Composite Equipment Types make building models faster, easier and more consistent. The concept is very simple. Most equipment have component parts that are also equipment, in and of themselves. For example, a batch tank probably has an inlet valve and an outlet valve. Valves are equipment in their own right, and have attributes associated with them such as run state, pressure rating, and possibly static information such as manufacturer name, part number, and last maintenance date. If your system has an inlet valve equipment type in it, you can add it as a Child equipment type to an existing equipment type, e.g., the Batch Tank type. Now, anytime you create an equipment instance of the Batch Tank, the inlet valve will automatically be included. All you need to do is wire it up, i.e., pick the tag (or other data source). With Composite Equipment Types, you don't need to add an inlet valve to every batch tank instance that you create.
You can also add an inlet valve equipment type to a different piece of equipment or on its own, separate from the batch tank. The type will still contain all of its attributes. You will need to wire it up and insert any other information such as pressure rating, etc.
To add a Child equipment type, select the Parent equipment in the Equipment Types grid and click the add (+) icon in the toolbar. You will see two choices: Add to the Top Level, which means add a new, independent equipment type, or Add to [parent equipment name eg. Batch Tank]. Select [parent equipment name] you are adding the Child to. Complete the Add Child Type dialog; select the equipment type that you want to add to your Parent equipment using the Equipment Type selector, and choose the equipment type to include. You have now built a composite equipment type.
Composite equipment types have useful propagation rules:
- You can create a new equipment type from an existing composite equipment type.
- The new equipment type will inherit all child equipment and attributes.
- You can add existing equipment types to a composite equipment type.
- Existing equipment based on the composite equipment type will automatically inherit all new child equipment from the type where there is no name conflict.
- You can create new equipment from composite equipment types.
- The new equipment will inherit all child equipment.
- You cannot alter any type from the ThinkIQ Base Library. To alter these types in any way, you must first create a new Equipment Type that inherits from a ThinkIQ Base Library type, and then alter your new type in any way you need.
Composite equipment types also have deletion rules:
- When deleting a parent equipment, all child equipment will be deleted.
- When deleting parent equipment type, all type to child type references will be deleted.
- In each situation, the user is warned about what will be deleted.