How to find the compatible variable keys (component names) for an output variable?

[hdou]

Hello,

The RDD file lists the available variables for an IDF file. For example:
Output:Variable,*,Space Lights Electricity Energy,hourly; !- Zone Sum [J]
In this case, the Space Lights Electricity Energy is the output variable name. But it doesn't say which components (or variable keys) can use the variable, as it's represented by a *

The datatransfer API requires a variable key in order to get the handle to a variable:
get_variable_handle(variable_name: Union[str, bytes], variable_key: Union[str, bytes]) → int
It will fail if an incompatible variable key is provided.

I am interested in writing software to present the list of compatible variable keys for a user to choose for a given IDF file. Is there a way to find what are the available variables keys, or component names, or the types of components that can use each variable? (I know I can read the Input/Output References doc to figure it out manually, but I am interested in automating this with software).

Is there somewhere already collected such information? E.g. EnergyPlus source code, code of some other tools?

Thank you!

[hdou]

Found a way...

Using datatransfer's list_available_api_data_csv, will do. It generates something like below:

  ...
  **VARIABLES**
  OutputVariable,Site Outdoor Air Drybulb Temperature,ENVIRONMENT
  OutputVariable,Lights Electricity Energy,WEST ZONE LIGHTS
  OutputVariable,Lights Electricity Energy,EAST ZONE LIGHTS
  ...