FlexSim 2020 Update 2 Beta Available

[#1]

FlexSim 2020 Update 2 Beta is available. (Updated 22 July 2020)

To get the beta, log in to your account at www.flexsim.com, then go to the Downloads section, and click on More Versions. It will be at the top of the list.

If you have bug reports or other feedback on the software, please email dev@flexsim.com or create a new idea in the Development space.

Release Notes

• Updated the run speed slider so you can customize the ratio of display units to real seconds.
• Moved object properties windows into the context sensitive Properties window (formerly known as Quick Properties).
• Added a new Quick Properties window that appears next to your cursor when double clicking on an object.
• Added a pop-out button to the Labels panel of the Properties window.
• Added a Dark theme for FlexSim's UI.
• Added Unit edit buttons to more edit fields.
• Updated the Quick Library to match the current state of collapsed and expanded panels in the main library.
• Removed the View Settings window and moved all its options into the Properties window.
• Improved performance of Properties window and various other UIs.
• Added Object Property tables.
• Added Object class properties and methods to the Variant class in FlexScript. This removes the need to use .as(Object) if you know the treenode pointed at by a Variant is an Object.
• Added Object.resetPosition property.
• Added capture groups to the string.replace() method.
• Enabled several SQL clauses - NOT, NOT IN, DELETE FROM, INSERT INTO, and LEFT JOIN/LEFT OUTER JOIN.
• Added ARRAY_VAL() sql function for accessing a value in an array.
• Added unit conversions to the convert() command - convert(4.5, "ft/min", MODEL_UNITS).
• Improved performance of loading media by making it multi-threaded.
• Added Color.fromPalette options to several Set Color popups.
• Added a pickoption for the Source's On Creation trigger for attaching items to an Object process flow.
• Disabled the beeping noise when pressing Enter in edit fields.
• Fixed the Create Object edit mode sometimes not creating objects and just exiting (like when clicking on the library when the User Manual was active).
• Fixed a draw issue with tables drawing bold text sometimes.
• Fixed a bug with window docking.

Backwards Compatibility Note: the following changes may slightly change the way updated models behave.

• Changed updatehotlinks() to only repaint the view if it applies a node with a viewsyncupdate attribute of 1.
• The keywords VALUES an DELETE were added to the sql parser. This means that previous models that use the term VALUES, Values, values, DELETE, etc. will get an error because sql now sees it as a special keyword. If you get this error, just wrap your term with square brackets: [Values] to tell the parser to not interpret it as a sql keyword.

Agent

• Added the Agent module to the Flexsim Installer.
• Enabled A* walls as static agents.
• Added a neighbors() function to the Agent API.
• Fixed social forces for agents not in model space.
• Fixed bugs with using A* bridges.

AGV

• The join tool now joins in all cases, defaulting to a straight path if it can't solve for a curved path.

Conveyor

• The join tool now joins in all cases, defaulting to a straight conveyor if it can't solve for a curved conveyor.

Emulation

• Added Allen-Bradley connections.

People

• Improved performance of state history tables.
• Fixed listening to travel events on a person created with the Create Person activity.

Process Flow

• Added new Kinematics activities.
• Added new Warehousing activities.
• Added an Enabled checkbox to the Source activities so that you can turn them off.
• Consolidated Fixed Resource and Task Executer process flow types into a single "Object" type.
• Added a right-click menu option to the 3D view so a user can right-click on an object and add an Object process flow directly.
• Added an Object Flow field to the Create Object activity and added a pickoption for attaching items to an instanced flow.
• Changed double clicking on an activity to be more consistent with the 3D view and now opens the activity's properties window. This window now has a name edit field so you can still easily rename the activity. You can also slow double click to only open the old name edit field.
• Improved performance of activity properties windows.

[Matthew_Gillespie]

Known Issues

The step/iges/jt importer is not working correctly with the 7-July Beta.

[amerloQ2XZU]

As usual, well done! The new features are really interesting.

I point out an issue with Emulation module. The sequence is simple:

1. add emulation module;
2. add OPC DA connection;
3. configure the connection;
4. add OPC DA control/sensor tag;
5. browse to find the tag;
6. error!

The same sequence works good in 20.0.7 and 20.1.3.

Below the video!

[matt_long]

Thanks for the feedback. This has been fixed and will be included in the next beta release.

[dawid_dabal]

Congrats on the new release.

Small issue I've noticed:

In code editor when using dark mode highlighting error makes code unreadable and very hard to correct.

[Jacob_Gillespie]

@Dawid Dabal Thanks for testing out the Dark Mode! This will be improved in the next version of the beta.

[SCHamoen]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the improvements!

We (Talumis) would like to share some thoughts on the new GUIs. We are not sure yet if we like it ;-). We understand where it comes from but it requires some getting used to. Our first reaction was that user friendliness was exchanged for maintainability, but as said, you can only really have a verdict after working with it.

Our remarks:

1. Be able to have 2 GUIs open at the same time is not possible now. This is something we use quite often to compare or copy settings.

2. No cancel option

3. No way to move through the 3D objects with the left/right buttons

4. As a general point it looks/is a bit cramped which means that for instance for tables you always have to click extra, even so if you have a somewhat complex GUI. I'm not sure if there is a solution, but maybe something like you keep the components of the quick properties but add some more space around it so it looks better? In reality everybody gets bigger screens, so screen utilization is no reason for this squeezing.

Ofcourse moving all the GUIs of custom made libraries or client applications to this new look is a nightmare, if you could device some kind of assist tool that would be great 😉

[philboboADSK]

Thanks for the feedback. We've discussed this change extensively internally. It will take time to get used to, and we will continue to improve the UI as we all work with it.

The primary purpose of this change is not for maintainability, but for consistency and usability. Our overarching goal with these changes was to bring consistency between how you edit objects in the software. Previously, different objects were modified differently. For example, a Processor, an AGV path, and a Delay activity all had their properties in different windows that you accessed differently. Now, you edit each of those objects the same way as any other object in FlexSim, and their windows all have a similar look and feel.

For new users, the old disparate properties systems were not user friendly because they hadn't learned how each different system worked over many years of working with the software, like you and I have. With this update, the consistency is a change for existing users, but will be easier to learn and use for new users and those that use the software intermittently.

Regarding your other remarks, here are some comments based on our internal discussions and usage.

1. Comparing object properties was an issue we discussed repeatedly as we've worked through this change. The Statistics and Labels panels are the output windows that are available to pop out into their own dockable windows now for viewing multiple at the same time. You may find (as we have) that it is easier to compare objects by clicking back and forth between objects and having the visible Properties window update for them in the same place rather than trying to compare top-level windows side by side. Also, we added Property Tables that can be used for comparing and editing multiple objects at the same time in a nice tabular view.

Not being able to permanently keep open a top-level properties window also prevents bugs that often happened with the old Properties windows when they were left open and the objects were modified elsewhere, such as moving them in the 3D view, renaming them in the tree, or using Edit Selected Objects. Disallowing the properties window from being open all the time helps prevent bugs caused by having multiple places to edit the same variables at the same time.

2. Removing the Cancel button is one of the main benefits of the new system. In the previous windows, the Cancel button only canceled certain changes. Most of the UIs applied certain changes immediately and were not cancelable. Also, when you applied a Properties window, it cleared the undo history because it was making such drastic changes to the tree by applying everything in the window at once. Now, all of the settings can be individually undone without clearing your undo history. And you don't have issues with cancel not actually working (or only partially working; for some settings).

3. The left/right buttons were buggy in the previous windows. I'm actually personally surprised by the comments we've gotten about those buttons with this change. The way those buttons worked was sketchy to begin with and could easily mess up your object's variables in unexpected ways. We have considered alternative ways for quickly switching between objects of the same class in the new system, but have not implemented anything specific yet. This is still a point of interest for us.

4. The spacing and layout of the widgets is designed to match and be consistent with the Process Flow activity properties. We collect telemetry information about screen sizes, and we specifically design our UIs to work on a wide variety of workspace sizes and setups based on that data.

We have no magical assist tool for updating custom libraries to the new standard look and feel. Module objects can be updated individually the same way we have for the default library objects. The old mechanisms all still work though, so it is up to individual module developers to choose whether or not (or when) to update their objects' properties to be consistent with the new look and feel.

[joerg_vogel_HsH]

Visuals values changes in Quick Properties just by moving mouse pointer.

I change a value here SX and leave the input field by tab key. Then I move the mouse pointer, the last changed value is set to randomly values.

[joerg_vogel_HsH]

To replicate this bug it is just necessary to highlight an object and move the mouse pointer in circles over the visuals attribute matrix in Quick Properties window. License type is Express. @phil.bobo

[philboboADSK]

When you click and drag a spinner in FlexSim, it changes the value of its associated edit field:

In your video, the edit field isn't changing "randomly" when you "move the mouse pointer in circles." It is changing when you mouse over the spinner control. It shouldn't be changing unless you clicked the spinner and are holding the mouse down.

The only way I can replicate this issue is if you click the spinner, hold the mouse button down, use Alt+Tab to change the active program, and then release the mouse button in another program. In this way, the spinner got a mouse-down event, but not a mouse-up event. You can fix this by clicking on the spinner so that it gets a mouse-up event. This behavior is the same in all versions of FlexSim and is not related to the Beta.

[joerg_vogel_HsH]

Hi Phil, I did not click a mouse button or hold a key down and release it. I just move the pointer in circles or alternating up and down several times in quick properties visual matrix. Sometimes size values change, or a location value changes. And you are correct this happens in 20.1.3, too.

[philboboADSK]

I found an old dev case where we looked into this issue previously. I've reopened that case.

[Matthew_Gillespie]

This issue is fixed in the 22-July Beta.

[Matthew_Gillespie]

This issue is fixed in the 22-July Beta.

[Matthew_Gillespie]

This issue is fixed in the 22-July Beta.

[sebastian_hemmannE3JAU]

Hi @phil.bobo, for point 3 I think it could be cool to make the choose of an object class or number of special objects available in the propertys table as pick options.

[harald_e]

There are two things that I noticed:

1. When saving a model, the file size increases a lot. Just start with an empty model, add a source, and save this model. This model file is only 29kB. Now I open the "new" properties, and then save the model again. The model file is now 1.166kB! It looks like a lot of GUI information is stored in the Tools/Workspace node.

2. The help manual has been removed, and it's replaced by an online version. How do I add my own (local) manual files?

I'm using the 22-July Beta.

[Matthew_Gillespie]

@harald.e

1. Thanks for pointing this out. We'll look into it.

2. We will be posting a User Manual installer for those who wish to install the files locally.

[mischa_spelt]

Thanks @matthew.gillespie. Does that mean that if we create a "private" module for a customer, they will have to install the whole User Manual locally in order to create module documentation? Any suggestions how to do this for "public" modules like FloWorks?

[anthony_johnsonT83CM]

@sebastian.hemmann If I'm interpreting your suggestion properly, with properties tables, you can use the Classes field as part of your filter. Classes is an array of strings that represent the set of classes that an object is an instance of. As such, you can use the IN clause to specify which class you want to filter by, e.g. WHERE 'Conveyor::Conveyor' IN Classes, etc. Also, much of this can be done with just a few clicks. Just click the filter drop-down, and check the Classes box. Then in the popup, define the class you want to filter by. There is also a quick drop-down that lists some common classes you want to filter by (perhaps we should fill this out even more).

We've decided, for the final release, that a default property table will have a few default filters applied. Specifically, it will filter out visual tools, including the the model floor, and navigators.

Other fields that can be very useful for filtering are the Groups field, where you can filter by a group of objects, or the IsSelected field. If you filter by IsSelected = 1, then you can just select whatever objects you want in the 3D view, and then click in the property table window, and it will filter by those objects.

[Matthew_Gillespie]

Here are some options you might pursue:

1. We are happy to host FloWorks documentation on docs.flexsim.com.
2. Add a separate "FloWorks User Manual" button to the Help menu that opens just the help files from your module.
3. Have customers download and install a local User Manual and then all your current documentation will be accessible within the software.

If there's something you need FlexSim Development to do to facilitate your documentation idea, just let us know.

[mischa_spelt]

I noticed that the new properties popup does not do bulk editing, like the Quick Properties do:

Since these are now basically quick properties in a popup, I sort of expected it to work. Is this intentional?

[Matthew_Gillespie]

There's a bug in the beta that's causing the Selected Objects panel to not populate correctly the first time. Collapse that panel and then expand it again and then it populates correctly. Now the bulk editing should work.

We've fixed this issue for the next release.

[sebastian_hemmannE3JAU]

@anthony.johnson, thanks for that. Will try it out.

[support5CRPZ]

New property window makes still me some embarrassing.

I found one issue of the property window moving step by step forward whenever clicking it expanded or collapsed. I attach the screen followed;

And the window can't be moved to anywhere by mouse.

[philboboADSK]

@david.seo

We've been unable to duplicate this error. It was also reported by Serge here: https://answers.flexsim.com/idea/88420/202-beta-dont-move-properties-popup-when-a-section.html

Can you tell us more about your Windows "Display settings"? Right-click the Windows desktop and select "Display settings" to open the window. Please post a screenshot showing the monitors and their positions. Also let us know which monitor is the main monitor and what the "Scale and layout" size percentages are for each monitor.

For example, here is a screenshot showing this information on my computer:

Monitor 2 is the main monitor, and both monitors are at 100% size scaling.

[mischa_spelt]

Hi. Thanks for releasing 20.2.2. Unfortunately the release notes on docs.flexsim.com have not been updated yet. Since the manual is not automatically installed with FlexSim anymore it would be nice if the list of changes were available somewhere immediately upon release. Is it possible to automate the update of the docs site, or include at least the "Release Notes and History" page in the installer?

[philboboADSK]

@jacob.gillespie