Input Data ========== Standard Input -------------- Prescient requires information about the system being studied, such as the generators, buses, loads, and so on. This information is typically read into Prescient from a collection of CSV files in a format similar to that used by `RTS-GMLC `_. See :doc:`../reference/file_formats/rts-gmlc/index` reference for a detailed description of CSV input files and their contents. Input files are placed together into a single directory. When running Prescient, the directory containing the input files is specified using the `--data-path` configuration option. Prescient will look in the input directory for files that follow the standard naming convention, such as `gen.csv`, `branch.csv`, and so on. .. _custom-data-providers: Custom Data Providers --------------------- As an alternative to reading data from the standard CSV input files, it is possible to provide data from other sources using a custom data provider. Internally, Prescient stores data in the `Egret `_ format. A custom data provider is a python module that populates an Egret model with initial data, and updates it with timeseries data as the simulation progresses. For details, see :doc:`../reference/file_formats/custom-input` in the reference section. To use a custom data provider, set the `--data-provider` configuration option to the name or path of the desired python module.