Home > Process Modeling and Simulation Concepts

Process Modeling and Simulation Concepts

 

As covered in the The Modeling and Simulation Environment topic in the Getting Started section of the Help, iGrafx has 3 main windows (FlowCharter only has the ability to create data in the first two windows):

  1. The Process Window: Visualizes transaction flow, and the shapes represent activities performed.

  2. The Scenario Window: Defines the overall environment the simulation model uses.

  3. The Report Window: Summarizes statistics gathered from a simulation run.

When simulation is started, iGrafx takes one Scenario and one or more Processes as input. When iGrafx runs simulation, transactions flow through a process from activity to activity, along directed connection lines. The results of simulation display in the Report window.

As covered in the Define Activity Behavior topic in the Getting Started section of the help, each shape on the process diagram is an activity that defines the behavior of that step of the process for simulation. The interconnected activities in a process map capture the detailed behavior of the process once a transaction is introduced. When transactions enter an activity they behave as directed by the activity itself. An activity's behavior is in turn defined by the properties dialog.

The following topics describe transaction flow, how each shape processes the transactions during simulation, and other information about how iGrafx simulation works:

In this section:

Transaction Flow

Input Collections

Activity Outputs

Messages in Models

Task and Process Options

Resources and Resource Types

Attributes

Attribute and Function Types

Functions

Expressions

How Simulation Works

Scenarios and the Scenario Window

Resources and Resource Types

Schedules, Composite Schedules, and Overtime

Run the Simulation and View Results

See Also

Modeling and Simulation

Define Activity Behavior

The Modeling and Simulation Environment

Describe the Simulation Environment Through Scenarios