The FOR node repeats a set of actions until a specific condition becomes false. A control structure of this kind is frequently called a loop.

  1. In the form, ( > > ), in the lower pane, right-click the node, point to and select .

    A new node is added to the bottom of the modeling tree. If you want to insert a node into a particular position in the tree, drag it from the node list displayed on the left.

  2. In the field, describe in plain words what the FOR loop does.

  3. In the field, the loop's control variable is initialized to its value when loop execution starts.

    The control variable must be one of the variables defined for the current product model. For example, if the control variable's name is counter, the initialization could consist in making counter equal to the value one: counter = 1.

  4. Specify an action that should be performed on the control variable one time for each loop iteration in the field. The action could consist in adding one to the value of the control variable: counter = counter + 1.

  5. In the field, specify—in the form of a logical condition—the state required for the control variable so that the loop will continue to run.

    The condition might be that the control variable should be less than or equal to another variable, such as: counter <=number_of_doors. Make sure that the control variable does in fact at some point make the condition false. Otherwise, the FOR node, and therefore the whole product configuration, will continue to run interminably.