3. Exposing parameters

Warning

DO NOT CLOSE the terminal in-between each step.
After inspecting the mic.yml file in-between steps, CLOSE the file.

Models may use many parameters and input files, but we may not need to expose all of them as part of our component. The goal of this step is to only expose some parameters.

How to perform this step?

In our Java executable, we only had one parameter to expose through the command line (the parameter p). If you need to expose more than one parameter, you need to do so one at a time.

Note that you can use the -f option with the path of the mic file, typically under the mic/mic.yaml path:

$ mic pkg parameters -f mic/mic.yaml -n p -v 1350
Adding the parameter p, value 1350 and type int

The -n flag stands for parameter name and the -v flag stands for the default value you would like the parameter to have. In the case above, we defined a parameter p with value 1350. MIC detected that it was an integer.

Warning

Parameters are case sensitive: a parameter start_year is different from START_YEAR.

Expected result

If you open the mic.yaml file, you should see that the parameter has been added. We encourage adding a description so the role of the parameter becomes clear:

parameters:
  p:
    default_value: 1350
    type: int
    description: 'Input parameter used in the model'

You can also add the parameter yourself to the mic.yaml file directly, if you prefer.

Help command

root@32fee4e4d205:/tmp/mint# mic pkg parameters --help
Usage: mic pkg parameters [OPTIONS]

  Add a parameter into the MIC file (mic.yaml).

  - You must pass the MIC file (mic.yaml) as an argument using the (-f)
  option; or run the command from the same directory as the MIC file
  (mic.yaml)

  Usage example:

  mic pkg parameters -f <mic_file> --name PARAMETER_NAME --value
  PARAMETER_VALUE

Options:
  -n, --name TEXT                 Name of the parameter  [required]
  -v, --value ANY TYPE (FLOAT, INTEGER, BOOL, STRING)
                                  Default value of the parameter  [required]
  -d, --description TEXT          Description for parameter
  -o, --overwrite                 Overwrite an existing parameter
  -f, --mic_file FILE
  --help                          Show this message and exit.