What is an Element Template?

Sigmafine Models are built with elements that are based on Element Templates. These templates have all the necessary Attributes and properties for the role of an Element in a Model and Model analysis. You can create instances of an Element by basing those instances on the configured template. Figure 100 shows Element templates selected in the System Explorer Library.

Template usage can be very specific, as in defining a precise type of measurement device (such as a brand-name instrument), or very-broad as in specifying a particular role in a model (such as a liquid mass meter). The Element templates that ship with Sigmafine are broad-use templates.

For example, the Sigmafine Element template "SF_ReceiptPointTemplate" is a general template for any material entering a facility. Instances of this template might include these objects.

• Dock A, Dock B, Dock C
• Truck Scale 1
• Pipeline XYZ
• Railcar

Element templates also specify the ports for an element. Ports are the locations where an Element connects to the model. They also define a flow direction which determines inputs and outputs from the element.

Use of the Attributes for Sigmafine Element templates depend upon the requirements of the Sigmafine analysis plug-ins; Data References and Analysis Rules. The preconfigured Sigmafine templates are designed to work with these plug-ins. See Customizing Element Templates Overview for guidelines on creating custom Element templates.