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Para uma versão em português deste arquivo, veja README.pt-BR.md.

AltDSS/DSS C-API: a library with a C API for an Alternative implementation of EPRI's OpenDSS

Please see FAQ for a couple of notes.

This library exposes the OpenDSS/OpenDSS-PM v9+ engine in a plain C interface that tries to reproduce most of the COM methods, plus many extensions. In fact, most of the code was initially derived from the COM implementation files. The resulting DLL can be using directly by advanced users or, for example, through the DSS-Python package in Python, a module that mimics the COM structure (as exposed via win32com or comtypes), effectively enabling multi-platform compatibility at Python level.

Through the other projects under DSS-Extensions, DSS C-API enables projects to use the OpenDSS in multiple platforms (Windows, Linux, macOS) across multiple architectures (Intel x86, x86-64, ARM32, and ARM64, including Apple's M1 and M2). Most of the features added to this based library is shared across all other projects. If you need support for a language not listed below, please open a new issue (either here or in https://github.com/dss-extensions/dss-extensions/issues) and we will evaluate that language.

Overview of related repositories

If you are looking for the bindings to other languages:

  • DSS-Python is a multi-platform Python module (Windows, Linux, MacOS) very compatible with the original COM DLL. See also OpenDSSDirect.py if you don't need COM compatibility, or just would like to check its extra functionalities (you can mix DSS-Python and OpenDSSDirect.py).
  • OpenDSSDirect.jl is a Julia module, created by Tom Short (@tshort), migrated with the help of Dheepak Krishnamurthy (@kdheepak) to DSS C-API instead of the DDLL in Feb 2019.
  • DSS Sharp is available for .NET/C#, packaged on NuGet, also mimics the COM classes (drop-in replacement for OpenDSSengine.DLL). The current version is now multi-platform too! Soon it will be possible to use it via COM.
  • DSS MATLAB presents multi-platform integration (Windows, Linux, MacOS) with DSS C-API and is also very compatible with the API of the official OpenDSS COM classes.
  • dss.hpp: header-only library for C++, also hosted in this repository (include/ directory). Allows using DSS C-API more comfortably from C++, abstract away memory management and low-level details such as API conventions of the DSS C-API library. Currently uses Eigen and fmt.
  • New projects in 2024 include AltDSS-Python (where we are testing the new API, AltDSS-Go and AltDSS-Rust.

Version 0.14.x is based on OpenDSS revision 3723 (exactly OpenDSS v9.8.0.1), with many extra/custom features.

For the source-code of a specific version, check the Git tags or the Releases page.

While the main objective of COM compatibility has been reached, this is still a work-in-progress and is subject to changes. Especially, there are planned changes targeting version 1.0.

Instead of using extra numeric parameters as in the official DDLL interface ("OpenDSSDirect" or "DCSL"), each original COM property is exposed as a pair of functions. For example, the load kVA property is exposed as:

    double Loads_Get_kva();
    void Loads_Set_kva(double Value);

Besides low-level details such as memory management, most of the COM documentation can be used as-is.

Starting in version 0.9.8, we disabled the opendsscmd.ini creation. You can set the default base frequency using the environment variable DSS_BASE_FREQUENCY, or just set it in the DSS scripts (recommended). This also means that the initial datapath is set to the current working directory.

Since 2019-03-05, the dss_capi repository contains all the Pascal code used to build DSS C-API. After the 0.10.x series of releases, all Pascal code is contained in the src/ folder. The src/CAPI/ folder contains the main API code, which sits besides the general OpenDSS code. Although there have been extensive changes to the official OpenDSS code, the upstream/official code is kept in the branch named opendss-official-svn and is periodically ported — see also the upstream branch document.

Recent changes

See the changelog for a detailed list.

  • 2024-03-13 / version 0.14.3: More incremental updates and fixes, including some in the classic API.
  • 2024-02-26 / version 0.14.2: More incremental updates and fixes, especially in the alternative API.
  • 2024-02-16 / version 0.14.1: Incremental updates and fixes, especially in the alternative API.
  • 2024-02-09 / version 0.14.0: Lots of changes and bugfixes, see the changelog.
  • 2023-06-27 / version 0.13.4: Bugfix release (CapControl), incremental improvements. See the changelog or release page for details.
  • 2023-06-11 / version 0.13.3: Bugfix release for some components (notably Capacitor, Reactor, UPFC).
  • 2023-05-24 / version 0.13.2: Minor release, includes updates to JSON exports, some more error-checking, internal code refactoring, header updates, and minor ports from the official OpenDSS.
  • 2023-04-01 / version 0.13.1: Minor release to address a few PVSystem properties
  • 2023-03-29 / version 0.13.0: Various updates, including bugfixes and several OpenDSS feature ports; the reference is now OpenDSS v9.6.1.1.
  • 2022-07-16 / version 0.12.1: Incremental release to fix address a bug found just after 0.12.0 was released.
  • 2022-07-13 / version 0.12.0: Extensive updates, includes ports of the PM functions, a new/rewritten property system, new API extensions, better performance, and other features.
  • 2021-03-09 / version 0.10.7-1: Includes a fix for some reports which presented corrupted text in version 0.10.7.
  • 2020-12-28 / version 0.10.7: Maintenance release based on on OpenDSS revision 2963. Includes fixes and new features from the official OpenDSS. A new document describing the DSS properties was added.
  • 2020-07-31 / version 0.10.6: New API extensions, and ported changes from the official OpenDSS codebase. Includes some bugfixes, a new extended validation error messages and new compatibility toggles.
  • 2020-03-03 / version 0.10.5: Maintenance release with several minor fixes. Includes changes ported from COM and the official OpenDSS codebase. Version 8 binary releases excluded.
  • 2019-11-16 / version 0.10.4: Maintenance release. Fixes issue with long paths on Linux, includes some changes ported from COM and the official OpenDSS codebase.
  • 2019-05-22 / version 0.10.3: Some important fixes, better general performance, new API extensions, new features ported from COM and the OpenDSS version 8 codebase.
  • 2019-03-05: the Git repository electricdss-src was merged into dss_capi.
  • 2019-02-28 / version 0.10.2: Highlights: implements the missing CtrlQueue_Push; reworks LoadShapes for performance and validation; introduces DSS_Get_AllowEditor/DSS_Set_AllowEditor to toggle the editor calls.**
  • 2019-02-12 / version 0.10.1: Highlights: more error checking, introduction of Error_Get_NumberPtr, fixes and better handling of Meters.
  • 2018-11-17 / version 0.10.0: Reduce memory allocations if the current buffers are reusable, introduce a Global Result mechanism, many API extensions (LineGeometry, WireData, LineSpacing, CNData, TSData, Reactor) — see the usage document and the issue ticket #11.
  • 2018-08-10 / version 0.9.8: Major reorganization of the source code, many minor fixes, new building scripts.
  • 2018-04-05 / version 0.9.5: New functions Circuit_SetCktElement* to set the active circuit element.
  • 2018-03-06 / version 0.9.4: Includes fixes for DSSProperty, includes of the original helpstrings in the C header, integrate upstream changes up to revision 2152. This version introduces a first version of .NET bindings to the native DLL.
  • 2018-02-16 / version 0.9.3: Integrates COM interface fixes from revision 2136 (First Next iteration)
  • 2018-02-12 / version 0.9.2: Experimental support for OpenDSS-PM (at the moment, a custom patch is provided for Free Pascal support) and port COM interface fixes (OpenDSS revision 2134)
  • 2018-02-08 / version 0.9.1: First public release (OpenDSS revision 2123)

Missing features and limitations

Closed-source features are not ported. New components or features without examples or tests are usually avoided until maturity is reached in the official OpenDSS.

Extra features

Besides most of the COM methods, some of the unique DDLL methods are also exposed in adapted forms, namely the methods from DYMatrix.pas, especially GetCompressedYMatrix (check the source files for more information). Also check the list of known differences for extra methods and options.

There are a growing number of API extensions. Some are pending documentation and examples.

Download

See the releases page. Pre-compiled files are available for Windows, Linux and MacOS.

Building

To build the DLL yourself:

  • Install the Free Pascal compiler. If you have the Lazarus IDE installed, you most likely already have the compiler too. Add the folder containing the compiler (fpc.exe) to your PATH environment variable.

  • Download the DSS-Extensions KLUSolve files, either build the library from source code or download the pre-built binaries from https://github.com/dss-extensions/klusolve

  • Get this repository and the patched OpenDSS source code in the root folder:

    git clone https://github.com/dss-extensions/dss_capi
  • Merge the lib/ output folder from KLUSolve into the lib/ output folder in dss_capi

On Windows

If you just need the DLL, you can download it from the releases page. Pre-release development versions can be downloaded from the build artifacts from the GitHub Actions workflow (you ).

Otherwise:

  • Install the x64 Free Pascal compiler — see the wiki for further instructions.

  • If you want to use the DLL from Visual Studio, you need to generate an import library. This can be done by starting the next step from the "x64 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS 2017" (or equivalent for your Visual Studio version) — you only need the dumpbin.exe and lib.exe utilities.

  • Open a command prompt on the dss_capi folder and run build/build_win_x64.bat

The output files will be placed into the lib/win_x64 folder.

If you just need the DLLs, you can also find the x64 DLLs and LIBs in the artifacts from the AppVeyor instance. These files are built after each commit to this repository and are kept for 6 months.

On Linux

If the provided DLLs are not compatible with your distribution, the current recommendation is to build your own KLUSolve, so you need to download and install its dependencies. Since most distributions should include compatible SuiteSparse packages (which include the KLU library), a modified version of KLUSolve is included in the klusolve subfolder. Overall instructions:

  • Install the x64 Free Pascal compiler — see the wiki for further instructions.

  • Build the main project:

    bash build/build_linux_x64.sh

On MacOS

After taking care of KLUSolve and placing a copy of it in the same folder, overall instructions:

  • Install the x64 Free Pascal compiler — see the wiki for further instructions.
  • Build the main project:
    bash build/build_macos_x64.sh

Similar steps are required for the ARM64 (aka "Apple Silicon" in marketing-speak) version.

Usage and examples

To understand the main concepts of DSS C-API and how it handles memory, see the usage document.

Two minimal samples (without DSS scripts, please bring your own) are available in examples. Add the appropriate subfolder from include and the library from lib to the compilation.

The source code from DSS-Python, OpenDSSDirect.py and OpenDSSDirect.jl are more complete and advanced examples of usage.

More general documentation will be available in the future at https://github.com/dss-extensions/dss-extensions and https://dss-extensions.org

Testing

Currently most testing/validation is based on DSS-Python. Other projects like OpenDSSDirect.py and OpenDSSDirect.jl also provide important tests that help us find and fix potential bugs.

Roadmap

Besides bug fixes, the main functionality of this library is mostly done. Notable desirable features that may be implemented are:

  • More and better documentation. We already integrated the help strings from the IDL/COM definition files in the header files. The work for this will be done at https://github.com/dss-extensions/dss-extensions since it's shared across all projects.
  • Automate validation of the Linux binaries (compare the outputs to the Windows version). Currently this is a manual process but there are on-going efforts to finalize automation.
  • C++ wrappers: Expose the API to C++ using namespaces for organization, overloaded methods, etc. We expect this as soon as the API gets stable. An initial set of headers will be out in July 2022.

Questions?

If you have any question related to the development of this project, feel free to open a ticket on GitHub or contact me through email (pmeira at ieee.org). Please allow me a few days to respond.

Credits / Acknowledgment

This project was derived from EPRI's OpenDSS and the same style of license is used. See LICENSE and OPENDSS_LICENSE, also check each subfolder for more details.

Note that, since OpenDSS depends on KLU via KLUSolve, the KLU licensing conditions (LGPL or GPL, depending on how you build KLU) apply to the resulting binaries; from the DSS-Extensions KLUSolve repository, check the files klusolve/COPYING, klusolve/lgpl_2_1.txt, the SuiteSparse documentation and the Eigen3 documentation.

Also note that even though we don't add copyright notices to each of the files, most of files from the OpenDSS original codebase were modified to create the version presented today in this repository. Please refer to the Git commit history for more information.

Thanks to colleagues at the University of Campinas, Brazil, for providing feedback and helping me test this project, especially during its inception in 2016-2017, as well as everyone that reported issues and helped the development since the public release in 2018.