Animation

The animation step allows the behavior of the model to be analyzed. The flow of variants are visualized by animating them as they move through the model. It can be used to verify that the model actually behaves as expected and to find any problems in the model. There are also tools that can be used to visualize outputs. For instance, as a help for determining a suitable warm-up time.

The animation is controlled from the animation controls found above the navigation panel. More information about these controls can be found below. During the animation the simulation time is displayed in the top right corner both as an absolute time including (date and time of day) and a relative time from the start of the simulation.

Note: The start (date & time) is set from the Experiment step of the work flow.

Settings ↑

This dialog contains settings and controls for the simulation/animation (see image to the right). Details about them are given in the table below.

Setting/Control

Description

Reset

Same as Reset.

Stop

Same as Stop.

Start

Same as Start.

Start without animation

Same as Start without animation.

Step

Same as Step.



End (dd:HH:mm:ss.fff)

A time specifying for how long the simulation(/animation) should be run starting from the selected start date and time of day. Specified on the format days:hours:minutes:seconds.fractions_of_a_second.

Simulation speed

Slider used to adjust the speed of the simulation. The speed of the simulation is controlled by a changeable time delay (i.e. this slider) between consecutive events, i.e. non-linear time and not scaled real time.

Note: It could take considerable time before the simulation leaves simulation time 0 in the case that a lot of events should be processed immediately at time zero. This is usually the case when large buffers/stores directly follows a source setup with an infinite supply of parts.

Show variant names

On/Off switch for displaying variant names during the animation.

Limit stacking to

Stacking of variant names is limited by the number given here, e.g. for variants on a buffer.

Note: Only possible if variant names are displayed.

Show assembled variants

On/Off switch for displaying the names of all assembled variants.

Note: Only possible if variant names are displayed.

Use compact view

On/Off switch for grouping variants of the same type, only showing the current amount. The variant types are sorted alphabetically.

Note: Only possible if variant names are displayed.



Event list

Opens a dialog visualizing all active events and the order in which they will processed (see image below). It contains information about the type of event, at what time the event should be triggered, who is the intended receiver of the event, and finaly who (what object) that sent the event.

By right-clicking specific events in the event list it is possible to add and remove breakpoints to them. It is also possible to run to events. Breakpoints are still active when running to an event so the simulation might stop before reaching it.

Events are color coded to visualize breakpoints:

  • Yellow: Simulation stopped at this event due to a breakpoint.

  • Gray: An event with a breakpoint at which the simulation will stop.

Breakpoints

Breakpoints are used to stop the simulation when a certain event occurs. There are five different stopping criteria, they are described in detail below. Critera that are left blank will match all events. Add a new breakpoint by clicking in the lower right corner. Breakpoints can be removed by clicking on the corresponding row. Clicking in the header will remove all breakpoints. Breakpoints can be temporarily disabled by unchecking the "Breakpoints enabled" check box. It is not possible to change breakpoints while the simulation is running.

  • Type: The type of the event to match.
  • Start: The starting time, events before this time will not be matched.
  • Stop: The stop time, events on or after this time will not be matched.
  • Receiver: The receiver of the event. Can be a node or a variant, but not both. For example, to match all variants of type VarA, enter "VarA:". To match all variants, regardless of type, with the number 5 use ":5". To match a specific variant use "VarA:5". All examples should be entered without quotes. To match a node, enter its full path or select it with the Select object-dialog reached with the -button in the cell.
  • Sender: The sender of the event. Only nodes can be senders, enter the full path of the node or select it with the Select object-dialog reached with the -button in the cell.

Breakpoints enabled

On/Off switch for breakpoints.

Trace

Tracing of events can be enabled by checking the box "Trace enabled". All processed events will then be recorded in the trace window. The trace can be saved by clicking the "Save" button. The trace window can be cleared by clicking the "Clear" button.

Note: When saved all times will be saved in seconds relative to the start of the simulation.

Trace enabled

On/Off switch for trace.



Log interval (min)

Interval used for logging data when using the Output plotter.

Replications

Specifies how many times the simulation(/animation) should be run.

Current replication

Displays the progress (replication) of the simulation(/animation).

Opens a dialog for visualizing output from the simulation.

Note: In order to display any data a simulation need to be run with a log interval larger than 0.

Setting/Control

Description

Output

Drop-down box for selecting what output that should be plotted.

Replication

Drop-down box for selecting what replication that should be plotted. Either a specific replication could be selected or all replications. In the latter case an average of all replicated values at each log interval will be plotted.

Moving average window size

Setting used for smoothing the plotted graph using a moving average (Welch's method). It represents the w-parameter in the Welch method, detailed in Law & Kelton 20001.

Y-Axis

Settings for the scale of the y-axis:

  • Min: Minimum value for y-axis, default 0.
    Leave blank for automatic scaling.
  • Max: Maximum value for y-axis, default blank.
    Leave blank for automatic scaling.

Reset ↑

This will reset the simulation to its initial state.

Stop ↑

This will stop the simulation.

Start ↑

This will start the simulation with animations.

Start without animation ↑

This will start the simulation without animation and without any delay between events.

Step ↑

Step event by event. Useful together with the Event list.