LEGION Model Builder Help

Switching Between Target and Filtering

Some Spatial Objects can operate as Target objects that accept links, or as Filtering objects that selectively affect passing Entities. These objects are:

  • Level Exit
  • Waiting Zone
  • Stair
  • Escalator

Their Target or Filtering state is set when they are built, but sometimes they are wrongly set, or their purpose changes as a model develops. Also, models that use Final Destinations are generally easier to build and more flexible than models in which everything is linked. So, the ability to switch these objects’ Target or Filtering states makes it simpler to adapt models, in such cases.

Switching a Target object to a Filtering object affects:

  • Anything linked to it, as those links will be deleted.
  • Anything filtering for it by target, as the object will be removed from the filter.

Details of these effects are given in the switching process, and changes caused by Target and Filtering state switches are added to the Undo list, so can be reversed.

To Switch a Target Object to its Filtering State:

Note: For objects supporting both states of operation
  1. Right-click on the object in the Workspace or Object Directory.
    1. In the Workspace context menu, select Switch <type> to Filtering: <object name>, where <type> is the object type and <object name> is its name:
    2. Or, in the Object Directory context menu, select Switch to Filtering:
  2. If switching will affect other objects, a dialog box lists them:
    1. The Selected “object”, current state (Target or Filtering) and new state (Filtering or Target) are shown.
    2. The Links from list shows objects that currently link to the selected object, as their links will be deleted from the model.
    3. The Target filters in list shows all objects referring to the selected object in a Target filter, as it will be removed from those filters.
    4. Cancelling at this stage will abort the switch, leaving the model unchanged.
    5. e. If no objects are affected, the dialog is not shown.
  3. Percentage links from affected linking objects may affect less than 100% of their departing demand, in which case a notification dialog is shown, with options for corrective action:
    1. Links may be left as they are, leaving unassigned Entities to revert to Final Destinations (or if undefined, removed from simulation) and warnings on QA, or
    2. The remaining percentage can be distributed proportionally across remaining links, so they total 100%.
    3. The dialog appears for affected objects whose percentage links are less than 100%. Tick Apply to all to use the same option for all affected objects.
  4. The selected object is switched to Filtering state, and any affected objects are modified.

To Switch a Filtering Object to Target State

  1. Right-click on the object in the Workspace, or Object Directory.
    1. In the Workspace context menu, select Switch <type> to Target: <object name>, where <type> is the object type and <object name> is its name:
    2. Or, in the Object Directory context menu, select Switch to Target:
  2. The object is switched to its Target state and as only it is affected, no confirmation dialogs are needed.

To Switch Multiple Objects Between Target or Filtering State

  1. Select the desired objects in the Object Directory. (This cannot be done in the Workspace.)
    1. Selected object may be of different types.
    2. Selected objects may have different Target and Filtering states.
  2. Right-click on one of the selected objects.
  3. Choose the Switch Target/Filtering State option:
  4. If switching a selected object affects any other objects, the confirmation dialog is shown.
    1. The dialog is shown again, successively, for all selections that affect other objects.
    2. Cancelling prevents the current and remaining objects from switching.
      1. If more than one selection will affect other objects, a message next to the OK and Cancel buttons indicates this.
      2. Only the current and subsequent selections are cancelled. Previously accepted selections are still switched, but this can be undone.
  5. As before, if switching from Target to Filtering, percentage links of linking objects may apply to less than 100% of their departing demand. If so, the corrective actions dialog is shown.

Switch Information

The Output Bar records the object being switched, any objects this affects, and (for switches to Filtering) how many percentage-linking objects were, or were not, corrected.

Messages naming an object are hyperlinked to that object’s Parameters tabs in its Edit dialog.

Parent topic: Linking and Filtering