Getting your Data and Control Rules into SIMUL8

Welcome to this month's SIMUL8 newsletter. In this issue we describe a number of features that relate to getting data and control rules into your simulation model. In SIMUL8 2008 we introduced some new features that can help with this process. In particular we will focus on:

• Object Input Summary Improvements
• Using Common Visual Logic Functions
• Multi-dimensional Arrays

In this newsletter we also invite applications for a PHD research scholarship that is available through The University of Strathclyde. SIMUL8 Corporation in conjunction with EPSRC Mathematics CASE award are funding this post. Further Details are outlined below.

Object Input Summary Improvements

Sometimes in larger models it can become difficult to remember where all of your simulation objects are located and what their properties are. The Object Input Summary introduced in SIMUL8 2007provides a summary of all the objects in your simulation.

Each object type is displayed on a separate tab as the properties of the objects are quite different. When you double click on a cell it will open the relevant dialog for the object. In SIMUL8 2008 you can now also access the custom properties of objects and information on any components in your model.

SIMUL8 2008 also has sorting capabilities that you can sort by the order of creation, alphabetical or reverse alphabetical. You can also now perform a search for an object name or any other text and SIMUL8 will take you directly to this. This makes identifying objects and their properties in large complex models very straightforward and is incredibly useful for debugging and documentation.

Common Visual Logic Functions

SIMUL8 users often find that as the number of simulation models created increases, there are key sections of Visual Logic code that are being written over and over again in each new subsequent model. SIMUL8 2008 allows users to build up a library of frequently used Visual Logic routines and import them into any simulation. This saves users having to search through their suite of existing simulations to copy the visual logic code or rewriting this code from scratch.

Moving a Visual Logic section from one model to another couldn't be easier. The Import and Export controls can be found on the All Visual Logic Window as shown above. The Visual Logic sections are saved to the user's specified location and can be imported to each new simulation model as and when required. When importing a section of Visual Logic code, if the relevant local variables do not exist, SIMUL8 will create them for you to ensure that your code is fully operational in your new model.

 Multi-dimensional Arrays

SIMUL8 has had 2 dimensional arrays in the form of Information Store spreadsheets for many years. What is new in SIMUL8 2008 software, is the ability to specify more than 2 dimensions. In fact, you can now have as many as you want!

What is an array?

An array is a variable type. Officially it's "a series of elements placed in contiguous memory locations that can be individually referenced by adding an index to a unique identifier". You create an array, say myarray, and specify how many positions are available in the array, so perhaps 5. Then for each position 1 to 5 you set the value. Then at any time you can reference the position in the array to get the value stored, so myarray[4] would get me the value stored in position 4.

Translated that means they're very like tables.If you imagine a table with only 1 row and 5 columns, then each bit of information typed in the column is my data at position x, then this is like the array described above.

What is a multi-dimensional array?

A multi-dimensional array is the same as an array but they have more than one index. So instead of having just one row in my table, I have multiple rows and then I'd have to reference it at say myarray[2,3]. That's where the table example ends, beyond this arrays get very difficult to visualize so I've tried to provide examples below:

• 2 dimensional arrays: A spreadsheet!
• 3 dimensional arrays: A Rubik Cube! Or a Microsoft Workbook with multiple Worksheets!
• 4 dimensional arrays: Boxes of Rubik's Cubes!

So what's so great about multi-dimensional arrays? Now you can organize your input data and collect results in a much more consolidated way!
For information on how to create multi-dimensional arrays you can view our recent newsletter on this by clicking here.

If you have questions on any of the above features described in this newsletter, please do not hesitate to contact our support team for further information, we would be very happy to help.

The University of Strathclyde invites applications for a 3.5 year PhD scholarship, funded by an EPSRC Mathematics CASE award in conjunction with SIMUL8 Corporation. The aim of this research is to apply new methods from multivariate statistics and decision theory to support analysis of parameter uncertainty and parameter quantification in Discrete Event Simulation (DES).

To apply for the position, please send your CV and a covering letter explaining why you are interested in this opportunity, by Friday 25th June 2008 to: Dr John Quigley, Dept of Management Science, University of Strathclyde, 40 George St, Glasgow, G1 1QE. Further Details are available for download as a PDF file.

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If you have any questions generated from, or comments about this newsletter then email Newsletter@SIMUL8.com