Talk:Calculate Results from a Model/Notes

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In Synthesis applications, models can represent probabilities, durations or costs, either fixed or time-dependent. They are used by other resources to represent the reliability of a component, the duration of a task, the expected cost of a repair and many other characteristics.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to obtain calculated results from models.

Prerequisites

Before you begin:

Create a test repository, perform a simple analysis and then publish a model from the analysis. You'll want to use a published model with this tutorial so you can compare the results returned by the API with the results obtained from the Quick Calculation Pad (QCP)

Note the published model's object ID number. This will help you trace the response of the API. (To display the object IDs, choose File > Application Setup, then click Other under the Synthesis Settings heading in the navigation panel. Select the Display Object IDs check box. The object ID of the model is displayed in the Resource Manager.)

Tutorial: Calculate Results from a Model

The following example demonstrates how to obtain calculated results from a model resource. A discussion of the example follows.

A VBA version of the code sample is available here.

VB.NET

Imports SynthesisAPI 

 Module Module1
    Sub Main()
  
    'Connect to a Synthesis repository and project. 
     Dim MyRepository As New Repository
     MyRepository.ConnectToRepository("C:\RSRepository1.rsr10") 'Replace with name and path to test repository. 
     MyRepository.Project.SetCurrentProject(1) 'Replace with the object ID of test project. 

    'Retrieve a model from the repository.       
     Dim AModel As cModel
     AModel = MyRepository.Model.GetModel(21) 'Replace with the object ID of test model. 
  
    'Declare some variables to store the results. 
     Dim Result1 As Double
     Dim Result2 As Double

    'Calculate the model's reliability at time = 100 hrs and mean time. 
     Result1 = AModel.Reliability(100)
     Result2 = AModel.MeanTime

    'Set the confidence level to 90% two-sided bounds. 
    'Declare a string variable for any errors found during this method. 
     Dim ErrorMsg As String
     AModel.SetConfidenceLevel(0.9, ConfBoundsSides.TwoSidedBoth, False, ErrorMsg)

    'To store the confidence bounds results, declare new BoundsValues objects. 
     Dim BResult1 As BoundsValues
     Dim BResult2 As BoundsValues

    'Calculate bounds for the reliability at 100 hrs and the mean time. 
     BResult1 = AModel.Bounds_Reliability(100)
     BResult2 = AModel.Bounds_MeanTime

    'Display the output. 
     MsgBox ("Reliability = " & Result1 & vbNewLine & _
             "Upper Bound = " & BResult1.upper & vbNewLine & _
             "Lower Bound = " & BResult1.lower & vbNewLine)
     MsgBox ("Mean Time = " & Result2 & vbNewLine & _
             "Upper Bound = " & BResult2.upper & vbNewLine & _
             "Lower Bound = " & BResult2.lower & vbNewLine)

    End Sub
End Module

Discussion

Begin by connecting to a Synthesis repository and project (for details, see this tutorial.) The section of code below demonstrates how to connect to a standard repository and open one of its projects. It assumes that a standard repository called "RSRepository1.rsr10" exists in the C drive and that we're accessing project ID#1. If you're copying this section of code, be sure to replace the inputs with appropriate data for your test repository.

 'Connect to a Synthesis repository and project. 
  Dim MyRepository As New Repository
  MyRepository.ConnectToRepository("C:\RSRepository1.rsr10") 'Replace with name and path to test repository. 
  MyRepository.Project.SetCurrentProject(1) 'Replace with the object ID of test project.

========================

1. Create a new module and begin by connecting to a Synthesis repository and project. The following code assumes that a standard repository called "RSRepository1.rsr10" exists in the C drive.

 'Connect to the Synthesis repository and set project ID#1 as the current project. 
  Dim MyRepository As New Repository
  MyRepository.ConnectToRepository("C:\RSRepository1.rsr10")
  MyRepository.Project.SetCurrentProject(1)

2. Retrieve a model from the repository. The following code assumes that the repository contains a model with ID number 21.

VBA

 'Retrieve the model with ID# 21 from the repository. 
  Dim Amodel As New cModel
  Set AModel = MyRepository.Model.GetModel(21)

VB.NET

 'Retrieve the model with ID# 21 from the repository.  
  Dim Amodel As New cModel
  AModel = MyRepository.Model.GetModel(21)

2. Use the Reliability method to calculate for the reliability at 100 hrs and the MeanTime method to return the mean time to failure.

 'Declare variables. 
  Dim Result1 As Double
  Dim Result2 As Double

 'Calculate the model's reliability at time = 100 hrs and mean time.  
  Result1 = AModel.Reliability(100)
  Result2 = AModel.MeanTime

3. Let's add confidence bounds calculations to the results. Use the SetConfidenceLevel method to specify 90% two-sided confidence bounds.

VBA

 'Set the confidence level to 90% two-sided bounds. 
 'Declare a string variable for any errors found during this method. 
  Dim ErrorMsg As String
  Call AModel.SetConfidenceLevel(0.9, ConfBoundsSides_TwoSidedBoth, False, ErrorMsg)

 'Initiate new instances of the BoundsValues class. 
  Dim BResult1 As BoundsValues
  Dim BResult2 As BoundsValues

 'Calculate bounds for the reliability at 100 hrs and the mean time.  
  Set BResult1 = AModel.Bounds_Reliability(100)
  Set BResult2 = AModel.Bounds_MeanTime
 
 'Display the output. 
  MsgBox ("Reliability = " & Result1 & vbNewLine & _
          "Upper Bound = " & BResult1.upper & vbNewLine & _
          "Lower Bound = " & BResult1.lower & vbNewLine)
  MsgBox ("Mean Time = " & Result2 & vbNewLine & _
          "Upper Bound = " & BResult2.upper & vbNewLine & _
          "Lower Bound = " & BResult2.lower & vbNewLine)

VB.NET

 'Set the confidence level to 90% two-sided bounds. 
 'Declare a string variable for any errors found during this method. 
  Dim ErrorMsg As String
  AModel.SetConfidenceLevel(0.9, ConfBoundsSides.TwoSidedBoth, False, ErrorMsg)

 'Initiate new instances of the BoundsValues class. 
  Dim BResult1 As BoundsValues
  Dim BResult2 As BoundsValues

 'Calculate bounds for the reliability at 100 hrs and the mean time.  
  BResult1 = AModel.Bounds_Reliability(100)
  BResult2 = AModel.Bounds_MeanTime
 
 'Display the output. 
  MsgBox ("Reliability = " & Result1 & vbNewLine & _
          "Upper Bound = " & BResult1.upper & vbNewLine & _
          "Lower Bound = " & BResult1.lower & vbNewLine)
  MsgBox ("Mean Time = " & Result2 & vbNewLine & _
          "Upper Bound = " & BResult2.upper & vbNewLine & _
          "Lower Bound = " & BResult2.lower & vbNewLine)

Test the Code

Below are the complete code lists for this example. To test them, run the application by clicking Start on the Debug menu. Compare the results returned by the API with the results obtained from the Quick Calculation Pad (QCP).

VBA

Sub Main()
  
 'Connect to the Synthesis repository and set project ID#1 as the current project. 
  Dim MyRepository As New Repository
  MyRepository.ConnectToRepository("C:\RSRepository1.rsr10")
  MyRepository.Project.SetCurrentProject(1)

 'Retrieve the model with ID# 21 from the repository. 
  Dim AModel As cModel
  Set AModel = MyRepository.Model.GetModel(21)
  
 'Declare variables. 
  Dim Result1 As Double
  Dim Result2 As Double

 'Calculate the model's reliability at time = 100 hrs and mean time. 
  Result1 = AModel.Reliability(100)
  Result2 = AModel.MeanTime
 
 'Set the confidence level to 90% two-sided bounds. 
 'Declare a string variable for any errors found during this method. 
  Dim ErrorMsg As String
  Call AModel.SetConfidenceLevel(0.9, ConfBoundsSides_TwoSidedBoth, False, ErrorMsg)

 'Initiate new instances of the BoundsValues class. 
  Dim BResult1 As BoundsValues
  Dim BResult2 As BoundsValues

 'Calculate bounds for the reliability at 100 hrs and the mean time. 
  Set BResult1 = AModel.Bounds_Reliability(100)
  Set BResult2 = AModel.Bounds_MeanTime
 
 'Display the output. 
  MsgBox ("Reliability = " & Result1 & vbNewLine & _
          "Upper Bound = " & BResult1.upper & vbNewLine & _
          "Lower Bound = " & BResult1.lower & vbNewLine)
  MsgBox ("Mean Time = " & Result2 & vbNewLine & _
          "Upper Bound = " & BResult2.upper & vbNewLine & _
          "Lower Bound = " & BResult2.lower & vbNewLine)

End Sub

Notes

See cModel class for a list of all available calculation methods for models.

References

To learn more, see the reference documentation for the class and methods discussed in this tutorial: