RBD Blocks Pane
The RBD Blocks pane displays a table with information about the blocks in either the active diagram or all diagrams. The Filter by RBD Diagram Selection command, which appears on both the Filter menu and the window’s shortcut menu, determines the blocks that are shown in this table.
• When this command is selected (default), the RBD Blocks table displays only the blocks in the diagram that is selected in the RBD Table. A checkmark appears to the left of this command when it is selected or turned on.
• When this command is cleared, the RBD Blocks table displays all blocks in all diagrams.
Repeatedly selecting this command switches between having the RBD Blocks table display all blocks in all diagrams and only the blocks in the active diagram.
The Table Format file for the RBD Blocks table determines the data fields that appear in it. The following table describes the fields that appear by default. These fields are a subset of the properties shown in a block’s Calculation Properties window. For more information, see Block Calculation Properties. If a block is linked to some other item in the System file, such as an assembly or part in the System Tree Items table, some fields in the RBD Blocks table are display-only. The values for these fields are retrieved from the linked item. For more information, see Data Links.
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Field
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Description
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Identifier
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The unique identifier assigned to the block. While an identifier is assigned to a block when you insert it, you can change it to any unique value. The format for the assigned identifier is specified by RBD Block Identifier, which appears under Identifiers in the System file properties. For more information, see Identifiers System File Properties. This field is also shown on the General page in the block’s Calculation Properties window.
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Assembly
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The name assigned to the block. This field is also shown on the General page in the block’s Calculation Properties window.
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Part Number
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The part number assigned to the block. This field is also shown on the General page in the Calculation Properties window for the block.
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Diagram
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The name of the diagram in which the block appears.
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Failure Distribution
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The distribution to use to model failure times when the component is in operation. The default is Exponential with a failure rate of 0. When you click in this field, a browse button appears. Clicking it opens the Distribution window, where you select the distribution and specify input parameters. If the block is linked to another item in the System file, this field is display-only because the failure rate information for the component comes from the item to which the block is linked. This field is also shown on the Failure page in the block’s Calculation Properties window.
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Quantity
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The total number of units present in the system. The default is 1. For Redundancy Type to be available, the quantity must be greater than 1. This field is also shown on the Redundancy page in the block’s Calculation Properties window.
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Redundancy Type
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The type of redundancy when the quantity is greater than 1. Choices are described in Redundancy Types. The type that you select determines what other options become available. This field is also shown on the Redundancy page in the block’s Calculation Properties window.
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Quantity Required
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The number of units required for operation. This field is available when the quantity is greater than 1 and the redundancy type is other than series (which has no redundancy). To indicate redundancy, the number of units required for operation must be less than the total number of units present in the system. For example, to have a one-out-of-two (1::2) parallel redundancy, you enter 2 for Quantity and 1 for Quantity Required. This field is also shown on the Redundancy page in the block’s Calculation Properties window.
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Component is Repairable or Replaceable
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Indicates if the component is repairable or replaceable. When this checkbox is cleared (default), the component is not repairable or replaceable. When it is selected, the component is repairable or replaceable. This checkbox is also shown on the Corrective Maintenance page in the block’s Calculation Properties window. When it is selected here or on the Corrective Maintenance page, options for specifying repair and/or replacement information become available.
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Restoration Time
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The distribution to use to model the repair time. This field is available when the Component is Repairable or Replaceable is selected. When you click in this field, a browse button appears. Clicking it opens the Distribution window, where you select the distribution, specify input parameters, and supply a renewal percentage. This field is also shown on the Corrective Maintenance page in the Calculation Properties window for the block.
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In the figure shown earlier in this topic, the RBD Blocks table for the Tablet PC Sample Project displays the default fields for the RBD Blocks table. However, the Quantity Required column has been reordered to appear before the Redundancy Type column.
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To have different fields appear in the RBD Blocks table, you can modify the default Table Format file for this table (Table Format (RBD Blocks)). This is very easily done using the Format Builder. For more information, see Using the Format Builder to Modify an Enabled Table.
If you define custom prompts for these fields in the Project’s Data Definition, these custom prompts are shown in both the RBD Blocks table and Calculation Properties window. For more information, see Data Definition Files.
When you are working with phase diagrams, component identifiers identify the blocks that are the same across the phases in the phase diagram. Consequently, in the RBD Blocks table, you might want to see all diagrams in which blocks have the same component identifiers. To do this, you would use the Format Builder to insert Component ID in this table and then clear the checkmark for the Filter by RBD Diagram Selection command on the Filter menu so that all blocks in all diagrams are shown.
For all independent blocks, which are blocks that are not data-linked to other items in the System file, you can make modifications directly to the data in the RBD Blocks table. All changes you make in this table are immediately made in the Calculation Properties windows for the blocks. Conversely, any changes you make in the Calculation Properties window for the blocks are immediately made in the RBD Blocks table.
When you click Failure Distribution in the RBD Blocks table, a browse button becomes available. Clicking it opens the Distribution window. If you do not want to use this window to choose a distribution and specify parameter values, you can insert Failure Distribution Type and the three Failure Parameter fields in the table so that you can view and modify these values there. You might also want to add other fields to the RBD Blocks table, such as Failure is MTBF and Failure Unit.
Repeated blocks are shown in the RBD Blocks table. Modifying the calculation properties for any occurrence of a repeated block results in modifications to the Calculation Properties windows for all occurrences of the repeated block.