(a) Setting up DRAINS models

On most PC systems the installation process will put a DRAINS icon on the Programs folder in your Start menu, and you can start DRAINS by clicking on this.  If this icon is not present, you can create Shortcut icon on your Desktop linking to the program in the folder C:\Program Files\Drains\Program (64 bit) or C:\Program Files (x86)\Drains\Program (32 bit). Clicking on this icon starts the program.

A window with a large blank space appears. At the top there are seven menus and a toolbar:

Using options from the menus, you can set up and run a DRAINS model in four steps:

1. applying options in the Project menu to define hydrological models, rainfall patterns and other parameters, to set up storms for design and analysis, and to establish data bases for pipes, pits and overflow routes;
   
2. setting out a drainage network using the drawing tools from the toolbar, or inputting drawing, spreadsheet or GIS file data using options in the File and Edit menus,
3. aving the data using File menu options, and then performing calculations in Design and Analysis runs initiated in the Run menu;
   
4. reviewing the results using options from pop-up menus for individual components and the View menu; and printing and exporting results to spreadsheets, drawing and GIS programs using the File and Edit menus.

More detailed descriptions of these are given below.

You can copy various graphs and tables to a spreadsheet or word processor via the Windows clipboard. You can also produce long section drawings of the pipe system for export to CAD programs.

The DRAINS toolbar contains fifteen special drawing tools, grouped into nodes, links and sub-catchments. If you click on one of these, the cursor will change to a pencil, which can be used to place that component in the drawing window. For, example, you can use the pit and node tools:

To draw two drainage pits and an outlet node, as shown below:

These can be connected by pipes, by selecting the pipe tool and clicking at the beginning and end points of each pipe. Overflow paths can be added as poly-lines, and the names of components (containing question marks to start with) can be dragged to more convenient locations.

Sub-catchments can then be added, making sure that they touch the pits, but do not cover them:

In this way, a connected drainage network can be constructed, with nodes at the outlets. The components and their names can be moved by clicking on them and dragging them around the screen. A pipe, channel or overflow route can be moved as a single unit by dragging near its centre, or its ends can be moved individually.

Data for components is entered and edited using property sheets, which appear when you click your right mouse button on a component and select Edit Data from the pop-up menu that appears, as shown below.

You use your PC’s keyboard and a mouse with two or more buttons to run the program. You can obtain help at any time by pressing the 'F1' key to display this Help System or by referring to options in the Help menu. Context-sensitive Help can be obtained by clicking on the Help buttons in windows where these are provided.

Many options are available through the menus and toolbar buttons at the top of the window. These are "greyed-out" when it is inappropriate to use them. Models can be saved as .drn files, that can include the drainage system details, data bases, background image and results.

(b) Opening existing DRAINS models

You can do this by using the Open… option in the File menu and selecting a DRAINS model file with a .drn suffix.

(c) Setting up DRAINS model data bases

(d) Entering drainage system data

If names are in inconvenient locations you can move them. Hold the mouse button down on the name so that a pair of arrows appear; then "drag and drop" the name to a more convenient location.

There can be several outlets from a system, represented by nodes. One or more may be pipe outlets, while others are destinations for overflows along surface flow paths. It is possible to draw two or more unconnected systems in the Main Window. DRAINS sorts out the connections and performs appropriate calculations.

Relocating components is easily done. First select a component by clicking it so that 'handles' appear. Then hold your left mouse button down so that the cursor pointer changes to a pair of vertical and horizontal arrows. You can then drag and drop the component with your mouse. You can do this at either end of a link such as a pipe or channel, to reposition it.

You can obtain a summary of the information for the various components using the spreadsheet outputs selected from the Edit menu. This produces tables that you can paste into Excel and scan through to check your data. If you need to make changes you can go back to the property sheets for the particular components.  It is also possible to enter data via the spreadsheets.

(e) Running DRAINS

When all data is entered, DRAINS can be run from the Run menu. If a necessary input is missing or the network is not properly connected, the program will not run and you will need to check that the information required is complete. Options in the Edit menu will be helpful for this.

Once a design and a follow-up analysis run are made, numerical values for flowrates and water levels appear beside components. You can review the results in a number of other ways. An overview can be obtained by choosing the Customise Text option in the View menu. This enables you to display various results on the drawing beside each element, and to highlight characteristics such as overflows.

You can print out a drawing display on a laser or inkjet printer. The printout is sized to take in all of the drawing, including the title blocks. Options in the View menu allow you to move the drawing around.  Other information can be saved to the clipboard for pasting into a word-processing document or manipulation in a spreadsheet program.

For particular pits, pipes or other components, you can print out and export graphs and tables showing the hydrographs and water levels occurring during a simulation. Where calculations are performed for multiple storms, sets of windows are presented. Like all windows, these can be closed by selecting Close from the window’s File menu, and in cases where a menu is nor available, by clicking the X button at the top right hand corner of the window. Pictures can be enlarged, printed and copied to the clipboard for inclusion in a report.

(f) Saving and retrieving data

As you enter data for a system, you should periodically save this using the options in the File menu.  All system information will be saved in a single file with a .drn suffix.  This is in binary format and you will not be able to read it on an ASCII editor.

You can reopen a system previously saved using the Open option in the File menu.

DRAINS provides a number of viewing options prior to performing calculations and for examining results afterwards:

1. dialog boxes in which data can be entered or viewed, invoked by right-clicking a component and selecting Edit Data from the pop-up menu that appears,

• windows for viewing properties and pictorial representations of components, displayed using selections from the pop-up menu such as Long Sections for pipes,
  

• spreadsheet tables,

• numbers displayed beside the drawings of components in the Main Window, for factors selected from the Customise Text option in the View menu.

Results of DRAINS runs can be saved along with system data in the .drn file, though this may create very large files. The choice is made in the following dialog box.