Urbanopt:1. Solution exception:Failed to write .check_uo_version.bat to file: 'ascii' codec can't encode character '\u5434' in position 23: ordinal not in range(128)

grasshopper dragonfly
1

When I run urbanopt, there is a problem. It may be because my username is in Chinese, can I solve the problem without changing my username?

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2

Hi @cong_boy ,

Yes, this is a know limitation of URBANopt in that it cannot handle file paths with non-ASCII characters. I have communicated the issue to the team at NREL and hopefully they will address it at some point.

In the meantime, creating another user profile with a different username will definitely address it but, if you don’t want to do this, you should be able to get around the limitation by writing the GeoJSON to a _folder_ that only has ASCII characters in the file path:

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Let me know if you encounter any issues with using the workaround.

3

Thank you for your timely reply. I tried to change the file path of geojson and epw, but the problem still hasn’t been solved.

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4

Thanks @cong_boy ,

I had forgotten that URBANopt CLI writes a file under your username and there’s no way that I know of to change it. I think, until NREL adds full support for non-ASCII file paths, the only solution will be to create another user profile on your machine that has only ASCII characters in it.

5

I should also ask what exactly are you planning to use URBANopt for? If it’s just to run EnergyPlus simulations in parallel, there are ways of doing this without needing URBANopt. I think this sample file shows an alternative pathway for running OpenStudio simulations in parallel without needing URBANopt.

6

Thanks, I’m planning to use Urbanopt to calculate building loads at the city level. May I ask if you have any suggestions?

7

See above for my suggestion if creating a new user profile is not an option for you: