Before the Project Model is submitted to the simulator, its input data should be completed and verified. In addition to data verification performed by SansGUI as you enter the values, there may be a Check Data button available (if not disabled) in each part or reference object Properties dialog. Click on the Check Data button will invoke the data verification procedure, or cross field data checking routine, developed by the simulation developer. The simulation developer may also open up the door for you to override the check data procedure. More on it can be found in Chapter 6 Overriding Simulator Routines.
In this section, we discuss the global check data process performed on the entire Project Model. The process can be invoked by either
manually, through the Action>Check Data pull-down menu selection, or
automatically, prior to generating of a model text file via Action>Generate Model File or starting a simulation run via Action>Run Simulation - In Process or Action>Run Simulation - External.
What will be examined during the check data process? The following is a list of operations that SansGUI performs when checking data:
Check symbolic parameters and binding: If any of the parameters do not have value binding, the checking operation terminates. It is a good idea to look into the Case Parameters via Action>Setup Case Parameters and see if all the parameters have values in Case 1.
Check for objects: Check to see if required data have been entered correctly in all objects. These include Simulation Control, Unit, Reference, and Component objects. Also check to see if reference objects exist for all object references entered.
Check for parts: Check to see if required data have been entered correctly in all parts.
Check for links: Check to see if required data have been entered correctly in all links.
If the data checking operation encounters a problem, it will issue a warning or an error to the user. The trace of the checking operation is displayed in the Operation View in the bottom pane and the warning or error message is logged in the Message View, also in the bottom pane. You need to look into these two views in order to resolve the issues before checking the data again.
The Message View contains a log of SansGUI messages displayed to the user. It is used by SansGUI during the check data operations and by the simulator during simulation run. The Message View is a column-oriented table with one row for each message:
Log No.: displays the log number. The total number of log messages kept in the Message View is limited by a parameter accessible through Tools>Options. When the number of messages is greater than the one specified, the earlier ones will be removed.
Status and Indicator: display the severity of the logged messages. A green square means it is informational. A yellow square means it is a warning. A red square means it is an error and must be corrected.
Path: shows the object, part, or link in question. You can double click on the path to invoke the associated Properties dialog.
Message: shows the actual message involved. You need to examine the message and edit the data of the object, part, or link to fix the data before checking the data again.
You can open the Properties dialog of an object, view the object, or print/preview the Message View by selecting appropriate menu items from its context menu.
SansGUI Modeling and Simulation Environment Version 1.2
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