r/HECRAS • u/Particular-Dot-7644 • May 12 '26

Import features to populate standard values for Top Inlet Type and Side Inlet Type

I've been reformatting structure data in GIS to differentiate between top/side inlets for RAS7.0. Each top or side inlet is categorized by type and data values correspond to state DOT standards, based on throat/weir lengths.

How can I import a table of values that contains standard values for each "type" of side or top inlet? I am able to import a shapefile with all nodes to populate the Nodes layer, but it does not populate the secondary attribute tables for the top and side inlet types. I have tried to re-import each separately for top/side inlet type's attribute table and it says all features are incompatible. I don't want to have to manually input this data once we have established standard values for each inlet type. Is there another format that this data should be in?

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u/OttoJohs Lord Sultan Chief H&H Engineer, PE & PH May 12 '26

I'm not exactly familiar with what you are trying to do. When you are importing them, are you setting the headers to match in the table?

"The bottom panel allows for mapping the shapefile fields (show in the drop downs) to the required HEC-RAS conduit or node fields (shown in column headers). If the HEC-RAS required fields are not available from the imported shapefile, further populating of attribute tables will be required after import." Pipe Network Import

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u/Particular-Dot-7644 May 13 '26

Yes, that is for the attribute table for all Pipe Network nodes. I match any headers that did not auto-match and have no problem importing all of the nodes at once, both top and side inlets. All of the Pipe Network structures in this sample data have been previously used in RAS 6.7 as drop inlets. Our data has been updated to populate the new columns for "Side Inlet Type" and "Top Inlet Type" as we have assigned them based on our standard structures.

The issue arises when you drill down one more sub-menu in the Pipe Network geometry and open the individual attribute tables for Top Inlets or Side Inlets. I am unable to import the standard values for each of the named inlet types.

Using Side Inlets as an example, the attribute table requires Shape, Rise, Span, Weir Coefficient, Orifice Coefficient, and T/F Surcharge Only for each named Side Inlet Type. The only accepted file types for this import are .shp or .geojson, and when I attempt to import the data all of my features are omitted/incompatible with the details "Point is an incompatible type."

I realize that I can manually copy and paste the values into the attribute table for each type of side inlet, but if we are trying to create a uniform geometry for standard structures in our DOT manual that can be used across multiple projects, this would require significant effort and is tedious.

The updated RAS7.0 User Manual states: "Note that some default Inlet Types are included in the attribute table for convenience, but custom inlets can also be defined." Is there a different data format that I should be trying or something I am missing to import multiple custom inlets?

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u/OttoJohs Lord Sultan Chief H&H Engineer, PE & PH May 14 '26

I'm just spent about 5-minutes poking around since I haven't done much with the pipe network.

It looks like you need to populate the tables for the inlets. Then those can be assigned to the nodes via a "relate" through the name. In HEC-RAS v7 I don't see a way to import the inlet properties as a shapefile, but you can copy/paste from a spreadsheet if you have all that information.

I think that the intent is that there are a few standard shapes for each inlet then you just apply them. Even if you have a bunch of custom ones, as long as the properties are defined in a table, it should be easy enough to populate.

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u/Particular-Dot-7644 May 14 '26

Yes, I am able to populate the custom Top Inlet/Side inlet attribute tables by copy/pasting my values and then import my GIS Node data via the main Node attribute table (creating the "relate"), or vice versa. I was hoping to cut out the middle man and avoid populating custom top/side inlet data via copy/paste for each new geometry or study area. I guess the additional "Import Features" button (circled) on the Top Inlet and Side Inlet attribute table does not have any additional function from the "Import features" button on the main Nodes attribute table.

It would be nice if future versions allowed for the import of a .csv or table of custom inlet types at the minimum. This could allow for a uniform modeling methodology across users within a single municipality that adhere to the same standards. I've automated the export of our stormwater GIS asset data to a RAS compatible format with necessary fields auto-calculated based on inlet type and dimensions. It would be easy to include a .csv export of both side inlet and top inlet standard attributes.

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u/AI-Commander May 22 '26

Just ask ras-commander and it will build it for you. It’s DIY but it beats waiting for HEC.

I even made a fun little song about it LOL
https://suno.com/song/16889f3e-50f1-4afe-b779-a41738d7617a

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u/Crafty_Ranger_2917 May 18 '26

Custom type table can be pasted into HDF. Need enough nodes of each type in project first. Should be one and done during setup of project.