SimSE Online

News

The Extreme Programming (XP) model has been released! See the downloads page.

We have also started a SimSE Google Group, where those who are using or are just interested in SimSE can ask questions, have discussions, etc.

Version 3.5 of the Modelbuilder has been released, which includes some bug fixes and various enhancements such as:

• The ability to specify code generation settings for a model (i.e., where to generate code and where to find the images directory) and save them, so that the user isn't required to give this information every time they want to generate a game.
• The ability to re-order various model builder lists, such as lists of attributes, start state objects, actions, action participants, and rules.
• The ability to specify activation/deactivation of (a) specific action(s) by an effect rule, in addition to specifying "activate all" or "deactivate all."

Included in Modelbuilder version 3.5 is a newly enhanced code generator, which also includes new features for generated games such as:

• "Check all" and "clear all" buttons for employee participant selection dialogs.
• Employee pictures next to employee names on dialog boxes for choosing which employees will participate in an action.
• An improved explanatory tool that allows players to access the rule descriptions through the main explanatory tool interface (rather than requiring them to click on an action graph to access it).

Each model has also been improved based on user studies.

Also available are a SimSE Player's Manual, a SimSE Instructor's Manual, and revised Model Builder Documentation.

All are available on the downloads page.

Version 3.4 of the Modelbuilder has been released, which now allows users to generate games with an explanatory tool, a tool that presents a graphical representation of the simulation run, designed to give players more insight into their score and the underlying process. All generated games have been updated to include the explanatory tool as well. See the downloads page.

A brand new version of the Modelbuilder has been released (version 2.0)! (See the downloads page.) This version includes the following features/enhancements:

• Improved usability of the model builder; less clicking is required to navigate around and build a model.
• Object types, actions, and rules can now be renamed.
• An optional hiring/firing process is now built-in.
• A new option for rules (execute on join status) has been added; see model builder documentation, Section 4.3.2, for more information.
• The model builder no longer requires you to specify the directory for simulation images (only for your model-specific object icons).
• Some new character icons have been added, as well as a "papers" icon for use in decorating the office.
• In the generated games, a refresh problem has been fixed.
• In the generated games, "reset" (to start a new game) and "info" (to bring up the starting narrative again) buttons have been added.
• Newly added to the model builder user manual/documentation is a tips and tricks guide that will help in common problems/issues people have run into in building models.

03-01-05

To date, we have performed preliminary background research and have completed an extensive software engineering literature survey from which we have collected 85 general software engineering "rules of behavior" (click here to see them). We then explored various architectural design alternatives, created a detailed design of the simulation environment, and implemented a non-graphical prototype simulation environment with a single, hard-coded model inside. We then did a major re-design of SimSE to be completely customizable so that an instructor can create their own software process models to be simulated in SimSE. This new version of SimSE, which includes a model builder and a code generator that generates a customized, fully graphical simulation environment, has recently been completed and is now available for download, along with an initial simulation model of a waterfall process . We are currently building three more models, one of a code inspection process, one based on the Rational Unified Process, and one based on Extreme Programming.