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Structuring huge Machines |
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If you create a huge machine it will be indispensable that you structure them well, otherwise the work will become unbearable. The principle of structuring in TrySim is the same that you use for the management of data on the hard disk of your computer: matching data is kept in a folder and if there is too many in it, sub-folders will be created if necessary.
There are no folders in TrySim, but boxes are used instead. These are like a foundation to that all elements of one functional group are fixed. In the edit mask of the box you can select 'foundation', it will then be colored light grey (this can be changed later again) and also appears separately in the element tree.
If too many elements have to be fixed to a foundation it will be advisable, especially if some of them form independent functional groups, to create a new light grey box again for these elements to which they are fixed.
With your first machines you will realize the necessity of configuration only afterwards. In this case act like this: Create a box for the selected functional group, select 'foundation' in the edit mask (thereby it is colored light grey) and position it at the logical reference point for the functional group (just to think about it, where this one is, leads often to valuable help at later starting up). If the functional group represents an stackable construct, for example segments of conveyor, it will be quite useful to make the foundation as long as the stacking length - then, other segments that are created either by ‘copy and paste’ or out of the library can already be roughly positioned by the mouse. The fine positioning will then be done by the input of coordinates on the edit mask of the foundation. In other cases it is better to make the foundation very small. It is really worth thinking about position and size of the ‘foundation’. For foundations that do not only have the name symbolically it is, for example, absolutely recommendable to set the z-coordinate always to ‘0’.
After having created and configured the ‘foundation’ fix the matching elements to it. If your (unstructured) machine is not too big yet, this is easiest done in the element tree: just drag the element that is to be fixed with the left mouse key and drop it on the new foundation. You will save work if you unite the smaller functional groups first so that these can be assigned to the next higher one as a whole. If your machine is already so big that the element ‘tree’ (in this case rather a pole) does not fit a screen anymore (the TrySim tree does not scroll automatically yet) it will be easier to mark the matching elements in a graphic window and to change their father then. Creating huge machines please look at the element tree occasionally and act as long as it is still possible with less effort!
You will get to know the advantages of a well structured machine at the latest if you search for an element or if you want to configure a graphic window so that it displays exactly what you want to see at the moment. For the last one especially the functions that are existing in the menu edit are quite useful. For example, the function ‘fade out children’, applied to a ‘foundation’, lets disappear all elements belonging to it. But the foundation itself stays visible and so it can be marked quite easily and with ‘fade in with children’ the function group will become visible as a whole again.
The following subjects will be interesting as well, if it concerns the editing of huge machines:
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