Difference between revisions of "Objects"

Revision as of 21:27, 11 October 2013

Objects are the types of data used in calculations and organizing your information. The types are: ingredients, nutrients, formulas, species, ingredient types, and control levels (some called 'control units' or 'folders').

Definitions

Ingredient - any edible substance that can be included in an animal's diet. Tower Grove Feed is usually used to formulate mixtures of ingredients.

A Nutrient is anything measurable that an ingredient contributes to a diet, such as protein or fat. The common definition of the word 'nutrient' suggests that nutrient is something beneficial. For purposes of formulating a diet, even harmful substances can be regarded as nutrients, as long as there are measurements for them. In a formula, you can specify a maximum amount. You can use the maximum amount to restrict the quantity of something harmful in a diet. In the broad sense that a nutrient is anything measurable that an ingredient brings, cost could be thought of as a kind of nutrient. Tower Grove Feed optimizes for cost when it solves a formula. In the future other goals such as growth or health could be the target instead.

A Formula (or diet) is a list of nutritional requirements combined with list of ingredients that you might use to meet those requirements.

You specify the requirements by placing a minimum or maximum amount (also called a 'constraint') on one or more nutrients. You can also specify constraints on individual ingredients, so as to force a certain amount into the diet or to prevent too much from being included in the formula's solution.

In Tower Grove Feed, you work on a formula in the Workbench. The Workbench has three data entry pages (for nutrients, ingredients, and ratios and a number of reports.

Once you have entered the requirement for a diet, you must then solve the formula by clicking the "Solve Formula" button.

Species. The type of animal a formula is designed for. This may or my not correspond to a biological species. For instance, beef cattle and dairy cattle are the same biological species, but have different nutritional requirements.

Ingredient Type is a descriptor used to classify and separate ingredients by kind.

Besides the Name, it has a Code and a Sort Sequence. Our standard Ingredient Types are Bulk with a code of "B", Micro with "M", Hand add with "H", and Liquid with "L".

The Batch report uses the Ingredient Type to sort, separate and subtotal the ingredients in the formula solution.

Users can add new Ingredient Types and change the Sort Sequence of the standard types, but deleting the standard Types or changing their Codes is not a good idea because future modifications to the Batch Report may use the standard Types and Codes in special, predefined ways.

Control Level - see Control levels