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Generate ABM Project from Template Form

The workflow proposed by this system relies on the utilization of Gradle for dependency injection and management. Thus, to alleviate the burden from the user of initializing a Gradle project with all the needed libraries and structure, the MiniReal system has a page and service dedicated for project generation tailored to each user's need.

Generate & Download ABM Project

  1. The first step to getting started is to log in to the MiniReal webservice and navigate to the Create Model page. This can be done by clicking on the Starter option on the navigation bar and selecting Create Model. Create Model page

  2. The next step is to fill the form properly .

    • The Model Name, Agent Name, and Field Name fields can be filled with any valid Java variable identifier name.
    • The Field Type gives three options for the simulation space that will hold the agents. These options are: Bag, Grid2D, and Continous3D. These fields are specific and suited to MASON. If the user wishes to use other model space types, that is possible to achieve by changing them after downloading the template project.
    • The Agent Initial Population field accepts Integer numbers for the size of the agent population. Filled Create Model form page

  3. After filling the form, click on the Generate button and wait for the ABM Project generation process to finish. The user then can obtain a zipped (compressed) file of the generated model by clicking on the Download button. Model Generation sucess page

ABM modeling in Local environment

Once the generated model is downloaded, it can be extracted and opened in Intellij Idea IDE.

Generated model opened in Intellij

The above image shows the structure of Template ABM code-base obtained from the MiniReal system.

  • On the left is the Model class code and on the right is the Agent class code.
  • It shows the placement and usage of all the MiniReal Annotations.
  • The createAgent method in the model class is placed to guide the user populate agents as needed.
  • The drawChart method is where the appropriate value for the charting is provided. The name of the method can be changed, however the usage of SimChart annotation is required.
  • The model parameters can be defined as the parameters of the class constructor and annotated with SimParam Annotation.
  • The main method in the model class can be used to run and test the model on a local environment to ensure the correct implementation of it. After downloading and opening the generated model for the first time, users can run the main method to check if everything is working well.
  • The step method in the agent class is where the behaviours or actions of Agents is placed.

Happy Modeling!