What is New in Dinamica EGO 3

Dinamica EGO 3 features a completely new graphical interface.

A comprehensive list of changes can be seen below:

Models

  • It is possible to drag several models simultaneously to the script editor to open them.
  • The open model dialog allows several model filenames to be selected simultaneously.
  • The interface does not hang while a model is being loaded.
  • Open models can be reordered by their corresponding tabs.
  • It is possible to close all open models simultaneously.
  • It is possible to save all open models simultaneously.
  • Closing the application asks which modified models should be saved.
  • The editor decides automatically if a script editor draft should be discard or kept when opening new models.
  • Models open from read-only filenames are identified by an special icon on the script editor.
  • It is possible to print the current model. The visual representation of the model and editor content for all visible functors + comments + alias are printed. If the model details are also being printed, the functors are rendered with a corresponding id visible, making easy to match the visual representation of the functor and its content.
  • Local submodels are presented with their corresponding model, allowing changes in the submodel to be applied immediately to the model.
  • The menu of recently open files asks whether a model that failed to open should be removed from the list.

Functor Library

  • The functor library allows functors to be searched.
    • Some filters allows functors to be searched by their names, descriptions and information of their ports.
    • The search for functors can be performed using the special filters is:container, is:loop, is:carrier, is:hook, is:mux, is:junction, is:loader, is:saver, is:submodel, is:systemsubmodel, is:usersubmodel, is:localsubmodel.
    • It is possible to type the terms that should be used by the search and then check the result on the on the other library tabs.
  • Funtors are split in general, submodel, favorites and local submodels.
  • Hovering the mouse on a functor gives access to a context action bar with options to manipulate favorites, see the functor documentation etc.
  • User submodels can be edited from the functor library.
  • It is possible to flag functors and submodels as favorites.
  • It is possible to collapse and expand the group of functors from the list.
  • It is possible to scroll the library content using the mouse-wheel.
  • The creation of certain functors also instantiate some accessory functors, e.g, CalculateMap also instantiate a NumberMap, CalculateLookupTable also instantiate a NumberTable etc.
  • Functors can be created dragging their names to the script editor.
  • Dragging the name of a functor to the script editor while pressing Shift automatically connects the input of the new functor to the output of the functor currently selected.

Script Editor

  • No more edition modes.
  • New presentation of functors and containers.
  • Select a functor to drag it, insert it in a container or remove it from containers.
  • Visual feedback showing whether a functor can be inserted in a container or not.
  • A distinct pattern is used to differentiate a collapsed container from other functors.
  • Lines connecting functors inside collapsed containers are represented by a single line.
  • The type of the line connecting functors represents the type of connection:
    • Connection between functors: regular line.
    • Connection between non-visible functors inside a container or between functor and non-visible functor inside a container: think line.
  • Context toolbar visible next to the selected functor (functor action bar) showing the options that can be applied to that functor. The system places the action bar automatically to ensure its visibility. The action bar representation changes automatically to make clear which functor is selected.
  • Options to collapse and expand functors:
    • Collapse only the most internal functors.
    • Collapse all functors.
    • Expand all functors.
    • Collapse and expand all functors back to their saved state.
  • Zoom in and out can be performed using the mouse wheel. The zoom is centered around the current mouse position.
  • It is possible to pan the model view by dragging the right mouse button.
  • Dragging a functor hides all connections, except the ones connecting the functor.
  • Removing an ambiguous connection shows a dialog where the user can choose which connection will be removed.
  • Connecting two functors shows the connection dialog box if the connection is ambiguous.
  • Layout will center the model presentation on the functor currently selected. If no functor is selected, the whole model will be shown. If more than one functor is selected, the presentation will be centered on the resulting bounding box.
  • It is possible to copy, cut and paste selected functors. Functors will be always pasted on the visible portion of the screen.
    • Copying a container will copy its content as well.
    • Copying the content of a container does not copy the container itself.
    • All ports bound to functors that are not being copied are disconnected.
  • It is possible to zoom and pan the model view using the overview painel.
  • Invalid model cycles are presented visually in the script editor.
  • The model is validated automatically during the functor manipulation. Functors and invalid connections are identified visually and also presented in a list (issue pane).
  • It is possible to drag and drop map, tables and weights of evidence filenames directly in your model. The functors responsible for loading each file are automatically created.
  • After selecting a connection between functors, it is possible to navigate the connected functors, visualize the connection bounding box and/or expand the connected functors.
  • It is possible to automatically create a group around selected functors. It is also possible to remove a group containing other functors.
  • It is possible to automatically create special containers (such as loops) around selected functors.
  • Special buttons can be used to automatically select all functors, clear the current selection or select only the child functors of a container.
  • The model overview, issue pane and explorer are visible only when the model is visible on the graphical interface.
  • Double clicking a functor edits the functor inputs. If the functor does not have any editable inputs, double clicking edits its comments.
  • Collapsing or expanding a container does not trigger a modification in the current model.

Functor Edition

  • Improved layout for editors in the functor editor dialog.
  • It is possible to detach complex port editors from the functor editor dialog e edit them in a separated window.
  • Complex port editors now fill all the available area in the editor dialog when they are the only editor.
  • Editable inputs that are connected to other outputs can be disconnected directly from the functor editor dialog.
  • Inputs whose correction depends on the value of other inputs are validated by the functor editor dialog.
  • It is possible to revert the content of optional inputs back to their default values. This also includes binding auto-bound input to the internal compatible output of a parent container.
  • Expressions used by CalculateMap, CalculateLookupTable, CalculateValue etc are rejected when identifiers not bound to any corresponding NumberMap, NumberTable or NumberValue are used.
  • The expression editor shows which identifiers [iX, tX and vX] area available to be used.
  • When editing a carrier, the comment and alias from the carrier itself are used as the port description and port name by the functor editor dialog.
  • Editing hooks now fills the index automatically using the most appropriate value to avoid repetitions.

Help

  • The functor documentation is shown in a dockable panel.

Issue Pane

  • The list of current model issues is automatically updated while editing the model.
  • The list is organized as a tree of functor with their corresponding issues as the functor children.
  • It is possible to collapse and expand items from the list.
  • It is possible to search for specific issues:
    • Issues from the list can be searched by their corresponding functor names, alias and error messages.
    • Issues can be searched using special filters is:container, is:loop, is:carrier, is:hook, is:mux, is:junction, is:loader, is:saver, is:submodel, is:systemsubmodel, is:usersubmodel, is:localsubmodel. These filters operates over the corresponding functor.
  • It is possible to locate the functor from the corresponding issue in the issue list and find the issue from the corresponding functor in the model view.
  • The issue pane of a model is visible only when the corresponding model is visible on the interface.
  • The total issues of a functor is visible according to the current search criteria.
  • Trying to run a model with pending issues brings a confirmation dialog asking if the user would like to proceed.
  • Reported Issues:
    • Invalid functor cycles.
    • Invalid cycles formed by internal input ports of a container and the container content.
    • Missing input connection.
    • Incompatibility between null value and cell type. 1)
    • Invalid null value. 2)
    • Cell type can not be used by categorization.
    • Missing container hooks such as NumberMap, NameMap etc. 3)
    • Undefined identifiers used by expression. 4)
    • Invalid operations used in expressions by certain kinds of functors, e.g, line, column and functions nbXXXX use in a CalculateValue. 5)
    • Definition of the same index by several hooks on the same container (Select's, Calculate's etc).
    • Warning for Muxes placed directly inside a model script.
    • Warning about identifiers defined but not used by an expression.
    • Warning about the possible performance penalty when using some specific cell types.
    • Warning about editing the feedback port from Muxes.
    • Warning about Steps whose inputs are connected to some other functor.
    • Warning about Steps whose inputs are being edited.
    • Warning about Steps placed outside loop containers.
    • Warning about carrier outputs not connected to any other functors.
    • Validation of the parameters of a CreateCubeMap.
    • Warning about hooks being used outside the appropriate containers.

Explorer

  • Information about performance for every functor is updated automatically when the current model is executed.
  • The accumulated time spent by a functor during the last execution is shown near the functor name.
  • The functors are presented in a hierarchical view.
  • It is possible to collapsed and expand elements of the hierarchical view.
  • It is possible to search functors by their names, alias and descriptions. The containers of the functors found during the search are always visible to clearly indicate where that functor is located. The accumulated time presented is updated to refer to the accumulated time spent by the visible functors only.

Submodels

  • Local submodels are contained in a folder named after the main model filename, but replacing dots with “_” and followed by “_Submodels”. For example, the main model “test.egoml” should place its local submodels in a folder “test_egoml_Submodels”. The old folder “Submodels” is processed for compatibility with the previous versions of the software.
  • Submodels can also define local submodels [Nested submodels can not be edited yet using the graphical interface, but they can be read and written as any other submodel. The definition can also include other nested local submodels].
  • It is possible to select a group and functors and transform the selection into a local submodel. The selection will be replaced by the corresponding submodel. The inputs and outputs connecting the functor selection to the other functors are used as inputs and outputs of the submodel itself. A unique name is also suggested to the submodel.
  • Functors whose inputs and/or outputs are being exported by a submodel are painted using a special decoration.
  • It is possible to choose a custom 16×16 and 32×32 icon to represent a submodel.
  • Names of the inputs and outputs of a submodel are suggested automatically based on the selected ports and functors:
    • The names of the inputs and their corresponding descriptions are suggested according to the following: if the exported port belongs to a carrier and an alias and comment are defined, they will be used as the name and description of the port. Otherwise, if the exported port is connected to another functor and its alias and comment are defined, they will be used as the name and description of the port. Otherwise, the original input name and description will be used.
    • The name the outputs and their corresponding descriptions are suggested according to the following: if the exported port belongs to a carrier and an alias and comment are defined, they will be used as the name and description of the port. Otherwise, if the exported port is connected to a carrier and its alias and comment are defined, they will be used as the name and description of the port. Otherwise, the original output name and description will be used.
  • The creation of a submodel from selected functors automatically inserts carriers in the submodel to avoid having redundant inputs.
  • At any time, it is possible to apply or discard changed from a local submodel.
  • The errors detected inside a local submodel are presented visually by the graphical interface.
  • Local submodels can be imported by other model scripts. The import includes all the submodel dependencies.
  • It is also possible to import a user or system submodel and turn them into local submodels. By doing that, the submodel content can be edited and the resulting submodel used in the model.
  • Inputs and outputs of a local submodel can be renamed at any time while keeping all previous connections where the submodel was being used.
  • Submodels are constantly validated to make sure its uses are not causing a definition cycle.

Wizard

  • New wizard editor.

Functor

  • New experimental parallel loop container (ParallelForEach).
  • Functors used to manipulate sub-regions now can also be used to manipulate cells outside the region.
  • Submodel ExpandKeysToColumns was optimized.
  • The carrier name Bool was changed to BooleanValue.
  • The carrier name NonNegativeInt was changed to NonNegativeIntegerValue.
  • The carrier name PositiveInt was changed to PositiveIntegerValue.
  • The carrier name Int was changed to IntegerValue.
  • The carrier name Double was changed to RealValue.

The new names are consistent with the name of functors such as CalculateValue [calculates any value], MuxValue [provides feedback for any value] etc.

Types

  • Bool is now known as BooleanValue.
  • NonNegativeInt is now known as NonNegativeIntegerValue.
  • PositiveInt is now known as PositiveIntegerValue.
  • Int is now known as IntegerValue.
  • Double is now known as RealValue.

General

  • Checking model changes does not fill the log with expurious content.
  • It is possible to scroll through the tabs of any tabbed pane presented by the application using the mouse wheel.
  • The application title is now “Dinamica EGO 32” for the 32-bit version and just “Dinamica EGO” for the 64-bit version. In the previous version, it was the opposite.
  • Fixed issues in various functors.
  • The automatic detection of the number of processors now finds a maximum of 10 processors. This value can be increased or decreased manually, if necessary.
  • The application now maximizes correctly even if several screens are being used.

License

  • Now the software can also be used by commercial institutions for commercial purposes.
1) , 2) , 3) , 4) , 5)
Also validated by the functor editor dialog