QGIS TUFLOW Create Project

The tool serves two main purposes, it saves the location of your TUFLOW preferences, it can also be used to create the TUFLOW folder structure and run a model to create the template (empty) GIS files.

Running the Tool

The tool can be found under the QGIS menu Plugins >> TUFLOW >> Editing >> Configure / Create TUFLOW Project.

Saving Settings

This utility can be used to save the location of the following for a TUFLOW project:

TUFLOW Model Projection
The parent folder that contains the TUFLOW model
The location of the TUFLOW executable

This information can be saved in two locations to the current project and global settings. Each time the utility is run the project settings will be updated. If the Save Default Settings Globally (for all projects) is checked, the default settings will be saved globally. When subsequent tools are run, the settings are checked and if project specific settings are set these will be used, if no project specific data is set then the utilities will default to the global defaults.

Setting CRS

When setting the CRS (Coordinate Reference System) there are two options:

Load these from an existing vector dataset in the layer control. To do this, in the Source Projection Layer select the desired source layer. When selected the CRS description and ID will update in the dialogue fields.
By using the Coordinate Reference System Selector. To open this hit the Select CRS, the CRS selector will open as per the image below (click to enlarge):

Setting TUFLOW folder

Select a TUFLOW folder for your model. This should be the folder that contains the entire TUFLOW model folder structure. For example, if your TUFLOW folder is "D:\projects\Example\TUFLOW", the folder set here should be “D:\projects\Example\”. All of the following tools will use this location.

Set the TUFLOW executable

Select the Browse... option next to the TUFLOW executable display to bring up a dialogue and select the desired TUFLOW executable. This needs to be downloaded from the TUFLOW website. The executable must match the TUFLOW Engine choice, for example if "TUFLOW Classic/HPC" is selected, then the executable must point to the appropriate executable (TUFLOW_iSP_w64.exe).

TUFLOW Engine

Select the desired TUFLOW engine. This must match the executable selected in the above step.

GIS Format

Available in v3.3
Select the default GIS format used in the TUFLOW model. If creating empty files, the empty files will be output in this format along with the projection file. Using GPKG format is only compatible with TUFLOW Classic/HPC v2022 or later.

Creating TUFLOW Folder Structure

If the Create TUFLOW Folder Structure check-box is enabled when the utility is run, a standard TUFLOW folder structure is created (the structure also depends on the TUFLOW Engine selection). A shapefile is also saved inside the TUFLOW folder. As an example, for TUFLOW Classic/HPC this is saved within the TUFLOW\model\gis\ folder and a simple TUFLOW control file (.tcf) is created. This .tcf file is in the TUFLOW\runs\ folder and is named Create_Empties.tcf.

Run TUFLOW to create template files

If the Run TUFLOW to create template files check-box is enabled a TUFLOW simulation is started with the Create_Empties.tcf (or equivalent FVC) as in the input file. This simulation only has three commands:

GIS FORMAT == SHP
SHP Projection == ..\model\gis\projection.prj
Write Empty GIS Files == ..\model\gis\empty

When started this simulation will create a series of template files in the TUFLOW\model\gis\empty folder (or TUFLOW FV equivalent). All of these template files have projection (CRS) as defined and have the correct GIS attributes for use in TUFLOW modelling. This can be brought into QGIS using the QGIS TUFLOW import empty plugin.

Tutorial Model

Automatically sets the tutorial command inside the output TCF or FVC file when creating empty files. For TUFLOW Classic/HPC a license is not required to generate empty files therefore this option is only recommended if you are working through the free tutorial models. Some builds of TUFLOW FV do not support empty file creation without a license, however TUFLOW FV does support a free tutorial mode and so this option will allow users who are not currently connected to a license to create empty files.

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