In the Process Flow module, the batch activity collects incoming tokens and sorts them into groups of tokens (batches). When a batch is ready, the batch activity will release it to the next activity.
The batch activity basically functions similarly to Combiners and Separators in the 3D model in that it is capable of both combining and separating tokens.
Using the batch activity for simple grouping and releasing is relatively straightforward. However, the batch activity has some additional features that allow you to collect, sort, and release batches in fairly complex ways. If you want to learn more about what the batch activity is really capable of, consider reading the following topics:
- Organizing batches - Explains the various ways you can collect and group incoming tokens into batches.
- Releasing batches - Discusses the options for releasing batches and how to assign labels to an outgoing batch. This topic will also discuss options for handling batches that collect more than a batch can hold.
- batch Statistics - Explains how to use the unique batch statistics to get useful data from the batch activity during a process flow simulation.
The rest of this topic is a reference page for the batch activity and its properties.
Connectors
The batch activity allows for any number of connectors out. However, batches that complete will always exit out the first connector. Only manually released batches have the opportunity to exit out a different connector. See Adding and Connecting Activities for more information.
Properties
The following image shows properties for the batch activity:
Each of these properties will be explained in the following sections.
- Name You can change the name of the activity using the Name box. See Name for more information about this property.
- Font The Font button
opens a window to edit the activity's background color and font properties. See Font for more information about this property. - Statistics The Statistics button
opens the activity's statistics window. See Statistics for more information about this property. - batch Quantity The batch Quantity box sets the target value for the batch. The batch will continue collecting tokens until this value is reached, after which the batch will be released. See Organizing batches for more information.
- Quantifier The Quantifier box sets the criteria that will determine how the batch quantity is calculated. You can either collect by Number of Tokens or by a label on the incoming tokens. See Organizing batches for more information.
Valid Quantifier Values
The Quantifier property must be either Number of Tokens, a string which will be interpreted as the label name on the entering tokens, or a pointer to the token label (using Label: aLabel or getlabel(token, "aLabel")). - # Tokens to Release Specifies the quantity of tokens that the batch will release once it has finished collecting. See Releasing batches for more information.
- Group By The Group By box sets the criteria by which incoming tokens will be grouped into batches. See Organizing batches for more information.
- Overflow The Overflow setting controls what happens to values that exceed the batch Quantity while collecting. This option is not available when collecting by the Number of Tokens See Organizing batches - batch Overflow Options for more information.
- Label Aggregation Using this set of properties, you can create and modify labels on tokens when a batch is released. The operation performed, as set in the Aggregation column, will be done on every token that was added to the batch, even if the token is destroyed when the batch is released. Once the operation is performed, the resulting value will be set on every token being released by the batch. See Releasing batches - Assigning Labels to Outgoing batches for more information.
- Use Max Wait Timer The Max Wait Timer will be evaluated when a batch is first created. If a timer is not created because the Start Criteria evaluates to false, the max wait timer will be evaluated each time a token is added to the batch until the Start Criteria does evaluate to true. See Releasing batches - Releasing a batch Early" for more information.
- Use Max Idle Timer The Max Idle Timer will be evaluated each time a token is added to a batch. See Releasing batches - Releasing a batch Early" for more information.
