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open-psa / mef

The Open-PSA Model Exchange Format
https://open-psa.github.io/mef
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Piecewise Linear Distribution #30

Open rakhimov opened 7 years ago

rakhimov commented 7 years ago

The specification of the Histogram distribution suggests converting Cumulative distribution to its corresponding probability density histogram. The approach is cumbersome if one considers transferring the output of one analysis as input to another.

The piecewise linear distribution provides more general/flexible facility to express cumulative and other distributions. It could also be used to approximate continuous/complex distributions if needed as an alternative to the histogram distribution.

However, if the piecewise linear distribution is not dedicated to cumulative distributions only, the dual role (pdf and cdf) for the same construct is ambiguous. The MEF can specify a special attribute for this distribution to discern between the distribution types (density vs. cumulative).

rakhimov commented 7 years ago

The cumulative to density conversion can be achieved with the current curve feature in report layer. The tools can do the cumbersome job of conversion. This approach would free the piecewise-linear distribution from the ambiguity and double role.