CHAPTER 9
Reusable Templates and Libraries

One of the most powerful features of SIMPROCESS is the reusable Template. A Template is an Activity, hierarchical Process, Resource, or Resource Downtime that is defined and reused over and over. A Library is a collection of templates that can be saved and loaded during a modeling session. SIMPROCESS provides a standard set of templates, such as Activities, Processes, Resources, and Resource Downtimes. Templates provide the ability to set default parameters for SIMPROCESS-provided items. For example, specialized Resources such as Tellers, Loan Officers, Branch Managers can be defined in the Resource Library for Business Process Modeling in a financial services business. A Library could also contain templates that may represent competing models of the Business Processes that are being compared.

Many different Templates can be created and loaded into the system when they are needed. Customized Processes/Activities can be added to the Library Toolbar (for easy reuse) and/or added to the Create pull-down menu.

Library Concepts

The SIMPROCESS Template and Library feature supports the reuse and organization of the various constructs used in building models.

The development of specialized objects organized into Libraries is encouraged. Over time, the Libraries of objects will grow. With a large set of Libraries of reusable model building blocks, new models can be built faster. For example, a set of Processes (Warehouse, Manufacture, Transport) and Resources (Trucks, People, etc.) relevant to the Distribution domain can be created and saved to a Library named Distribution. These can then be used to quickly build distribution models.

Libraries built can be saved and loaded during the modeling session as they are needed. The import and export features enable the sharing of Libraries with colleagues and increases the building blocks available for model construction.

In addition to providing a repository for storing categories of modeling constructs, the Library Management facilities can be used to customize defaults for model elements that are built into SIMPROCESS (statistical distributions, Activity parameters, etc.). Processes and Activities that are used frequently can be kept on the Library Toolbar for quick access. Processes and Activities that are used less frequently can be accessed through the Create pull-down menu.

See "File Menu," beginning on page 20 for information on using a model's Group ID with templates.

In summary, Libraries:

· Are repositories for model building constructs created by the user

· Facilitate reuse of Processes, Activities, Resources, and Resource Downtimes

· Allow placement of Processes and Activities on the Library Toolbar and the Create menu

· Allow the grouping of Processes and Activities in user-defined templates

· Facilitate importing and exporting of customized model elements for use in other models or by colleagues.

Defining and Editing Templates

The Define/Templates pull-down menu provides access to various options for manipulating templates. The two functions available under this pull down menu are Add and Library Manager.

Add displays a dialog for adding a Process or Activity to a Library.

Library Manager brings up the SIMPROCESS Library Manager. The Library Manager is used to create, load, save, remove, edit, import, and export Libraries of templates

Using The Library Manager

Library Management

The Library Manager is the primary tool for managing templates. Before creating templates, a Library should be created. When no Libraries exist, the Library Manager is empty.

New creates a new Library in which templates can be stored. A dialog for entering a name appears.

When OK is selected, the new Library appears in the Library Manager. This new Library is empty at this point, but templates can now be stored in it.

Edit allows the editing of the Library name if a Library is selected. If a Process or Activity template is selected, Edit allows the editing of certain template options.

Remove deletes the selected item. If a Library is selected, the Library and all templates in the Library are deleted. If a template is selected, then only that template is deleted from its Library.

Load brings a Library that has been previously saved into the current SIMPROCESS session. The templates can then be used to build models.

All Libraries will be shown in the Library Manager. A dot by the Library means the Library has not been loaded. A folder by the Library means that it has been loaded. Simply select the desired Library and click Load.

Unload removes a Library from the current SIMPROCESS session. There will be a prompt to save the Library if it has not been previously saved.

Save saves a template Library for future use. When the Library Manager or SIMPROCESS is closed, there will be a prompt to save Libraries if there are Libraries that have not been saved.

Import imports a Library file that was exported by another SIMPROCESS user.

Export exports a Library file that another SIMPROCESS user can import.

Template Structure

All elements of a Process or Activity template can be viewed from the Library Manager. Process templates include all the Processes and Activities that were a part of the Process. Activity templates include the Activity itself. Both types of templates contain other elements that were referenced by the Process or Activity placed in the Library. These elements include Resources, Resource Downtimes, Entity Types, global Entity Attributes, global Entity Type Attributes, global Resource Attributes, global Activity Attributes, Model Attributes, named distributions, tabular distributions, Functions, and Auto Fits distributions. Note that code stored in a file for an Expression in a Process or Activity template or code stored in a file for a Function referenced is not included in the template. The file references are included in the template, but the template does not carry the files or their content with it.

The figure below shows a template named Process Calls in the Customer Service Library.

The elements with a "+" can be expanded to see the items included. Elements without a "+" were not included in the templated item. A partially expanded view is shown below.

Adding a Process/Activity Template

To create a Process or Activity template, select the Process or Activity in the model, and choose Templates/Add from the Define menu. Alternatively, right mouse click on the Process or Activity and choose Add Template from the pop up menu.

This brings up a dialog where the template options can be set.

Label is the name of the template that will be stored in the selected Library.

Layout Icon is the icon that will display when the template is used in a model.

Library Toolbar Parameters determine the Library Toolbar settings. If On is checked, the template will appear on the Library Toolbar. The Library Toolbar is on the right side of the screen. If Custom Toolbar Icon is selected,the Toolbar Icon list is active.

The icon for the template on the Library Toolbar is selected from the Toolbar Icon list. The Toolbar Label is the tool tip that will appear when the mouse is over the icon.

Menu Parameters determine the menu placement of the template. If On is selected, the template will appear on one of the Create sub-menus with the name from the Label field. Menu Owner sets the sub-menu for the template. One of the current sub-menus can be used or a custom menu name can be entered.

As shown above, On can be selected for both Library Toolbar Parameters and Menu Parameters. However, On must be selected for at least one of the two.

The Library that this template should be added to is selected from the Add to Library list. If no Library has been created, then the template will be added to a Library named Default (which can be renamed).

Adding Resource Templates

Resource templates are created from the Resource list. The Resource list displays all the resources defined in the model. It is accessed from Resources on the Define menu. The Resource list has an Add Template button.

Select the Resource and click the Add Template button. This brings up the properties of the template.

The template properties are simply the Resource properties with the Add to Library option added. As with the other template types, if there has not been a Library defined, the Resource template will go into the Default Library. Resource templates display in the Type combo box on the Resource list dialog as long as the Library in which the Resource templates reside is loaded.

Adding Resource Downtime Templates

Resource templates are created from the Resource Downtime list. The Resource Downtime list displays all the resource downtimes defined in the model. It is accessed from Resource Downtimes on the Define menu. The Resource Downtime list has an Add Template button.

Select the Resource Downtime and click the Add Template button. This brings up the properties of the template.

The template properties are the Resource Downtime properties with the Resource assigments removed and the Add to Library option added. As with the other template types, if there has not been a Library defined, the Resource Downtime template will go into the Default Library. Resource Downtime templates display in the Type combo box on the Resource Downtime list dialog as long as the Library in which the Resource Downtime templates reside is loaded.

Editing Templates

Templates cannot be edited directly from the Library Manager. However, template Library parameters can be edited from the Library Manager.

Editing Templates

Templates can only be edited when they are part of a model. Thus, the way to change a template is to open a new model, place the template within the model, make the necessary changes, then add the changed template to the Library. If the template is added with the same name, it replaces the original.

Editing Library Parameters

To change the Library options for a template, select the template in the Library Manager and click the Edit button. This will bring up the same properties dialog that appeared when the template was added to its Library. The only difference is that the Library for the template cannot be changed.

Below are the template properties for Sales Process. Any property can be changed except the Library owner. That field is missing. To place the template in a different Library, it must be added to that Library.

Advantage of Templates Over Copy/Paste

Portions of models can be copied from one model and pasted into another model. However, the copy action only copies the Activity/Connector structure. References to Entities, Resources, Resource Downtimes, user defined distributions, Functions, or Attributes within the Activities are not carried because those items may or may not exist in the model in which the paste occurs. This means all those references must be redefined in the new model. When this occurs, a dialog will appear after the paste that lists the items that have invalid references. Those items can be edited from the list.

Templates also allow portions of one model to be used in another model. However, since templates carry references to the Entities, Resources, and Attributes used, those items remain referenced in the Activities. Those references do not have to be redefined in the new model.

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