APEXeditor: A Spreadsheet-Based Tool for Editing APEX Model Input and Output Files

Abstract

The APEXeditor, an Excel-based tool has been developed using the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to provide a graphical user interface (GUI) to the Agricultural Policy Environmental eXtender (APEX) model. APEX, in its native form, requires users to edit text files for modifying input files; therefore a GUI interface can aid users in modification of these files and reduce errors. Microsoft Excel is a popular spreadsheet program that has the largest user base among scientists and researchers, thus providing a relatively common platform in which stages the tool. The APEXeditor requires minimal additional learning to operate the tool for those who already have basic level of knowledge in Excel. The user can load APEX input files into the spreadsheet tool and the GUI offers meta information and provides functions to edit, write, and run the APEX model. Ultimately, the APEXeditor substitutes existing GUI programs such as WinAPEX or ArcAPEX that require installation or additional licensing. A series of scripts were developed as a back-end engine that automates data formatting and editing of linked APEX input ASCII files including database libraries. The simple architecture of the tool helps users maintain the quality of the data and allows error-free editing of APEX model inputs to characterize the system under study. This tool is suitable for all kinds of applications and has been successfully used for the creation of APEX model runs in numerous studies.