Entry

Entries introduce new items into a model.

They can be classified as “Logical with Process Delay”, and thus do not have capacity.

Entry States

Entries have three states, Idle, Blocked and Done.

Idle

The entry is idle. One or more items/agents are scheduled to appear at the entry at a later time.

Blocked

An item/agent attempting to leave the entry is blocked from proceeding. This is commonly caused by either no queue being used between an entry and a server, or no flow being defined for an item class which has been defined in the entry's schedule. It is unwise to allow an entry to become blocked, since this will distort the arrivals into your system model.

Done

The entry has completed its production schedule in the current simulation run. No further items will be produced at this entry.

Entry Modes

Entries have nine modes, all of which are configured from Object Edit View:

Periodic Arrivals

This mode is simple to specify, and good for beginners to get started with. Periodic Arrival events cause items to arrive over a period of time, such as customers at a bank. You specify a Start and End time, plus a time interval between item arrivals, and if desired, a limit on the total number of items to be created. The inter-arrival time can have a variation pattern applied to it. Note that if the entry is blocked when an arrival is specified to occur, that item arrival event will be skipped.

Receive Broadcast

This mode makes your entry behave a little like a radio or television receiver. You tune it in to a broadcast, and whenever that broadcast is sent from its source, it will be ‘received’ at this entry, and the entry will produce an item. Combined with the generation of broadcasts by routines, dispatchers or exits, broadcast entries are extremely useful for sending information around a model, or invoking activity in a subsystem of your model from a remote subsystem location.

Upon Click

This mode enables you, the modeller, to make an event occur during a model run. If you would like to be able to interact with your model during a run, you can use this entry mode to produce an item for you while the model is paused. After pausing a run, click on this entry object. When you continue the run, this entry will then produce an item.

This mode has certain uses, like enabling you to collect information at certain times during a run, and writing out this information using other features of Planimate®. You may also wish to be able to make choices about certain logical configurations and settings in the model during the run, to test your skill at reading the system perhaps.

Message Entry

This mode enables the entry to receive a message sent from another object (when an “Original Item” enters a Message Dispatcher or passes through a Change object). Upon receiving this message, the entry produces a “Message Item”, which is a ‘clone’ of the Original Item and sends it on. When the Message Item is destroyed later on in an exit, the Original Item is informed, and will move on from the object it was waiting in.

Upon Click (and continue)

This mode enables you, the modeller, to make an event occur during a model run. If you would like to be able to interact with your model during a run, you can use this entry mode to produce an item for you while the model is paused. In this mode, the model run is automatically continued after you click on this entry object, and the entry produces an item.

This mode has certain uses, like enabling you to collect information at certain times during a run, and writing out this information using other features of Planimate®. You may also wish to be able to make choices about certain logical configurations and settings in the model during the run, to test your skill at reading the system perhaps.

Table Driven

This is an advanced and versatile mode, where you link the Entry to a schedule table. In the schedule table you can add arrival events, one item for each row. The table contains arrival time, and other information that can be carried on the item produced in that row at that time. As each item is produced, its row is deleted from the table, and the next row will occur at its scheduled time. The table can be edited by a modeller, or it may be constructed using code in a routine.

Attribute Sensor

This mode enables you to watch the value of an attribute, and produce an item after a threshhold value is reached or exceeded. After producing the item, the entry will wait until a different threshhold has been reached or exceeded before it is ‘reset’ and able to produce another item again.

Wormhole Entry

This mode allows you to ‘cheat the system’. Normally you cannot send an item along a path from one subsystem to a distant subsystem without having to respect the hierarchy of subsystems in the model. However with the combination of the Wormhole Exit and the Wormhole entry, you can pass an item from one subsystem to another directly. This is useful, sometimes.

A wormhole entry-exit pairing is always one to one. Items passing through wormhole-space are able to be blocked.

Single Time Arrival

This is a very simple mode, which is good for getting started quickly. You specify only a single point in time at which this entry will produce an item. You can also specify how many items will be produced at that time.

Entry Articles

• Table Driven Entry
• Portal Entry
• Portal Exit
• Hiding Portal Entries and Portal Exits
• Naming Portal Entries and Portal Exits
• Wormhole Entry
• Table Driven Entries and Dynamic Table Columns
• Entry Single Time Arrival
• Directed messages sent to high level portals
• Table Driven and Sensor Entry Options
• Broadcast entries can also produce items when clicked

Object Frequently Asked Questions

• I accidentally removed an entry from the path, and I can't get it back into the path.
• Can I have more than one type of item come out of an entry?
• What happens if my entry gets blocked?
• Why did my entry stop producing items?
• I created a Portal, but inside it there are no Portal Entry or Portal Exits.
• What is the best way to produce say, 6 months worth of daily arrival information from an entry?