FLEXTIME - Object-oriented design
Object oriented design
FLEXTIME utilizes ASC's CPC object-oriented engine as the base foundation for the package. Object-orientation provides maximum flexibility with minimal software overhead.
An object is an independent software component that has a preset functionality and maintains all of its configurations within the object structure. In the case of FLEXTIME objects, each object can contain properties (variables), methods (actions), and events (quick-scripts). New objects are created from a specific class (ie. Crane) and often have a parent-child relationship.
Types of predefined objects
FLEXTIME incorporates many pre-designed and pre-tested object classes. The following list includes some of the related classes:
Crane, Shuttle, CraneAxis, ICS5000, Station, Tank, Rectifier, DosingPump, Input, Output, Alarm, Scheduler, ScheduleRunner, ScheduleBuilder, and many others.
FLEXTIME and CPC include more than 400 different classes of objects designed and tested to meet hundreds of different equipment and application requirements.
Ease of troubleshooting
As you can see above, the object structure in FLEXTIME affords an easy interface for troubleshooting. For example, you will notice that the all elements relating to a Crane are positioned as "children" of the crane object. Here is a example object hierarchy:
Cranes---> Crane1 ---> Horizontal ---> ICS5000
This example shows how you can "drill" down in the object editor to identify a specific object element - in this case the ICS5000 positioning system object. When you click on a specific object, the object editor will show the current properties for that object. Within the object editor you can modify practically any attribute and/or control function for the system.