Re: Manual

[Evelyn L. Brannon]

glen e. p. ropella wrote:
> 
> > I think this two manuals idea is EXCELLENT. If I ever get Swarm up and
> > running (a matter of finding the time first off) my next step will be to
> > recruit other faculty who are using totally idiosyncratic simulation written
> > (by them or a stray programmer they are no longer in touch with) in
> > Pascal or Basic to try Swarm.  My hope is to get a little mutual support
> > Swarm community going here.
> >
> > The "system simulation manual" is what they need to look at first.  I
> > became a convert listing to Nelson talk at SFI, but others haven't had
> > that pleasure.
> >
> > The user's manual will be the nitty gritty guide for using swarm AFTER one
> > has made the decision that this is a promising route.
> 
> Thanks for replying.  Since you did so enthusiastically, I will
> be-devil you with questions! [grin]  No, seriously, would you
> be willing to jot down a couple ideas for a table of contents
> or an outline of the type of "system sim manual using Swarm"
> that you'd like to see?  I'm thinking it might come in two
> parts, theory and practice.  The practice part would not address
> the level of detail that the users' manual would.  But, it might
> introduce concepts like random number generation and moving
> theoretical models from theory to implementation.
> 
> The theory part would address the types of simulation available
> both in and out of Swarm (here's where Swarm will show it's
> hegemony) and, maybe, address what simulation *is* and how it
> benefits science and industry. (Or, since the kind of people who
> might read this have already realized what simulation is good
> for, then maybe this is too "brochurish.")
> 
> glen

I'll take a stab at this assignment, too.  I'm just 
back from a National Textile Center meeting where I 
spent some time with industry representatives 
explaining out simulations using Swarm.  On our 
project we have people with expertise in the issues 
important to the industry and others who are trying 
to use Swarm as a simulation platform.  Maybe the 
questions Sven and I have to answer within our 
project could be a first step in outlining the 
content.

Evelyn