Product(s):	WaterGEMS, HAMMER, WaterCAD
Version(s):	08.11.XX.XX and higher
Area:	Layout and Data Input

Problem

When trying to import an EPANET .INP file into WaterGEMS, WaterCAD or HAMMER, the import fails and/or a message similar to the below appears:

1) "The specified EPANET file could not be loaded. Error message: The specified EPANET file contains values with no section. Format does not follow EPANET standards."

2) Error: Key in dictionary: #### Key being added: ##### (where # is some number)

3) When importing an .INP file (EPANET) the model doesn't display correctly. For example, all the junctions in the model file are at a 0, 0 location.

4) The program crashes with a dialog titled "Assertion Failed"

5) Missing pipes when exporting to EPANET (see "see also" below)

6) The Pattern time step is imported incorrectly.

Background

These issues may occur in some cases where the EPANET file is in an older format or if it was created from a third-party software that did not properly export the file (or exported it with non-standard formatting).

Note:

If you only have a .net file, you need to first export that to .INP format by opening it in EPANET (free download), then go to File > Export > Network. This will save to .INP format.
The EPANET 2.2 INP file format is supported (import and export) starting with WaterGEMS, WaterCAD and HAMMER 2023.

Solution

Typically, software developers verify the "correctness" of their exported format by importing a model into EPANET 2 and checking hydraulic results. The issue with this approach is that EPANET 2 itself supports older INP formats and upon opening an INP in EPANET 2, if it detects such older file formats it does silent updates to convert the data into EPANET 2 format. So it is possible that if a model is exported from a third-party software but in an older format, that the .INP file may not fully work in WaterCAD/WaterGEMS, which is designed to support the official EPANET 2 format.

The following steps should help with most cases of this issue:

1) Open the file in EPANET and do a "File > Save As" to rename it just to be sure the filename isn't an issue. This saves the file in .NET format.

2) Then in EPANET do a "File > Export > Network", which saves the file back to a .INP format. This new INP file opened in WaterCAD/WaterGEMS through the File > Import > EPANET process.

Opening the file in EPANET may also reveal clues about any formatting problems that may cause problems with the WaterCAD/WaterGEMS import. For example you may be presented with a dialog listed various error codes. In one example, the "Assertion Failed" error was found to be caused by spaces in the node names, which were listed as error code 203 when the INP file was opened in EPANET.

Specific issues:

All elements appear to import in the same location - this could be due to decimal precision of the node coordinates during INP format data exchange. Open the model in EPANET and note the coordinate of a few of the elements. If the model was not drawn to the correct scale (and perhaps user defined pipe lengths used), decimal precision/truncation may cause the coordinates to all be equal on import.
Control condition or action values are not importing correctly - this could be due to the configuration of the control statement in EPANET. Certain element types expect certain condition types. For example the "Level" condition type can only be used for tanks, so the control statement with a tank level condition needs to refer to the word TANK (and not "RESERVOIR" for example).

Pattern time step is imported incorrectly

If your pattern times were incorrectly imported from EPANET to OpenFlows products (e.g., 15 minutes is imported as 15:00 hours), make sure there are no empty spaces in the EPANET pattern time (see the attached screenshot). This should solve the issue.

Troubleshooting problems with importing/exporting EPANET files

Problem

Background

Solution

Pattern time step is imported incorrectly

See Also