Managing Instances

You can perform the following actions:

• To add an FMU to the Function Library

• To see the origin of an FMU model

• To define the FMU location

• To delete the FMU file

• To define an instance

• To edit an instance

• To copy and paste an instance

• To import an instance

• To export an instance

• To delete an instance

To add an FMU to the Function Library

1. In the Function Library block, click the icon.

2. Select the desired file with the file extension *.fmu.

3. Click Save.

   MDA stores the FMU file in the folder C:\ProgramData\ETAS\MDA\8.7\CorePlugins\Etas.TargetAccess.VirtualTarget.

4. The FMU is loaded automatically.

The FMU file is a zipped file. It contains the model and a model description file. MDA takes the name of the model as defined in the model description file. This name may be different from the name in the FMU file. It is also possible that the same model name is used in the model description file of different FMU files.

To see the origin of an FMU model

1. Hover the mouse over an FMU entry in the Function Library.

2. A tooltip will show the name of the FMU file from which the FMU model was loaded.

To define the FMU location

1. In the Functions window, right-click the FMU model in the Function Library.

2. Click Open File in Windows Explorer.

You can also use this method to gain access to the FMU file, for example to modify its contents, or to copy the file and make it available to a colleague, etc.

To delete the FMU file

1. In the Functions window, right-click the FMU model in the Function Library.

2. Click Open File in Windows Explorer.

3. Select the FMU model and delete it.

To define an instance

1. In the Function Instances block, click the icon to create a new instance.

2. Select an entry from the Function drop-down menu.

3. For each input listed under Inputs, drag a measure signal onto the Signal field.

   For some specific functions, the number of input signals is not fixed. Then drag the desired input signals onto the  field in the Inputs block.

4. Click Save.

   A * indicates if an instance has unsaved changes.

   The function instance is stored in the MDA configuration.

5. The outputs are available in the Variable Explorer.

   You can save an instance even if you do not assign signals to all inputs. In this case, the outputs cannot be calculated.

To edit an instance

1. Select the instance in the Function Instances list.

2. You can directly edit the function in the Function Instance Definition area.

3. Click Save.

To copy and paste an instance

1. In the Function Instances field, right-click the function instance that you want to copy.

2. Select Copy.

3. Paste the function instance in the Function Instances field.

   You can paste the function instance also into another configuration.

To import an instance

Function instances are part of the configuration and can be imported accordingly. For more information, see Importing an XDX Configuration

If you are importing a function instance that uses an FMU for calculation, you need to check that the FMU file is available on the target computer.

To export an instance

Function instances are part of the configuration and therefore no explicit export is required. In this case, you need to provide the FMU file associated with the exported configuration, or create a new ZIP file containing both the FMU file and the export file. To know how you can access the FMU file, see To define the FMU location.

If you need a zipped configuration file, see To export a configuration and its files.

To delete an instance

1. Click the instance in the Function Instances list.

2. Click in the Function Instances toolbar.

   Outputs from the deleted instance which are assigned to an instrument will appear in no-match state.