In addition to processing the command line arguments, the first task in coding your simulator is to process a Model File to obtain the input data and the model configuration. The currently supported Model File formats are documented in the SansGUI Model File Format chapter of the SansGUI Reference Manual.
Although the file formats, their syntax and sequences may be different; the contents of Model Files are similar in that they all contain the following information of the models configured by simulation users.
Information Header: for identifying the Project Model, the date and time of its creation, the simulator and its option, and the creator of the file.
Case Parameters: for parameter declarations and bindings on a case by case basis.
Simulator Objects: for the external process simulation control object.
Reference Objects: for all data in the reference objects in the model.
Component Objects: for all data in the component objects in the model.
System Parts: for all parts in the model and their overriding values.
Connection Links: for all links in the model, their overriding values, and the identifications of their connected parts.
Logged Attributes: for all attributes from any objects, parts, or links in the model that the user choose to log the values during the simulation run.
Processing a Model File means to open the file, read and parse the contents, and store the data with the model configuration information in some data structures in the computer memory for further processing. Because external process simulators are executed separately, SansGUI does not control, nor does it impose any restriction on, how the simulator should be implemented in any manner.
SansGUI Modeling and Simulation Environment Version 1.2
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