	Related Topics:
	Importing and Exporting

Importing from Previous Versions of BlockSim

There are two ways you can use data from previous versions of BlockSim: you can convert the original file into a new standard database, or you can import its contents into the current database and project.

The following file types can be converted or imported:

BlockSim 7 projects (*.rbp)
BlockSim 6 projects (*.rb6)

You can convert these files by choosing File > Open Repository. If you prefer to import items from the older version ReliaSoft file types mentioned above into the current database and project instead of creating a new database, you can select the Other file option in the Import Wizard.

In both cases:

In the Open window that appears, choose BlockSim 7 Project or BlockSim 6 Project in the Files of type field, then browse for the desired project and click Open.

The Conversion Settings window will appear. This window allows you to specify how the data from the older BlockSim project should be converted, and what should be created in the new Synthesis repository.

The first step is to decide whether you want to create analytical diagrams, simulation diagrams or both for each diagram in the older BlockSim project. If you were interested only in analytical results in the original project, then you would create only analytical diagrams in the new version; similarly, if you were performing only simulation and were not interested in the analytical results, then you would create only simulation diagrams in the new version. If you want access to all types of results, select to create both analytical and simulation diagrams in the new version.

In previous versions of BlockSim, many properties were defined for individual blocks instead of being assigned to reusable resources, as they are in BlockSim 8. Because of this, the same information may have been defined in multiple locations in the original project. For example, if two blocks in the project had the same failure distribution, that distribution was defined separately for each block. When you convert the original project for use in BlockSim 8, this kind of situation results in identical resource records being created. In the lower part of the Conversion Settings window, you can select resource types for which you would like to merge identical resource records. This can significantly reduce the number of resources that you will need to manage in the converted project.

The default settings for whether identical records will be merged for each of these resource types are set on the Conversion page of the Application Setup. Note that any changes you make to the settings in the Conversion Settings window will change the defaults that are saved in the Application Setup.

Please refer to Conversion from Previous Versions of BlockSim: Constraints and Differences for detailed information on how and why the results obtained in BlockSim 8 may differ from those obtained in previous versions.

IMPORTANT: The load on contained load sharing blocks is calculated differently in version 8. Because of this, if you convert a diagram that uses load sharing containers from version 7 to version 8, you will need to manually configure the contained load sharing blocks in version 8.

Note: In previous versions, time units were not specified, but were assumed to be consistent throughout the analysis. In Version 8, units are now defined for the entire database and can be modified. When a project from a previous version is imported, all values are assumed to use the default time unit.