XML File Formats

Various GCAM tool (gt) sub-commands take input from XML files that are distinct from those read by the GCAM model itself. These include:

  • project.xml describes all the workflow steps required to run a pygcam project.
  • scenarios.xml file provides instructions for modifying GCAM configuration files to generate desired scenarios. It can be used as an alternative to defining a custom Python module, though the latter provides greater customizability.
  • queries.xml file describes XML queries to run against the XML database generated by GCAM, including aggregation “rewrites” that are added on-the-fly.
  • rewriteSets.xml file describes named sets of “rewrite” statements that can be referenced by queries in queries.xml.
  • landProtection.xml file describes which types of unmanaged land should “protected”, (i.e., removed from economic consideration in the model), and at what percentages in each region.
  • parameters.xml defines Monte Carlo parameters and distributions.
  • results.xml defines Monte Carlo results to be saved in the SQL database.
  • resPolicy.xml supports the definition of Renewable Energy Standard (RES) policies.

Most of these files allow a custom meta-language I call Conditional XML, which allows portions of the XML file to be selected based on the values of configuration variables.