Setting the Execution Options

Execution options include setting the model runtime directory, the fixed seed, the database lookup method, the default job expiration, and an affinity check.

  1. From the Design Gateway or from the Runtime Gateway, select a model.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • From the Design Gateway Edit menu, select Model Properties.

      Tip: You can also click the button next to the model selector.

    • From the Runtime Gateway, click the button next to the model selector.

  3. Click the Execution tab.

  4. If desired, enter the Model runtime directory where you want all work items to execute.

    Isight then checks to see if any components in the model have their execution directories explicitly set. If they do, Isight prompts you to specify whether or not you want to override the setting with the model level setting.

    In addition, the Create sub-directories option becomes available, and Isight creates a sub-directory under the execution directory for each work item. Sub-directories are useful for parallel execution and to debug the model. The Create sub-directories option is activated by default when you specify a Model runtime directory unless you have changed your preferences as described in Setting Gateway Preferences.

  5. If desired, select Use a fixed seed to manually set the seed in the corresponding text box.

    If this option is not selected, the seed is determined randomly. If you are using database lookup and you want to verify that all runs were replaced by lookup runs in the second execution of the job, you must enter a fixed seed. For information about seeds, see About Seeds.

    You can also set the seed value for individual process components using the component editor’s General tab as described in the Isight Component Guide. The component-level seed setting always overrides the model-level setting.

    Note: This model property setting can be overruled on a per-execution basis using the Configure and Run option (see Accessing the Job Database Interface).

  6. If desired, change the Database Lookup Mode.

    Isight has the capability, prior to executing an application component, to examine all past executions (or only those within the current job) of the application component to find out if this component has been run with this exact set of input values. For more information, see About Database Lookup.

    1. Select one of the following to set the database lookup mode for the current model:

      Choice Description
      Do not reuse prior runs (execute all components) Select this option to execute all components in the current model. By default, this option is selected.
      Reuse prior runs only within current job Select this option to limit the database lookup coming from prior executions of the component that were run by this job. This option limits the scope of the lookup, which reduces its effectiveness but protects the lookup integrity from external changes, such as the simcode.exe being replaced by a newer version.
      Reuse prior runs from all compatible jobs Select this option to limit the lookups to any derivative (i.e., saved or copied version) of the original model that has the same model name (as specified using the Model Properties). Changing the model name indicates that there is some incompatibility between all prior data or that this model is being altered to perform some unrelated work.

    2. If you selected to reuse prior runs (either within the current job or from all compatible jobs), you can choose to Ignore all File Parameters when performing lookups.

      These model property settings can be overruled on a per-execution basis using the Configure and Run (see Accessing the Job Database Interface).

  7. If desired, select Customize Model to activate or deactivate any model customization you have created.

  8. If desired, select Edit Customization Script to use a scripting language (Python or Dynamic Java) to create customization scripts for the model. For more information, see Customizing Models.

  9. If desired, choose a new setting for the Default Job Expiration to override the general preference set for all models. This property determines the length of time before a job should be marked as expired in the Isight database. Isight provides the capability to easily delete all expired jobs, which helps to clean up and minimize the size of your database. The following options are available for setting the expiration date for jobs:

    Option Description
    # of days after start Select this option to specify the number of days to wait before marking a job as expired.
    Do not expire Select this option to never mark the jobs as expired.
    Set from user preference This default option uses the general execution preference set in the Isight Preferences dialog box. See Setting Execution Preferences.

    Note: Isight never automatically deletes jobs from the database. Marking jobs as expired simply provides a mechanism for easily finding and deleting jobs that are apparently not important for long-term archiving. For the purpose of managing the size of your database, it is recommended that you set a default number of days before expiration in your preferences, and individually remove the expiration setting for any jobs that you feel you might want to keep indefinitely.

  10. In a SIMULIA Execution Engine environment, determine how you want the job to proceed when mismatched affinities are found:

    Option Description
    Check affinity but continue on mismatch Select this option to continue executing the job even if mismatched affinities are found. The affinity details appear in the job log.
    Check affinity and terminate on mismatch Select this option to terminate the job execution when a mismatched affinity is found. An error message appears indicating the mismatched affinity.

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