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The BPSim Control Perspective

The Control Perspective targets how activity flows through the process, moderated by the likelihood of a sequence of events and the priorities of certain events when they occur.

When you initially select 'Control' in the 'Perspective' field, the hierarchy on the left of the screen groups all elements in the Business Process (including the Business Process itself) by type and, for each element that has one or more connections to other elements, lists those connections by name and/or by the name of the target element. The Configure BPSim window also initially displays the 'Trigger Count' tab.

Access

Use one of the methods outlined in this table to open the Configure BPSim window and load a Business Process Simulation Artifact element, using the 'Control' perspective.

Ribbon

Simulate > BPSim > Manage > Open BPSim Manager > click toolbar icon > Select Artifact > [select a Business Process Simulation Artifact] > Set 'Perspective' to 'Control'

Simulate > BPSim > Manage > Open BPSim Manager > click toolbar icon > [select a Package] > Create Artifact : Add New > [provide a name] > Set 'Perspective' to 'Control'

Simulate > BPSim > Manage > Find BPSim Configuration Artifacts > double-click an Artifact in search results > Set 'Perspective' to 'Control'

Context Menu

In Project Browser or diagram | Right-click Business Process Simulation Artifact | Configure BPSim | Set 'Perspective' to 'Control'

The Control Tab

The 'Control' tab displays when you click on the name of a Start Event, Intermediate Event or connector in the hierarchy. Through this tab you can define a small number of parameters, dependent on the nature of the object; some objects cannot take control parameters, some can take only certain types, and others a wider range.

To define a control parameter, click on the drop-down arrow after the New Parameter text in the 'Type' column and select from the list of available parameters. An object that cannot take parameters has the text No parameter items in the 'Type' column.

If you have set any applicable calendar periods, for each parameter you can click on the drop-down arrow in the 'Calendar' field and select the period during which the parameter takes effect. You can set multiple parameters of one type if the value varies according to time or chronological event.

The Trigger Count Tab

The 'Trigger Count' tab lists the elements in the Business Process, grouped by stereotype. Against each element, in the 'Trigger Count' column, is a checkbox that you can select to capture the number of times the element is accessed during a simulation. It provides a quick and simple way to specify which actions to specifically monitor in a customized simulation. You can also use the 'Result Request' column in the 'Properties' or 'Control' tabs to capture the count of accesses for each element individually (and those settings update and are updated by the 'Trigger Count' tab), but the tab helps you set or clear the count requests in one place. You do need to use the 'Result Request' column to capture the number of times a pathway (connector) between elements is accessed.

On the 'Trigger Count' tab you can, if you prefer, use the arrows in the column heads and/or the Filter bar to list the elements in a different sequence by Stereotype, Name or selected/cleared 'Trigger Count' checkbox.

Control Parameters

Parameter

Description

See also

Condition

This parameter simply defines some type of condition that must be satisfied before processing continues. It can be either a simple constant, a statistically-derived value, a value calculated from an expression, or an enumerated value. In the 'Value' field, click on the button and work on the 'Value' dialog.

Using the Parameter Value Dialog

Probability

This parameter assigns a weighting to the object or connector so that when there is a choice of paths, the simulation will process that object or connector a fixed proportion of the times. Probability is expressed as a decimal portion of 1.0, so in the 'Value' field you type a value such as 0.25 (25% of the time, the simulation will process this object). You should check that the probabilities of all paths in the same choice add up to 1.0.

InterTriggerTimer

This parameter defines the time interval between triggers for the action that the object or connector represents. This interval can be either a simple constant, a statistically-derived value, a value calculated from an expression, or an enumerated value. In the 'Value' field, click on the button and work on the value dialog as for a global property.

Using the Parameter Value Dialog

TriggerCount

The TriggerCount sets the number of times the object or connector should be processed during one execution of the simulation, so that the processing cycle imitates the typical demand for a particular chain of actions. It is generally set for Start Event elements.

Note that this TriggerCount sets the number of times the element or connector is to be processed in a normal or customized simulation, whilst the TriggerCount in the 'Trigger Count' tab and 'Result Requests' gets the number of times the element or connector has been processed in a customized simulation.

The Priority Tab

The 'Priority' tab displays when you select an Activity element. The tab identifies whether the activity can be interrupted by another activity, and what the relative priority is of the activity if there is a choice as to which activity is executed first.

Parameter

Description

See also

Interruptable

This parameter defines whether the activity can be interrupted, and takes a value of True or False. You can create more than one instance with different values for different calendar periods.

Priority

This parameter defines the priority of the activity relative to other activities that might be executed at the same time. In the 'Value' field, click on the button and work on the value dialog to set either a simple constant or a derived value for the priority. Take into consideration whether the competing activities are interruptable and what their priority values are.

You can set different priorities for the same activity, corresponding to different calendar periods.

Using the Parameter Value Dialog

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