GoldSim allows you to "lock onto" the file that is being referenced by a file element An element whose purpose is to simply control copies of auxiliary files that may be required by External elements and Spreadsheet elements.. When you lock onto a file (by checking the Lock onto this file option in the File element dialog), the following additional information regarding the referenced file is saved with the element:
- File and path name;
- Date the file was created;
- Date the file was last modified;
- File size; and
- CRC signature.
Once you have locked onto a file, this information is displayed in a tool-tip when you hold your cursor over the filename in the dialog.
The CRC signature is an alphanumeric code that can be used to uniquely identify whether the file contents have changed. When you run a model that has locked onto a file, GoldSim compares the CRC signature of the file with the original signature that was stored. If these are not identical (indicating that the file has been changed), GoldSim displays an error message and will not run the model.
You can unlock a file by clearing the Lock onto this file checkbox. Note that if versioning The process of tracking changes that you make to your model file. is enabled, whenever a file is locked onto or unlocked, this information is logged with the version.