Hi,
As I understand the FlexSim 2018 Throughput template in Dashboard gives the output of an object. Am I correct and is there any way of changing this to input using the template? Or does one have to install the template and modify the components?
If there is no easy way then it would be good to have one in the future. And it would perhaps be more clear if throughput would be named output?
Thank you!
Kind regards,
Axel
It seems you are right and in a way it makes sense that only what actually comes out of a queue counts as throughput; but I pulled the template apart and there is quite some plumbing behind it, with a stats collector and a process flow and everything. So if you want to see the input of the object, you are probably better of just creating a simple stats collector of your own.
Thank you for the comment! Yes, it seems that it would be easier to start from scratch. But hopefully FlexSim would add a simple picklist to choose between output and input (and content min, max, average per hour) at some stage.
Short Answer: If you install the template, you will find a Process Flow Variable called Mode. If you change the Mode value to 3, the process flow will measure input instead of output. You may also need to add your objects to the group specified by the InputGroup variable (or you can just point that variable at a different group).
Long Answer: Basically, the stats flow for the Throughput charts tries to be a little bit smart. If the user defines a source as an input object, for example, the flow will listen to that object's output. The reverse is true for the sink. This way, the user can define a set of objects as a "boundary", and the Process Flow will measure the input or output at that boundary.
In the stats flow, Mode 1 deals with content, and requires input and output objects. Modes 2 and 3 deal with Output and Input, respectively.
Thank you @jordan.johnson
That explains it and solves my issue. Is this smart functionality documented somewhere? Now it is here of course.
For now, I haven't documented how the templates do what they do. They're sort of a "proceed at your own risk" thing. Using them is documented, but under the hood may change, as I fix bugs or even re-design the template.
I understand that the internal workings might change which is understandable. So I guess you refer to the user manual when you say that the normal use is documented?
Thank you!
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