Control Process Flow Variables in Experimenter/Parameter table

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Theresa B asked Jul 21, '22 Felix Möhlmann commented Jul 22, '22

Control Process Flow Variables in Experimenter/Parameter table

Hi, again,

I'm starting out in the construction of parameter tables for use with experimenter.

I understand how to reference the values of Objects by exploring the Model Tree, and after I'd learned how to do that, I thought I had mastered parameter tables (haha).

I've now moved on to trying to set task sequence delays through the parameter table (among other values defined in process flow) and unfortunately, the eyedropper won't take me there.

I discovered "Process Flow Variables", which I thought might be the process flow version of parameter tables, and this works well to easily change process flow values; however, for the next step, when I want to play with these values in Experimenter, I don't see how to link this into the parameter table, or Experimenter itself.

When I haven't been able to find a property with the eyedropper, I've previously used the listed properties of 3D objects in the documentation, however, I haven't been able to find the equivalent for, say, a Schedule Source, etc., etc.

I've looked at the seemingly related question:

using experimenter with process flow
- I expected the performance measures table to be updated after the model was run but it was not. Where am I supposed to look, or what am I not understanding about what this solution is supposed to demonstrate?

However, it was asked before the changes to experimenter/parameter tables, and I'm uncertain as to whether my difficulty with it is due to me or the change in the software.

Any help would be fervently appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

Software Version:

FlexSim 22.1.2

process flow experimenter parameters table process flow variables

Answer 1 · 2022-07-21T07:05:31Z

Felix Möhlmann answered Jul 21, '22 Felix Möhlmann commented Jul 22, '22

The process flow variables are created in the 'blackbox' subnode of the Process Flow's variables node. With the sampling tool you can set the parameter reference to the 'value' node and control the variable through the parameter.

You could however also just directly reference the parameter in the process flow activities. The 'detour' through process flow variables is not necessary that way.

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Theresa B commented · Jul 22, 2022 at 01:19 AM

Hi Felix,

Thanks for stepping in, yet again!

I've looked for the blackBox subnode but my model Tree doesn't present in exactly the same way. Let me know if I'm looking in the wrong place but I can't even find the variables node for my ProcessFlow.

First, is the ProcessFlow object not expanded, as you've got it:

And here, it's expanded, when I optimistically went searching for the subnode:

Nevertheless, your solution without the detour works perfectly. Thanks for clearing up that misunderstanding!

Now, from my limited understanding, it looks like a parameter table and process flow variables perform the same role. Are there any cases where I would need to use Process Flow Variables instead of a Parameter Table, or vice versa?

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Felix Möhlmann Theresa B commented · Jul 22, 2022 at 07:00 AM

Click on the grey box with the arrow that appears when you select the Process Flow object node. This will expand the tree to show the 'property' nodes (classes, subclasses, ...) of that object.

No, I don't believe there is any case where you would have to use Process Flow Variables. They are mostly leftover from earlier versions in which the parameter tables didn't exist yet. Some people might prefer to keep the variables attached to the process flow for a better overview/organization; have them appear where they are used instead of all in one place if there are multiple process flows.

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Theresa B Felix Möhlmann commented · Jul 22, 2022 at 07:12 AM

Thanks again, for walking me through the process. It's funny the things we miss.

It makes sense that if there's a large number of variables/parameters, we might want to keep them separate.

To clarify, would there be nothing wrong with separating process flow values by creating a new parameter table instead? Or is having multiple parameter tables awkward, for whatever reason?

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