Skip to content

Getting Started

Welcome to DSM2. This section of the documentation is intended to help you acquire and install dsm2, test that it is working, and understand the layout of the distribution. After you have taken these steps, you will probably want to tackle the tutorials in the /tutorials folder of the distribution or consult the documentation or grid map in the /documentation folder -- a link has been provided on the start menu to make the documentation easier to find.

Getting DSM2

DSM2 is distributed by the California Department of Water Resources Delta Modeling Section. You can find the model at the CNRA Open Data web site. Currently we distribute Windows executables, tutorials, source code, and a data package with templates for common studies.

Installing DSM2

DSM2 has been tested on Windows 10.
DSM2 is distributed as a .zip file, which contains the model executables and input files.
You should not unzip it to a location with spaces.
We recommend D:\delta\dsm2 or C:\delta\dsm2. Unzip it to a drive with a lot (gigabytes) of room. This will make it easier to use in-place

DSM2 comes with a numerical model and scripting capabilities. It is easier to use the model if you also have a text editor with syntax highlighting, a tool for differencing text files ("diff tool"), a DSS viewer and an hdf5 viewer.

Open command window here: Follow the instructions here to add the option 'Open command window here' to the Windows Explorer context menu. You will need administrative privileges to do this, and you should only do this if you are comfortable modifying the registry in Windows 10. This will allow you to open a command window by right clicking on a folder in Windows explorer. DSM2 models and Python scripts can be run in the command window. The tool is essential for working with DSM2 efficiently.
Notepad++ is a text editor that works well with DSM2 input data and integrates nicely into the Windows file explorer. We support the editor with syntax highlighting. Here are some instructions for configuring Notepad++
DiffMerge is a good free differencing tool for text files. Beyond Compare is an inexpensive commercial product that is intuitive and also compares Word files.
Vista, one of the first graphical tools for examining data in HEC-DSS format, comes with DSM2 in the /dsm2/vista/bin directory.
HEC-DSSVUE is distributed by HEC and is actively maintained. Most people use DSSVUE as their primary tool with Vista for specific tasks. An Excel add-in for DSS data is also available on the HEC web page.
HDFView and HDF-Explorer are two independent browsers for the HDF5 file format. This lets you look inside a tidefile, one of the outputs of the model. You only need one of them.

Test Launching DSM2

The first step is to see whether the installation was successful. To do this, get a DOS-style command prompt window and type from any location:

C:\>hydro -v
DSM2-Hydro 8.2.2  Git Version: 1468 Git GUI: 54a9cc3c
Usage: Hydro input-file

If you got a message like the one above, you are up and running!

If instead you get this:

C:\>hydro -v
'hydro' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

...you have a path problem and we need to straighten it out.

Your next stop should be to read the Tutorials.
The Basic Tutorials (Tutorial 1-6) feature most of the nuances of the model using a very simple grid and are an excellent way to learn about the model -- including subtleties that are new or have caused confusion in the past. The Delta Tutorial series are more applied -- tasks on the Delta. Doing some of Delta Tutorial #1 as a motivator, and then tackling the simple ones is a quick way to get a sense of the model.