Sequence alternative

[Pedro]

Hi,

I know about sequence tables that define a sequence from wich an entity will guide himself, but is it possible to have a sequence of something like:

Order:Machine

1: A

2: B

3: C or D

4: E

or even

1: A

2: B

3: C or D

4: C or D (depending on the previous choice)

5: E

How can I do this?

Thanks!

[jzhou]

yes, I am also interested in this. especially when we do the dynamic selection of routing in the sequence table.

say if C is busy, then goto D.

[dsturrock]

The basic technique is that instead of including C and D in the sequence, you include a "choice" node where the decision is made which one(s) to go to and in what order.

I have attached a draft SimBit submitted by a user that illustrates the technique.FlexibleProcessingSequence.zip

[Pedro]

The basic technique is that instead of including C and D in the sequence, you include a "choice" node where the decision is made which one(s) to go to and in what order.

I have attached a draft SimBit submitted by a user that illustrates the technique.[attachment=0]FlexibleProcessingSequence.zip[/attachment]

Thanks for the example!

I see you put the Selection Goal property as "Random", but what happens if I want it to depend on a entity's state variable, for example in my entity I have a state variable that can have the value of 1 or 2, and when it reaches that TransferNode1 I want it to decide which is that entity's destination based on that state variable. You can only use the keyword "candidate" in that property's expression, but how can I refer to the entity that is being transfered and to its state properties?

Thanks!

[dsturrock]

I'm not sure exactly what you are trying to do, but perhaps you should be selecting a path using expressions in your path weights rather than selecting a destination. Or perhaps you could use network constraints.

Here is a brief excerpt from our training course:

[Pedro]

I'm trying to implement a specific case where an entity needs the following operations:

Step:Machine

1: A

2: B

3: C and D (where it can chose to do first C if the D machine is more busy, or D if machine C is more busy, but he must leave step 3 with both machines visited)

4: E

5: F

What is the best way to implement this situation? I wanted to do it by inserting a state variable inside entities telling which machines it already visited or something similar. The result that I'm looking for is for a way to have this machines listed in a table , such that if I want to modify the visited machines and their order I just need to modify that table.

Thanks!

[Pedro]

This can easily be solved if I have a way to modify the "Next Destination" variable/flag/state of an entity as soon as it arrives to my transfernode, this way I could use a process to set the next destination based on a complex decision according to some state variable in the entity.

[ASagan]

Pedro, the model posted earlier looked to me to do exactly what you wanted. It used the 'set node' step with add-on processes, and used decisions based on entity states that tracked which servers had been visited. Did you take a look at the processes in the model? If so, did they do what you want?

[Pedro]

I know, the problem is that I want to do it just throught data tables. That example uses a fixed number of state variables

That must be modified each time I ned to add or remove machines to the sequence, this is not scalable.

[dsturrock]

You cannot assign values in tables unless you have Enterprise Edition. But you could use a state array sized at the maximum alternatives you will ever have.

[Pedro]

Why can't we define arrays with dynamic sizes? It is is supported by many frameworks why can't Simio support it?

[dsturrock]

Arrays can be dynamically sized to match a table (on initialization).

Or you can use Storages (an element) which is essentially a dynamic array of objects.

But lets keep this thread on topic.

[Pedro]

Arrays can be dynamically sized to match a table (on initialization).

Or you can use Storages (an element) which is essentially a dynamic array of objects.

But lets keep this thread on topic.

How can that be done? I can't find such option.

[dsturrock]

When you create a new State select MatrixFromTable:

[Pedro]

Thanks!

[dsturrock]

Here is a SimBit that solves the initial problem in a simpler and more elegant way than the previous model posted.

 

VisitAllServersInAnyOrder.spfx

VisitAllServersInAnyOrder.pdf