Configuring the Database Lookup

You can control how application components handle database lookup.

Related Topics
About Database Lookup

  1. Select the component whose properties you want to edit, and click the Properties button on the Component Title Bar.

  2. From the Properties dialog box, click the Execution tab.

  3. If necessary, click Enable to specify how the component participates in database lookup. The Enable button is available only if the model is not set to allow database lookup.

    The Confirm Enabling Database Lookup dialog box appears.

  4. Determine how you want to use results.

    • Click Yes to use results from the current job and all previous jobs.

    • Click No to use results from the current job only.

  5. Specify how the component restores runs:

    Option Description
    Do not restore any runs The component always executes. This option is useful in cases where data are being passed to this component that would affect the input-output relationship.
    Restore only successful runs This is the default option because it is assumed that if the run failed, it was caused by some external or transient cause that may be corrected when this later execution occurs.
    Restore runs whether successful or not There are cases when you want to restore failed runs. For example, you may want to restore an application component that fails with certain inputs. This often occurs when exploring design spaces with exploratory techniques and with very input-sensitive simcodes. It is not uncommon for these simcodes to run for a long time before failing and then fail every time for a given input set. In this case it is beneficial to restore failed runs to avoid needlessly executing the simcode.

  6. Click Advanced to change the database lookup Compatibility Version number.

    You can use the Compatibility Version number to indicate some change in the component configuration that will cause all prior run data to be ineligible for use by database lookup. The default is 1, and it can be incremented to indicate an incompatible change.

    During the development of a model, a single component may be edited that causes its input/output relationship to change (e.g., updating an external binary simcode.exe or updating a calculation equation). If this occurs, you must change the compatibility version number.

    Tip: You may find it helpful to use the change date as the Compatibility Version number. Using the date (e.g., 20100310) is easy to understand months later. In addition, if the Compatibility Version number corresponds to the last modified date for any associated executable program, it will be easy to verify that it is still correct.

  7. Click OK to save your changes and to close the Properties dialog box.