How to Navigate Published Models

A published SIMPROCESS model will show 3 frames in your web browser. The one at top left, entitled "Model Data Links," will remain unchanged. This is the central navigation point for the model's content. For graphical model navigation, the initial contents of the largest frame can be used as follows:

• The display initially seen in the main frame at right is analogous to the graphical layouts within SIMPROCESS itself. The top layout displays the model's name above the same display you would see in SIMPROCESS.
• Hold your mouse pointer over any Process or Activity to see a popup window which may contain several items:
  • The first line will say "Comment:" followed by the text of the item's comment field or the words "None specified."
  • Next will be a View Properties item, which will provide a link to the properties of the Process or Activity.
  • If you've entered a link (whether to a file or external URL), then an item will appear for it. If you specified anchor text for the link, it will be used. Otherwise, the URL or filename will be used instead. This link will open in a new browser window.
  • If you've entered a link to a Rational Rose Use Case diagram, an item will appear for it. The anchor text will be the name of the diagram as it appeared in the SIMPROCESS dialog. The link will be to a Rose Use Case diagram that is assumed to originate in the same directory as the published SIMPROCESS model, and will open in a new browser window to allow you to fully navigate the published Rose model if desired.
  • If you've specified a contact email address in your SIMPROCESS preferences, a link will appear to let you send email to that address in order to provide feedback or questions to the designated address. The anchor text will include the email address, but the actual mailto link will include a default subject line which contains the complete path to the layout on display (as it appears at the top of the window) and the name of the Activity or Process.
  • If the icon is that of a Process, a line will appear to remind you that clicking the icon will descend into that subprocess (see below).
  • If the icon is that of a Transfer activity set to either Send or Receive entities from another Transfer activity in this model (i.e., Local Send or Receive), and the Transfer has any references to the opposite Transfer activity (possibly multiples for a Receive), a line will appear which says "Transfer reference(s):" and one or more additional lines will appear that each provide a link for navigating to a referring Transfer activity.
• Each Process is a link which, when clicked, descends into the currently active Alternative Sub-Process and displays its layout.
• Each layout view displays the complete path to the layout (as shown in the model's window frame in SIMPROCESS) and includes two arrows for additional navigation.
• The upward-pointing arrow with a red line above it navigates back to the model's top layout.
• The upward-pointing arrow is a link to the layout immediately above the one being displayed.
• Direct navigation to any inactive Alternative Sub-Process is not possible using the graphical navigation method. See the "Activities, Processes and Connectors" item below for more on how to go directly to any individual layout.

The "Model Data Links" window contains the following items:

• How to Navigate Published Models: This link will cause this page to appear in a separate window, so that you may refer to it as needed during navigation.
• Model Settings: This link will cause the lower left frame to display the Model Settings page, where there are two entries: Run Settings and Global Statistics Collection. Clicking either link causes a page to appear in the main frame that contains both sets of information, and brings the selected item closest to the frame's top. If your browser window is sufficiently large to display all data, no scrolling will occur.
• Distributions and Expressions: This link will cause the lower left frame to display a page listing all user-defined distributions, input sources, Functions and all expressions defined at the model level.
• Activities, Processes and Connectors: An Activity is a work step in the process model. It represents a discrete event in the process flow to account for a key step in the business. Connectors link Activities and Processes together and are the paths used by Entities to flow through the model. A Process represents a group of Activities and/or Processes and can be descended into to view the items that make it up. This allows you to create a hierarchy of Processes and Activities. Processes can also contain multiple Alternatives within the Process, often referred to as Sub-Processes, allowing you to view the different process flows within the business.

  This is the default display initially seen in the lower left frame. It shows your model in a tree-like display with names and icons. At the top is your model's name, which is a link that causes the top-level layout view to be displayed in the main frame at right.

• The name of a Process is a link which will cause the layout for that Process' currently active Alternative Sub-Process to appear in the main frame at right.
• The name of each Alternative Sub-Process is also a link to a layout. For a Process that has multiple Alternatives, this is the only way to navigate to a layout for Alternative Sub-Processes other than the currently active one. The title displayed for the Alternative that is the currently active Sub-Process will always appear first.
• To the left of each Process, Alternative Sub-Process, Activity and Connector is an icon. Those for Alternative Sub-Processes are not links. However, the icons next to Process, Activity and Connector names will display a page in the main frame which contains all the properties for that item. The selected item will appear as near to the top of the frame as your window size and the data presented will permit.
• Any Process or Activity which has any Expression defined will display an icon at right indicating this (using the same image that appears in the Activity Browser in SIMPROCESS).
• Any Process or Activity that has Resource Usage information will display an icon indicating this at right (the same image as that used in the Activity Browser in SIMPROCESS).


• Entities: Entities are the business objects that flow through your business. Entities are entirely dependent on the type of business being modeled. Examples of Entities are Purchase Orders, Work Orders, Insurance Claims, Hospital Patients, Vehicles, Aircraft, Shipments, or anything that a business handles in its day-to-day operation. This link will display the Entities list in the lower left frame, or a message if none are defined. Each Entity defined in the model will appear there, and its name will be a link to the properties for it displayed as near the top of the main frame as the volume of information and your browser window size permit.
• Resources: Resources are the things that do the work in the business or are consumed or used to do the work. Examples of resources are People, Forklifts, Paper, Fuel, Facilities, etc. This link will display any defined Resources in the lower left frame, with each Resource name serving as a link to its properties to be displayed in the main frame.
• Resource Downtimes: Resource Downtimes represent scheduled unavailability of Resources. Traditionally, an individual Resource has a single schedule of downtime defined within its properties. Resource Downtimes provide a reusable set of downtime schedules which may then be used by any number of Resources. This link will display any defined Resource Downtimes in the lower left frame, with each Resource Downtime name serving as a link to its properties to be displayed in the main frame.
• Global Entity Attributes: All Global Entity Attributes defined in the model will appear in the lower left frame, and each one's name will provide a link to its properties to be displayed in the main frame.
• Global Entity Type Attributes: All Global Entity Type Attributes defined in the model will appear in the lower left frame, and each one's name will provide a link to its properties to be displayed in the main frame.
• Global Resource Attributes: All Global Resource Attributes defined in the model will appear in the lower left frame, and each one's name will provide a link to its properties to be displayed in the main frame.
• Global Activity Attributes: All Global Activity Attributes defined in the model will appear in the lower left frame, and each one's name will provide a link to its properties to be displayed in the main frame.
• Global Model Attributes: All Global Model Attributes defined in the model will appear in the lower left frame, and each one's name will provide a link to its properties to be displayed in the main frame.
• Standard Report: If the model was run prior to publishing it, then its Standard Report data will appear in the main frame. Otherwise, a page will appear indicating that no Standard Report data was available.
• Plots: If the model was run prior to being published, and if it contains any Plots, this item will cause the Plots list to appear in the lower left frame. Each plot's name will serve as a link to display the plot's image as near to the top of the main frame as the volume of data and your browser window's size will permit.