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II.6.3 - Error Messages

"could not allocate memory for..."
"Unable to create array..."
"Not enough memory to..."
These messages mean that CRiSP.1 could not allocate memory for "flow_act equations" or for "get_data", or for any number of routines. The problem is that your machine has run out of memory. This could be a result of someone else running processes on your machine at the same time; check to see if anything else is running. If nothing else is running, see if you can replicate the sequence of actions that produced this error and call the CRiSP project with a description.

"10 games, 1 years, I found 5 games, 1 years"
"Found more games in archive than header claims"
You have a badly-formed flow archive. The header of that file contains information specifying how many water years (games) and power years (years) are to be found in the archive, but the model then counts how many of each it actually finds. In this case, it has found a mismatch. Check your flow archive and correct the header (or delete/add games or years) to bring them into agreement.

"<path> is not a directory! I can't save my output"
You have attempted to write output from the Monte Carlo tool to a non-existent directory. Probably a typographical error is involved; you could also use the File Manager or Command Tool to create the appropriate directory and then try executing this again.

"aborting run due to bad parameter values"
CRiSP.1 will not run if you try to assign parameter values that fall outside the allowable range. The error message should also tell you exactly which parameters are at fault; go back and change those parameters to fall within acceptable ranges.

"bad physical specs at <location>", or
"missing depth information for <location>", or
"unable to get width information for <location>"
These messages indicate that there is something wrong in your columbia.desc file: each dam requires certain pieces of information, and each reach requires other information. Your columbia.desc file is lacking some relevant datum. Please see River Description File (columbia.desc) section II.2.3 for a description of what needs to be present in that file.

"Can't get current alternative"
This message generally arises when you have changed the name or location of an alternative during the CRiSP.1 session: the alternative is no longer at the location where CRiSP.1 is expecting to find it. Try moving/renaming the alternative to return to the original state, or closing this alternative and opening it under its current name or location.

"Can't open <file> for reading", or
"Can't create <file> for writing"
These two messages appear when you attempt to read a file to which you do not have read permissions, or when you try to write a new file (or write over an old one) in a directory where you do not have write permissions. Check the permissions ("Properties" on the File Manager) of the relevant file or directory and make whatever changes you need to allow reading and writing. You will probably have to exit CRiSP.1 and restart the application if changes are made.

"Can't open file <filename>"
You have asked CRiSP.1 to use a file that does not exist. This often happens when files are at different levels in the file hierarchy than you think; use your File Manager to verify the location and name of the file you want to use and correct your specification in the relevant CRiSP.1 window. If you have run an earlier session, CRiSP.1 may try to use the settings you used last time: for example, if you did a Monte Carlo run in the previous session, and subsequently bring up the Monte Carlo window, CRiSP.1 will try to load in the alternatives you last used. They may have been moved in the interim.

"can't parse header for alternative <name>"
You've got a bad archive. Look at the first fifteen or twenty lines of the alternative and compare them to the top of a good archive; you should be able to detect a difference. Try to edit the header so the files are the same form, or use crisppp (CRiSP Pre-Processor) to convert the original source archive into a fresh CRiSP.1 archive.

"couldn't find a start of data token!"
This message indicates that your Monte Carlo run failed because the flow archive is incomplete. In the archive, immediately before the first line of flow data, CRiSP.1 expects to see the word "DATA", all in capital letters, but this archive does not have that word in the proper location. Check your archive and see if you can simply insert the word just above the first line of flow data.

"dam not enclosed by reaches at <segment>"
A dam must have a reach above and a reach below. You have attempted to put two dams in a row without an intervening reach; check the columbia.desc file and insert a reach between the two dams, or delete one of the dams.

"Data error: survival higher than release"
You should never see this warning; it indicates that more fish survived than were released. Contact the CRiSP project.

"delay params: noon distance less than night distance..."
You have set the noon distance to be smaller than the night distance in the "delay at dam" (see Introduction section on page I.4) parameter window; go back and make sure the noon distance is greater than or equal to the night distance.

"elevation change out of range for <segment>; setting to zero"
You have requested an elevation change that is greater than the model can deal with; typically this involves drafting the pool below the floor elevation or attempting to raise the pool above full. The model will set the elevation change to zero: full pool.

"(Unexpected) EOF encountered while..."
CRiSP.1 has encountered an "End Of File" (EOF) when it didn't expect it. This almost certainly means that the file has been corrupted. This could happen while reading in a data file or a pre-run alternative. You should probably examine the file to see if it seems to stop at a strange location. If possible, you might want to use a copy of the file in question. It may be that the file has been irreparably damaged; you may be able to recover a usable copy from backup tapes.

"Error getting your path in print function. Nothing printed"
You have asked CRiSP.1 to print your report to a printer that your computer does not know exists. Make sure that you have specified the proper name for the printer in CRiSP.1. Contact your system administrator if this continues to be a problem.

"error parsing number of years in output data file <name>" "error parsing number of games in output data file <name>"
These all indicate that the output file you are trying to read in has been corrupted. You will probably have to re-run the alternative that generated the output file in the first place; you may be able to find a clean copy of the alternative on backup tapes.

"excessive plan spill at <dam>, setting to 1.0"
You have read in a data file that contains a request for planned spill fraction greater than 1 at some dam; CRiSP.1 compensates by setting spill to 1 - that is, spilling the river - but you probably want to read in that data file and correct the spill schedule. You could also edit the data file directly to repair the error.

"File <filename> not found"
You have attempted to open or access a file that does not exist. This is probably because the file has been moved or deleted since the start of your CRiSP.1 session; use the File Manager or a Command Tool to verify that the file exists and note its location.

"file <name> is not a valid crisp archive"
CRiSP.1 reads the first line of your flow archive to determine what sort of archive to expect. Here it has encountered a contradiction. You will probably want to recreate the flow archive from the original archive file (SAM, HYSSR, or HYDROSIM) if possible; if not, you may want to acquire a new copy of the flow archive from some other source (e.g. the guest directory at the CRiSP Project).

"help file <name> not found", or
"Unable to open help file <name>"
The on-line help for CRiSP.1 resides in several files that should be in the same directory as CRiSP.1 itself, in the directory /usr/local/crisp/doc, or in the directory from which you invoked CRiSP.1. Your files should include the following: The error message will tell you which file(s) have been misplaced. If you don't have these files, contact the CRiSP project and we will supply them to you.

"invalid number of games read from alternative <name>"
This message should only appear if the flow archive specifies either zero games or zero years; this will confuse the model. Check your archive and put the proper number in the header.

"missing/extra close parenthesis in period <name>"
Your data file has acquired an extra parenthesis or has lost one. This error reports the line number at which this condition was found; use a text editor to go to that line and add/delete a parenthesis.

"Negative flow at <segment>, setting flow to 0"
This should never happen; the model thinks there is a net upstream flow at some segment. Report this to the CRiSP project.

"negative forebay depth at <dam>"
You have attempted to draw down a reservoir below the floor elevation of the pool behind the dam. This is not physically possible, and the model will alert you to that fact. Look at the elevation window and reset the value to something less than the forebay depth. If this is not changed, CRiSP.1 assumes the depth to be zero feet, which causes some odd behavior in model output.

"No active alternative"
The operation you attempted requires that you specify the name of an alternative - that is, a Monte Carlo run. You have not done so.

"No active release"
This operation requires that you specify a particular release of fish and you have not yet done so.

"No active year"
The operation you attempted requires that you specify a particular year of interest in the alternative; you have not done so.

"No current segment"
You must define the river segment of interest to do this operation and you have not yet done so.

"No release found"
There is no release of fish specified in the alternative; you will have to re-run the Monte Carlo simulation and make sure your data file contains accurate release information.

"Nsat error at <segment>"
Something has gone wrong in calculation of nitrogen saturation at some segment. This may stem from unrealistic nitrogen generation functions at upstream dams, unrealistic spill levels, or unrealistic dam configurations (e.g. tailwater higher than forebay).

"obsolete token. Data discarded." or
"obsolete token; parsing as <new token>"
The first message indicates that CRiSP.1 encountered a named parameter in the data file which it does not recognize. The model will discard this information. Sometimes we update the model and in so doing, we change the name of some parameter(s). When we do this, we try to be backwards-compatible, so that when you read in your old data file, CRiSP.1 recognizes the old parameter name, alerts you that it has changed, and tells you that it is parsing it as the new parameter. If you subsequently write out this data set to a file, it will contain the new parameter names.

"parsing value field for equation <name>. Discarded." or
"parsing float for tailrace length for dam <name>" or
"looking for an integer number, found <item>, line discarded"
This or a similar message indicates that the model expected to find a parameter of a particular sort (e.g. a floating point decimal) but found something else (e.g. a text string); CRiSP.1 discards these lines. You will need to examine your data file and correct the offending field.

"spill schedule and dam time slice mismatch.
rounding; some inaccuracy will result"
CRiSP.1 operates on 2-hour time slices at the dam; the model will spill for the entire slice if the spill has been requested for more than 50% of the period, otherwise it will not spill anything during that slice. Try to set your spill schedules so they begin and end on even-numbered hours.

"too much overgen spill, spilling 100%", or
"no planned spill hours for period <period> at <dam>" or
"inadequate spill schedule for period <period> at <dam>" or
"no fish spill hours for planned spill at <dam>"
These all indicate that something is wrong with your spill algorithms. The first three messages will be encountered in Monte Carlo Mode, the last message is specific to scenario mode. The first message indicates that you have specified more overgeneration spill than can be fit into the time allowed; try cutting back on overgeneration spill. CRiSP.1 attempts to compensate by spilling as much as it can, but it cannot spill more than 100% of the flow. The second message indicates that you have requested planned spill during a time interval for which you have not specified planned spill hours. Use the "spill tool" (Introduction section on page I.4) to modify the spill schedule. The third message indicates that more planned spill has been requested than can be fit in the planned spill schedule; again, the model spills 100% of the river but cannot meet your request. The last message indicates that you have requested spill but have not told CRiSP.1 how to shape it over the 24-hour period; use the spill tool to rectify this.

"The name of an equation must be an integer. Name is <name>"
In the CRiSP.1 data file, equations are specified by a number, for example:
nsat_equation 17
   parameter 0     2.469   -2.0    3.0
        parameter 1     1.108    0.0    5.0
        parameter 2     -1.103  -3.0    2.0
specifies a nitrogen supersaturation generation equation of a particular form, which takes three parameters with values of 2.469, 1.108, and -1.103 respectively, and which could range from -2 to 3, 0 to 5, and -3 to 2, respectively. The error message indicates that your data file lacks the numeric identifier; you may have substituted something like this:

nsat_equation gasspill2
This would confuse the model. The easiest repair is probably to examine the relevant equation at some other dam, or for some other species, and simply change the offending line reflect the proper equation number.

"Tried to add a reservoir to non-dam segment <segment>"
Storage reservoirs must be immediately behind the last dam of a river; this message indicates a configuration error in your columbia.desc file. Examine the file and replace the reservoir, placing it above the highest dam on the reach.

"Tried to fill a reservoir for a dam not preceded by a headwater"
Storage reservoirs must lie between a dam and a headwater. Any violation of this rule will result in an error; this message indicates a configuration error in your columbia.desc file. Edit this file and place the storage reservoir in the proper location: this may require moving the reservoir, adding a dam, and/or adding an end-of-river token.

"unable to match spill period with archive data for <dam>"
This message will only appear during Monte Carlo Mode. The flow archive you are using has requested spill during a particular period, but your data file has made no provisions for it. Remember, regardless of whether the spill fraction is taken from the archive or the data file, in both cases the fish spill hours are taken from the data file and they must exist for any period where spill is requested.

"upper depth > lower depth, setting both...."
Pools in CRiSP.1 must be shallower at the top (tailrace) than at the bottom (forebay). If you specify otherwise, CRiSP.1 will force them to be a lower depth. If you wish to retain "shape" in the pool, make sure that the upper depth specified in the columbia.desc file is less than the lower depth.

"Value outside of acceptable range"
Limits on parameter values are contained in the data file you read in; if no limits are specified CRiSP.1 also uses pre-defined default values. You have attempted to set a parameter to a value that lies outside the range currently allowed. You may be able to change this range by editing the data file by hand. These ranges have been chosen to allow you to input any reasonable value for every parameter: if your value falls outside that range, you probably are using an unrealistic value. In addition, stochastic variables (for which you provide mean, high, and low values) are constrained so that the mean must lie within the middle two quartiles of the distribution. You may have to reduce the degree of skew for some distributions.

"View failed, no categories/indices selected"
You have asked the report tool to show you a report without telling it what parameters you want to see; go back to the report tool and make sure your data request is complete.

"volume < 0 in <segment>, check river description file"
The model has calculated a water volume that is less than zero for a particular river segment. This is due to an error in the columbia.desc file, or modification of the segment (e.g. you've drawn down pool elevation below the floor of the pool) during the CRiSP.1 run. Check the columbia.desc file and correct the error.

"Water elevation read from file <name> is higher than the max forebay elevation of the dam; setting delta to 0."
The flow archive has given a forebay elevation for some dam that is higher than the full pool value given in the columbia.desc file; CRiSP.1 compensates by ignoring the value in the archive and using the full pool elevation from the columbia.desc file. Your flow archive, however, should be checked: this error indicates that the data in the archive could be corrupted.
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Columbia River Salmon Passage Model CRiSP.1.5 User Manual
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