Free Form Logic

Defining Logic > Free Form Logic

Free Form Logic

Note: the Free Form Logic window is available only in the Professional edition of Process Simulator. When you click the Logic button in a Properties dialog in the Professional edition of Process Simulator, a menu appears (per the image below) that allows you to select either Builder (for the Logic Builder) or Free Form (for the Free Form Logic window).

The Free Form Logic dialog box provides a convenient interface for entering manually typed logic for the objects in your process. If you are adept at writing logic, using the Free Form window can be quicker than selecting options from the Logic Builder, and it enables quicker copying and pasting of code statements for more rapid building of models. With the Syntax Guide feature, this feature provides support for correct syntactic construction of logic similar to the support in the Logic Builder. On the left side of the logic window is the statements pane, which displays the valid functions and statements from which you can construct the logic.

Logic Window

The logic window displays the logic you have typed within it and the order in which it will be executed. Logic is executed from top to bottom each time this particular logic is called during simulation.
Type the logic directly into the portion of the window immediately below the toolbar. You can edit the logic as you would with most any text editor.
To check for correct syntax of your logic, simulate your model.

Logic Toolbar

The toolbar allows you to manipulate the lines of logic in the window. You must first select a line of logic, or multiple lines, in the logic window before using most of the buttons in the toolbar.

The first three buttons (from the left) in the toolbar allow you to cut (CTRL+X), copy (CTRL+C), and paste (CTRL+V) lines of logic in the logic window.
The next two buttons allow you to undo (CTRL+Z) and redo (CTRL+Y) changes made to your logic.
The next two buttons allow you to "outdent" and indent selected lines of logic, respectively. This feature can help in formatting the code to make it more structured and readable.
The next two buttons allow you to comment out and uncomment selected lines of logic. When you "comment out" a line of logic, it will not be executed. Process Simulator will ignore any lines of logic that have been commented out with double slashes (//).
The next button allows you to toggle the display of line numbers, on or off, within the logic window.
The next button allows you to open or close the statements pane, which displays the valid functions and statements.
The last button (the rightmost) causes the Process Simulator User Guide to appear.