AN EASY-EXTENDABLE MODELING FRAMEWORK FOR DISCRETE EVENT SIMULATION MODELS AND THEIR VISUALIZATION

Today's simulation software covers a variety of different problem areas, e.g., production, transportation, logistics, and physics. Therefore the manufacturers of simulation software use a generic simulation engine equipped with problem specific libraries to offer specialized products. These products are supplemented by user-programmed models and building blocks. However, the combination of components from different problem areas often lead to software architectural problems in terms of extensibility and reusability. Especially for the simulation area, we offer an architectural concept that provides the ability to simply combine components from different problem areas and the ability to make future extensions. Classic user interfaces are unable to handle this flexibility in simulation modeling. Therefore, we offer an architectural concept connecting simulation data with its visualization. We implemented our concepts in a prototype system and demonstrate them on the basis of the two problem areas "Production" and "Logistics".