Common menu bar links
This section describes how to use COPE-ODE.
Topics
Logging in
Click COPE-ODE on the navigation bar. You should see this screen.
You can proceed in three ways:
- Click "enter" to use COPE-ODE as a guest user.
- Click "New Account" to register as a new user. You will then be prompted for your username and password.
- If you are a registered user, logon by entering your username and password. Then click on "Sign in".
We suggest that you register as new user by clicking on "New Account". A new window will open.
Type in a username and password (both boxes) and click the "Create new account" button. You should see a folder view as shown below.
This screen displays data for the cases which are defined for the folder. The figure shown above shows a folder named "My_New_folder", which is automatically created for a new user. This folder contains only one case named "My_First_Case", which is also automatically created for a newuser.
The folder view is intended to compare various design options. In order to demonstrate the comparison features we need to create more options (cases). An individual case can be viewed, changed, or created in "Case View". Therefore, we will explore the "Case View" window, then return to "Folder View" to compare the cases.
You can get to Case View in two ways:
- Click on the "New Case" button to create a new case.
- Click on the case name in the second column of the table to open the selected case.
It is usually more convenient to modify an existing case. Click on the case name "My_First_case"; a new window will open as shown below. 
Case Window
To view/edit an existing case, click on the case name in the folder view. A new "Case Window" will open.
The case name is shown at the right end of the black menu bar.
The remainder of the window is divided into 3 panes.
- the input pane. This displays and allows you to change the input data for the case.
- the input selector. You can choose to display Workstation data, Environment data, or Description. The contents of the input pane depend on what is selected here. The figure above shows the "Workstation" selected.
- the output pane. This is a tabbed display of the results of the calculations. You can choose a "Physical", "Detailed" or Satisfaction display.
Workstation input:
This shows the display when "Workstation" has been selected.
To change a numerical value, click in the input box and make the change. Then click somewhere else (another input or the background) to complete the change. Results are updated whenever an input change is completed. (Hint: watch the status message at bottom left of window. Sometimes there will be a significant pause while the calculation takes place.)
To change the value in a select box (e.g. Floor type), click on the down arrow to get the options list and click on the option you want. Then click somewhere else (another input or the background) to complete the change.
To change a checkbox item, click on a checkbox to toggle it.
To get help on an input, move the mouse cursor over the input label. (If you are using Internet Explorer, the cursor will change to a question mark.) Click the label and a new window will open with help for that input.
Environment input:
This input pane displays inputs for the acoustic environment, lighting and ventilation systems.
Description:
You can enter a description here. The text will wordwrap, but it does not seem to handle carriage returns properly. What you save is only one paragraph (bug list).
Cost Estimate:
Click on the "Cost Estimate" button to add or edit cost information. A cost estimate form will open in a new window.
(See Cost Estimate Form)
Physical Results:
This is the default output pane. It shows the most important results of the lighting and acoustics calculations.
For speech intelligibility and desktop illuminance, there are both a numerical display and a "guage" display. The background of the guage display will be colored to show the criteria as set in the folder (green=satisfies criteia, red=fails criteria). The background will be white if no criteria have been specified.
Help for output items is available, just as for input items, by clicking on the label.
Detailed Results:
Click on the detail tab to see some additional results of calculations.
Satisfaction Results:
Click on the Satisfaction tab to display satisfaction issues that have been identified.
The first line shows the number of satisfaction issues. 
indicates a factor that is associated with decreased satisfaction; 
indicates a factor that is associated with increased satisfaction.
Below that is a list of both the negative and positive issues that were identified.
Clicking on a satisfaction issue will show additional information about that item in a new window.
Saving changes to case:
To save changes that you have made to the case, click the "Save" button on the blue button bar. The case window will close and the folders window will be refreshed showing your changes.
Saving changes as new case:
To save the case with any changes you have made as a new case, click the "SaveAs" button on blue button bar. You will be prompted for a new name. The case window will remain open so that you can make additional changes. This is a convenient way to create a number of similar cases.
Closing the case
To exit the case, without saving any changes, click the "Close" button on the blue button bar. You will be prompted to confirm that you do not want to save the changes. NOTE: closing the case window by clicking on the "x" will not warn you about losing changes. We recommend always using the "Close" button instead.
This screen shows data for the folder named "My_New_folder". The case named "My_First_Case" is the one automatically created for a new user. The other 3 were created by modifying "My_First_Case,
To create these cases, click on "My_First_Case" to open it in Case View.
- Change workstation area to 49 square feet. Select "Environment" input and change "Luminaire Type" to "Parabolic Louver"; then change "Lighting Design" to "L53". Save as "Smaller_and_Parabolic".
- Change workstation area back to 100 square feet. Change "Screen height" to 66 inches. Save as "higher_and_parabolic".
- Change "Ceiling type" to "High Absorption" and "Screen type" to "High Absorption". Save as "high_parabolic_absorbing".
The table displays the cases that are in the folder as rows. The name of each case is in column 2. Other colunms display the calculated mean desktop illuminance (Edesk), glare on VDT (Glare), speech intelligibility index (Sii) and occupant satisfaction (Satisfaction). The last two columns are for life cycle cost (LCC) and life cycle cost per unit area (LCC/Area). These show "--" to indicate that no value has been given for the costs.
Units: You can view results in either metric or imperial units. Simply click on the radio button to choose which units you wish displayed.
Sorting: The 
and 
icons in the column headings can be used to sort the cases. For example, clicking on the arrow in the LCC/Area column will sort the cases in ascending order of LCC/Area.
Columns: You can configure what columns to display and in what order. Click on the "Columns" button on the blue bar; a new window will open.
To add a column, select from the Available Columns list and click on the -> button.
To remove a column, select from the Visible Columns list and click on the <-</B/>button.
To re-order the columns displayed, select from the Visible Columns list and use the up and down buttons to move the selected item(s).
Criteria: Notice that some of the values in the table are colored. The color shows how the value complies with criteria that are defined for this folder: green meets the criteria, red fails, and yellow is used where a 3rd level is applied. To specify criteria, click on the "Criteria" button on the blue bar. A new window will open.
You can select the criteria that will be applied from the list. You can also define new criteria of your own.
Costing: The first column of the table (Select) is used to check one or more cases that will be applied to the buttons at the bottom of the form. To view the cost data for several cases, click on the checkbox of the cases you want and then click on the "Costing" button. A summary of costs for the selected cases will open in a new window
This table displays the total life-cycle cost (LCC) as well as LCC per workstation and LCC per unit area. To view/edit the data that produced the LCC values, click on the case name. A cost estimate form will open in a new window. (See Cost Estimate Form)
Deleting cases: To delete cases you would click on the checkbox of the cases you want to delete, then click on the "Delete" button.
Cost Estimate Form
The purpose of the cost estimate form is to allow you to calculate the life-cycle cost (LCC) associated with the input parameters for a case. This form can be called from the case window or from the folder view with the "Costing Selected" button.
The cost estimate form consists of 3 panels.
The bottom panel shows the calculated values for Total LCC, LCC per unit area, and LCC per workstation. The inputs for area and number of workstations are in the top panel at the right.
The middle panel is the actual cost calculation which works something like a spreadsheet. This panel consists of two tabbed displays, one for fixed costs and the other for recurring (annual) costs.
Fixed cost:
The figure above shows some sample data in the fixed cost tab:
The first two columns describe the item. The third and fourth columns are user inputs. When the data for $/unit and QTY are valid their product will be shown in the Cost column. (Remember that the value in an input box is not actually entered until you press the enter key or click your mouse somewhere outside the box.)
Recurring cost:
Click on the "Recurring cost" tab. The display will change as shown below.
The first four columns of this tab are similar to those of the fixed cost tab except that here they refer to annual recurring costs.
The next three columns are user inputs of parameters to be used in the present value calculation:
- Yrs is the number of years this cost will recurr
- D.R. is the discount rate in percent
- Inf is the inflation rate in percent
The final column (P.V.) is the calculated value for the present value of this stream of annual costs.
Leave this tab blank if you only want fixed costs.
Apply
Click this button to apply the cost data. The behavior of this button depends on how you opened the cost estimate form
- if you clicked on the case name in the Selected Costing Window, the cost data will be saved to the case, the folder window will be refreshed to reflect the change, and you will return to the Selected Costing Window;
- if you clicked on $$$$$ in the Case window, the cost estimate form will close. However, since the case window is still open in edit mode, the cost data will not be saved. The cost data will only be saved when you save the case.
Cancel
Clicking on the cancel button will close the cost estimate form.
Clear
Clicking on the clear button will clear the user input columns in whichever tab (fixed cost or recurring cost) is visible. The item description and units columns will be left unchanged.
Templates
Templates are a mechanism to avoid retyping the same thing for several cases. A template is a file of cost data that is not associated with any case. It can be loaded using the "Load Template" selection box and will replace the existing contents of fixed cost and recurring cost tabs.
The current contents of a cost estimate form can be saved as a template using the "Save As" button. This template can then be loaded into other cases. If you want a template with just the Item Description and Units columns, use the Clear button to clear the user input columns before saving as a template.
