it is much appreciated!
James

Hi James,
not sure about the flows in the 'clever' folder but the deposited goods, product residues, wastes are probably waste flows (and thus no product flows).
Best wishes,
Andreas

- so, as said, best is to create new flows of the correct type. Since a flow type has far-reaching consequences we decided to not allow users to change the flow type once a flow is created

Hi Andreas,
Thanks you for your response.
I think I may have got to the bottom of the problem of the missing folders.
When a mix of both types of flow is in a folder it is not visible in the New Process/Quantitative Reference dialogue. When the elementary flows are removed from the folders, so that they only contain product flows, the folders re-appear in the dialogue box. I checked this on the CLEVER and Deposited goods folders.
Is this the intention? Or would it be possible to allow mixed flow types within a folder?
Thanks,
James

Oh, you are right - no this is not intended I think and we should allow product and elementary flows in one folder.
Thank you!
Andreas