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 #!Rstates Preserving Explicit State #!N #!EC #!Cbrown #!N  #!F-adobe-times-medium-r-normal--18*    #!Rxmodx641 #!N 
Graphics omitted from Online Documentation. Please see the manual. #!N #!N 
Figure 41. Example 5 #!EF #!N #!EC #!N #!N Some visualization 
applications require the retention of state from one execution to the 
next, which as discussed earlier, cannot be supported within the context 
of pure data flow. Consider, for example, the creation of a 
plot of data values at a given point while sequencing through 
a time series. The state of the plot from the prior 
execution is retrieved. It is updated by appending the new time-step 
information, and the result is then preserved by resaving the state 
of the plot for the next execution. Data Explorer provides two 
sets of tools for preserving state depending on whether the state 
needs to be preserved over one execution of the network or 
over multiple executions of the network. The tools for preserving state 
are GetLocal, SetLocal, GetGlobal, and SetGlobal. The Set tools enable you 
to save an object (in Data Explorer's cache) for access in 
a subsequent execution or iteration. The Get tools enable you to 
retrieve the object saved by the Set tools. #!N #!N You 
pair a GetLocal and SetLocal in a visual program by creating 
an arc from GetLocal's  #!F-adobe-times-bold-r-normal--18*   link #!EF output parameter to SetLocal's 
 #!F-adobe-times-bold-r-normal--18*   link #!EF input parameter. In a visual program a GetLocal 
typically appears logically above a SetLocal. When GetLocal runs, it checks 
if an object has been saved in the cache. If no 
object was saved (as would be the case if SetLocal has 
not yet run) or the  #!F-adobe-times-bold-r-normal--18*   reset #!EF parameter to GetLocal 
is set, GetLocal outputs an initial value that you can set 
using the  #!F-adobe-times-bold-r-normal--18*   initial #!EF parameter. Otherwise, GetLocal retrieves the saved 
object from the cache and outputs it. When SetLocal runs, it 
saves its input object in the cache and then indicates that 
its paired GetLocal should simply be scheduled during the next iteration 
of a loop or the next time an execution is called 
for. (Note that if GetLocal is inside a macro, it will 
be executed only if the macro needs to be executed; that 
is, if the macro's inputs have changed or there is a 
side effect module in the macro.) #!N #!N GetGlobal and SetGlobal 
are paired in the same way as GetLocal and SetLocal. They 
also save and retrieve items from the cache. The main difference 
is that GetGlobal and SetGlobal will preserve state over more than 
one execution of a program. (However, recall that a complete loop 
takes place within a  #!F-adobe-times-medium-i-normal--18*   single #!EF execution.) #!N #!N Using 
GetGlobal and SetGlobal is comparable to using a static variable in 
C-language programming. GetLocal and SetLocal are good for saving state inside 
of a looping construct. Once the loop is terminated, the state 
is reset for the next execution of the loop. To save 
state in a program that uses a Sequencer module, you should 
use GetGlobal and SetGlobal, since each iteration of the Sequencer is 
a separate execution of the program as described in  #!Lloop,dxall268 h Iteration using Looping  #!EL  . 
#!N #!N #!N #!N Illustrated in  #!Lxmodx641,dxall269 f Figure 41  #!EL  is a simple macro 
that sums the numbers from 1 to N, where N is 
an input parameter. The  #!F-adobe-times-bold-r-normal--18*   start #!EF parameter to ForEachN has 
been set to 1. GetLocal and SetLocal are used to accumulate 
the sum. Sum is a trivial macro consisting of a Compute 
where the expression is "a+b." On the first iteration of the 
loop, GetLocal will output its  #!F-adobe-times-bold-r-normal--18*   initial #!EF value, which has 
been set to 0. On subsequent iterations GetLocal will output the 
accumulated value SetLocal saved during the previous iteration. When the loop 
terminates the final accumulated value is the output of the macro. 
This macro is roughly equivalent to the following C-language statements: #!CForestGreen 
#!N #!N  #!F-adobe-courier-bold-r-normal--18*   #!N b = 0; #!N for (a=1; a<=10; 
a++) #!N b = b+a; #!EF #!N #!N #!EC #!N #!N 
If the macro were run again, on the first iteration of 
the loop GetLocal would again output its  #!F-adobe-times-bold-r-normal--18*   initial #!EF value. 
(Note that the macro will only run again if the input 
to the macro changes or the output of the macro has 
been removed from cache.) #!N #!N If you replaced the GetLocal 
and SetLocal in  #!Lxmodx641,dxall269 f Figure 41  #!EL  with GetGlobal and SetGlobal it would be 
equivalent to the following C-language statements: #!CForestGreen #!N #!N  #!F-adobe-courier-bold-r-normal--18*   #!N 
int a; #!N static int b = 0; #!N for (a=1; 
a<=10; a++) #!N b = b+a; #!EF #!N #!N #!EC While 
when SetLocal is used, the sum is reset each time the 
macro is run, if SetGlobal is used, the sum of a 
previous execution is added to the sum of the current execution. 
For example, let macro_local be the macro shown in  #!Lxmodx641,dxall269 f Figure 41  #!EL  and 
macro_global be the same macro but with SetGlobal and GetGlobal substituted 
for SetLocal and GetLocal. If the input to both macros is 
10 then both macros will output 55 (the sum of numbers 
1 to 10) the first time they are run. If an 
execution takes place without the input to the macros changing then 
neither macro will run again and the value 55 will be 
used as the output again. If you change the input to 
3 then macro_local will output 6 and macro_global will output 61 
(55+6). #!N #!N Illustrated in  #!Lxmodx742,dxall269 f Figure 42  #!EL  is a macro that returns 
the accumulated volumes of the members of a group and the 
number of members in the group. ForEachMember is used to iterate 
through the group. Measure is used to determine the volume of 
a member and the GetLocal and SetLocal pair on the left 
side of the macro is used to accumulate the volumes. For 
illustrative purposes, a loop containing GetLocal, SetLocal, and Increment is used 
to count the number of members in the group. (Inquire also 
provides this function, as does the  #!F-adobe-times-bold-r-normal--18*   index #!EF output of 
ForEachMember.) Increment is a trivial macro consisting of a Compute where 
the expression is set to "a+1." The  #!F-adobe-times-bold-r-normal--18*   initial #!EF values 
to both GetLocal tools are 0. #!Cbrown #!N  #!F-adobe-times-medium-r-normal--18*    #!Rxmodx742 #!N 
Graphics omitted from Online Documentation. Please see the manual. #!N #!N 
Figure 42. Example 6 #!EF #!N #!EC #!N #!N Illustrated in 
 #!Lxmodx1343,dxall269 f Figure 43  #!EL  is a visual program that saves the current camera settings 
for use in the next execution of the program. The initial 
value of GetGlobal is NULL. The Inquire module checks to see 
that the output of GetGlobal is a valid camera object. If 
it's not a camera object, then Route is used to ensure 
that the Display module is not scheduled to run. When a 
new camera is chosen (for example by rotating the object in 
the Image window) the Display window will show the image using 
the previous execution's camera settings. #!Cbrown #!N  #!F-adobe-times-medium-r-normal--18*    #!Rxmodx1343 #!N Graphics 
omitted from Online Documentation. Please see the manual. #!N #!N Figure 
43. Example 7 #!EF #!N #!EC #!N #!N As mentioned previously, 
in a true data-flow implementation, all modules are pure functions (i.e. 
their outputs are fully defined by their inputs). Hence, processes are 
stateless with no side effects. A macro in Data Explorer is 
considered to be a function, with its outputs being fully defined 
by its inputs. This is no longer true when a GetGlobal 
module is added to a macro. GetLocal maintains state information only 
within one execution of the macro. GetGlobal maintains state information between 
executions, and therefore the outputs of a macro containing GetGlobal are 
no longer entirely defined by the inputs. The outputs from macros 
with state (containing a GetGlobal module) are guaranteed to stay in 
the cache until the inputs for that macro change. At that 
point, the results of the previous execution are discarded to make 
room for the new results. This is equivalent to setting the 
cache attribute of the macro to  #!F-adobe-times-bold-r-normal--18*   cache last #!EF for 
each of the outputs. These cache settings cannot be overwritten by 
the user. This guarantees coherency when executing macros with state. #!N 
#!N #!N  #!F-adobe-times-medium-i-normal--18*   Next Topic #!EF #!N #!N  #!Lall269,dxall270 h Advanced Looping Constructs  #!EL  #!N  #!F-adobe-times-medium-i-normal--18*   
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