Pipeline Pilot Tutorial - Beginners21
Pipeline Pilot Tutorial - Beginners21
You can view, create modify and run protocols. When you run Pipelines
protocols, you may need to fix errors (debug), especially if you When constructing a protocol, you place components in the order that
change parameter values at run time. The results are usually available they need to process your data. Each component needs to be
for you to view after the protocol execution is complete. connected to the next one with one or more pipes. Data moves from
one component to the next through a series of pipes in left-to-right
Note: As an end user, you can create, run, and save your own
order. Collectively, the series of pipes is known as a pipeline. The
personal protocols to your ―User Name‖ tab. You can also access
pipes connect components via their data ports.
shared protocols and change parameter values at run time. Protocol
designers can customize components and protocols, and then publish A protocol can include one or more pipelines. Each pipeline can be
them on your server for use by end users. simple or complex, is numbered sequentially, and is executed from
top-to-bottom order (the next pipeline starts when the previous one is
complete). You can drag and drop components into the workspace
and move them around by adding new pipes and branching data in
different directions.
2. From the Components tab in the Explorer window, type ―del‖ in 4. Select the red icon and look in the Parameters window (lower-
the Search bar. The ―Readers‖ folder opens and highlights the first right). The Source parameter tells the component what data to use
component that matches the search criteria —Delimited Text and where it is located. It is displayed in red to alert you that it
Reader. This component reads tab-, space-, and comma-delimited needs a value.
text files.
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5. Select the Source parameter by clicking (right side of parameter Note that the parameter name is now displayed in black, and the icon
name). The Select Sources dialog opens. From here, you can select in the workspace is displayed in blue, since the required value is now
the data source to use with the reader. defined for this component.
6. There is a quick way to find files that work with this reader. Select
the Shortcuts icon on left side of the dialog. The main folders of
files you can select on the server are listed.
7. Open the ―Generic Data‖ folder and ―Tables‖ subfolder, choose
the ―Selwood.tab‖ file from the list of files, and then click Select.
The Parameters window is updated and reveals the file you selected
to use for the Source parameter.
Search bar is displayed in orange when it cannot locate a search term
(possibly due to a typo)
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2. Change the search text to ―excel‖ and press F3 repeatedly until the 5. In Name, type ―Lesson1‖ and click OK. (By default, the new
Excel Viewer component is highlighted. protocol is saved to your ―User Name‖ tab.)
3. Drag and drop the Excel Viewer into the workspace so it is
connected to the reader component in the pipeline. Next Lesson: Finding and Opening a Protocol
Lesson 3
Finding and Opening a Protocol
Objective: The previous lesson showed you how to use the Search bar
in the Explorer window to quickly locate components. This lesson
shows you how to use the Search bar in different ways to find and
open a protocol.
The protocol you need to open is stored in a subfolder. The quickest
way to find it is to search for it.
To search for and open the sample protocol:
1. From the Explorer window, select the Protocols tab.
New protocol with Delimited Text Reader and Excel Viewer components 2. Look for the folder ―SciTegic Examples‖. This is where all the
example protocols you can run are located.
4. Click Save Protocol . The Save Protocol dialog opens.
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3. In the Search bar, type ―sort‖. The Explorer highlights the first item
that matches the search criteria.
Flat mode search results list all files without folder hierarchy
4. Press F3. The Search feature finds the next file that matches your
search string. In this example, it highlights the next example
protocol directly below the one found in the initial search.
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7. The yellow box displayed underneath the pipeline is a sticky note.
In addition to what the protocol reference help provides (Help
window in lower-left), the sticky note provides extra information
to help you better work with the protocol. Take a moment to read
the sticky note and get familiar with the protocol details.
8. Click in the blank area of the workspace and then select the Help
window (lower-left). This window displays reference help about
the protocol. Take a moment to read the help and get more
familiar with the protocol.
9. Select the Read auto data icon in the workspace and then click the
Help window. Help about the selected data reader component is
displayed. Take a moment to read this information.
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Lesson 4 After the protocol runs, HTML reports are generated your browser.
The output should look something like this:
Running a Protocol and Viewing
Results
Objective: This lesson is intended to help you run a sample protocol
and view the resulting data. Once open, the protocol Sort Data
Example is ready to run.
To run the protocol:
1. Click Run Protocol . The protocol job is sent to your server for
processing. The workspace indicates the number of records
processed as the data flows throughout the pipeline. It should
look something like this:
Sort Data example protocol running in the workspace. Data counters indicate
number of records leaving Pass and Fail ports (enclosed in red boxes for this tutorial
illustration).
Note: There are two reports in the output because there were two
pipes for output in the protocol. One report sorts the data by
horsepower, and the other by price.
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Whenever you run a protocol, your client issues a ―job‖ to the server. Lesson 5
Pipeline Pilot includes a Jobs window (lower-left) that tracks the
protocols that you run and provides job details, including the results Customizing an Existing Protocol
of a job (even after it is completed). You can easily retrieve the results
Objective: This lesson shows you how to customize an existing
of jobs you ran previously from this window, without having to
protocol by getting familiar with the data properties used with a data
re-run the job. This is especially useful if you run any protocols that
source, changing parameter settings that manipulate the data, and
take considerable time to process. Having a quick and easy way to
finally, replacing the components that generate the output for the
access the results saves you time.
protocol.
To view protocol job results:
To select data properties for a source file:
1. Click the Jobs window.
1. Open the protocol Sort Data Example. If you just completed the
2. Expand the job listing by clicking . The result files are displayed previous lesson, this protocol should be open in the workspace.
as links. Clicking a link opens the result file, in this case, it opens
the .htm report files in a browser. The ―Finished‖ status indicates 2. Select the first component icon, Read auto data.
that the job was successful. 3. From the Parameters tab, open the Source parameter group by
clicking . The parameters contained in this group are exposed
(Maximum, SourceTag, Keep Properties, and HasColumnNames).
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When selecting data sources for reader components, you can find 8. Scroll across the source properties and make a note of all the ones
out which data properties the records contain to get an idea of that are available for this data source (―imports-85.txt‖). There are
what you can do with the data in downstream components. You numerous properties. When specifying the properties to use in
can also include and exclude data properties. Excluded properties your data records, you can discard any unnecessary ones from
are not used by the component when it reads the data source. being read into the pipeline from this dialog.
5. Select the Keep Properties parameter by clicking . The Source 9. Select the column headers for ―losses‖ then click (Discard). The
Preview dialog opens. By default, this dialog shows properties dialog is updated and the losses properties are moved to the
only for the first five data records. Discarded list on the right side.
6. Change the number of data records to preview to ―100‖, and then 10. Discard the ―fuel‖ property. The dialog should look something
click Reload. The preview list is updated to display 100 records. like this, with the two discarded data properties:
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Keep Properties exposes the data properties that are used for “imports-85.txt”
Now that you’ve had a chance to get familiar with the data properties
available in the data source, you can get a better idea of how they are
used by other components in a protocol.
To select data properties in a downstream component:
1. From the workspace, select the second component in the pipeline,
Keep only a few properties. It keeps only those properties you
specify for each incoming data record, which is another way to
include or exclude properties after the data is read into the
String that specifies the properties to keep
pipeline.
2. From the Parameters tab, select the Expression parameter for this 4. For this lesson, you can leave the PilotScript expression intact, but
component by clicking . An expression editor opens. keep in mind how you access the expression editor. (In later
lessons, you can learn more about how to edit expressions and
3. Make a note of all the property names that are used in the string.
work with PilotScript functions.)
They match the names displayed in the Source Preview dialog.
This expression tells the component which properties to keep and 5. Click Cancel to close the editor.
which ones to exclude. The existing protocol sorts data by horsepower and by price. For this
lesson, you can change this sort criteria.
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To change parameter values for sorting: Your protocol should look something like this:
1. Select the component Sort Data by horsepower and change the
following parameters:
Parameter Value
Property 1 ―Make‖
Sort Order ―Ascending‖
Sort As ―Text‖
The Parameters window should look something like this when the
parameter values are updated:
Excel Viewers attached to Sort Data components
6. For the top Excel Viewer component, set the WorkSheetName value
to ―Sorted by Make‖. In the Excel output, the worksheet tab will
display this label.
2. Click the label for this component in the workspace and change
the text to ―Sort Data by Make.‖ (What you type should replace
what is highlighted in the label.)
3. Customize the Sort Data by price component in the lower branch so
it sorts data by ―numdoors‖ in ascending order, as text. Rename
the label ―Sort Data by NumDoors‖.
4. Remove both Table components, Tile Horizontal, and the HTML
Report Viewer components from the pipeline. (Press and hold
CTRL as you click each icon and then press DELETE.)
5. Attach Excel Viewer components to the end of each Sort Data Parameters for Excel Viewer component
component.
Tip: Click Show/Hide Sticky Notes to hide the sticky note (so
you can more easily view all the component icons and their labels).
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7. Customize the bottom Excel Viewer component so it generates a 9. Run the protocol to view the results. The output for the first
worksheet named ―Sorted by Number of Doors‖. worksheet ―Sorted by Number of Doors‖ should look something
like this:
Note: When the data records exit the second component in the
pipeline, these sort components sort the data by make and number of
doors, rather than by horsepower and price. The viewers will reflect
this when the output is generated.
8. Save this protocol to your ―UserName‖ tab as ―CustomProtocol‖
(so you can use it again in the next lesson).
Protocol output for customized Sort Data example
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Lesson 6 3. The Export dialog opens. In Save In, navigate to the drive and
folder where you want to save the XML file.
Exporting a Protocol
Tip: Click Create New Folder to export the XML file in a new
Objective: This lesson shows you how to save a protocol in a different directory.
way by exporting it as an XML file. You can export the protocol you
created in the previous lesson (―CustomProtocol‖). This is useful for
creating extra copies of your files, so you can access them from
different client systems, such as your laptop computer.
Note: The files you export are saved in XML format. To open an
exported file, you need to import it to your ―User Name‖ tab on the
client where you are doing your work.
When you save a protocol to your ―UserName‖ tab, the file is saved in
the protocol database where all other components and protocols
reside. This database is located on your server.
You can also save copies of the protocol to other locations such as
your local hard drive or a CD, by exporting the protocol.
To export a protocol:
1. From your ―User Name‖ tab in the Explorer window, search for
―CustomProtocol‖.
2. Right-click the file and select Export.
Exporting a protocol as an XML file to a local drive
4. By default, the XML file is saved with the same name as the
original file, in this case, ―CustomProtocol‖. Feel free to change
the name or save it as is.
5. Click Save. Your protocol is saved to the target location as an XML
file.
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Tip: This lesson demonstrates how to export a single file, but Accelrys Technical Support
you can also export multiple files and even entire folders. When
exporting multiple files, press and hold CTRL and click each If you have any problems or questions, contact Accelrys Technical
filename, then right-click and select Export to Folder. When Support:
exporting an entire folder, right-click the folder and then select
Export Folder. Pipeline Pilot Enterprise Server and Professional Client
EMAIL: [email protected]
If you’ve made it this far, you have completed all the lessons in the
Beginner’s Tutorial. You now may have a basic understanding of how ONLINE SUPPORT: http://accelrys.com/services/support.html
Pipeline Pilot works. Congratulations!
To learn more tasks and get familiar with PilotScript, continue with AMERICAS: M–F 6:00 AM – 5:30 PM (PST)
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