SIMULATION-MODELS + USER INTERFACES = INTERACTIVE APPLICATIONS

This paper presents a method for integrating dynamic-modelling tools with user-interfacemanagement systems. The method has been applied to the existing tools SIM-TEK. and MOSAIC. Some of the resulting applications are being tried out in ecology classes. Using the tools described, highly interactive mouse-driven simulation programs for the IBM-PC can be produced in a matter of hours. In the resulting applications, users make changes to the model variables by interacting with their visual representations on the screen. A run-time system takes care of always maintaining the consistency between the simulation model and its visual representation in the user interface. The tape-recorder metaphor is presented as a way to represent simulated time in interactive simulation programs. © 1990.