Awesim

Proceedings of the 1999 Winter Simulation Conference
P. A. Farrington, H. B. Nembhard, D. T. Sturrock, and G. W. Evans, eds.
INTRODUCTION TO AWESIM
Jean J. O’Reilly
William R. Lilegdon
Symix Systems, Inc.
9200 Keystone Crossing, Suite 450
Indianapolis, IN 46240, U.S.A.
ABSTRACT
AweSimâ is a general-purpose simulation system which
takes advantage of the latest in Windowsâ technology tointegrate programs and provide componentware. AweSim
includes the Visual SLAMâ simulation language to build
network, subnetwork, discrete event, and continuous
models. Network models require no programming yet
allow user-coded inserts in Visual Basic or C. Discrete
event and continuous models can be created using the
object-oriented technology of Visual Basic, C or Visual
C++ and can becombined with network models. This
tutorial will demonstrate the process of using AweSim’s
componentware, describe examples of user interfaces that
allow integration with other applications, and present a
sample model.
1 INTRODUCTION
AweSim is a program that supports the range of tasks
required to perform a simulation project. AweSim also
provides integrating capabilities to store, retrieve,browse
and communicate with externally written software
applications. The most fundamental feature of the AweSim
architecture is its openness and interconnectivity to
databases, spreadsheets and word processing programs
such as Microsoft Office. AweSim is built in Visual Basic
and C/C++ and programs written in these languages are
easily incorporated into its architecture. The details on thecapabilities of AweSim are contained in the AweSim
User’s Guide (Symix Systems, 1997).
An AweSim project consists of one or more scenarios,
each of which represents a particular system alternative. A
scenario contains component parts. Software programs
called builders are provided by AweSim to create each
component. The AweSim executive window shown in
Figure 1 describes an examplescenario called EX81, which
includes network, subnetwork, control and user data
components. Component builders are accessed via the
Components menu item or via the component’s pushbutton.
Figure 1: The AweSim Executive
AweSim’s Project Maintainer determines if a model
translation or compilation is required. Each time the
modeler requests a run, the Project Maintainer examines
changes made to thecurrent scenario to determine if any
components have been modified and indicates whether
translating tasks should be performed. The Project
Maintainer then allows the user to specify whether these
tasks should be done prior to performing the requested
function. Multiple tasks may be performed in parallel while
a simulation is executed in the background. The simulation
modeler can switchbetween tasks by using a mouse to
click in the appropriate window.
The use of the MS Windows interface simplifies
learning and provides the foundation for combining
application programs using that interface.
2 MODEL INPUT
AweSim incorporates the Visual SLAM modeling
methodology. The basic component of a Visual SLAM
model is a network, or flow diagram, which graphically
portrays the flow ofentities (people, parts or
196
O’Reilly and Lilegdon
information, for example) through the system. A Visual
SLAM network is made up of “nodes” at which
processing is performed, connected by “activities”
which define the routing of entities and the time
required to perform operations. Visual SLAM nodes
provide for such functions as entering or exiting the
system, seizing or freeing aresource, changing variable
values, collecting statistics, and starting or stopping
entity flow based on status conditions. Entities may be
given attributes, that is, characteristics such as type,
size, or arrival time, to distinguish them and control
their processing.
A network is built interactively in AweSim by
selecting symbols from a graphical palette and dragging
them to the desired...