October 22, 2015

pSeven Runner licensing option

Updated on 18.10.2024

pSeven user interface has four separate screens, or interface modes, each of which serves different purposes. These screens represent the four general stages in a typical pSeven usage scenario:

• Create a project and prepare required source files. Depending on the task, these files can include data samples, models, input and output templates for integrated applications, scripts and other resources. In pSeven, such files are usually gathered into the project to simplify further collaboration, but in general, this is not necessary - that is, files can be stored at different locations. Projects and their contents are managed on the Workspace screen.
• Create and configure a workflow that automates data processing and collects results. Workflows are edited on the Edit screen. Workflow configuration is a set of features that allow to add parameters to the workflow and specify what data can be collected (monitored) during its run. Parameter values and monitoring settings can then be changed quickly without editing the workflow.
• Specify workflow parameters, select which data to save and run the workflow. This part of the workflow setup is done on the Run screen. When creating a new workflow, you will usually switch between Edit and Run several times to test how it works, add error handling where needed, fix errors and warnings and so on. However note that once the workflow is tested and configured properly, it can be used as a ready tool for some specific (even if complex) task. The Run screen can also show brief results or status information so they can be accessed fast without analyzing the collected data in detail.
• Post-process the data collected from the workflow. Results are managed on the Analyze screen which provides a number of tools for interactive data analysis and visualization. Results analysis can be finalized by saving a report - a special pSeven document that complements a workflow or even consolidates data from multiple workflows, representing it in an easily comprehensible form.

In practice, a disadvantage of this general usage scenario is that the third stage (that is, the final workflow run) can actually take much time. Indeed, if the workflow integrates various CAD and CAE tools, even one simulation run can last several minutes. And since such tasks as optimization or sensitivity analysis commonly require tens (if not hundreds) of simulations, total run-time will be measured in hours. During this time the pSeven process remains active and consumes a license while certain features, like workflow editing or switching to another project, are disabled for safety reasons. You can, however, switch to the Analyze screen while the workflow runs to begin with post-processing, but this option is useful only if you want to monitor new results as they appear.

Thus pSeven Runner enables the alternative usage scenario like the following:

1. Use full version of pSeven to create a project, make and test a new workflow.
2. Use pSeven Runner to add source data to the project and specify workflow run settings such as parameter values and paths to data or model files. Run the workflow one or more times, allowing pSeven to collect and store results for further analysis. While pSeven Runner executes the workflow, you can continue using the full version of pSeven to work on another project or to analyze data from previous runs.
3. Use full version of pSeven to post-process the data collected by pSeven Runner and prepare a report with final results.

Note that pSeven Runner can also be used as a simplified interface for users with less knowledge of pSeven and those software tools that are integrated into the workflow: effectively it opens workflows in read-only mode, so you can avoid the risk of accidentally changing the workflow structure or corrupting the project.

To summarize, the following table provides a comparison of features available in pSeven Ultimate license and in pSeven Runner add-on. Please, note that the comparison will be different for other license types of pSeven.

Feature	pSeven Ultimate	pSeven Runner
Basic
Workflow construction (Edit screen) Create projects and manage their contents. Edit and configure workflows: add run parameters, workflow inputs and outputs, set up data monitoring.	done
Workflow execution (Run screen) Run existing workflows in the graphical user interface or from the command line. Specify different run parameters, adjust monitoring settings. Collect and store workflow results.	done	done
Post-processing (Analyze screen) Results visualization and analysis	done
Algorithms and Run-time execution
Design of Experiments	done	done
Adaptive Design of Experiments	done	done
Design Optimization	done	done
Uncertainty Quantification	done	done
Predictive Modeling Building, evaluating and exporting models	done	done
Data Fusion	done	done
Dimension Reduction	done	done
Generic integration	done	done
Engineering tools integration	done	done
Direct CAD integration	done	done
Direct CAE integration	done	done
Custom integration	done	done
HPC interfaces	done	done