FlexSim Knowledge Base
Announcements, articles, and guides to help you take your simulations to the next level.
Sort by:
Flexsim 2021 Update 1 is now available for download. You can view the Release Notes in the online user manual. For more in depth discussion and videos of the new features, check out https://www.flexsim.com/news/flexsim-2021-update-1-pre-built-agv-logic-bottle-shapes-and-more/ If you have bug reports or other feedback on the software, please email [email protected] or create a new idea in the Development space.
View full article
FlexSim 2021 Update 1 Beta is now available. 21.1 Release Notes To get the beta, log in to your account at https://account.flexsim.com, then go to the Downloads section, and click on More Versions. It will be at the top of the list. The More Versions button does not appear when logged in as a guest account. Subsequently the beta is available only to licensed accounts and accounts that have a license shared with them. Learn more about downloading the best version of FlexSim for your license here. If you have bug reports or other feedback on the software, please email [email protected] or create a new idea in the Development space.
View full article
Release Notes If you have bug reports or other feedback on the software, please email [email protected] or create a new idea in the Development space.
View full article
FlexSim 2021 Beta is available. (Updated 19 November 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 [email protected] or create a new idea in the Development space. Release Notes Added a Model Parameter Table tool. Added a Performance Measure Table tool. Added an Empirical Distribution tool. Added a Web Page tool. Upgraded html views from WebKit to Chromium Embedded Framework. Added a Map FlexScript API. Added a JSON FlexScript API. Added Object.getProperty() and Object.setProperty() methods to the Object FlexScript API. Moved dashboard properties windows into the context sensitive Properties window. Backwards Compatibility Note: the following changes may slightly change the way updated models behave. The Experimenter and Optimizer now use Model Parameter and Performance Measure Tables. Existing experiments and optimizations are no longer compatible and are discarded by the model upgrade process. Fixed the PowerPoint.Presentation.create() and PowerPoint.Presentation.open() method syntax. Due to Chromium's multi-process architecture, the FlexScript command callwebscriptmethod() and JavaScript function fireFlexsimEvent() are now asynchronous and do not return values directly. To get the return value of fireFlexsimEvent(), you can now pass a callback function as the last parameter: fireFlexsimEvent("myEvent", param1, param2, function(result) { alert("result: " + result); }); AStar Added a Strict Diagonals setting to make travelers travel better around corners. Conveyor Added a Mass Flow Conveyor. Backwards Compatibility Note: the following changes may slightly change the way updated models behave. Removed Conveyor Types. People Added a Remove Statistically Only checkbox to the Remove Person activity. Updated the Statistics Properties panel to display HC states.
View full article
FlexSim 2020 Update 2 is available. If you have bug reports or other feedback on the software, please email [email protected] 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. Removed help manual from the installer and linked help to docs.flexsim.com. Created a separate installer for a local help manual. 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. Updated the default web server 3D view to stream using WebGL data instead of video. 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.
View full article
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 [email protected] 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.
View full article
FlexSim 2020 Update 1 is available. If you have bug reports or other feedback on the software, please email [email protected] or create a new idea in the Development space. Release Notes Updated the Statistics Collector to be simpler and more user friendly. Added a PowerPoint FlexScript API. Added an HTTP FlexScript API. Added a sorting tab to various charts. Improved performance of chart templates. Replaced the code profiler with a new Performance Profiler. Added a Memory Profiler. Added OnEntry and OnExit events to TaskExecuter objects. Added an icon to library items that launch a pop-out library of choices. Reorganized the dashboard library using the pop-out library to consolidate charts with multiple visualizations. Updated the WebServer to use the Version Selector. Added a Find/Replace UI for global tables. Added support for Ctrl-F and Ctrl-H keyboard shortcuts for various windows. Added support for renaming objects using the F2 keyboard shortcut. Added a Vec3 overload to the Object.setRotation() method. Added a stop parameter to the userinput() command which will stop code execution until a value is entered. Added a default parameter to the realtime() command that returns realtime(1)+0.001*realtime(2). Updated various pickoptions to use the TaskSequence and TaskExecuter APIs. Added tutorials for the Statistics Collector. Added a Variant overload to the Table() constructor. Fixed some issues with the importtable() command. AGV Added new Train functionality. Added offset travel functionality to the AGV network. Added a time-based trailing option. Added the routing drawing feature to a right click option. Updated Quick Properties' apply to all selected objects functionality to work with AGV objects. Made arrows bigger. Fixed several spinners in Quick Properties not applying immediately. Backwards Compatibility Note: the following changes may slightly change the way updated models behave. Changed behavior for when a TaskExecuter is connected to an AGV network, and is set to use the navigator for its offset travel. Previously, the navigator was hard-coded to find the closest control point. Now, you instead need to add an OnAGVOffsetTravel trigger to the navigator, wherein you can direct the AGV how to offset. People Added clipboard, test tube, and pill bottle flow items. Added a Max Speed property to Equipment objects. Updated Transport and Equipment objects to do low priority returns. Added the ability to install instanced People flows. Updated the LocationStaytimeHistory chart to handle people entering and exiting transports inside a location. Process Flow Added an AGV travel activity. Updated the Sink to notify parent tokens on a Run Sub Flow activity that the child token finished the subflow. Updated the Wait for Event and Event-triggered Source activities to be able to display more than one link at a time. Updated the sampler for Universal Edit fields to display process flow variables and current labels when sampling white space. Added a pop-out library for choosing the shape of Container objects. Added a pop-out library for choosing the type of travel activity. A* Updated the Heat Map to use a Color Pallete.
View full article
FlexSim 2020 Update 1 Beta is available. (Updated 24 March 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 [email protected] or create a new idea in the Development space. Release Notes Updated the Statistics Collector to be simpler and more user friendly. Added a PowerPoint FlexScript API. Added an HTTP FlexScript API. Added a sorting tab to various charts. Improved performance of chart templates. Replaced the code profiler with a new Performance Profiler. Added a Memory Profiler. Added OnEntry and OnExit events to TaskExecuter objects. Added an icon to library items that launch a pop-out library of choices. Reorganized the dashboard library using the pop-out library to consolidate charts with multiple visualizations. Updated the WebServer to use the Version Selector. Added a Find/Replace UI for global tables. Added support for Ctrl-F and Ctrl-H keyboard shortcuts for various windows. Added support for renaming objects using the F2 keyboard shortcut. Added a Vec3 overload to the Object.setRotation() method. Added a stop parameter to the userinput() command which will stop code execution until a value is entered. Added a default parameter to the realtime() command that returns realtime(1)+0.001*realtime(2). Updated various pickoptions to use the TaskSequence and TaskExecuter APIs. Added tutorials for the Statistics Collector. Fixed some issues with the importtable() command. AGV Added new Train functionality. Added offset travel functionality to the AGV network. Added a time-based trailing option. Added the routing drawing feature to a right click option. Updated Quick Properties' apply to all selected objects functionality to work with AGV objects. Made arrows bigger. Fixed several spinners in Quick Properties not applying immediately. Backwards Compatibility Note: the following changes may slightly change the way updated models behave. Changed behavior for when a TaskExecuter is connected to an AGV network, and is set to use the navigator for its offset travel. Previously, the navigator was hard-coded to find the closest control point. Now, you instead need to add an OnAGVOffsetTravel trigger to the navigator, wherein you can direct the AGV how to offset. People Added clipboard, test tube, and pill bottle flow items. Added a Max Speed property to Equipment objects. Updated Transport and Equipment objects to do low priority returns. Added the ability to install instanced People flows. Updated the LocationStaytimeHistory chart to handle people entering and exiting transports inside a location. Process Flow Added an AGV travel activity. Updated the Sink to notify parent tokens on a Run Sub Flow activity that the child token finished the subflow. Updated the Wait for Event and Event-triggered Source activities to be able to display more than one link at a time. Updated the sampler for Universal Edit fields to display process flow variables and current labels when sampling white space. Added a pop-out library for choosing the shape of Container objects. Added a pop-out library for choosing the type of travel activity. A* Updated the Heat Map to use a Color Pallete.
View full article
UPDATE (January 22, 2021): FloWorks 20.0.5 is now available. Except for critical bug fixes, this is likely to be the final bug fix release for FloWorks 2020. Please consider upgrading to FlexSim & FloWorks 2021. UPDATE (December 23, 2020): FloWorks 20.0.4 is now available. UPDATE (June 15, 2020): FloWorks 20.1.2 is now available. UPDATE (February 4, 2020): FloWorks 20.0.1 is now available. FloWorks 20.0.0 is now available (16 December 2019). This version of FloWorks is intended for use with FlexSim 2020. If you are using FloWorks with FlexSim 2019 LTS, please use FloWorks version 19.0.8. If you are using FlexSim 2019 Update 2, please use FloWorks version 19.2.2. All versions can be found in the Downloads section of your FlexSim account on the 3rd party modules tab. Please do not hesitate to report any bugs, usability improvements and feature requests to [email protected]. About FloWorks FloWorks is a 3rd party module developed and maintained by Talumis BV ( talumis.com). It provides faster and more accurate modelling and calculation of fluid systems than the default FlexSim fluid library. It is especially useful within the oil, gas, and bulk industry both for production and supply chain optimization. This module requires a FloWorks license with active maintenance. For any questions, please email [email protected]. Release notes FloWorks 20.1.3 (20 August 2020) All bug fixes included in FloWorks 20.0.2 below. FloWorks 20.1.2 (15 June 2020) Bug fix: Fixed exception in release of Flow To Item. Bug fix: Removed internal output to console. Bug fix: Removed redundant license check in old solver. FloWorks 20.1.1 (23 April 2020) Bug fix: Update script for FloWorks Custom Action activities. Bug fix / improvement: Library grid updated. FloWorks 20.1.0 (17 April 2020) Release for FlexSim 2020 Update 1. FloWorks 20.0.5 Bug fix: All products shown as black in some cases where product color table was broken. Bug fix: Items would sometimes not exit from previously blocked Item To Flow. Bug fix: Network solver gave incorrect result in some models using output ratios. FloWorks 20.0.4 Bug fix: Flow conveyor sometimes lags because of unnecessarily many content blocks. Bug fix: Removed redundant license check in model limit panel. Backwards Compatibility Note: The following change may change the way updated models behave. Bug fix: Several issues in the network flow calculation resolved. Bug fix: Flow pipe passes name instead of product ID in first On Product Out Change after reset. FloWorks 20.0.3 (02 September 2020) Bug fix: Input / output triggers were sometimes scheduled at infinity. FloWorks 20.0.2 (20 August 2020) Bug fix: Set content activity uses FlowTank in code header. Added "Max. content" option to picklist. Bug fix: Process Flow activity did not correctly set relative output trigger amount. Bug fix: Flow item tank reset content at end of warmup. Bug fix: Adding Process Flow activity created module dependency. Bug fix: Documentation for flow processor updated. Bug fix: Update script for FloWorks Custom Action activities. Bug fix / improvement: Library grid updated. Bug fix: Fixed exception in release of Flow To Item. Bug fix: Removed internal output to console. Bug fix: Removed redundant license check in old solver. FloWorks 20.0.1 (04 February 2020) Bug fix: Fixed incorrect berth configurations. Bug fix: Removed popup during startup. Bug fix: MODE_RESTART_FALLING was sometimes incorrectly #define d the same as MODE_RESTART_RISING . Bug fix: Several bug fixes and improved stability for the new (beta) solver. Documentation: updated Tank trigger levels description. FloWorks 20.0.0 (13 December 2019) Feature: Added Process Flow activities for FloWorks. Feature: Added Process Flow templates for Basic Berth and Tank Pool. User request: Added option not to checkout FloWorks license. Bug fix: Removed inconsistent behavior after (de)activating license. Bug fix: Tank level trigger could cause event list to become unsorted. Bug fix: Max. Object Depth setting in FloWorks charts was ignored.
View full article
FlexSim 2020 is available. If you have bug reports or other feedback on the software, please email [email protected] or create a new idea in the Development space. Release Notes Changed models to automatically open the environment in which they were saved. Added boy and girl shapes to people visuals. Improved keyboard interactions within table views. Improved tabbing between fields in certain windows. Updated the 3D names and stats text rendering to support more fonts and Unicode. Improved the 3D view's lighting capabilities by adding Light objects that can be arranged in the model. Improved lighting in RTX Mode, including support for soft shadows and a denoiser. Adjusted the Rack Dimensions tab to be able to specify slot padding. Added an optional parameter to TaskSequence.create() for waiting until TaskSequence.finish(). Added an OnValuePulled event to the List. Added methods for creating a DateTime using a string or component parts. Added support for in-place addition and subtraction of DateTimes. Fixed bugs with DateTime methods when using certain years or ranges of time. Improved the convert() command's capabilities with converting dates and times. Improved the exporting of null bundle values to Excel. Added an excelcreateworkbook() command. Added statistics collectors and calculated tables to the Excel Export. Added an option for creating sheets using the Excel Export. Fixed rotation issues with pasting certain objects. Added a Vec3.projectRotation() method. Added a Vec2 FlexScript class. Changed the License Activation window to be responsive during licensing operations. Added an index type to statistics collector columns for improving performance. Added a categorical combo type to tracked variables. Updated the query builder to handle CASE statements. Simplified certain queries written by the query builder. Changed the tree structure to simplify creating custom webserver interfaces. Added a repeat type to animations for remaining in the last frame after running the animation. Added a Go To Row/Column option in quick properties for tables. Improved time plots to be able to show durations as well as calendar times. Added an optional wire mesh rack visualization. Added more picklist options to the storage object slot assignment strategy. Updated the animator so that keyframes are updated using a right-click menu option instead of automatically. Added an option to duplicate an animation keyframe into another animation. Changed the default network node speed limit to 0 (no speed limit). Reorganized the Use Transport pick list and added a No Transport Reference option. Fixed a bug with the rack's default pull requirement not reevaluating after becoming full. Fixed an issue with copy/pasting sub-locations. Fixed the dark patterns when zooming out in RTX Mode. Fixed a crash on certain hardware in RTX Mode when rendering too many transparent layers. Improved the Time Table Date Based GUI to draw past the last event and allow scrolling into the future. Added PushWheelchair and PushCart animations to Operators Backwards Compatibility Note: the following changes may slightly change the way updated models behave. Time tables now combine consecutive down periods if using the same state and profile or the same down behavior. Fixed issues with pick/place offsets on drive in racks to improve usability with A*. Because of performance improvements to query(), the row order is not guaranteed unless using an ORDER BY statement. Fixed excelrangewrite() so that the correct overload is available in FlexScript. Improved the FlexScript hypertext preprocessor scoping mechanism used by the webserver. Fixed object color being applied incorrectly to ambient material color on certain meshes. Changed point source light attenuation. Changed TASKTYPE_NODEFUNCTION to pass variants in as parameters instead of interpreted legacy doubles. This fixes the types of arguments that are passed when calling treenode.evaluate() as part of a TASKTYPE_NODEFUNCTION task. This allows you to add TASKTYPE_NODEFUNCTION tasks with parameters that are not just numbers, (nodes, strings, arrays, etc.) and have those parameters be preserved in a type-safe manner and properly passed into the subsequent treenode.evaluate() call. However, this change may have some consequences for older models. The following guidelines apply: If you use the inserttask() command, and cast a node to a number with tonum() to pass it in as a task variable, then you should use parnode() to get those parameters out in the nodefunction. While this method will continue to work, this mechanism is nevertheless deprecated. The now-correct method for adding a TASKTYPE_NODEFUNCTION task to a task sequence is to use TaskSequence.addTask(). This method takes full Variants as its task variable parameters, so you do not need to use tonum(). When using this, you should use param() to get the parameters back out. Older models that use neither of these methods may need to be updated to use method 2 in order to work properly in this version. Process Flow Changed the default behavior of the Create Task Sequence activity to work easier with task sequences created outside of Process Flow. Added a Finish Task Sequence activity that works with the new Create Task Sequence features. Changed the default value of Task activities from token.resource to token.taskSequence. Improved the interface for connecting activities. Added a mechanism for connecting to and from containers and routing tokens between activities using those connections. Added an option to the Run Sub Flow activity to run tokens one at a time. Adjusted the size of containers and connections based on the zoom level when created. Removed the width attributes of themes. Improved the UI for entering times in the Date Time Source activity. Change Set Color By Case and Set Object Color pick options to enable setting the color of a token. Fixed the display of task parameters in the event log. People Improved people resource shared assets to be able to reference other people resources. Added Sort By and Filter By fields to people resources. Simplified and improved several activity sets. Improved the list of labels in drop-down menus to include People Settings labels. Added a Kiosk to the list of locations. Added an Observation Room multilocation. Added an option to the Toolbox to add all people tables to the Excel Export. Added more people tables and charts. Improved the performance of many existing people tables and charts. Updated preempted resources to be able to be reacquired with a higher priority. Updated Escort Patient and Tranpsort Patient activities to set the staff's TravelingWithPatient label when escorting or transporting a patient. Improved the query builder interface with support for adding group/individual subsets. Changed people acquire activities to have the default max wait timer trigger release the token out connector 2. Changed the Split activity default to creating child tokens in the Healthcare environment. Changed the repeat type of the LayDown and SitDown/SitDown2 animations to repeat the last frame. Backwards Compatibility Note: the following changes may slightly change the way updated models behave. Changed how labels are handled by People Settings. Improved animations and positioning of transports and equipment when staff move them. Emulation Added support for OPC UA connections.
View full article
FlexSim 2020 Beta is available. (Updated 26 November 2019.) 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 [email protected] or create a new idea in the Development space. Release Notes Changed models to automatically open the environment in which they were saved. Added boy and girl shapes to people visuals. Improved keyboard interactions within table views. Improved tabbing between fields in certain windows. Updated the 3D names and stats text rendering to support more fonts and Unicode. Improved the 3D view's lighting capabilities by adding Light objects that can be arranged in the model. Improved lighting in RTX Mode, including support for soft shadows and a denoiser. Adjusted the Rack Dimensions tab to be able to specify slot padding. Added an optional parameter to TaskSequence.create() for waiting until TaskSequence.finish(). Added an OnValuePulled event to the List. Added methods for creating a DateTime using a string or component parts. Added support for in-place addition and subtraction of DateTimes. Fixed bugs with DateTime methods when using certain years or ranges of time. Improved the convert() command's capabilities with converting dates and times. Improved the exporting of null bundle values to Excel. Added an excelcreateworkbook() command. Added statistics collectors and calculated tables to the Excel Export. Added an option for creating sheets using the Excel Export. Fixed rotation issues with pasting certain objects. Added a Vec3.projectRotation() method. Added a Vec2 FlexScript class. Changed the License Activation window to be responsive during licensing operations. Added an index type to statistics collector columns for improving performance. Added a categorical combo type to tracked variables. Updated the query builder to handle CASE statements. Simplified certain queries written by the query builder. Changed the tree structure to simplify creating custom webserver interfaces. Added a repeat type to animations for remaining in the last frame after running the animation. Added a Go To Row/Column option in quick properties for tables. Improved time plots to be able to show durations as well as calendar times. Added an optional wire mesh rack visualization. Added more picklist options to the storage object slot assignment strategy. Updated the animator so that keyframes are updated using a right-click menu option instead of automatically. Added an option to duplicate an animation keyframe into another animation. Changed the default network node speed limit to 0 (no speed limit). Reorganized the Use Transport pick list and added a No Transport Reference option. Fixed a bug with the rack's default pull requirement not reevaluating after becoming full. Fixed an issue with copy/pasting sub-locations. Fixed the dark patterns when zooming out in RTX Mode. Fixed a crash on certain hardware in RTX Mode when rendering too many transparent layers. Improved the Time Table Date Based GUI to draw past the last event and allow scrolling into the future. Added PushWheelchair and PushCart animations to Operators Backwards Compatibility Note: the following changes may slightly change the way updated models behave. Time tables now combine consecutive down periods if using the same state and profile or the same down behavior. Fixed issues with pick/place offsets on drive in racks to improve usability with A*. Because of performance improvements to query(), the row order is not guaranteed unless using an ORDER BY statement. Fixed excelrangewrite() so that the correct overload is available in FlexScript. Improved the FlexScript hypertext preprocessor scoping mechanism used by the webserver. Fixed object color being applied incorrectly to ambient material color on certain meshes. Changed point source light attenuation. Changed TASKTYPE_NODEFUNCTION to pass variants in as parameters instead of interpreted legacy doubles. This fixes the types of arguments that are passed when calling treenode.evaluate() as part of a TASKTYPE_NODEFUNCTION task. This allows you to add TASKTYPE_NODEFUNCTION tasks with parameters that are not just numbers, (nodes, strings, arrays, etc.) and have those parameters be preserved in a type-safe manner and properly passed into the subsequent treenode.evaluate() call. However, this change may have some consequences for older models. The following guidelines apply: If you use the inserttask() command, and cast a node to a number with tonum() to pass it in as a task variable, then you should use parnode() to get those parameters out in the nodefunction. While this method will continue to work, this mechanism is nevertheless deprecated. The now-correct method for adding a TASKTYPE_NODEFUNCTION task to a task sequence is to use TaskSequence.addTask(). This method takes full Variants as its task variable parameters, so you do not need to use tonum(). When using this, you should use param() to get the parameters back out. Older models that use neither of these methods may need to be updated to use method 2 in order to work properly in this version. Process Flow Changed the default behavior of the Create Task Sequence activity to work easier with task sequences created outside of Process Flow. Added a Finish Task Sequence activity that works with the new Create Task Sequence features. Changed the default value of Task activities from token.resource to token.taskSequence. Improved the interface for connecting activities. Added a mechanism for connecting to and from containers and routing tokens between activities using those connections. Added an option to the Run Sub Flow activity to run tokens one at a time. Adjusted the size of containers and connections based on the zoom level when created. Removed the width attributes of themes. Improved the UI for entering times in the Date Time Source activity. Change Set Color By Case and Set Object Color pick options to enable setting the color of a token. Fixed the display of task parameters in the event log. People Improved people resource shared assets to be able to reference other people resources. Added Sort By and Filter By fields to people resources. Simplified and improved several activity sets. Improved the list of labels in drop-down menus to include People Settings labels. Added a Kiosk to the list of locations. Added an Observation Room multilocation. Added an option to the Toolbox to add all people tables to the Excel Export. Added more people tables and charts. Improved the performance of many existing people tables and charts. Updated preempted resources to be able to be reacquired with a higher priority. Updated Escort Patient and Tranpsort Patient activities to set the staff's TravelingWithPatient label when escorting or transporting a patient. Improved the query builder interface with support for adding group/individual subsets. Changed people acquire activities to have the default max wait timer trigger release the token out connector 2. Changed the Split activity default to creating child tokens in the Healthcare environment. Changed the repeat type of the LayDown and SitDown/SitDown2 animations to repeat the last frame. Backwards Compatibility Note: the following changes may slightly change the way updated models behave. Changed how labels are handled by People Settings. Improved animations and positioning of transports and equipment when staff move them. Emulation Added support for OPC UA connections.
View full article
16 Dec: Bug fix releases 19.0.8 and 19.2.2 are now available, together with the new FloWorks 2020 release. 18 Oct: Bug fix releases 19.0.7, 19.1.5 and 19.2.1 are now available. 09 Oct: Bug fix releases 19.0.6 and 19.1.4 are now available. The new release FloWorks 19.2.0 is now available for use with FlexSim 2019 Update 2. A bug fix release FloWorks 19.0.5 is available for use with FlexSim 2019 LTS. A bug fix release FloWorks 19.1.3 is available for use with FlexSim 2019 Update 1. FloWorks 2019 introduced some major changes in the way FloWorks works internally. These changes include the following: Flow rates and content are now tracked in the standard statistics variables, requiring us to override fewer FlexSim features. This means, for example, that you can use all of FlexSim's included Statistics Collectors and Chart Templates out-of-the-box. FloWorks now tries to schedule fewer events. This means that models will run faster and debugging your model by stepping through has become much more transparent. This release includes the beta version of the next-generation solver. This solver is particularly suited for networks with many connections, most of which are closed or blocked, or long 'chains' of objects with a single connection in and out. By simplifying the flow network before calculating the flow rates, the solver should become much faster overall. Since this solver is likely to give (valid but) different outcomes, it is not enabled by default - you can test it by enabling the "Optimize networks before solving" option in your Flow Control. The Flow Tank level triggers functionality has been overhauled. For more information, please see the detailed release notes below. All versions of FloWorks can be found in the Downloads section of your FlexSim account on the 3rd party modules tab. Please do not hesitate to report any bugs, usability improvements and feature requests to [email protected]. Thanks to the active users who have done this in the past weeks, we appreciate your ongoing support in helping us to improve FloWorks! About FloWorks FloWorks is a 3rd party module developed and maintained by Talumis BV (talumis.com). It provides faster and more accurate modelling and calculation of fluid systems than the default FlexSim fluid library. It is especially useful within the oil, gas, and bulk industry both for production and supply chain optimization. This module requires a FloWorks license with active maintenance. For any questions, please email [email protected]. Release notes Changes in FloWorks 19.2.2 (16 December 2019): Bug fix: FlexSim 19.2.4 removed node that was overridden in FloWorks All changes included in version 19.0.8. Changes in FloWorks 19.2.1 (18 October 2019): Bug fix: allow objects to be created when no runtime license present. All changes included in version 19.0.7. Changes in FloWorks 19.2.0 (26 September 2019): Flow pump / valve input and output can be set to balanced rate by % simultaneously. Flow To Item can now buffer additional material before blocking. New segmented flow pipe object. Created new runtime license type. All changes included in version 19.0.5. Changes in FloWorks 19.1.5 (18 October 2019): All changes included in version 19.0.7. Changes in FloWorks 19.0.8 (16 December 2019): Bug fix: Tank level trigger could cause event list to become unsorted. Bug fix: Max. Object Depth setting in FloWorks charts was ignored. Changes in FloWorks 19.0.7 (18 October 2019): Request: Added Waiting for Transport state to Loading Point. Bug fix: Flow Content Histogram was broken. Bug fix: Fixed rounding errors when inflow very close to outflow. Bug fix: Fixed rounding error in tank top/bottom duration calculation. Bug fix: Avoid duplicate event when recalculation requested before Flow Control resets. Backwards Compatibility Note: The following changes may change the way updated models behave. On Full event only available on tank-type objects, no longer on e.g. flow conveyors. Flow Conveyor no longer closes all ports on stop, but only input and output. Flow Conveyor speed is now affected by impact factor set through stop and impact . Flow tank passes set level instead of actual level into trigger code (rounding difference may cause Wait for Event to not match). Input and output trigger also fire in pre-recalculation when amount is reached. Changes in older FloWorks 19.x.x releases Changes in FloWorks 19.1.4 (09 October 2019): Bug fix: Restored objects missing from library and icon grid. Changes in FloWorks 19.1.3 (26 September 2019): All changes included in version 19.0.5. Changes in FloWorks 19.1.2 (19 July 2019): Bug fix: dragging in a shape from a group will no longer create the first shape in the group. All changes included in version 19.0.4. Changes in FloWorks 19.1.0 (30 April 2019): This version is for FlexSim 2019 Update 1. For FlexSim version 19.0.x use FloWorks 19.0.3. Added support for unconstrained flows. All changes included in version 19.0.3 described below. Backwards compatibility note: The following change may change the way updated models behave. Option "Unchanged" removed from "Set flow rate" triggers -- this is now considered as "Unconstrained". Use the "Set maximum input/output rate" option instead of "Set maximum rates" if you only want to change either the input or the output rate. Changes in FloWorks 19.0.6 (09 October 2019): Bug fix: Restored objects missing from library and icon grid. Changes in FloWorks 19.0.5 (26 September 2019): Bug fix: Removed old-style statistics from library, causing several issues like utilization resetting at model end time. Bug fix: FloWorks flow bin items no longer show up in Create Person Process Flow activity (class type changed from Operator to Flow Task Executer). Bug fix: Flow conveyor resume did not correctly close ports. Bug fix: Flow conveyor could get negative content due to rounding error. Bug fix: Flow conveyor stop, impact, resume did not stop content on conveyor when inflow and outflow were zero. Bug fix: Fixed issue when stopping or starting conveyor during Product Change event. Changes in FloWorks 19.0.4 (19 July 2019): Various bug fixes to the Mass Flow Conveyor. Bug fix: Utiliation returns (flow rate)/(max flow rate) at time zero. Bug fix: Solved exception when dragging different object shape into the model. Backwards Compatibility Note: The following change may change the way updated models behave. Bug fix: 'Time until event is 0' exception due to rounding errors fixed. Bug fix: Mixer On Empty event will only fire once (when mixer is actually internally idle). Changes in FloWorks 19.0.3 (30 April 2019): This version is for FlexSim 2019 LTS. For FlexSim 2019 Update 1 use FloWorks 19.1.0. Loading arm state will show Blocked and Starved instead of Idle while transporter is connected. "Pass product downstream" option added to product change trigger of flow processors. Bug fix: Transporters were sometimes positioned incorrectly when entering Loading Point. Bug fix: Flow object states were not updated. Bug fix: Fixed error when calling state() with no arguments. Bug fix: On Entry and On Exit in trigger list of Flow To Item and Item To Flow fixed. Bug fix: "Pass product downstream trigger" threw exception when connected to Flow To Item. Changes in FloWorks 19.0.2 (3 April 2019): For FlexSim 2019 Update 1 beta use FloWorks 19.1.0 (beta). Feature: Flow tank can scale in both directions (elliptical) instead of only using x-size for diameter. Bug fix: Various bug fixes to beta version of new optimizer/solver. Bug fix: Removed "content is larger than max. content" message during reset. Bug fix: Fixed exception in "Pass product downstream" when pipe is not connected to anything. Bug fix: Corrected normals on flow blender and flow splitter shapes. Bug fix: FlowObject.input /output.ports[index] now accepts Variant (e.g. token.Port ) as index and does bounds checking on index . Bug fix: Spheres no longer drawn outside flow pipes shorter than 2 m. Bug fix: Quick Properties only shows a single flow rate for flow pipes; output rate set to input rate on reset. Changes in FloWorks 19.0.1 (8 March 2019): Beta: Flow control can optimize network before solving. (Optimization is disabled by default, can be enabled for models with many (effective) single connections.) Content-holding objects now have On Trigger Level event that allows e.g. Process Flow to wait for a specific level trigger. Optimized event scheduling: obsolete events are removed from the event list instead of ignored. FlowToItem and ItemToFlow added to script so that rates and impact factors can be read and set. Added more shapes for Flow Tank and Mixer. Added "Change product by case" to trigger options. Bug fix: Flow conveyors now have state profile consistent with that of Flow Tank. Bug fix: Product color picker samples colors instead of objects again. Bug fix: Fixed incorrect layers being drawn during filling of Flow Mixer when multiple steps require input from the same port. Bug fix: Fixed incorrect states on Loading Point due to duplicate state_current node. Bug fix: Product field or dropdown will now preserve selected value instead of resetting to current product when switching property tab pages. Bug fix: Flow Task Executer connects itself to default network navigator on creation. Bug fix: Flow statistics now behave correctly under model warmup. User manual: Corrected description of FlowObject.stop() in documentation. User manual: Documented manual loading feature when Loading Points have 0 loading time. Backwards Compatibility Note: The following change may change the way updated models behave. Statistics are now kept in standard FlexSim tracked variables under the stats node. If you use dashboards, you may need to rebuild some charts. You can mostly use the standard FlexSim chart templates, listening to the On Rate Change event or the On Content Change Update (not Change). Tank trigger levels rewritten: Trigger levels are now specified using absolute level instead of percentage. Legacy limitations (max. 20 levels, no duplicate levels, 0% or 100%) have been removed. Separate trigger condition has been added to avoid coding ( if(mode == falling) { ... } ). Modes rising and falling are now called MODE_RISING and MODE_FALLING . Bug fix: Sometimes input and output triggers would not fire if trigger was reached precisely when flow was recalculated. (Mass) flow conveyor now closes input/output when stopped, instead of input/output ports. Loading point continues with next transporter after releasing completed item instead of waiting for it to exit. Bug fix: (Mass) flow conveyor only closed input when stopping; now closes both output and input.
View full article
FlexSim 2019 Update 2 is available. If you have bug reports or other feedback on the software, please email [email protected] or create a new idea in the Development space. Release Notes Added a Storage System object to improve warehouse modeling. Improved the Rack object. Added more types of racks to the library. Updated the Sketchup SDK to load newer skp file versions. Added a ray tracing render mode. Added a Color Palette tool. Improved the color picker popup. Updated dashboard charts to use color palettes. Added options for showing column names to charts. Added options for showing multiple Y-axes on timeplots and histograms. Updated box plot options for categorizing and coloring data points. Added an option for reordering axis categories on timeplots, histograms, and box plots. Added additional line styles and visualization options to timeplots. Added Table methods for using indexed columns. Added a resetvalues attribute. Added Object getVariable() and setVariable() methods. Updated the SQL IS keyword to work with expressions. Improved performance of SQL queries on tables with indexed columns. Added an array parameter to Math.max() and Math.min(). Added a binary bundle field type. Added a button to Model Settings to export embedded media. Changed the default Person flowitem into separate Man and Woman flowitems. Added options for using the object's color to Person Visuals. Added a changepersonvisuals() command and pick options. Updated the Model Background properties window. Added a right-click option to show/hide model backgrounds from the Toolbox. Added pick options for using lists to the Pick Operator field on the processor. Updated various pick options to use generic label references. Added options to the List for special handling of SELECT values. Added Text options to Quick Properties. Added mean and standard deviation to the statistical distribution popup. Added icons to various pick option menus. Improved the Copy Variable function of Edit Selected Objects. Added the location coordinate system button to the General tab of object properties. Removed the Build menu; its options can still be added to the user toolbar. Changed the run speed slider to behave as a ratio of real time instead of model units per second. Changed the color of the selection box in the 3D view to be more visible. Fixed a bug with deleting array data from a node. Fixed an exception with cloning a table without rows. Fixed a bug with applying experimenter triggers. Backwards Compatibility Note: the following changes may slightly change the way updated models behave. Improved the rendering performance of some imported shapes by optimizing their meshes by material. Some mesh customizations may apply differently for some shapes. Charts now ignore null values instead of trying to categorize or plot them. Changed the FlexScript + operator to concatenate numbers with strings. Fixed some FlexScript math operations with numbers and null variants. Fixed an issue with FlexScript downcasting not always type checking properly in certain expressions. For example, "Object obj = param(1);" will now correctly throw an exception if param(1) is a treenode without Object data. Updated the Rack's place offset to be the actual location that the item will be placed. Fixed a bug with labels added during events at time 0 not being deleted on reset. Fixed a bug in Color.random(). Process Flow Changed the scroll wheel to zoom instead of panning the view up and down. Removed the extra outline around stacked blocks. Changed the default option for Release Batch on max wait timer and max idle timer to have Failed unchecked. Organized the ProcessFlow list on the toolbar based on the Toolbox folder structure. Changed Event-Triggered Source and Wait for Event panels to be collapsible. Added an edit field for the number of arrivals on the Scheduled Source. Added a getlastacquiredresource() command. Changed the color of the selection box to match the 3D view's. Backwards Compatibility Note: the following changes may slightly change the way updated models behave. Updated Move Object's Preserve Global Position checkbox to preserve location and rotation. People Added an experiment variable for changing the number of objects in a People group. Added a visual indicator to show when objects are acquired by the shift schedule. Added A* dividers to waiting lines and other objects. Added a custom window for People Down Behaviors. Added a Keep Person on Transport checkbox to the Transport Person activity. Changed the default Arrivals activities to randomize the created person's visuals. Added state history tables. Adjusted the Staff's walk back to reset position so that it is preempted if acquired by something else. Updated activity subflows so travelers synchronize their speeds when traveling together. Moved copying token labels to the created person to after the people settings labels are added so values aren't overwritten. Fixed a bug with getting the value of certain types of labels defined in People Settings. Walls are now created at the current Grid Z height. Conveyor Improved naming of various objects. Fixed a bug with the height of decision points when created with certain model units. Added a chain texture to conveyor belt visual options. AGV Updated curved path quick properties to be able to specify start and end points. Improved naming of control points and areas. A* Added the A* Navigator to the Toolbox. Updated the A* Navigator Properties window.
View full article
FlexSim 2019 Update 2 Beta is available. (Updated 28 August 2019.) 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 [email protected] or create a new idea in the Development space. Release Notes Added a Storage System object to improve warehouse modeling. Improved the Rack object. Added more types of racks to the library. Updated the Sketchup SDK to load newer skp file versions. Added a ray tracing render mode. Added a Color Palette tool. Improved the color picker popup. Updated dashboard charts to use color palettes. Added options for showing column names to charts. Added options for showing multiple Y-axes on timeplots and histograms. Updated box plot options for categorizing and coloring data points. Added an option for reordering axis categories on timeplots, histograms, and box plots. Added additional line styles and visualization options to timeplots. Added Table methods for using indexed columns. Added a resetvalues attribute. Added Object getVariable() and setVariable() methods. Updated the SQL IS keyword to work with expressions. Improved performance of SQL queries on tables with indexed columns. Added an array parameter to Math.max() and Math.min(). Added a binary bundle field type. Added a button to Model Settings to export embedded media. Changed the default Person flowitem into separate Man and Woman flowitems. Added options for using the object's color to Person Visuals. Added a changepersonvisuals() command and pick options. Updated the Model Background properties window. Added a right-click option to show/hide model backgrounds from the Toolbox. Added pick options for using lists to the Pick Operator field on the processor. Updated various pick options to use generic label references. Added options to the List for special handling of SELECT values. Added Text options to Quick Properties. Added mean and standard deviation to the statistical distribution popup. Added icons to various pick option menus. Improved the Copy Variable function of Edit Selected Objects. Added the location coordinate system button to the General tab of object properties. Removed the Build menu; its options can still be added to the user toolbar. Changed the run speed slider to behave as a ratio of real time instead of model units per second. Fixed a bug with deleting array data from a node. Fixed an exception with cloning a table without rows. Fixed a bug with applying experimenter triggers. Backwards Compatibility Note: the following changes may slightly change the way updated models behave. Improved the rendering performance of some imported shapes by optimizing their meshes by material. Some mesh customizations may apply differently for some shapes. Charts now ignore null values instead of trying to categorize or plot them. Changed the FlexScript + operator to concatenate numbers with strings. Fixed some FlexScript math operations with numbers and null variants. Fixed an issue with FlexScript downcasting not always type checking properly in certain expressions. For example, "Object obj = param(1);" will now correctly throw an exception if param(1) is a treenode without Object data. Updated the Rack's place offset to be the actual location that the item will be placed. Fixed a bug with labels added during events at time 0 not being deleted on reset. Fixed a bug in Color.random(). Process Flow Changed the scroll wheel to zoom instead of panning the view up and down. Removed the extra outline around stacked blocks. Changed the default option for Release Batch on max wait timer and max idle timer to have Failed unchecked. Organized the ProcessFlow list on the toolbar based on the Toolbox folder structure. Changed Event-Triggered Source and Wait for Event panels to be collapsible. Added an edit field for the number of arrivals on the Scheduled Source. Added a getlastacquiredresource() command. Backwards Compatibility Note: the following changes may slightly change the way updated models behave. Updated Move Object's Preserve Global Position checkbox to preserve location and rotation. People Added an experiment variable for changing the number of objects in a People group. Added a visual indicator to show when objects are acquired by the shift schedule. Added A* dividers to waiting lines and other objects. Adjusted the Staff's walk back to reset position so that it is preempted if acquired by something else. Added a custom window for People Down Behaviors. Added a Keep Person on Transport checkbox to the Transport Person activity. Changed the default Arrivals activities to randomize the created person's visuals. Updated activity subflows so travelers synchronize their speeds when traveling together. Moved copying token labels to the created person to after the people settings labels are added so values aren't overwritten. Added state history tables. Conveyor Improved naming of various objects. Fixed a bug with the height of decision points when created with certain model units. Added a chain texture to conveyor belt visual options. AGV Updated curved path quick properties to be able to specify start and end points. Improved naming of control points and areas. A* Added the A* Navigator to the Toolbox. Updated the A* Navigator Properties window.
View full article
FlexSim 19.0.4 and 19.1.1 are now available for download. IMPORTANT NOTE 1: The 19.0.3 installer has a bug that causes the current installer to hang during the Cleaning Up stage when upgrading from 19.0.3 to a newer version. We have resolved the issue for future installers, but to avoid the error now, uninstall 19.0.3 using Add/Remove Programs before installing the new version. Alternatively, you can press the X in the upper-right corner of the empty window, click Yes to canceling the installation (this won't do anything), and the Cleaning Up... window will successfully finish installing the upgrade. IMPORTANT NOTE 2: 19.0.4 and 19.1.1 include a bug fix to the JT importer. The JT importer now correctly accounts for the measurement units of the shape that are defined in the file. JT shapes in existing models may appear scaled incorrectly when you open them. You can resolve their scaling issue by executing the script below: forobjecttreeunder(model()) { treenode focus = a; string path = gets(shape(focus)); if(stringlen(path) > 3) { string extension = stringcopy(path, stringlen(path)-1, 2); if(comparetext(extension, "jt", 1)) { double x = xsize(focus); double y = ysize(focus); double z = zsize(focus); applyshapefactors(focus); setsize(focus, x, y, z); } } } Below is an example of the issue. Note that the shape is much smaller than its yellow box. Running the script above fixes the shape's scale factors so that it correctly fits in the yellow box again.
View full article
FlexSim 2019 Update 1 is available. If you have bug reports or other feedback on the software, please email [email protected] or create a new idea in the Development space. Release Notes Added a new graphical interface to the Calculated Table for building queries. Updated the UI for editing rack dimensions. Added more options for customizing people visuals. Moved operator shape options from the Operator tab to Quick Properties. Improved edit modes by using right-click to cancel the current action instead of immediately exiting the mode. Added global preferences for process flow and dashboard library options. Added the FlexScript API reference to the user manual and made it accessible outside of FlexSim. Added toolbar support for adding multiple model background drawings. Adjusted how the floor Z and grid Z settings work to improve multi-floor modeling. Updated the table view to show more helpful information for certain data types. Added support for pointer data in bundles. Added a pointer type to tracked variables. Added support for the NULLIF SQL keyword. Added support for linking combo boxes to nodes with pointer data. Improved the gantt chart. Updated how tree files are saved to improve saving certain datatypes. Updated pulling from lists to throw an exception when passing a bad query. Fixed a bug with the normal map lighting calculation. Fixed an issue with the picking focus when using drawsurrogate within a drawsurrogate object. Fixed exceptions on an array table that doesn't have column header information. Fixed an issue related to moving items that had not been released. Backwards Compatibility Note: the following changes may slightly change the way updated models behave. Updated the internal structure of the Rack object's variables. Removed the rackgetcontenttable() command. Removed support for running the simulation from a loaded state file. Process Flow Added an option to the container to center its title when the contents are hidden. Added a limit to the number of activity panels displayed in quick properties. Added a Milestone activity. People Added a Healthcare environment option. Added an Elevator Bank object. Added a Prop object and more options for object visuals. Added tables that automatically collect statistics for people models. Added people chart templates. Added a People Settings object to the toolbox for people models. Improved the names of people created with the Create Person activity. AGV Updated the distancetotravel() calculation to work with moving AGVs. A* Added support for multiple grids. Adjusted how conditions are defined to improve performance.
View full article
FlexSim 2019 Update 1 Beta is available. (Updated 11 April 2019) IMPORTANT NOTE: The 15-Mar beta installer has a bug that causes the current installer to hang during the Cleaning Up stage when upgrading from the 15-Mar beta to a newer beta version. We have resolved the issue for future installers, but to avoid the error now, uninstall the 15-Mar beta using Add/Remove Programs before installing the new version. 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 [email protected] or create a new idea in the Development space. Release Notes Added a new graphical interface to the Calculated Table for building queries. Updated the UI for editing rack dimensions. Added more options for customizing people visuals. Moved operator shape options from the Operator tab to Quick Properties. Improved edit modes by using right-click to cancel the current action instead of immediately exiting the mode. Added global preferences for process flow and dashboard library options. Added the FlexScript API reference to the user manual and made it accessible outside of FlexSim. Added toolbar support for adding multiple model background drawings. Adjusted how the floor Z and grid Z settings work to improve multi-floor modeling. Updated the table view to show more helpful information for certain data types. Added support for pointer data in bundles. Added a pointer type to tracked variables. Added support for the NULLIF SQL keyword. Added support for linking combo boxes to nodes with pointer data. Improved the gantt chart. Updated how tree files are saved to improve saving certain datatypes. Updated pulling from lists to throw an exception when passing a bad query. Fixed a bug with the normal map lighting calculation. Fixed an issue with the picking focus when using drawsurrogate within a drawsurrogate object. Fixed exceptions on an array table that doesn't have column header information. Fixed an issue related to moving items that had not been released. Backwards Compatibility Note: the following changes may slightly change the way updated models behave. Updated the internal structure of the Rack object's variables. Removed the rackgetcontenttable() command. Removed support for running the simulation from a loaded state file. Process Flow Added an option to the container to center its title when the contents are hidden. Added a limit to the number of activity panels displayed in quick properties. Added a Milestone activity. People Added a Healthcare environment option. Added an Elevator Bank object. Added a Prop object and more options for object visuals. Added tables that automatically collect statistics for people models. Added people chart templates. Added a People Settings object to the toolbox for people models. Improved the names of people created with the Create Person activity. AGV Updated the distancetotravel() calculation to work with moving AGVs. A* Added support for multiple grids. Adjusted how conditions are defined to improve performance.
View full article
The latest release of FloWorks 19.0.4 is now available (19 July 2019). This version of FloWorks is intended for use with FlexSim 2019 LTS. FloWorks 19.1.2 is available (19 July 2019) for use with FlexSim 2019 Update 1. FloWorks 2019 introduced some major changes in the way FloWorks works internally. These changes include the following: Flow rates and content are now tracked in the standard statistics variables, requiring us to override fewer FlexSim features. This means, for example, that you can use all of FlexSim's included Statistics Collectors and Chart Templates out-of-the-box. FloWorks now tries to schedule fewer events. This means that models will run faster and debugging your model by stepping through has become much more transparent. This release includes the beta version of the next-generation solver. This solver is particularly suited for networks with many connections, most of which are closed or blocked, or long 'chains' of objects with a single connection in and out. By simplifying the flow network before calculating the flow rates, the solver should become much faster overall. Since this solver is likely to give (valid but) different outcomes, it is not enabled by default - you can test it by enabling the "Optimize networks before solving" option in your Flow Control. The Flow Tank level triggers functionality has been overhauled. For more information, please see the detailed release notes below. All versions of FloWorks can be found in the Downloads section of your FlexSim account on the 3rd party modules tab. Please do not hesitate to report any bugs, usability improvements and feature requests to [email protected]. Thanks to the active users who have done this in the past weeks, we appreciate your ongoing support in helping us to improve FloWorks! About FloWorks FloWorks is a 3rd party module developed and maintained by Talumis BV (talumis.com). It provides faster and more accurate modelling and calculation of fluid systems than the default FlexSim fluid library. It is especially useful within the oil, gas, and bulk industry both for production and supply chain optimization. This module requires a FloWorks license with active maintenance. For any questions, please email [email protected]. Release notes Changes in FloWorks 19.1.2 (19 July 2019): Bug fix: dragging in a shape from a group will no longer create the first shape in the group. All changes included in version 19.0.4. Changes in FloWorks 19.1.0 (30 April 2019): This version is for FlexSim 2019 Update 1. For FlexSim version 19.0.x use FloWorks 19.0.3. Added support for unconstrained flows. All changes included in version 19.0.3 described below. Backwards compatibility note: The following change may change the way updated models behave. Option "Unchanged" removed from "Set flow rate" triggers -- this is now considered as "Unconstrained". Use the "Set maximum input/output rate" option instead of "Set maximum rates" if you only want to change either the input or the output rate. Changes in FloWorks 19.0.4 (19 July 2019): Various bug fixes to the Mass Flow Conveyor. Bug fix: Utiliation returns (flow rate)/(max flow rate) at time zero. Bug fix: Solved exception when dragging different object shape into the model. Backwards Compatibility Note: The following change may change the way updated models behave. Bug fix: 'Time until event is 0' exception due to rounding errors fixed. Bug fix: Mixer On Empty event will only fire once (when mixer is actually internally idle). Changes in FloWorks 19.0.3 (30 April 2019): This version is for FlexSim 2019 LTS. For FlexSim 2019 Update 1 use FloWorks 19.1.0. Loading arm state will show Blocked and Starved instead of Idle while transporter is connected. "Pass product downstream" option added to product change trigger of flow processors. Bug fix: Transporters were sometimes positioned incorrectly when entering Loading Point. Bug fix: Flow object states were not updated. Bug fix: Fixed error when calling state() with no arguments. Bug fix: On Entry and On Exit in trigger list of Flow To Item and Item To Flow fixed. Bug fix: "Pass product downstream trigger" threw exception when connected to Flow To Item. Changes in FloWorks 19.0.2 (3 April 2019): For FlexSim 2019 Update 1 beta use FloWorks 19.1.0 (beta). Feature: Flow tank can scale in both directions (elliptical) instead of only using x-size for diameter. Bug fix: Various bug fixes to beta version of new optimizer/solver. Bug fix: Removed "content is larger than max. content" message during reset. Bug fix: Fixed exception in "Pass product downstream" when pipe is not connected to anything. Bug fix: Corrected normals on flow blender and flow splitter shapes. Bug fix: FlowObject.input /output.ports[index] now accepts Variant (e.g. token.Port ) as index and does bounds checking on index . Bug fix: Spheres no longer drawn outside flow pipes shorter than 2 m. Bug fix: Quick Properties only shows a single flow rate for flow pipes; output rate set to input rate on reset. Changes in FloWorks 19.0.1 (8 March 2019): Beta: Flow control can optimize network before solving. (Optimization is disabled by default, can be enabled for models with many (effective) single connections.) Content-holding objects now have On Trigger Level event that allows e.g. Process Flow to wait for a specific level trigger. Optimized event scheduling: obsolete events are removed from the event list instead of ignored. FlowToItem and ItemToFlow added to script so that rates and impact factors can be read and set. Added more shapes for Flow Tank and Mixer. Added "Change product by case" to trigger options. Bug fix: Flow conveyors now have state profile consistent with that of Flow Tank. Bug fix: Product color picker samples colors instead of objects again. Bug fix: Fixed incorrect layers being drawn during filling of Flow Mixer when multiple steps require input from the same port. Bug fix: Fixed incorrect states on Loading Point due to duplicate state_current node. Bug fix: Product field or dropdown will now preserve selected value instead of resetting to current product when switching property tab pages. Bug fix: Flow Task Executer connects itself to default network navigator on creation. Bug fix: Flow statistics now behave correctly under model warmup. User manual: Corrected description of FlowObject.stop() in documentation. User manual: Documented manual loading feature when Loading Points have 0 loading time. Backwards Compatibility Note: The following change may change the way updated models behave. Statistics are now kept in standard FlexSim tracked variables under the stats node. If you use dashboards, you may need to rebuild some charts. You can mostly use the standard FlexSim chart templates, listening to the On Rate Change event or the On Content Change Update (not Change). Tank trigger levels rewritten: Trigger levels are now specified using absolute level instead of percentage. Legacy limitations (max. 20 levels, no duplicate levels, 0% or 100%) have been removed. Separate trigger condition has been added to avoid coding ( if(mode == falling) { ... } ). Modes rising and falling are now called MODE_RISING and MODE_FALLING . Bug fix: Sometimes input and output triggers would not fire if trigger was reached precisely when flow was recalculated. (Mass) flow conveyor now closes input/output when stopped, instead of input/output ports. Loading point continues with next transporter after releasing completed item instead of waiting for it to exit. Bug fix: (Mass) flow conveyor only closed input when stopping; now closes both output and input.
View full article
FlexSim 2019 is available. If you have bug reports or other feedback on the software, please email [email protected] or create a new idea in the Development space. Release Notes Added support for importing JT files. Added a way to directly animate 3D shapes with bones. Added a way to parent subcomponents to a bone on a 3D shape. Updated calculated tables and chart templates to be able to save their data during an experiment. Added support for SQL keywords UNION, UNION ALL, INTERSECT, and EXCEPT. Updated the time table's weekly and daily modes to use a graphical display. Improved the time table's user interface. Added options for stacking bars on a histogram and added more bar modes. Added a Column Sets feature to statistics collectors. Added more options for event listening in statistics collectors. Added an option to statistics collectors and calculated tables for object path display depth. Added an option to statistics collectors to stop tracking row values after specified events. Added an option to milestone collectors to start new entries on the next milestone. Added options to record more data in additional columns on a milestone collector. Added enable/disable right-click menu options to statistics collectors in the toolbox. Improved the performance of calculated tables in certain configurations. Fixed a bug with Always Leave Entries on List when reevaluating multiple back orders. Fixed a bug with color spilling from one mesh to another when using shape data overrides. Fixed scaling issues and a crashing bug when loading certain STEP and IGES files. Process Flow Improved the Token.create() method to be able to create child tokens. Added a new Person Flow type of Process Flow. Fixed a bug with a resource connected to a global list deleting the list when the resource was in an instanced flow. People Added a Process activity. Added a Remove Person activity. Added various activity sets to quickly create common groups of activities. Added a priority value to resource objects that is used for acquiring and preempting resources. Added advanced options to the Process activity for handling preemption. Added functionality for simulating shift schedules with time tables and down behaviors. Improved the UI for how people objects are added to groups. AGV Improved control point selection on paths in the 3D view. A* Added a way to draw a heat map based on a node's percentage of total traversals. Added a Two Way option to preferred paths and dividers. Added a Condition option to A* objects to optionally disable them under certain circumstances. Added a Mandatory Path object used for defining sets of paths where certain connected objects can travel. Updated the Barrier object to be able to specify patterns to determine how it affects the grid. Added a FlexScript API for A* objects and data. Backwards Compatibility Note: the following changes may slightly change the way updated models behave. Fixed a bug with A* barriers blocking space larger than their actual size.
View full article
FlexSim 2019 Beta is available. (Updated 21 December 2018) 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 [email protected] or create a new idea in the Development space. Release Notes Added support for importing JT files. Added a way to directly animate 3D shapes with bones. Added a way to parent subcomponents to a bone on a 3D shape. Updated calculated tables and chart templates to be able to save their data during an experiment. Added support for SQL keywords UNION, UNION ALL, INTERSECT, and EXCEPT. Updated the time table's weekly and daily modes to use a graphical display. Improved the time table's user interface. Added options for stacking bars on a histogram and added more bar modes. Added a Column Sets feature to statistics collectors. Added more options for event listening in statistics collectors. Added an option to statistics collectors and calculated tables for object path display depth. Added an option to statistics collectors to stop tracking row values after specified events. Added an option to milestone collectors to start new entries on the next milestone. Added options to record more data in additional columns on a milestone collector. Added enable/disable right-click menu options to statistics collectors in the toolbox. Improved the performance of calculated tables in certain configurations. Fixed a bug with Always Leave Entries on List when reevaluating multiple back orders. Fixed a bug with color spilling from one mesh to another when using shape data overrides. Fixed scaling issues and a crashing bug when loading certain STEP and IGES files. Process Flow Improved the Token.create() method to be able to create child tokens. Added a new Person Flow type of Process Flow. Fixed a bug with a resource connected to a global list deleting the list when the resource was in an instanced flow. People Added a Process activity. Added a Remove Person activity. Added various activity sets to quickly create common groups of activities. Added a priority value to resource objects that is used for acquiring and preempting resources. Added advanced options to the Process activity for handling preemption. Added functionality for simulating shift schedules with time tables and down behaviors. Improved the UI for how people objects are added to groups. AGV Improved control point selection on paths in the 3D view. A* Added a way to draw a heat map based on a node's percentage of total traversals. Added a Two Way option to preferred paths and dividers. Added a Condition option to A* objects to optionally disable them under certain circumstances. Added a Mandatory Path object used for defining sets of paths where certain connected objects can travel. Updated the Barrier object to be able to specify patterns to determine how it affects the grid. Added a FlexScript API for A* objects and data. Backwards Compatibility Note: the following changes may slightly change the way updated models behave. Fixed a bug with A* barriers blocking space larger than their actual size.
View full article
Top Contributors