Run Status

and Buttons

All of the FlamMap, Farsite, and SpatialFOFEM "Run:" dialogs/tabs have a status bar and functional buttons at the bottom.

Status Bar

The status bar at the bottom (below the buttons) of the "Run:" dialog box informs you of the status of your run. It is divided into three sections:

1. the inputs box which informs you if you have all the necessary inputs selected for the run,
2. the second status box displays the number of output themes you have selected,
3. the third box lets you know if any previously calculated outputs are still valid for the conditions currently set on the Inputs or Settings tabs.

Any changes you make to the Inputs or Output Tabs are not reflected on the status bar until you click the Apply button.

Buttons

The buttons near the bottom of the "Run:" dialogs control calculating the run and saving the settings.

Clicking the OK button saves all the current run settings and button status, then closes the "Run:" dialog box without calculating the run. The Cancel button closes the "Run:" dialog without saving, the run settings remain the same as when you opened the "Run:" dialog.

The Launch and Apply buttons are dimmed when a new "Run:" dialog box is first opened. Once any changes are made in the "Run:" dialog box the Apply button becomes active. Clicking the Apply button applies (or loads) the settings, if the proper settings from the Inputs and Outputs tabs have been applied, the Launch button then becomes active. If all the proper settings have not been applied the Launch button remains dimmed.

If both the Launch and Apply buttons are both active it indicates changes have been made to the run that have not been applied. The Launch button will begin the run but use settings from when the Apply button was last clicked, not the current settings shown in the "Run:" dialog.  

Clicking the Launch button begins calculating the run and opens the appropriate progress dialog.

Run Progress

The "Farsite Progress..." dialog contains simulation information that can be useful in diagnosing performance problems.

• Current Fires: The current number of fires Farsite is keeping track of. This number will fluctuate as spotting creates new fires and fires merge together. If this number stays above 1000 for long periods, especially early in a simulation, your simulation may take a long time to complete. Reducing the Ember Spot Probability, increasing the Minimum Spotting Distance or Spotting Grid Resolution will reduce the number of Current Fires.
• Spot Fires Created: This number is not necessarily a indication of Farsite performance problems since many spot fires are usually quickly merged with other fires. Also simulations with long and/or many burn periods can have a large cumulative number of spot fires created. It is better to pay attention to the numbers of Current Fires and Fire Vertices to understand performance problems.
• Fire Vertices: Significant computations occur at each vertex and too many vertices can result in a slowdown in performance without adding any beneficial information to the simulation. If the number of Fire Vertices exceeds 10,000 consider increasing the Perimeter and Distance Resolutions to keep the number of vertices in check and reduce run times.