SIMUL8 2005 Feature Tour
SIMUL8 2005 had some major developments that let you build even more powerful simulations quicker.We are currently on SIMUL8
2008, check out the SIMUL8
2008
Feature Tour.
Click on the links below for details on the new features that were added in SIMUL8 2005. Features with  beside them are only available with SIMUL8 Professional:
New Quick Access Interface
As well as having a fantastic new sophisticated look the interface of SIMUL8 has been updated so that you can choose to have many more buttons on the toolbar. Such as the Watch Window, the last piece of Visual Logic you edited, Labels. This makes it much easier and quicker to get to exactly the dialog you want.
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Edit Images On Simulation Window
You can now rotate, mirror and flip your object images directly on the simulation window. You can also access the image editor as well.
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Command Script
SIMUL8 Command Script lets you write a simple set of commands to run a series of simulations.
The script file (.S8c) is written in Notepad. As in the example in the screenshot below. If you were to double click on the file SIMUL8 would open and load the Doctor's clinic demo, running it twice and putting each set of results in a file called MyResults.csv
The complete list of command available:
- OPEN filename - Opens a simulation.
- SAVE filename - Save the simulation as filename. If no filename uses OPEN name.
- CLOSE - close the current file and leave SIMUL8 open.
- RUN [time] - Runs to time or normal end of run (time is ignored if < warm up time). Always does a reset before a run.
- TRIAL [runs] - Runs a trial (of runs runs if runs specified - otherwise the number preset in the file.
- RESET - resets the model to time zero.
- GOTO time - Like CTRL-G
- VL line - Obeys a single line of VL. Cannot be a control line like IF or RUN
- AUTORESULTS filename - after every trial (or run) appends results to a results file (txt, csv).SERIESITEM values are included
- AUTORESULTSFULL filename - as AUTORESULTS but include confidence limit from trial results
- RESULTS filename,name of result - appends results to a results file (txt, csv, RS8). Results exported are the trial or run depending on which has just completed (except RS8). Name of result is the first field on the line. Results come from the results summary.
- RESULTSFULL filename,name of result - as RESULTS but include confidence limit from trial results.
- RESULTSCLEAR filename - empty a results file for new appending.
- TITLE - next set of results (e.g. autoresults) will get this title. Also set this if you use RESULTSHEADER and want space for the title in column 1 even if you are not actually using AUTORESULTS.
- RESULTSHEADER filename - put a header line in a results file (generated automatically from Results Summary).
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Visual Logic on QuickView and Explorer
No more drilling down through endless dialogs to access your Visual Logic. You can now open Visual Logic sections on objects directly from QuickView and the SIMUL8 Explorer. The other advantage is that you can easily tell which objects have Visual Logic and which don't.
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Open and Close All Sub Windows
You can now quickly and easily open or close all the Sub Windows in your simulation through menu options on the toolbar.
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Automatically Open Sub Windows to Highlight Objects
It can be really frustrating when you're trying to locate an object and SIMUL8 has highlighted it in a red circle for you but because it's in a closed sub window you still can't see it. When this happens you can now tell SIMUL8 to automatically open the sub window for you.
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Access Properties from SIMUL8 Explorer
Right clicking on the SIMUL8 Explorer gives direct access to object properties and links dialogs.
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Time Units Quick Access
The simulation time units are now displayed in several places, e.g. Storage Bin Minimum Wait Time and Preferences. Also Double Click the units to get taken straight to the Clock Properties.
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Formula Editor Button
There are many object properties where you can enter an Information Store variable. Now wherever this can be done there is a button to link directly to the Formula Editor.
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Other Enhancements to Building Productivity
- Option to add dialogs to main menu directly from the dialogs list menu.
- Right click in Visual Logic can now jump direct to called code instead of going through CALL dialog.
- Save As in a number of places now shows the existing file name (if any).
- Holding down CTRL when clicking the trials button in Results Summary lets you set Trial options first.
- Explorer window now updates when you make or delete a sub window.
- Remove from Component option on right click on Explorer window.
- Added "Short menu" option to File/More to reduce size of menu to key items.
- Simulation Assistant Wizard can now display links to relevant objects.
- Get a spreadsheet reference into the formula editor by clicking on the spreadsheet cell. more
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| Creating Applications From SIMUL8 |
Custom Object Properties
Custom Object Properties are like labels for objects. In previous versions of SIMUL8 you could only identify objects using the 'Index' property but now you can define as many custom properties for an object as you like.
You can reference Custom Properties through Visual Logic in the same way as you can identify all the default object properties. This means the list of possible uses is endless.
 This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Auto Maintain Speed Lists
Speed Code lists now each have an additional check box that allows SIMUL8 to automatically maintain the names in the list if the user deletes objects or renames objects.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Progress Bar
SIMUL8 now displays a Progress Bar on key tasks, for example when a simulation is opening or saving. But you can also choose to display the Progress Bar whenever you choose.
Three new Visual Logic commands have been introduced:
- Setup Progress Bar - opens the Progress Bar and sets its maximum value.
- Set Progress Bar - sets the current value of the Progress Bar.
- Close Progress Bar - closes the Progress Bar.
So if for example you wanted to display a progress bar to indicate how far on the simulation run had got you would
- On reset use the Setup Progress Bar to set the maximum value to the Results Collection Period.
- On Time Check you would set the current value of the Progress Bar to the current simulation time.
- And On End Run you would Close the Progress Bar.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Indicate Save Required
When a user clicks OK in a user created dialog, or Resets the simulation SIMUL8 now automatically prompts the user to save the simulation to keep changes.
In addition there is also a new Visual Logic command Indicate Save Required which you can add to any Visual Logic section and the user will be prompted to save the simulation before closing.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Link Visual Logic to Object
The new Visual Logic command Link Logic to Object lets you connect up or change the Visual Logic that is used by any object on any of its events from inside Visual Logic.
The first parameter of the command is normally the Visual Logic section to be called, but can be text. If it is text SIMUL8 searches all the Visual Logic for a case -i-sensitive match between the text and the name of the Visual Logic. If the name is not found (or the text is blank ("")) then the event on the object is removed.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Lock Interactive Structure
Two new Visual Logic commands have been added that let you control when a user can and can't edit your simulation.
- Lock Interactive Structure
- Unlock Interactive Structure
Locking the Interactive Structure prevents the user of your simulation from creating, deleting or editing objects and selecting menus.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Set Number of Probability Profile Columns
You can now control the number of columns in a Probability Profile from Visual Logic. This means you no longer have to create Profiles with thousands of columns just in case the user wants them.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Set Object to use a Named Distribution
From Visual Logic you can now tell any object to use a Named Distribution. You select the Distribution to use and for what parameter in the Object it should be used.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Get Position On Results Summary
From Visual Logic you can now interrogate the Results Summary to find the position of a Result. If it returns zero then the Result isn't on the summary. This is really useful when you want to create your own custom objects and have their properties set through user created dialog. If you the user chooses to display results from your dialog you know whether they need to be added.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Get Distribution List
This new Visual Logic command puts a list of all the Distribution names into a column in a spreadsheet (starting at the supplied col/row). To make writing your code easier, as you won't know how many Named Distributions have been created the cell immediately below the list is cleared to indicate the end of the list.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Create Label from Visual Logic
Labels can now be created from Visual Logic using the command Create Label. If the supplied name is blank ("") then SIMUL8 will generate the name. If the supplied name is a duplicate of a name that already exists then the name will be adjusted by SIMUL8 so that it is unique.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Create and Erase Variable from Visual Logic
Its now possible to create any type of Information Store variable directly from Visual Logic. You can give SIMUL8 the name of the variable or if the supplied name is blank ("") then SIMUL8 will generate the name for you. If the supplied name is a duplicate of a name that already exists then the name will be adjusted by SIMUL8 so that it is unique.
If for some reason you no longer need the variable then you can also use Visual Logic to delete it.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Get Object Type from Name
This command allows you to enter the name of any object in your simulation and SIMUL8 will return what type of Object it is, e.g. a Work Entry Point or Work Center.
This can be really useful when you need to error check things the end user has done. For example perhaps only certain types of objects can route into your component.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Visual Logic Message Control
Hopefully you won't have any errors in your simulation but now if you do you can control how they are displayed to the end user using the Visual Logic command Set Visual Logic Message Action.
There are 5 options:
- Default (on).
- Log and issue normal Visual Logic error message.
- Log and issue nice message.
- Log but hide message.
- If more than 100 messages hidden in 10 seconds then display Visual Logic error message.
- Hide the message and keep the simulation going.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Working with File Paths
A whole suite of new Visual Logic commands have been added to SIMUL8 to allow you to work with File Paths.
Get Simulation File Name
Get the name of the open simulation file.
Get File Date and Time
Check a file exists and if it does return the time stamp on it.
Get System Program Files Folder
Get the path to the user's Program Files folder.
Get My Documents Folder
Get the Path to the user's My Documents folder.
Set Blank Folder Name
Sets which folder SIMUL8 should look at when the file path is blank.
Get Blank Folder Name
Gets the default folder name used when no file path is specified.
Get Folder Only
Get the Folder Name Only from a Full Path.
Get File Only
Get the File Name only from a Full Path.
Get Extension Only
Get the File Extension only from a Full Path.
File to Full Path and File
Change the Default Folder Name from the folder of the simulation file.
Also Visual Logic file names can now contain partial folder names that are appended to the default folder names. For example in earlier versions of SIMUL8 test.txt would become c:\wheremysimulationis\test.txt but but folder\test.txt would not be changed and would fail if the current folder had not been set in windows. In SIMUL8 2005 folder\test.txt becomes c:\wheremysimulationis\folder\test.txt.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Hide Bad Object Error Messages
When setting object variables using names, e.g. SET Obj_var = "Text", if an object called "Text" is not found and "Break on bad object name" isn't set then an error message will be displayed.
However, occasionally, it is intentional to "search" for an object name and intentionally do different things depending on whether it exists or not, but if you're creating your own applications you probably don't want the end user to see this error. The Visual Logic command Hide messages if next SET Object Missing disables the message for one "SET Object" line - use it immediate prior to the SET line.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Objects Selected
When creating your application there are times when you need to know what objects the user has selected. For example perhaps you have 2 components that work in a pair and before the user copies them you need to make sure that both of the components in the pair are selected.
There are 3 new ways to identify the selected objects:
1. Each object now has a .Selected Property which you can read from to find out if an object is selected and write to if you want an object selected.
2. A new Loop Type has been created so that you can loop through all the currently selected objects.
3. The Visual Logic Command Count Selected Objects lets you identify whether any objects are selected.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Other Enhancements to Creating Applications from SIMUL8
- Get the Names of Sub Objects in Component more
- Cancel Component Erase more
- Search a Spreadsheet for a Text string from Visual Logic more
- Insert and Delete Rows and Columns in Spreadsheet more
- Copy Spreadsheet Area, Column or Row more
- Visual Logic command to update the Component Toolbars.
- Visual Logic command to tell SIMUL8 do a reset before the simulation runs regardless of whether the user presses Reset.
- Visual Logic command to get the file path of the Component just dropped. more
- Visual Logic command to set default confidence interval more
- Visual Logic command to remove all results from Results Summary.
- Visual Logic command to open another simulation file.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Show Route Arrows for Sub Objects
Components with sub-objects that are displayed can now optionally show route arrows to and from those sub-objects. You can choose to display the routing arrows as they actually route to the component - i.e. which sub-objects they route to/from, rather than to/from the component in general
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Lock Sub Objects
Components can now lock sub objects so (if visible) they are still non-clickable.
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Copy Allowed
Components now have Copy Allowed property. If zero then this object and any sub objects will not be copied if the user tries to copy them. Visual Logic attempts to copy ARE allowed.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Additional Pages on Palette
The Component Palette now sets up additional pages if more than 21 components are on one stencil on the palette.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Get Sub Object List
New Visual Logic command to get and store the names of all the sub-objects of a component to a spreadsheet column.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Get Parent Component
This new Visual Logic command gets you the name of the component that contains a specific object.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Cancel Erase
The new Visual Logic command Cancel Erase prevents the user from being able to delete a Component. So if the user tries to delete the Component you can say "no, I reject erase" in the Components On Erase code using the new command.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Get Component File Name
A new Visual Logic command has been added to allow you to obtain the File Path on the Component that has just been dropped. Combined with the new file path commands this command can be really useful if you need to perform special operations on the Component depending on which tab of the Component Stencil it was dropped from. For example, on one project we used this command to assign a default swimlane to components for Results Collection.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Restore Auto References
Support for optional restoring of auto references to objects that call lower level code and of parent objects of objects that directly auto reference.
This is particularly useful with components as it lets you access the component that contains an object and also the component to know which objects it contains.
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Other Enhancements to Components
- Speed of dropping a Component onscreen improved.
- Visual Logic command to update the Component Toolbars. This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
- Remove from Component option on right click on Explorer window.
- Pipes within a component can be edited.
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Speed Analyzer Improved
The speed analyzer helps you find the parts of your Visual Logic that are taking a long time to run. It has now been enhanced to show the actual time in milliseconds that was used up by each section of code. Also the contents on the Speed Analyzer can now be copied to the clipboard. This is great if you want to keep a record of the timings to see if the changes you make improve speed.
This Speed Analyzer is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Stop Debug Point Count
Stop Debug points can now have counts so you can delay when the code is stopped. For example, if you are looping on values 1 to 300 but only want to stop and debug the code when the loop is at 275, then you can set a count on the debug point so that the it will only enter the code on the 275th occasion it reaches the debug point.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Stop Debug Points Saved
Visual Logic Stop and Debug points are now saved/restored in S8 files.
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Stop Debug Object Not Found
When setting Object Variables through Visual Logic you can have SIMUL8 stop and enter debug mode even if error messages are hidden.
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Watch Window Conditional Statements
The Watch Window can now monitor conditional statements , for example "VAR1 > 20". The Watch Window will return zero if the test fails and 1 if it succeeds. You can also select to "Stop and Debug" your simulation if the Condition becomes true or false.
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Call Stack Stays Open
When you're in Step Debug Mode and you open the Call Stack it now stays open until closed manually by you.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Other Enhancements to Debugging:
- The Watch Window now updates after user created dialogs are accessed.
- Quickly exit the debug mode to edit you Visual Logic by pressing Ctrl F2.
- Call Stack displays current simulation time. Double Click the time to open the Clock Properties dialog.
- Better support for evaluation of object variables in debugger (especially auto-reference object vars).
- Find which simulation objects are currently using your Resources. more
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Save Results as XML or Text
You can now save contents of the Result Summary to a text or XML file.
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Interval Results
Many results are now available by interval. You can specify the Start and End time of the interval giving you complete flexibility to get exactly the result you want.
- Get Contents Change - Returns the change in a Tanks Contents.
- Get Throughput - Returns the number of Work Items that have passed through a Work Complete Point or the throughput of a Tank.
- Get Levels in Percentages - For Tanks and Queues returns the percentage of time empty and full. For Resources returns whether there were Resources available or not.
- Get States in Percentages - Returns the percentage of time a Work Center spent in each state, e.g. time working, time waiting.
- Get Percent Utilization over Interval - Returns the utilization of a Resource.
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Non Viewable Results Summary
You now don't need to have a viewable results summary window to collate all the results and for Visual Logic to be able to access them. This lets very large models have almost unlimited result sets available.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Recorded Availability Data to File
The Recorded Data to File command has been enhanced so that you can now record the Availability Information for objects.
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Groups Count Waiting Time
By default SIMUL8 counts time spent in a queue as working time for a group. Groups now have a check box to optionally treat work items in queues as not counting towards working time in Group results.
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Results Collection Mode Property
All object types that can collect results, e.g. Work Entry Points, Storage Bins etc., now have a new property "Results Collection Mode". This allows you to control whether the object will collect results and of so how often.
- 0= No results collection (speed and reduce memory requirement)
- 1=Yes, default normal level (Synchronized with other objects)
- 2=All events, very detailed and accurate but less easy to compare object with each other in graphs.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Set Confidence Limits from Visual Logic
The default Confidence Interval limits used on the Results Summary can now be controlled from Visual Logic using the new command Set Default Confidence Limits.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Other Enhancements to Results
- Detailed log now doesn't write entries to the log that complete, but do not start in a logging area (for example "created" inside the area or entered the area through a non-logged route.
- Holding down CTRL when clicking the trials button in Results Summary lets you set Trial options first.
- Results compares are deleted automatically.
- Visual Logic commands to calculate the mean and confidence interval of a spreadsheet and place the values on the spreadsheet more
- Visual Logic to get result from result summary using a text description.
- Visual Logic command to remove all results from Results Summary.
- Visual Logic command to ensure result isn't negative. This is used to make sure confidence limits cannot be reported as negative when negative is impossible - e.g. with a queue size.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional)
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Work Center - Auto Adjust Replicate On Decrease
In SIMUL8 R10 we introduced the Auto Adjust Replicate Levels feature. When a Resource is attached to a Work Center that uses Replicate the maximum number of Resources available is automatically increased to the Replicate number of the Work Center. In SIMUL8 2005 this feature has been improved so that if the Replicate number of the Work Center is decreased the maximum number of Resources available is now decreased as well.
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Work Center - New Shift Available Property
Work Center's have new Shift Available property which is a read only property that tells you whether the Work Center is currently on or off shift. It returns a 0 if the Work Center is off shift and 1 if it is on.
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Work Center - Negative Labels Allowed on Batching Out
Previously when Work Items were duplicated using Batching on Routing Out from a Work Center any negative labels that were copied were set to zero, now the negative value is copied over. A new preference option Allow Negative Labels on Batching Out has been added so that you can choose to have your simulation behave in the old way.
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Work Center - Task Log
SIMUL8 can now automatically record every task a Work Center or Resource performs.
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Clone Breakdown Types
You can now easily apply defined Breakdown types to a number of Work Centers by cloning them. When cloned SIMUL8 adds the selected Breakdown Types to all selected Work Centers.
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Work Entry Point - Arrival Times from CSV File
This fantastic new feature lets you to create a CSV file containing the exact times you want Work Items to be generated at from your Work Entry Point. You can also add as many columns as you like containing label values for the Work Items.
SIMUL8 2005 also now allows Work Exit Points to write the exit times of Work Items, including their label values to a CSV file. So if you combine these two features together that means that you can run one simulation to generate the inputs for another. The possibilities for this are endless. We've used it to create a game where teams compete over a network to entice customers into their Club. Unhappy customers that leave one club get fed into another Team's club.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Work Exit Point - Write Exit Times To File
This fantastic new feature lets you to create a CSV file containing the exact times that Work Items exited your simulation. All the label values for the Work Items are also recorded.
SIMUL8 2005 also now allows you to use a CSV file to generate Work Items to be generated from your Work Entry Point. So if you combine these two features together that means that you can run one simulation to generate the inputs for another. The possibilities for this are endless. We've used it to create a game where teams compete over a network to entice customers into their Club. Unhappy customers that leave one club get fed into another Team's club.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Resource - Get Levels In Percentages
Get the percentage of time a Tank or Queue spent empty and full. For Resources returns whether the percentage of time there were Resources available or not.
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Resource - Release Before Repair End
New Preferences option to allow Resources used to repair Breakdowns to be released before the Visual Logic event On End Repair runs.
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Resource - Task Log
SIMUL8 can now automatically record every task a Work Center or Resource performs.
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Resource - Find My Resources
When you're debugging your simulation you often want to know which Work Centers are currently using Resources. This can be very tedious to find out. It becomes even worse if you're using traveling Resources and you have to look inside the contents of every simulation object to find your Resources.
In SIMUL8 2005 you no longer have to do this. Just click the Find button on any Resource Type to immediately locate where all your Resources are.
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Resources - % of Time Available
Often Resources are not available to the process being simulated 100% of the time. This input allows you to state that a Resource will only be available for x% of time. SIMUL8 then randomly makes it unavailable. Alternatively you can give SIMUL8 detailed information about how often interruptions occur and how long they last for.
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Pipe - Ideal Rate Property
The new Pipe property Ideal rate returns the maximum that could flow through a pipe before any the flow actually starts. In complex pipe simulation this lets you test and make decisions based on maximum potential flow rates.
Two new Visual Logic commands have also been developed to work with this property:
- Update all Ideal Rates to Capacities
- Set all Ideal Rates to Infinity
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Pipe - More Properties on QuickView
The Pipe properties Flow Rate, Delay and Output% are now displayed on the QuickView window for easy access.
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Conveyor - Switching Routing In Option Mid Run
If you switch the Routing In rule used by a Conveyor mid run it now uses this rule for the remainder of the run.
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Conveyor - With Lock Length and Display Visual Logic Changes Update Display
Previously checking 'Lock Length and Display' meant that the Conveyor's timings were updated automatically whenever the Conveyor's length was changed by dragging the Conveyor onscreen. Now the timings are also updated if you change the Conveyor length through Visual Logic.
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Conveyor - Circulate Routing In Option
The Circulate Routing In option has now been added to Conveyors as well. When selected Work Items are pulled from each of the Routing In objects in turn if work is available.
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Get Cell Reference by Clicking Sheet
This amazing new feature means you no longer have to count columns and rows in a spreadsheet to get the numeric cell reference you need to enter in Visual Logic. Just open the spreadsheet from the formula editor, click on the cell you're interested in and SIMUL8 will get the cell reference for you and put it into the formula editor.
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Sum and Count Functions
Three new functions have been added to Visual Logic to quickly let you do calculations with spreadsheet:
- Sum Area - Totals up all the numbers in a spreadsheet area .
- Count if Not Blank - Counts the number of non-blank entries in an area.
- Count if Not Blank or Zero - Counts the number of non-blank and non-zero entries in an area.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Clear Sheet Area
Instead of only be able to clear an entire spreadsheet or delete each cell individually you can now specify a fixed area in a spreadsheet to empty.
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Export Sheets too Large to View
Spreadsheets in SIMUL8 can be as large as you like however you can only view them in the Information Store if they are 256 columns x16384 rows or under.
Now when you try to view a large spreadsheet, SIMUL8 reports the size and gives you the option to empty the spreadsheet, save it as .txt file, open it in Notepad or compress the sheet.
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Add/Remove from Results Summary
Automatically add a spreadsheet location to the Result Summary by right clicking on the cell in the spreadsheet.
The viewable area of a spreadsheet is 256 columns by 16384 rows but a spreadsheet can actually be as large as you want. Using the Visual Logic command Sheet Location to Results Summary" you can now add cells anywhere in range 32767 cols x 65536 rows OR 255 cols x 8million rows to the Results Summary.
Locations added to the Results Summary can be removed through Visual Logic using the new command Sheet Location Remove from Results Summary. If you enter [0,0] as the cell reference then SIMUL8 will instantly remove all the results for the entire spreadsheet.
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Search for Text from Visual Logic
Search any Internal Spreadsheet for a text string using Visual Logic. You can specify the cell to start searching from and the range of cell to search. SIMUL8 returns the first column and row where it finds the text.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Insert and Delete from Visual Logic
Insert and delete rows and columns in internal spreadsheets from Visual Logic.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Copy from Visual Logic
No more writing Loops to copy parts of a spreadsheet. You can now copy any area, column or row directly through Visual Logic.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Attach Spreadsheet to Work Items
Spreadsheets can now be "associated" with work items in a similar way to Labels.
Instead of an item carrying information in many labels, the information can now be stored in a spreadsheet that is associated with the work item. This allows a large quantity of information to be carried and means it can all be viewed in the one place.
Just put the name of the sheet in any text label on the work item. Then in the Contents Dialog select a Work Item and double click the label to open the spreadsheet. You can make changes to the spreadsheet mid run as well.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Get Mean and Confidence Intervals for Spreadsheet Cells
Using Visual Logic SIMUL8 can now calculate the mean or confidence interval of a spreadsheet cell for you and return the value to your spreadsheet.
- Previous Sheet Result Auto Mean - places the mean in the cell automatically
- Previous Sheet Result Vertical Confidence - places the confidence results in the cell above and below the mean
- Previous Sheet Result Vertical Horizontal - places the confidence results in the cell to the right and left of the mean.
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Open at Remembered Location
Spreadsheets will now always open at the location you closed them at. Previously they would open in the last written to cell which, for example meant that if you were using an internal spreadsheet to display results they wouldn't always be immediately viewable to the end user.
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| Visual Logic Enhancements |
New Visual Logic Commands
New commands to:
- Get Resource Utilization Over Interval more
- Get Tank Contents Change over interval more
- Get Throughput of Work Exit Point or Tank over interval more
- Get Levels in Percentages for Tanks , Queues and Resources over interval. more
- Get Work Center States in Percentages by Interval more
- Recorded Availability Data to File more
- Indicate Save Required more
- Link Visual Logic to an Object more
- Current Shift variable holds name of currently active shift more
- Get Previous State more
- Lock Interactive Structure more
- Saving and Loading Random Stream Seed Numbers from a Text File more
- Set Number of Probability Profile Columns more
- Set an Object to use a Named Distribution more
- Get Position of Result on Result Summary more
- Get the Names of Sub Objects in Component more
- Cancel Component Erase more
- Get List of all Named Distributions in Simulation more
- Create a Label from Visual Logic more
- Create and Erase an Information Store Variable more
- Get Parent Component more
- Find out what type of Object it is from its Name more
- Search a Spreadsheet for a Text String more
- Insert and Delete Rows and Columns in Spreadsheet more
- Copy Spreadsheet Area, Column or Row more
- Visual Logic command to get the file path to the user's My Documents directory. more
- Control whether a message is displayed by SIMUL8 if a Visual Logic error is encountered more
- Set Blank Folder Path more
- Count the Number of Objects Selected more
- Loop through all the selected objects more
- Update the Component Toolbars.
- Visual Logic command to tell SIMUL8 do a reset before the simulation runs regardless of whether the user presses Reset.
- Remove a spreadsheet location from the Results Summary more
- Get the Simulation File name more
- Check if a File exists. If it does returns its time stamp more
- Get the path to the Programs Files folder more
- Get the Blank Folder Path more
- Get the Folder Name Only from a Full Path more
- Get the File Name only from a Full Path more
- Get the File Extension only from a Full Path more
- Change the Default Folder Name from the folder of the simulation file more
- Get the file path of the Component just dropped. more
- Calculate the mean and confidence interval of a spreadsheet and place the values on the spreadsheet more
- Set default confidence interval more
- Display a Progress Bar more
- Get results from the Results Summary using a text description.
- Remove all results from Results Summary
- Open another simulation file
- Update all Ideal Rates to Capacities more
- Set all Ideal Rates to Infinity more
- Mark any simulation object and then generate a list of all the Marked objects.
- Sum and Count entries in a spreadsheet more
- Ensure confidence results aren't negative when negative is impossible - e.g. with a queue size.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Better Non Checked Edit Mode
The non checked Visual Logic screen has been greatly improved. You can now type freely in it and don't need to worry about Indenting as the Begin and End statements take care of this. Its also color coded to make it easier to read.
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Storage Bin On Enter and On Exit Visual Logic
Two new Visual Logic events for Storage Bins:
- After Entry - runs just after a Work Item enters the Storage Bin
- After Exit - runs just after a Work Item leaves a Storage Bin
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Work Centers and Resources - On Start and End Shift Events
Two new Visual Logic events for Shifts for both Resources and Work Centers:
- On Shift Start - runs just after any shift starts
- On Shift End - runs just after any shift ends
A new global data variable Current Shift has also been added which holds the name of the Current Shift this allows you to manipulate the code for each shift type if necessary.
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Work Center - New Visual Logic Event On State Change
Work Centers have a new Visual Logic event On State Change. This event runs whenever the state of the Work Center changes from, for example Awaiting Work to Working, or Stopped to Blocked.
There is also a new Visual Logic command Get Previous State that returns what the state of the Work Center was prior to it changing. This allows you to complete control the behavior of the
Work Center as you need.
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Tank - On Flow In Changes and Stops Events
Tanks have been given two new Visual Logic events, On Flow In Change and On Flow In Stops.
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Display Message Button Control
The Display Message Visual Logic command has been enhanced to give you more control over the buttons displayed.
By default the buttons displayed in the message box are "OK" and "Cancel" but now you can choose to display any combination of Yes, No, Abort and Cancel buttons. Just type the text BUTTONS: after the message you want to display with either mbYes, mbNo, mbCancel, mbAbort. All the buttons have the same effect except the Cancel button, which aborts the Visual Logic processor.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Referenced By List
Get a list of all objects and other Visual Logic sections in your simulation that use a piece of code.
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Local Variables
Any variable you declare in the Information Store is global. That is it can be read and written to by any Visual Logic section. This is generally fine but sometimes can be a restrictive so SIMUL8 now has local variables.
A local variable only exists within the Visual Logic section that it is declared in. Once that block ends the variable is cleared and its values lost. A local variable of the same name can be declared elsewhere and will be treated as a different variable. A local variable can even exist multiple times simultaneously, if the Visual Logic section is entered again before it's exited each call of the Visual Logic section will have a distinct local variable.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Code Bookmarks
Create up to 10 bookmark shortcuts to your code. You can then access them directly from the main menu or click Ctrl-n, where n is the bookmark number, in any Visual Logic section to go straight to your code.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Shift Click Multiline Select
Shift Click in Visual Logic now selects a group of lines.
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Find Improved
The Find in Visual Logic featured that was introduced in SIMUL8 R11 has now been improved to include the search options Title of Visual Logic Blocks and Executable Lines.
As SIMUL8 searches a progress bar is now displayed to give an indication of how far the search has got. If the search is taking longer than you'd like you can also now cancel it using the Escape key.
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Faster Object Search
If there are lots of objects in your simulation then setting an object variable using a line such as SET obj_var= "My Work Center" can become slow where the object isn't found. SIMUL8 must search all the objects for the valid object. If this text string is incorrect, SIMUL8 searches a second time in a case insensitive and space insensitive way to make it easy for you to get simulation working as soon as possible. However this is slow in very large simulations. If you have many loops where there are mistakes in text strings then this will slow your simulation.
If you know the object name will take the exact format you have entered then you can tell SIMUL8 to only do a fast check with the new commands Fast Object Search Next and Fast Object Search All. Then if you wish to return to the normal search use the command Fast Object Search Cancel.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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Other Enhancements to Visual Logic
- Visual Logic Parameters can now be deleted.
- Visual Logic message "View Visual Logic" now automatically unfolds the relevant Visual Logic.
- Break command now works in Object Loops.
- Move Work Item command now works in Work Centers .
- Increased speed of converting real number to text .
- Right click in Visual Logic can now jump direct to called code instead of going through Call dialog.
- Added Copy/Cut/Paste to right click menu.
- Section Parameters are now visible in the formula editor.
- Get Result command now supports parameterized data.
- Pasting into a Visual Logic block that's name should be specific to how it is used (e.g. Work Center 1 On Exit) now uses that name rather than the pasted name.
- The Set Shift Resources command now works with Work Centers too.
- Ignore all Visual Logic warning messages by holding down CTRL and pressing CANCEL. Messages are ignored until they are switched on again in Visual Logic Services.
- Access Visual Logic from QuickView and Explorer more
- Support for text names for image objects in Visual Logic Display+ routines.
- Get a spreadsheet reference into the formula editor by clicking on the spreadsheet cell. more
- Inputting and Editing of Complex if statements made much easier.
- Visual Logic parameters are no accessible through the formula editor.
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More Settings Saved
Preferences setting Pix per feet and also default speed are now saved in S8 and XS8 files.
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Probability Profile Shows Mean
The Probability Profile Distribution dialog now shows mean of the distribution.
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Save / Load Random Seeds from a Text File
New Right Click option on Advanced Random Number dialog to save and load Random Number data as a text file. There are also 2 new Visual Logic command to do this as well.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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See Individual Stream Number
If you need to see exactly which internal "sub-stream" number is used for each named stream then click right in the Advanced Random Number dialog and choose "Show individual stream numbers". The number for the selected item is displayed in the bottom right of the dialog. This is useful if you are reading or writing SIMUL8 XML yourself to interface SIMUL8 with another product.
This feature is only available with SIMUL8 Professional
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International Excel Cell Reference Codes
Excel R1C1 characters can now be changed in preferences so user | 
