The FILEX method is a method similar to that of digesteur. It allows to send to a third-party application the data collected on the model (the commands U, the controlled variables Y, the setpoints YT and the measures Z) and to retrieve commands U to be applied to the system and calculated by the third application.

At each regulation time step, the module writes the SIC_U.txt, SIC_Y.txt, SIC_YT.txt, SIC_Z.txt files comprising, respectively, the commands, the controlled variables, the setpoints and the measures. The write format is F12.5 with one line per variable.

After writing these 4 files, the module writes a file SIC_GO.txt indicating to the third-party application that it can read the 4 data files. The third-party application must then delete the SIC_GO.txt file, read the data files, overwrite the SIC_U.txt file with the new commands and write a SIC_OK.txt file to tell SIC that it can read the SIC_U.txt file.

During this time, the FILEX module checks the presence of the SIC_OK.txt file, and if it is present, it erases the SIC_OK.txt file and reads the SIC_U.txt file. The commands read in the file are then used as is.

This module contains two specific parameters:

• The waiting time between each loop verifying the presence of SIC_OK.txt (by default 0.1 seconds)
• The maximum waiting time to check the presence of SIC_OK.txt. If the file is not present after this time, the simulation is stopped (by default 120 seconds)

Example of a SIC_Y.txt file produced by the FILEX module for 4 variables controlled and read by the third-party application:

Example of a SIC_U.txt file produced by the third-party application for 4 control variables and read by the FILEX module: