Simile for MacOS X

Simulistics is happy to announce the production release of Simile for Apple MacOS X. As a production release, Simile for MacOS X is now available from the software download page as full and evaluation editions.

Release notes

Welcome to Simile v4.3 for MacOS X.

Requirements

In order to run Simile, you will require MacOS X 10.2 or later. In order to run models, you will need to install the optional Developer Tools, supplied by Apple. You can install these from the Developer.mpkg package stored in the /Applications/Installers/Developer Tools folder. In particular, you will require the GNU C Compiler, gcc. If you do not wish to install the Developer Tools, you can run your models using the Debug command only. They will run significantly more slowly than if using the Run command.

Getting Started / Installation

The application is distributed as a disk image. When you download the disk image, it will be automatically mounted by the Finder. You will see the Simile application in the disk. You can drag the application icon to your local hard disk to install it. You will need administrative privileges to install into your Applications folder, but Simile will run equally well from within your home directory.

Double-click the Simile icon to launch the application. Simile will create a folder in your home directory, called Simile, and will copy some example models into that folder. A welcome screen will be displayed; the example models are available from the popup menu associated with the Recent button. You can use the controls on the welcome screen each time you use Simile to load your most recently-accessed models, or to open any model, or to create a new model.

Using Simile

There is a tutorial called Bank account which is written to introduce you to creating models in Simile. Please send us your feedback on using Simile to support@simulistics.com. If you have used Simile on Microsoft Windows, you will find it works in a very similar way, and you can swap models between the two systems.

Known Problems

This release has been used internally and externally for some time. Nonetheless, there are some known problems of which you should be aware. We hope to resolve these and any other problems that are found in the next release.

• Simile creates an association with files with the extension .sml and .pl. If another application has also created an association with these files (Quick Time can claim .sml files) you may need to explicitly specify the association with the Finder.
• Scripting, printing and copying graphics to the clipboard are all non-functional.

Please send feedback on these known problems. Are they an issue for you? Do they affect your use of Simile significantly?

We would also be very grateful for reports of any other problems you come across. Don’t worry about providing a full account — we can always ask you further information if need be.

Thank you very much for choosing to use Simile. I hope you find it a productive experience.

Alastair Davies
11 July 2005