Software Usage Guidelines 

By on

Using software in our  work is essential for most of us and we are becoming even more dependant on it's use.  While software is a great asset, many times using it can be more problematic than the problem it is trying to solve.  To maximise the benefit of using software I have been trying to think of five general guidelines.  This is my list: 

Know what you want to do

Sounds obvious, but quite often people get side tracked in using all the software functions or trying to use the incorrect software.  For example if you have an all singing all dancing software which can fully design all aspects of an electrical system, but you only need to size a single cable then the software may not be suitable. The software may require lots of time inputting masses of  data which  may or may not be available and is probably not relevant to the sizing of a cable.  In this instance you would need to limit your use of the software or maybe use different software or a even consider a hand calculation. 

Garbage in garbage out

An old saying, but very true.  The output and answers from software are dependant on the data given to it.  If you provide incorrect data or make mistakes inputting information then the output will be incorrect.   When inputting data it is essential to spend time ensuring that the input into each step is correct and accurate.

List assumptions

Rarely is all the information necessarily available at the time required.  Often assumptions or side calculations are made to obtain the necessary input data for software.   These assumptions (side calculations) should be documented.  During review/checking or modifying of the software at some future date, it will be necessary to know what are the assumptions and where then come from. 

Verify and check

Verify or reality check the, output of software.  Mistakes in input data and software bugs mean that errors can appear in the output.  In in the above cable example, you should have a rough idea of the likely size ranges, what length of cable will start giving voltage drop problems, etc.  If the software is producing answers in line with these expectations they you can be confident that things are going well.  Another useful exercise is to consistently check output at each stage of data input to ensure that errors are found early and corrected early.  It is easier to correct errors as they occur, rather than at the end of the software input exercise.

Software is a tool

This ties all the above together.  Software is a tool to use in the same way calculators, scale rulers, tracing paper, telephones, etc. are.  Tools are not the problem solving intelligence - the human using the tool is the brains behind the operation.  If the answers are wrong it's not realistic to put the blame  software.  If the wrong software has been selected, it is used incorrectly, the input data is bad and or no checks on the output have been carried out then it is probably the users problem, not the software.

To varying extents I try to follow the above guidelines.  When I do I am reasonably successful.  On the odd occasion where I haven't followed my own guidelines things have not run quite so smoothly. 

 



Steven McFadyen's avatar Steven McFadyen

Steven has over twenty five years experience working on some of the largest construction projects. He has a deep technical understanding of electrical engineering and is keen to share this knowledge. About the author

myElectrical Engineering

comments powered by Disqus



Mobile Phones (Brick to Implant)

The mobile phone was born in 1973. They were the size of a brick and weighed a couple of kg, making them difficult to fit into your pocket. At a few thousand...

Windows Live Writer and myElectrical

When making adding a Note to our site we have a great online WYSIWYG editor and things are pretty simple.  However, if you prefer you can write, manage...

New Mail Chimp

We've been sending out Newsletters on a regular basis for a few weeks now. To do this we have been using Google's Feedburner service. While Feedburner...

Voltage Levels to IEC 60038

The standard aims to consolidate AC and traction voltages within the industry and defines the following bands: band 1 - A.C. systems 100 V to 1...

Multimeter

Multimeters are undoubtedly the most common item of electrical test equipment in use.  Often it is the first piece of equipment people will turn to when...

Power Factor

Power factor is the ratio between the real power (P in kW) and apparent power (S in kVA) drawn by an electrical load. The reactive power (Q in kVAr)...

Occam's Razor

I was reminded of Occam's Razor while reading a book. It's quite a simple principal of logic which has stood the test of time and is accepted as central...

IEC 60287 Current Capacity of Cables - Rated Current

In the previous note we looked at the approach taken by the standard to the sizing of cables and illustrated this with an example.  We then looked at one...

HTML Symbol Entities

HTML supports a variety of entity symbols which can be entered using either numbers or an entity name.  The number or name is preceded by the ‘&’ sign...

Induction Motor Calculator

Just added a page to the tools, which will allow you to calculate the synchronous speed, slip and rated torque for an induction motor. Not a particularly...

Have some knowledge to share

If you have some expert knowledge or experience, why not consider sharing this with our community.  

By writing an electrical note, you will be educating our users and at the same time promoting your expertise within the engineering community.

To get started and understand our policy, you can read our How to Write an Electrical Note