WIMOVAC Model Dialogs

Wimovac uses the multiple document interface (MDI) approach to program display and development in which the application consists of a single parent window in which multiple child windows may be opened and manipulated (Figure 5). The parent window allows control of the size and position of the child windows with a single click or key press and importantly presents the user with a single unified menu structure which changes dynamically in a context sensitive response to user selections and the currently active child window (Figure 5i,ii,iii,iv,v).

Figure 5. Wimovac parent and child MDI windows. i) Menu line access to model parameters database. ii) Menu line access to growth wizard. iii) Menu control for child window on screen organisation iv). Menu access to help system. v) Parent window controls. vi) Child windows open inside the parent window.

Once started wimovac automatically displays the module launcher dialog as the first child window (Figure 5vi, Figure 7). This is the entry point for all modelling activity within wimovac and provides access to the model dialog forms, which are opened as further child windows. Model dialog forms are used to specify the main driving conditions for model runs and are supplemented by the model parameter database. The results of model runs are automatically graphed or tabulated and may be printed, copied to another application or included in another applications document as an OLE object.

Module launcher

The model launcher dialog consists of a simple tree like ‘outliner’ control which displays a hierarchical list of the model modules available in wimovac. The structure of the list reflects the organisation of the model and the scaling process from leaf to ecosystem. The module launcher makes it possible to simplify access to the numerous modules that explore the model at various levels and importantly therefore allow testing and validation of the model at different scales.

The module launcher is a graphical representation of a single ASCII text file that lists wimovac’s model modules. As a new model module is developed an entry is added to the text file using a word processor.

Figure 7. Hierarchical (tree) structure of the model module dialog launcher. (i) Double clicking on a closed folder expands the selection hierarchically to show the model modules of the selected category. (ii) Double clicking on a model dialog with the wimovac symbol starts the selected dialog (indicated by blue hi-light). (iii) Open folder indicates that the model category is expanded and sub modules should be visible. (iv) Displays the context sensitive help system. (v) A further method to start the selected model dialog. (vi) Close the module launcher.

Model dialogs

Model dialogs in wimovac form a visually intuitive way to control model simulation runs and are the equivalent of an electronic form. Typically the dialogs consist of a number of standard Windows elements (Figure 7). A menu line displayed in the parent window which provides access to the graphing and printing facilities (Figure 5i), the model parameters database (Figure 5ii), and the hyper-help system (Figure 5iv).

Figure 7. The leaf assimilation module, a typical wimovac model dialog. i) Multiple choice selector. ii). Input box for user entry of values used to drive the model. iii) Dynamically changing labels in response to user changes to the multiple choice selectors. iv). On/off tick box. v) C3/C4 submodel selector button. vi) Selecting the Start button begins the simulation. vii) Selecting the Stop button finishes the simulation and attempts to plot the results so far calculated. viii) The close button terminates the model dialog and closes its child window within the parent window.

Other components of a dialog include multiple choice selectors (Figure 7i), formatted input boxes (Figure 7ii), context sensitive labelling (Figure 7iii) and action buttons (Figure 7v,vi,vii,viii). In keeping with the Windows environment it is possible to use the mouse to select model dialog controls or to use the tab key to move from control to control on the form and the space bar to toggle between values. Numerical entries from the user are range and type checked for validity before acceptance for a model run.

Figure 8. Dialog menu structure displayed on the menu line of the parent window. i) Prints the currently selected dialog. ii) Opens the model parameter database. iii) Opens the vegetation growth wizard. iv) Opens the help menu, giving access to the context sensitive help system, information about how to use the help system, information about the authors, the computer system resources and allows notes about the current module to be created.

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Last modified: August 19, 1997