
                       - NOTICE - 

Xsimcode Source code is owned by Brian Harrington (c) 1991 
Simpack source code is owned by Paul Fishwick (c) 1990
They may be freely distributed for non-profit use. 
----------------------------------------------------------------

Xsimcode release 1.4: readme.doc file
Brian Harrington
University of Florida
October 24, 1991


USER INTERFACE HINTS
====================
Xsimcode's interface provides four "buttons" at the top of the
screen.  These are the file, options, draw and translate menus. 
Below the buttons is a status line.  The status line gives the user
feedback on each operation.  Check the status line after each
operation.  Below the status line is a large blank area, called the
"pad".   The "pad" is the user's drawing pad.  The model is
displayed on the pad.

*** Clicking on an empty spot on the pad gives the ADD menu.  You
can add a facility, generic block or a routing point.

*** Clicking on an occupied spot on the pad gives the EDIT menu. 
You can change the settings of an element, delete or get
information about the element.

To create a model, add elements to the screen.  Elements must be
linked together to show the flow of tokens through the system. 
There are five types of elements: arrivals, processes, fan-in
routing points, fan-out routing points and sinks.  Each model has
only one arrival point and one sink.  Processes may be grouped
together with a pair of fan-in and fan-out routing points.  A fan-
out routing point sends its token to one of several possible
facilities.  The varied destinations of the tokens are brought into
a single stream with a fan-in routing point.
 
**** Elements must be linked together to show the flow of tokens
through the system.  If the system is not completely linked
Xsimcode will crash. *****

MENUS
=====

Xsimcode's user interface provides six menus.  Four of these menus-
-the file menu, the options menu, the draw menu and the translation
menu--have pull down lists.  The user should click the mouse and
continue to hold down the mouse button until the appropriate option
is highlighted.  Releasing the mouse button selects a menu item. 
Each pull-down menu item generates a dialog box.  A dialog box may
ask the user to type in input.  Move the mouse within the dialog
box.  Use <control>D or backspace to delete any unnecessary
characters and type the input in the box.  Do not press return. 
Just select the appropriate button in the box.  Most dialog boxes
with input have an "OK" and "CANCEL" button.  Some dialog boxes do
not ask for input.  Simply select the appropriate button. 

The add and modify menus lead to a dialog box with several buttons. 
After you have selected the appropriate option, another dialog box
will appear.  This box, like those used by the pull down menu, may
or may not ask for input.  Use it the same way as the dialog boxes
called by the pull-down menu.

  File               Options                                Draw               

  New                File Name                              Connect            
  Load               Run Time                               Disconnect          
  Save               Departure                              Grid               
  Save As            Mode                                   Refresh
  Quit               Report
                     Trace Data Struct
                     Trace Event List
                     Trace Facility



          Modify                                          Add

          Delete                                          Facility           
          Edit                                            Fan-In
                   Name                                   Fan-Out
                   Number of Servers                      Generic
                   Priority
                   Initial Count
                   Distribution
                   Parameter 1
                   Parameter 2
                   Parameter 3

          Menu options in Xsimcode.                   

The parameters of individual elements can be changed using the edit menu. The
model parameters can be changed from the options menu.  See Simpack's
documentation for information on Simpack options.  However, all options have
defaults, so a user does need to change anything to create a working model.

TRANSLATION TO C
================
  
Users can save their model (and all its parameters) at any time. "Save" 
saves the model to the current directory under the current name.  "Save As" 
allows the name to be changed prior to saving the file. The filename will 
end in .sim.

When the model is complete, it can be translated to C by pressing the translate
button.  The default filename is "model.c"  The file is written to the current 
directory. To run the simulation, the user would exit Xsimcode, perform
a "make model" and run the model executable.
