New features:
Experiment setup
A model can now be run simultaneously with its default parameters and with various other combinations of parameters, using multiple processors if they are available. Results for all cases are shown together and the experiment setup can be saved for use with different versions of the model.
All files saved together
Simile’s saved model file now also contains the helper setup information, the parameter metadata and the experiment setup all together. They can still be saved and loaded separately for transferring between models.
Changes to parameter handling
Equation sets default value for fixed parameter
This matches the behaviour for variable parameters, although fixed parameters do not have to have a value in the model or min/max values.
Parameter array/list format is now JSON
The format for values for matrices etc. or lists of time points was previously Simile’s own, now JSON objects can be cut and pasted in the parameter tab
File parameters are now a tab in explorer pane
They can be adjusted without opening a separate dialogue. This tab also contains the experiment setup.
Improvements
Interface is more responsive
Model execution now happens in a separate thread at the code level rather than the scripting language level, meaning more responsiveness during long runs.
Text size can be customized
As screens get higher and higher resolution, default text sizes are more likely to be difficult to use. Simile’s new text size preference option affects the whole user interface layout to accommodate the chosen size, which is consistent across the whole interface.
Audio output
A new way of perceiving a rapidly varying value in the model – play its waveform through your sound card. Oscillations, noise, periodicity changes etc. have never been so clear.
Option for indices to start at 0
Simile has always considered array indices to start at 1. Now they do so by default, but starting at 0 can be set for the whole model or a particular hierarchy of submodels. The setting affects the results of the element(), index() and place_in() functions as well as the indices shown in I/O tools.
Removed:
The Simile Scripting Language
Replaced by the Simile/R interface
Multi-window model run environment
Improvements in screen technology mean the single-window MRE is sufficient for all cases.
32-bit x86 versions
X86_64 is now ubiquitous, and 64-bit versions have better performance and can handle more complex models and data.