14—Profile Library Editor

14 Profile Library Editor

The Profile Library Editor enables you to create and maintain traffic and other
types of profile data. A profile, in the most generic sense, is an attribute value
that specifies a vector of x-y value pairs, labels for the x and y axes, and an
optional start time.

Profile attributes are suitable for specifying any type of data set in which a given
input (x value) results in exactly one output (y value). The most common use in
is for specifying traffic levels in demand objects, where

• Each x value defines an interval of simulation time (in seconds, minutes or

some other measure), and

• Each corresponding y value defines the rate of traffic (in bits/sec,

packets/sec or some other measure) during that interval

Profile libraries make it easy to group and share related profiles. For example,
you can import traffic flows from an external program or data file, and collect all
the resulting profiles (one per traffic flow) in a single library. You can then share
this library among different projects and scenarios.

Profile Library Editor

To open the Profile Library Editor, choose File > New (to create a new library)
or File > Open (to open an existing library); then choose Profile Library from the
pull-down menu.

To edit a specific profile, click in the Values field for that profile.

Figure 14-1 Profile Library Editor

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 14—Profile Library Editor

Menu Operations
The Profile Editor provides operations for creating and editing profile libraries.
You access these operations from the menu bar, which contains the following
menus:

Table 14-1 Profile Library Editor Menus

Menu Description Reference

File Contains operations that relate to File Menu on page ER-2-2

high-level functions such as opening,
closing and saving files; specifying model
libraries; and exiting the program.

Edit Choosing Edit > Add Profile creates a Edit Menu on page ER-2-5
new, empty profile in the current profile
library. To view and edit your global
preferences, choose Edit > Preferences.

Windows Lists all open editor windows and allows Windows Menu on
you to make one active. page ER-2-7

Help Provides access to context-sensitive Help Menu on page ER-2-8

help, the product documentation and
tutorials, and information about the
program.

Note—The editor menus on your machine may vary from those described here,
particularly if there has been any UI customization.

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Profile Editor
The Profile Editor appears when you choose Edit > Add Profile (to add a new
profile to the current library) or when you click in the Values field of an existing
profile (to edit an existing profile). You use this window to specify the x-y axes
and the value pairs that make up the profile.

Figure 14-2 Profile Editor

For more information, see:

• Editing a Profile Manually

• Importing and Exporting Profile Data

Editing a Profile Manually

To edit a profile manually, do the following steps:

Procedure 14-1 Editing a Profile Manually

1 Open the profile you want to edit in the Profile Editor:

• To edit a profile attribute: In the Edit Attributes dialog box, click in the Value field
for the attribute; then choose Edit from the pull-down menu.

• To create and edit a new profile in a profile library: Choose Edit > Add Profile in
the Profile Library Editor. This opens the newly-created profile in the Profile
Editor.

2 Specify a profile name, if desired, in the Profile Name field.

3 Enter labels for the x and y axes in the X Unit and Y Unit fields. This step is required
only if you are defining a profile from the Profile Library Editor window. If you are
editing an existing attribute (for example, “traffic intensity (packets/sec)”), these
labels are already defined.

4 (optional) Specify a uniform interval for the x axis. The Uniform X Intervals
checkbox and X Step field allow you to specify uniform time intervals for the profile.

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 14—Profile Library Editor

5 (optional) Select the Use start time checkbox and specify a start time for the profile
data. The profile start time, together with the network start time, controls when in a
simulation the profile data is applied. If a profile doesn’t have a start time, it is
assumed to begin at the network start time.

6 Enter the x-y values. To do this, click in the first empty row in the table; then enter
x-value (left) and y-value (right) values in each field. The graph on the right
automatically updates to reflect the value pairs you enter.

If you specified a uniform time step (that is, if the Uniform X Intervals checkbox is
enabled), the x value (by definition this is last_x_value + x_interval_size) is
automatically specified. To specify a value that is not a multiple of the time step,
disable the Uniform X Intervals checkbox.

7 Click OK to close the Profile dialog box.

End of Procedure 14-1

Importing and Exporting Profile Data

You can import and export profile data using the Export and Import buttons. You
can export and import data using either ASCII text (.txt) or comma-separated
value (.csv) files.

Import Requirements
A data file for a profile should describe one and only one vector of value pairs.
You should ensure that the imported data measured fits the attribute. For
example, If you are importing into an attribute called “Flow Intensity
(bits/second)”, you should ensure that the data you are importing describes
traffic in bits per second, not packets per second or some other measure.

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Figure 14-3 shows the required file format for your traffic data.

Figure 14-3 Profile Data File Format

seconds bits/second
0.0 44,736,000
3,600 0.0
x header 7,200 22,053,000 y header
and 10,800 17,934,000 and
values 14,400 35,209,000 values

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