Project: E337 GRAPHIC INTERFACE DESIGN FOR SIMULATION SOFTWARE

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Melvin Fowler
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1 Undergraduate Research Opportunity Programme (UROP) Project: E337 GRAPHIC INTERFACE DESIGN FOR SIMULATION SOFTWARE Supervisor Asst.Professor Ma MaoDe Nanyang Technological University Student Van Vu Kim Ngan Nanyang Technological University Abstract Designing interface plays an important role in any application especially for simulation softwares. Nowadays the market for simulation softwares is expanding very fast and so is for interface designing industry. More and more modern technologies have been created so that the dramatically increasing demand of intelligent interface and simulation softwares is satisfied. Among those tools, Visual C is a commonly-used and powerful programming tool. The project was to program and develop the Graphic User Interface For Simulation Software in Visual C The application we created in this project allows users to drag and drop objects from toolbar to the workspace to create a queuenode model. The view can be zoomed and the document can be saved. Users can choose their preferred properties for a node or a queue from the corresponding property dialog. The application will automatically update the information and check for errors. Users can also control the visibility of toolbars and status bar. A Queue will generate random messages to a node according to its probability distribution function. The application then will simulate the order of messages passing through the node on first come first serve basis. For those messages coming to a node at the same time, which one has higher priority will pass through first. Further improvements can be made for the application such as creating animation for the simulation and adding more functions, more tools, more objects and more properties. Latest technology such as Visual Studio.NET should be mastered in order to develop the application. Hence for future application of this project, further study is strongly recommended. 1 Introduction A well designed interface plays an important role to the success of a software application. The investment made in the design of a certain application contributes not only to supporting and keeping existing customers, but also to expanding customer base. Producing high-quality, comprehensible human interfaces are a difficult, labor-intensive process that requires experience and judgment. One of powerful tools used to design interface is Visual C++. Microsoft Visual C++ provides a powerful Class Library (MFC), Active X Control, ANSII C++ Support and many other strong features which make programming a visually-interesting interface design much easier. As mentioned above, the interface is very important for any software especially for a simulation program. A simulation is the execution of a model, represented by a computer program that gives information about the system being investigated. A good interface and simulation software is good preparation for design and engineering decisions in real world jobs. In this project, we created a simple interface and a sample queue- simulation program (a small case of network simulation) by Visual C This system allows users to drag, drop tools to workspace, to input the properties. The

2 application will check the design and simulate the order of queues passing through a certain node. 2 Literature Review There are many commercial simulation applications available on the market today. Because the nature of user interface design is collaborative, the design of such commercial products is the result of a team effort among engineers, marketing types, and designers and a time of one year or more. Choosing the interface designing tool depends on the features of the needed simulation software. One of the commonly-used network simulation tools is COMNET III published by CACI Products Company in It integrates LAN WAN and MAN prediction in a single objectoriented environment which allows user to change, to try alternatives and get performance measures. It is written in the programming language MODSIM II (a programming language product of the same company) using an objectoriented design. [2] The fact that the field of computer networking is making rapid advances leads to the same situation to the network simulation software industry. Many products and new technologies have been born and updated continually. This competition results in softwares with more and more interactive, attractive and easily-used interface and more powerful simulation ability. The latest technologies in network simulation industry are of MIL 3, Inc., a leading provider of decisionsupport software for networks and applications. One of their products: OPNET ITGuru9.0 (which will be released by the end of this year) is the most innovative solution in the Network Management category, and has won The Best of Show Award. [6] Those simulation softwares are written by many different programming languages. One of the basic and powerful tools used to design is Microsoft Visual Studio. In March 1997, Microsoft introduced the Visual Studio 97 development system, a complete suite of the award-winning. Visual Studio 6.0 is the next generation of the Microsoft enterprise development tools suite, and offers exciting new enterprise development features as well as a much higher level of integration throughout the tools. Visual Studio 6.0 includes: Visual C++, Visual J++, Visual Basic, Visual FoxPro.. Visual C is now used by millions of customers to design advanced interface and web applications. Visual Studio.NET 2003 is currently the latest version. Visual Studio.NET will be in its infancy and will have good future. The above review has shown some recently developing process of the simulation software industry as well as commonly-used tools to design a well-done interface and intelligent simulation program. In this project, Visual C was chosen to be used to design the interface and create the simulation program. 3 Technology Overview Visual C++ is a technology that allows programmers to use the C++ programming language and related tools to develop programs. The Microsoft Visual C++ versions 6.0 includes many new features to enhance developer productivity, improve executable performance, and ensure the highest levels of control. 1. Main Components The Microsoft Visual C++ package includes the following three main components: a. Visual (WYSIWYG) Editing of User Interfaces Here, user interface objects, such as text boxes or radio buttons, can be dragged and dropped on to a form. This gives instant feedback into how user interface will appear at run time. b. An object oriented approach to Windows programming Microsoft offers the Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC), a set of C++ classes which encapsulate the functionality provided by the WIN32 API (Application Programming Interface). This allows for code that is much easier to read and maintain. c. A Framework for Setting Up Applications: Microsoft has set up a Document/View architecture, which allows developer to quickly and easily create powerful applications. 2. Details: a. Rapid Application Development (RAD) Visual C++ takes care of the repetitive mundane tasks associated with Windows programming, allowing the developer to concentrate on those parts of the program which are specific to the

3 application being developed. Some of these tasks include: Setting up the main window Writing the main function Providing default behavior for user interface objects Providing default behavior for standard Windows messages Providing a straight forward way for custom handling of Windows messages Automatically writing out fully functional C++ skeleton code b. Microsoft Specific Features Development Environment Microsoft Visual C++ introduced the Developer's Studio, a powerful integrated environment for developing Windows applications. Within this environment, developers can access: the text editor for writing code; detailed information about classes; editors for creating/modifying user interface objects; on-line help; information about project files; and the list goes on and on. c. Cutting Edge Technology New C++ class libraries are constantly being developed to provide the programmer the ability to use this technology. d. Different Types of Application Visual C++ allows developers to create more than just interesting applications. Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLs) and Static Libraries (LIBs) can be created for storing commonly used functions and classes which can be linked to other applications later on. The benefit of this is that users don't have to rewrite the code each time they need it. Just link to the pre-built library and everything is ready to go. e. ActiveX/OCX/VBX Development An ActiveX Control is usually a user interface control that can be integrated for use on a web page or in a Windows program. The beauty of ActiveX is that developers can use Visual C++ to create one of these (for example: a button that changes shape when being clicked) and then use it within your web site and/or Windows applications. An OLE Control (OCX) is essentially the same thing as an ActiveX Control, just an older name for it. f. DirectX/WinG Visual C++ gives users access to Microsoft's DirectX and WinG libraries for creating fast Windows-based games. g. ANSII C++ Support Microsoft Visual C++ supports the new ANSII C++ standard. By using this standard, code becomes more portable, which will be important when comes time to upgrade/maintain the code in the future. h. Component Gallery Visual C++ offers the Component Gallery, a library of OLE Controls that can be added to the application in a couple of mouse clicks. A splash screen, a password dialog box, a progress bar etc can be automatically added to the application just by clicking on the component and pushing Insert 4 Application Development 1. Application Overview A model to be simulated includes nodes and queues. A Queue is a source which generates messages according to a probability distribution function. These messages will come to a certain node. A node is connected to many queues therefore will receive many messages at the same time. It will decide to let which message from which queue goes through first depending on the properties of the queues. INTERFACE: This project uses standard Windows tm interface for the creation of queue-node models. Figure 1 shows the view which appears when initially starting the application. The standard menu format of most windowed applications across the top of the window activates pull down menus. Figure 1: Main Interface

The toolbar to the left hand side of the screen allows for a simple method of creating objects in a model. The area to the right of the toolbar is the work space where models are built.

4 The toolbar to the left hand side of the screen allows for a simple method of creating objects in a model. The area to the right of the toolbar is the work space where models are built. The small strip below the toolbar and the workspace is called the status pane which is used to display messages to the user concerning actions performed while using the application. a. Main Menu File menu: -New: Clears the current model and creates a new clean workspace for the creation of a new model. If a model is in workplace, the application prompts the user to cancel this operation before it is carried out. -Open: Used to open an existing model. -Save: Used to save the current model -Save as: Saves the current model to the path and directory specified by the users -Exit: Exits the application View menu: -Main frame: Toggles the visibility of the toolbar above the workspace -Status bar: Toggles the visibility of the status panel below the workspace -Zoom in: Allows user to zoom in on a given selected portion of the model. -Zoom out: Expand the view to take in the entire work area. -Toolbar: Toggles the visibility of the Toolbar on the left of the workspace Simulation menu -Check: Checks whether there is any mistakes from the design and user s inputs -Simulation: Runs the simulation. b. Toolbar -Name: The queue name is a unique identifier given to the queue for identification purposes. Users can use default name or change to any name they like. If there is no name input for the queue or the name input has been used for another queue, the program will popup announcements. -Priority: This is the priority of the queue when passing through the node. Which queue has the smaller number will have higher priority. -Arrival Times (seconds): Inter arrival; first arrival and last arrival have the same dropdown list including all probability distribution functions: Beta, Exponential, Gamma, Lognormal, Normal, Poisson, Triangular, Uniform and Weibull. -Destination: This is the node to which the queue is connected to. The list includes all of the existing nodes of the model and will automatically update if there is any change of their names. -Message size Calculation: In order to calculate the message size generated by the queues, users must input the probability distribution and message size units -Message size units: include Byte, Kilobyte, Kilobit and Megabyte. -Probability Distribution: similar to the Arrival time distribution, it includes 9 probability functions which have been mentioned above. Node Property Dialog: When users double click a certain queue, the queue property dialog will appear so that users can input the properties of the selected queue. Node Queue Arrow Figure2: Tool bar The toolbar, located to the left hand of the workspace, facilitates the creation of the model. c. Property Dialog Queue Property Dialog When users double click a certain queue, the queue property dialog will appear so that users can input the properties of the selected queue. Figure 3: Node Property Dialog -Name: The node name is a unique identifier given to the node for identification purposes. Users can use this default name or change to any name they like. If there is no name input for the node or if there is already another node having the same name the program will popup announcement. -Source: This is the list indicating names of queues which has been connected to the node.

5 This list will automatically update when there is any change of name in any queue. SIMULATION: After the model is created through the interface introduced above, simulation progress now can be carried on. a. Checking Process: When users click Check in the submenu of Simulation, the software will check whether there is any error in the design and users inputs. If there is no error, an announcement Checked OK will appear. If users click Simulation, the software will also carries the Check step first and run the simulation unless there are errors. Some of the common errors are: - There is no nodes existing - There is at least one node to which no queue is connected. - Users has not input the inter arrival time, the message probability distribution and the message size b. Simulation Process: Being run when there is no error. First, a window appears to indicate the following simulation is of which node. Secondly, the application requires users to input the time in seconds they wish to simulate. The default time is 30 seconds. If the time input is negative, the application will announce users to input a new positive time. If there are many messages from different queues coming to the node at the same time, which one has more priority can pass through the node first. The time it takes a queue message to pass through the node depends on the message size and the message unit. Each kilobyte of message will take 1 second to pass through the node. 2. System Development This program is written by Visual C Totally the project contains 40 files. During the development of the application, Object-oriented programming approach is chosen. By this way, we design each problem by a separate class. And all these classes are connected together by a main file named UROP.cpp. When compiling, all the files, libraries and resources are linked together. There are totally 17 classes in this project. 5 Discussion The Graphic Interface Design for a Simulation application was finished coding and debugging on time and work successfully without any error. The interface is user-friendly and standard Windows tm one. The followings are important features of the application: Powerful zoom tools: Visual C++6.0 does not have a standard zoom function, therefore I had to write by myself the zoom algorithm which is quite complex. The scroll view resets according to the zoom factor. All the relative positions of nodes or queues are stored and zoomed and their images are stretched depending on the zoom ratio. Auto-updated properties: When name of a queue changes, the node, to which the queue connects, will automatically update the new name of that queue. Vice versa, when the name of a node changes, the corresponding queues will update their destination names. Figure 4: Time Input Dialog And at last, when users click OK button of the above dialog, the simulation results will be displayed. The results include the time when the message was generated from which node, the time it enters the node and the time it passes through. Auto-checking: When users input a queue name, the application automatically checks whether that name has been used by another existing queue or not. Before simulation, the project also checks whether there is any error and will prompt to the users. Document Saving: All the properties, positions of nodes and queues of the document are saved and restored when the document is open. Any how the view is zoomed when the document is

6 saved; the correct positions of objects will be stored. So even if the document is open at a different zoomed view from when it is saved, the objects still have a correct display. Good Simulation: Queues generate messages at random time according to the probability distribution selected by users. The time it takes for a message passing through a node also depends on the choices of users (message size and message unit). The process is based on first come first serve basis. If a message comes to the node at the time when there is another message being served by the node, it has to wait until that message passing through the node. If many messages come to the node at a same time, which one has more priority will go first. Due to time constrain, this project is not a completed one. As mentioned above, producing high-quality, comprehensible human interfaces are a difficult and labor-intensive process. In order to create a marketable product, it requires more time and more human resources. However, this project is a basic frame so that other improvements can be built more easily. Following are further improvements I suggest: Building Edit, Cut, Copy, Delete and Paste tools, Print Options. With these functions, users can easily change and edit their designs. Due to time constrain, I have not covered this part yet. Adding more properties for nodes and queues so that more factors will be considered when simulating. Adding more objects in the toolbar such as Link, Router etc so that the application simulates not only node-queue but also other network behaviors. Building Active X Control: In order to upload the application to the web, Active X control should be built. This process is quite complex but powerful. o Adding and exporting animation for the simulation so that the application will be more attractive. o Storing simulation results in separate files. In this application, simulation results appear in a dialog, they have not been saved in separate files yet. o The last but not least, to make the application a real marketable product, besides the above improvement, we should consider methods to reduce the size of softwares and to develop the quality of images. We also have to consider the system requirements And after that, our product definitely is ready for use in the market. 6 Conclusion Nowadays, the market for simulation softwares is expanding quickly. People need simulation softwares for virtual classes and virtual experiences to get interactive visualization, immediate feedback and assessment of a specific design with less time and money spending compared to real simulation experiences. However, a well-designed interface and powerful simulation software require long and meticulous process, human resources and modern technology. This project was done within one and a half month and by one person so that it can not be as completed as other commercial ones in the market. However, it provides standard features and builds the basic frame for further improvement. Not only is the main objective of the project (designing the interface) fully satisfied but also addition goals (creating a small simulation program) has achieved. We have created a useful application that let users explore the queue-node behaviors. For further improvement, we should take advantage of other latest technologies such as Microsoft Visual.NET so that the application will be more attractive and powerful. For future application of this project, further study is strongly recommended. Reference [1] Mickey Williams, Sams Teach Yourself Visual C in 24 hours, SAMS, 1998 [2] Sajay P.Ahuja: [3] Steve Holzner, Fast Track Visual C++6.0 Programming, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 1998 [4] Breaking the CScrollView size limitation with CBigScrollView [5] MSDN Home: [6] OPNET Technologies:

Opening Microsoft Visual Studio. On Microsoft Windows Vista and XP to open the visual studio do the following:

Opening Microsoft Visual Studio. On Microsoft Windows Vista and XP to open the visual studio do the following: If you are a beginner on Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 then you will at first find that this powerful program is not that easy to use for a beginner this is the aim of this tutorial. I hope that it helps