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The Assign module
The Assign module increments the index number of arriving temporary entities, or changes an entity type or image, to establish future decisions.
To assign different types of attributes for temporary entities we can use the Assign module and this Assign module is used to provide entities with different attributes. So, if we double-click on this entity we should be able to see that different types of attributes based on variable value, and variable means that a value would change from one temporary entity to another, we can use as an attribute if we want to define the type of the entity, whether its economy class ticket business class ticket, etc. Or we can change the type of the entity by mentioning whether this piece of entity is concrete, for example, or piece of timber. And then even we can change the picture of the entity.
In order to assign different attributes for temporary entities then we need to drag and drop the Assign module. The Assign module is used to assign attributes for temporary entities. So, for example, if our passengers they all have the economy tickets, economy class tickets - ‘Economy’ - then what we need to do is we need to add and select the attribute and set the ticket type to number 1 which is the economy type of tickets. And, hence if we generate passengers, then each passenger will be having ticket type of the economy class.
In order to set a customer variable value, for example, if I wanted to count the number of customers or I wanted to know the Customer ID number then we need to double click on the Assign module, which is the same model that can be used to assign both variables and attributes. This time I need to select the variable type and say Variable = Variable + 1. By doing this I created a sort of counter to count every single arrival of passenger, it’s number and as we can see this can be visualised if we click on the variable box here.
If we define the variable value we can visualise it and then we can see the arrival number of customers at every single passenger. So, this is for example number one, passenger number two, passenger number three, passenger number four, etc.
This module is typically used to increment the index number of arriving temporary entities, or to change an entity type or image, to establish further decisions.
This module is used for the following assignments:
- Assigning new values to variables. For example, counting up to 10 boxes to fit on a pallet with a capacity for 10 boxes only, or referencing an arriving temporary entity such as providing a sequential index number for every single passenger or container.
- Entity attributes – this includes changing the properties of an entity through a number of different stages, or changing the status of a product to pass or fail after inspection
- Entity types, such as differentiating between passengers with either economy class or business class booking types
- Entity pictures or other system variables
Multiple assignments can be made with a single assign module. For example, a combination of the above assignments could be done for temporary entities, such as an entity could be identified in terms of its attribute, type and picture.
Your task
Having watched the above video, can you index a number of arrived lorries based on this sequence, using the Assign module? For example, lorry number 1, lorry number 2, etc.Have a go in Arena.
This article is from the online course:
Simulation for Logistics: An Introduction
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