Operations Definition

Sepasoft MES Module Suite

Operations Definitions

This object is used to define processes at the highest level. An Operations Definition holds one or more Operations Segments (basic tasks) to form a single process with multiple steps.

ISA95 Object Model Inter-Relationships:


Commonly, there will be a one-to-one relationship of an Operations Definition (i.e. Unload Material) to a single Operations Segment (Unload Material). Operations Segments, the individual tasks under a process, are themselves derived from a Process Segment (Unload Material), which is the base definition of a production task. In an application, an operation is selected, the segment within the operation is selected and response objects are created from the segment objects. The Operations Response object holds the actual production results (or a link to the Response Segments) for a given operation. Response Segment objects are created that hold the actual production results under the Operations Response.


The Operations Definition object is derived from the MESAbstractObject and inherits all of its exposed properties, functions, and events.

Linking Operation Segments within an Operations Definition

Information about Operations Segments that are dependents of an Operations Definition is stored by the Segment Dependency Property object of the Operations Definition object.

The MES Object Editor can be used to add and remove Operations Segments of an Operations Definition. This can also be done through scripting.

Linking Operations Definitions through Routes

Routes can be created by linking multiple Operations Definitions together through the use of triggers and can be used to maintain scheduling dependencies between operations or for creating a Bill of Process. The MES Object Editor can be used to create the triggers for you or through scripting by adding a Trigger Operation Begin complex property to the Operations Definition object.

Object Creation

The Operations Definition object is primarily created using the MES Object Editor component. When a Process Segment is created, the editor will automatically create the corresponding Operations Definition object for you. We recommend using the MES Object Editor to create these objects so that the needed object properties are setup correctly. However it is also possible to create an Operations Definition through scripting. The following scripting functions can be used to create this object.

Although an Operations Definition object can be created by itself, it generally would be created and linked with one or more operations segments. The code example shows how to derive an operation segment from a process segment that is then added to the newly created Operations Definition object.

Copy Code
Python
#Load the process segment to base the operations segment on
psName = 'Unload Nuts'
ps = system.mes.loadMESObject(psName, 'ProcessSegment')
     
#Derive a new operation segment from the process segment
os = system.mes.deriveMESObject(ps, 'OperationsSegment', True)
     
#Set where it was derived from
os.setPropertyValue('DerivedFromRefType', 'ProcessSegment')
os.setPropertyValue('DerivedFromRefUUID', ps.getUUID())
     
#Set the name
os.setPropertyValue('Name', psName)
        
#Create a new operations definition
od = system.mes.createMESObject('OperationsDefinition')
#Set the name using the same name as the operations segment
od.setPropertyValue('Name', psName)
     
#Create a new segment dependency complex property in the operations definition that points to the operations segment
depProp = od.createComplexProperty('SegmentDependency', ps.getName())
depProp.setSegmentRefType('OperationsSegment')
depProp.setSegmentRefUUID(os.getUUID())
     
#Create a new begin trigger complex property in the operation segment
begTrig = os.createComplexProperty('TriggerSegBegin', 'DefaultBeginTrigger')
begTrig.setPrecedingRefType('OperationsDefinition')
begTrig.setPrecedingRefUUID(od.getUUID())
begTrig.setMode('At Operation Begin')
begTrig.setDefault(True)
     
#Save the objects as a group
objList = system.mes.object.list.createList()
objList.add(od)
objList.add(os)
system.mes.saveMESObjects(objList)

Use

The following scripting functions use this object.

Object Properties

These properties are accessible through the MES Object Editor and with the provided object functions, but not directly as obj.properties. Property values can be accessed and changed for an object by using the getPropertyValue() and setPropertyValue() method.

Name
R/W
Description
EnableUpdateEvent

Write

When this setting is set to true, the UpdateProgress event for response segments associated with this operations definition will be executed at the interval rate set in the Update Event Interval.

The UpdateProgress event is defined in the Ignition Designer in the MES Events section.

UpdateEventIntervalRead/WriteInterval in seconds to run the update event while the operation is active.
TrackProgressBy

Read/Write

Production can be tracked by two factors namely, time and material in each segment. The default is to track by time and the option to track by material will only show if in the associated process segment material has been defined and a rate has been specified.

ProductionVisibleRead/WriteIf true, display operation in the MES Operations selector and MES Schedule View components.

Complex Properties

The Operations Definition object has two complex properties

Functions


 

getTrackProgressBy()

Description

Gets the track progress by property.

Syntax

getTrackProgressBy()


  • Parameters

None

  • Returns

String value - The value set for track progress by property. 

  • Scope

All

 

getUpdateEventInterval()

Description

Gets the value for update event interval property.

Syntax

getUpdateEventInterval()

  • Parameters

None

  • Returns

 String value - The value set for update event interval property. 

  • Scope

All

 isEnableUpdateEvent()

Description

Checks whether the update event property is enabled and returns the corresponding boolean.

Syntax

isEnableUpdateEvent()

  • Parameters

None

  • Returns

 Boolean True if update event is enabled and False otherwise. 

  • Scope

All

 isProductionVisible()

Description

Checks whether the operation is visible during production and returns the corresponding booloean. If true, displays operation in the MES Operations selector and MES Schedule View components.

Syntax

isProductionVisible()

  • Parameters

 None

  • Returns

 Boolean visible - True if the object is visible during production and False otherwise.

  • Scope

All

 

setEnableUpdateEvent(value)

Description

Sets the value for enable update event interval property.

Syntax

setEnableUpdateEvent(value)

  • Parameters

Boolean value - The value set for enable update event interval property. 

  • Returns

 Nothing

  • Scope

All

 

setProductionVisible(value)

Description

Sets the value for production visible property. If set to true, displays operation in the MES Operations selector and MES Schedule View components.

Syntax

setProductionVisible(value)

  • Parameters

 Boolean value - The value set for the production visible property.

  • Returns

 Nothing

  • Scope

All

 

setTrackProgressBy(value)

Description

Sets the value for track progress by property.

Syntax

setTrackProgressBy(value)

  • Parameters

String value - The value set for track progress by property. 

Options -

Use Time - Update scheduled progress by time elapsed when using fixed time.

Material Out - Update scheduled progress by production count when using count.

  • Returns

 Nothing

  • Scope

All

 

setUpdateEventInterval(value)

Description

Sets the value for update event interval property.

Syntax

setUpdateEventInterval(value)

  • Parameters

String value - The value to set for update event interval property. 

  • Returns

 Nothing

  • Scope

All

Sepasoft MES Module Suite