AGV Paths and Control Point naming not incrementing

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Mike Mayer asked Aug 11, '22 Mike Mayer commented Aug 12, '22

AGV Paths and Control Point naming not incrementing

I am starting the AGV tutorial "4.1 - AGVs Using Standard 3D Logic" as a refresher on AGVs.

First we create 4 straight paths. When I create them, in order, they are all automatically named Path1 (the names do not auto-increment). When I add the corners via "Join Paths" they start incrementing OK - Path2, Path3, Path4, Path5. But each straight path is auto-named Path1.

We then add seven Control Points, however they are not auto-incrementing either. All 7 control points are named "ControlPoint1".

I have uploaded this model "AGV Tutorial 4.1.fsm" to FlexSim's file share site.

I tried it again from scratch, in a new model (which I did not upload), and I did get sequential naming ControlPoint1 and ControlPoint2, however the control points after that (3rd thru 7th) were all auto-named ControlPoint1. So, I wound up with 6 control points auto-named ControlPoint1, and one control point auto-named ControlPoint2.

I have attached a screenshot of the Tree view of the model I uploaded ("AGV Tutorial 4.1.fsm" ):

I actually first noticed the non-incrementing control point naming when I was creating a different model, using the Advanced AGV process flow. Given the same issue, it looks like FlexSim tried using tildes in the naming of the automatically generated ControlPoint1's, i.e., suffix ~2, ~3, ~4, ~5, ~6 to differentiate them since the original name did not seem to increment automatically:

Shouldn't they have all been auto-incrementally named ControlPoint1, ControlPoint2, ControlPoint3, ControlPoint4, ControlPoint5, ControlPoint6, without the tilde# suffix?

Has anyone else seen this? Did I accidentally turn-off an auto-naming feature somewhere?

Thank you.

Mike Mayer

Software Version:

FlexSim 22.2.0

control points agv auto naming path names

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Answer 1 · 2022-08-12T18:48:57Z

Kavika F answered Aug 12, '22 Mike Mayer commented Aug 12, '22

Hey @Mike Mayer, I've confirmed that this is a bug in the system. I also went back through the versions and was able to replicate the bug as late as v21.2. However, v21.1 did not have this error. I've submitted a ticket with replication steps for our dev team to check out.

Just to clarify: the bug occurs when you click and place Control Points on an AGV Path. When you drag CPs out, they are named correctly.

· 1

Mike Mayer commented · Aug 12, 2022 at 07:00 PM

Nice work Kavika, thank you AND Phil for both looking into the problem.

Mike Mayer

Goodyear

1 ·

Answer 2 · 2022-08-12T17:53:05Z

Mike Mayer answered Aug 12, '22

Hi Phil and Kavica,

Per Phil's recommendation, I've uploaded a video I just made, "mayer_flexsim_video.mp4", it's about 14MB.

Similar to Phil's video, I created a left, top, right, and bottom path. Those path names are created properly (Path1, Path2, Path3, Path4). In previous models, I was getting just Path1 for all of them, but here path naming worked fine.

I then created a total of 10 Control Points, starting with two on the top path, two on the right path, two on the bottom path, two orphans out in the middle, then finally two on the left path.

All of the CP's on all 4 paths are automatically named ControlPoint1 except for the rightmost control point on the bottom path - it got named ControlPoint2.

The two orphans in the middle got named ControlPoint3 and ControlPoint4. Although those two are numbered sequentially (3 and 4), they are actually not named as the 7th and 8th ones actually created.

Interestingly, ControlPoint2 (bottom path, right) was not the last control point created prior to the two orphans in the center. The Tree view shows the sequence as created by FlexSim.

I hope this helps.

Mike Mayer

Goodyear

Answer 3 · 2022-08-11T18:38:33Z

Mike Mayer answered Aug 11, '22

Hi Phil,

I did some more digging, by walking backwards in the FlexSim versions, trying the same thing as I did in the test model on the most recent version 22.2.0.

I got the same results (multiple naming ControlPoint1) in versions 22.1.3 and 21.2.4.

However, everything worked fine in 21.1.4. I have uploaded a new model created in 21.1.4, doing the same sequence of path and control point creation as the others. It's called "mayer_test_21.1.4.fsm".

In the screenshot (and model) you can see the sequential auto-numbering worked as expected:

So I wonder if something might have changed in the object auto-increment naming algorithm (at least for Control Points, and maybe Paths too), between FlexSim versions 21.1.4 and 21.2.4.

Mike

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Answer 4 · 2022-08-11T18:06:43Z

Mike Mayer answered Aug 11, '22 Mike Mayer commented Aug 12, '22

Hello Phil, thank you for taking a look.

Yes, I was using FlexSim 2022 update 2 (the most recent version). I dumped the model in XML (*.fsx file) as well, and found a "release" tag near the top with 22.2 as the data element.

Just to be sure though, I started from scratch again, in a new model I've just uploaded to FlexSim's file share site, called "mayer_test.fsm".

This new model has three views - the Start Page showing the version (22.2.0), a Tree view page showing the path and control point names, and then the 3D view below the Tree view.

I created a similar model to the one your short video shows (but not exactly in the order you did). Here's the order I created the objects:

I first created four path starting with the left, then top, then right, then bottom paths. I did not connect their corners. This time, they did get names sequentially automatically assigned - Path1, Path2, Path3, Path4. So far so good, and that's better than my previous model which auto-named all four of them Path1. Unclear why that auto-naming part is working OK now (part of the mystery).

Next, I started dropping-in control points. In order, I started with putting two control points on the top Path2, two on the right Path3, two on the bottom Path4. Did nothing yet on the left Path1.

Instead, I put two control points floating on their own inside the area bounded by the four paths. Of course they show only as empty diamonds, with no crosshair because they are not attached to a path. Those two floating orphan control points were automatically named ControlPoint2 and ControlPoint3, which to me is correct (given that the last control point prior to those, was the leftmost ControlPoint1 on the bottom Path4).

Then lastly, I put two final control points on the left Path1. Those two control points were both auto named ControlPoint1. That's part of where the numbering sequence seems to have "broken", i.e., reverted back to ControlPoint1.

The end result is that all 8 of the the control points I dropped onto all four paths (two on each), were auto-named ControlPoint1.

The two orphan floating control points in the middle, were named ControlPoint2 and ControlPoint3.

Note that in the order in which I created them, I created the two final control points on the left Path4, yet they came up auto-named both ControlPoint1 (instead of perhaps ControlPoint4 and ControlPoint5).

I did not rename any of the control points - what you see are what were named automatically by FlexSim when I dropped the control points into the model.

Here's a screenshot of the model; which is what you should see when you bring the model "mayer_test.fsm" into FlexSim. Interestingly, the path names worked out fine this time. However looking at the Tree view, the naming order that FlexSim assigned for the control points as I created them, is six ControlPoint1's, a ControlPoint2, a ControlPoint3, then two more ControlPoint1's.

Another though I had, is that we could set up a specific day/time where I could share my screen with you (Microsoft Teams or Zoom or something), and we can interactively create a model on my system to see how it goes.

I think I may also try un-installing FlexSim 22.2.0 and re-installing it.

Other than this naming quirk, it seems the AGV system works fine (although I've not gone too deep into it).

You bring up a really good point: "Seeing a model with the names messed up doesn't help explain what caused them to not be named properly "

Is there a debug mode, or logging mode in FlexSim, that tracks or provides an audit trail during the model building process? My guess is that inside the C++ there's something that's supposed to be taking the text string "ControlPoint" and doing a concatenation of an incrementing integer-to-string, in a " += 1" fashion to bump-up the object's name (current.name) by one each time a new control point is created. If we could trap that process, perhaps it would reveal where the numeric suffix is not being updated as expected. Or, that it's thinking it's the very first ControlPoint each time (or just sometimes).

I have seen the Call Stack and Event Log features under the Debug menu, however they only work when running a model - not actually tracking the creation of objects on the front end.

Thank you.

Mike

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· 4

Phil BoBo ♦♦ commented · Aug 11, 2022 at 10:43 PM

I still can't replicate the issue by following your instructions. Perhaps if you record a video showing each step you are taking then maybe we can see what you are doing differently than what you are saying.

Yes, it will be easy to debug what is happening once we can replicate it, but unless we can replicate the steps to produce the problem, then we can't debug what is happening in the code when the problem is happening.

Right now, everything is working exactly as it should when I follow your steps, so there's no trace of anything going wrong.

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Kavika F ♦ commented · Aug 11, 2022 at 11:06 PM

I'll take a look and try replicating your steps and result.

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Kavika F ♦ commented · Aug 12, 2022 at 03:47 PM

Okay, I was able to replicate your findings in version 22.2.0. I'll investigate further into this matter and get back to you.

It seems that there's a difference between clicking to place a Control Point (CP) and dragging one out. Whenever I click one out, there's a chance that it'll increment, but usually it's just CP1. If I drag a CP out, it (in my experience) always increments.

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Mike Mayer Kavika F ♦ commented · Aug 12, 2022 at 05:03 PM

Hi Kavika,

Thanks for looking into it as well. Indeed, it does seem sporadic - sometimes CP will increment correctly, and sometimes not. That may explain why is works well for Phil; perhaps there's some other setting on one's system that causes it to happen (yours and mine) and all is OK on Phil's.

I did uninstall/reinstall FlexSIm 22.2.0 but it was the same issue.

Interestingly, I found the same problem in FlexSim versions 22.1.3 and 21.2.4, however version 21.1.4 seems to work just fine - control points and path names increment properly.

Was there any object naming work done inside FlexSim between 21.1.4 and 21.2.4 I'll also do some testing of my own, to see if I can help nail-down for when it happens (or not) on a more consistent basis (i.e., clicking out vs. dragging out).

Phil also had a good idea for me to try - I'll pursue creating a video of what I'm doing, to see if I can get it to happen that way too.

Mike Mayer

Goodyear

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Answer 5 · 2022-08-11T16:54:48Z

Phil BoBo answered Aug 11, '22 Phil BoBo edited Aug 11, '22

I can't replicate the issue you are describing. Are you sure you are using FlexSim 22.2 as you tagged in your question? It seems to be working fine to me:

Seeing a model with the names messed up doesn't help explain what caused them to not be named properly. Do you have a set of steps that can be performed to replicate the issue?

agv-obj-numbering.gif (714.1 KiB)

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