document demo and play mode; small fixes/improvements in demo mode

documentation/configuration.rst

@@ -26,11 +26,14 @@ Level above which log messages are added to the log file. See the ``logging`` pa
 
 Default: ``logging.WARNING``
 
+
+.. _modes-config:
+
 FLEXMEASURES_MODE
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
 The mode in which FlexMeasures is being run, e.g. "demo" or "play".
-This is used to turn on certain extra behaviours.
+This is used to turn on certain extra behaviours, see :ref:`modes-dev` for details.
 
 Default: ``""``
 
@@ -369,13 +372,17 @@ Default: ``None``
 Demonstrations
 --------------
 
+.. _demo-credentials-config:
+
 FLEXMEASURES_PUBLIC_DEMO_CREDENTIALS
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
 When ``FLEXMEASURES_MODE=demo``\ , this can hold login credentials (demo user email and password, e.g. ``("demo at seita.nl", "flexdemo")``\ ), so anyone can log in and try out the platform.
 
 Default: ``None``
 
+.. _demo-year-config:
+
 FLEXMEASURES_DEMO_YEAR
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 

documentation/dev/modes.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+.. _modes-dev:
+
+Modes
+============
+
+FlexMeasures can be run in specific modes (see the :ref:`modes-config` config setting).
+This is useful for certain special situations. Two are supported out of the box and we document here 
+how FlexMeasures behaves differently in these modes.
+
+Demo
+-------
+
+In this mode, the server is assumed to be used as a demonstration tool. Most of the following adaptations therefore happen in the UI. 
+
+- [Data] Demo data is often from an older source, and it's a hassle to change the year to the current year. FlexMeasures allows to set :ref:`demo-year-config` and when in ``demo`` mode, the current year will be translated to that year in the background.   
+- [UI] Logged-in users can view queues on the demo server (usually only admins can do that)
+- [UI] Demo servers often display login credentials, so visitors can try out functionality. Use the :ref:`demo-credentials-config` config setting to do this.
+- [UI] The dashboard shows all non-empty asset groups, instead of only the ones for the current user.
+- [UI] The analytics page mocks confidence intervals around power, price and weather data, so that the demo data doesn't need to have them. 
+- [UI] The portfolio page mocks flexibility numbers and a mocked control action.
+
+Play
+------
+
+In this mode, the server is assumed to be used to run simulations.
+
+Big features
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+- [Data] Allows overwriting existing data when saving data to the database.
+- [API] The inferred recording time of incoming data is immediately after the event took place, rather than the actual time at which the server received the data.
+- [API] Posting price or weather data does not trigger forecasting jobs.
+- [API] The ``restoreData`` endpoint is registered, enabling database resets through the API.
+- [API] When posting weather data for a new location, a new weather sensor is automatically created, instead of returning the nearest available weather sensor to post data to.
+
+Small features
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+- [API] Posted UDI events are not enforced to be consecutive.
+- [API] Names in ``GetConnectionResponse`` are the connections' unique database names rather than their display names (this feature is planned to be deprecated).
+- [UI] The dashboard plot showing the latest power value is not enforced to lie in the past (in case of simulating future values).

documentation/index.rst

@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ The platform operator of FlexMeasures can be an Aggregator.
     dev/api
     dev/ci
     dev/plugins
+    dev/modes
 
 .. toctree::
     :caption: Integrations

flexmeasures/data/services/time_series.py

@@ -257,6 +257,9 @@ def convert_query_window_for_demo(
             end = (query_window[-1] + timedelta(days=1)).replace(year=demo_year)
         else:
             end = query_window[-1]
+
+    if start >= end:
+        start, end = (end, start)
     return start, end
 
 

flexmeasures/ui/utils/plotting_utils.py

@@ -564,7 +564,11 @@ def get_latest_power_as_plot(asset: Asset, small: bool = False) -> Tuple[str, st
     First returned string is the measurement time, second string is the html string."""
 
     if current_app.config.get("FLEXMEASURES_MODE", "") == "demo":
-        before = server_now().replace(year=2015)
+        demo_year = current_app.config.get("FLEXMEASURES_DEMO_YEAR", None)
+        if demo_year is None:
+            before = server_now()
+        else:
+            before = server_now().replace(year=demo_year)
     elif current_app.config.get("FLEXMEASURES_MODE", "") == "play":
         before = None  # type:ignore
     else:

flexmeasures/ui/utils/view_utils.py

@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ def set_time_range_for_session():
                 .astimezone(time_utils.get_timezone())
             )
 
-    # Our demo server works only with the current year's data
+    # Our demo server's UI should only work with the current year's data
     if current_app.config.get("FLEXMEASURES_MODE", "") == "demo":
         session["start_time"] = session["start_time"].replace(year=datetime.now().year)
         session["end_time"] = session["end_time"].replace(year=datetime.now().year)