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v0.3.0: pip-installable, CLI commands & belief time communication in API

Version v0.3.0 of FlexMeasures is out (see changelog). Aside from improvements to the documentation and some smaller things, there's new features in the API and the dashboard map.

pip install

FlexMeasures is on the Pypi index! Installing can now be done with a simple

pip install flexmeasures

Before, you'd have to clone the code from Github and run a make command. Just installing via pip should amplify the installation process and also make it easier to use on non-Unix platforms.

This work was done in Pull Request 54.

CLI commands to get started

We are also continually working to make it easier to get started with a new project using FlexMeasures (which we also documented better).

The command-line interface (CLI) is crucial for this. There are  now four  groups of commands:

$ flexmeasures --help
Usage: flexmeasures [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...

  Management scripts for the FlexMeasures platform.

Commands:
  add     FlexMeasures: Add data.
  db-ops  FlexMeasures: Reset/Dump/Load/Restore/Save the DB.
  delete  FlexMeasures: Delete data.
  jobs    FlexMeasures: Job queueing.

Many of these FlexMeasures commands existed before and now it's easier to find them. There are two new ones:

  • flexmeasures add asset
  • flexmeasures add weather-sensor

Now it's possible to add a user, assets and weather sensors right after installing FlexMeasures, so a new project has all necessary data so adding measurements, forecasts and schedules can begin (we also add a dummy market now as part of flexmeasures add structure).

Finally, note that there are more useful commands available, from underlying libraries, for example for inspecting available API routes or to handle database migrations.

This work was done in Pull Request 74.

Set belief time of data in API: "prior"

We increased clarity for a crucial aspect about time series data (we call them "beliefs"): When was the data recorded / known (the "belief time")?  Next to horizon, the FlexMeasures now understands the new field prior, both for GETting and for POSTing beliefs through the API. I'll cite from the FlexMeasures API documentation about GETting beliefs using the two methods:

The "prior" field (a timestamp) can be used to select beliefs recorded before some fixed moment in time. It can be used to "time-travel" to see the state of information at some moment in the past.
In contrast, the "horizon" field (a duration) can be used to select beliefs recorded before some moment in time, relative to each event.

Also, we retired the concept of denoting rolling (recurring) horizons, e.g. R/PT6H. We only allow PT6H now to denote a 6 hour horizon and all horizons are interpreted as rolling horizons if the context fits.

This work was done in Pull Request 41.