/users/rlr/Courses/530-07W/Txt/notes-netlogo-etc.txt
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Nov 2006 --  These notes a BIT OUT of DATE !!

Brief notes on running Netlogo, RePast and other 
packages on the CSCS system.  You can find a list
of all the packages we have available at:
    http://cscs.umich.edu/old/lab/doc-index.html
under
    For a list of software and applications, please look 
         at our applications page
We have (at least):
   Swarm
   RePast
   Netlogo,  StarLogo
   Mason
   Breve
and a host of other general and special apps,
as well as many tools and libraries (eg ant, jung, eclipse, 
and many more).


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Repast
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Repast is a java based class library that provides tools for constructing ABMs.
The Repast architecture is based on the Swarm architecture (in terms of
schedules, the notion of a a gui "observer" class in control of the
GUI aspects of the model, and extending the underlying Model class itself,
which is responsible for the "content" of the model.

CSCS has Repast installed, see 
   http://cscs.umich.edu/old/lab/documentation/RePastStuff/index.html
for more details.

We use ant (see the CSCS doc applications page) for making our Repast models.
An example of how to do this for the Repast heatBugs demo is here

    /appl/repast/Demos-3/heatBugs2/Readme.txt

That tells how to setup an ant file and repast package in your
own file space, using the Repast heatBugs demo as the basis
for a modified version of that demo.

Repast 3.0 has many new features, including RepastPy, a GUI-based
interface for making it easier to create simple model prototypes,
with methods written in not-quite-Python, which can then be written
as java source for further development.


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Netlogo
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Netlogo is a NetLogo is a cross-platform agent-based parallel modeling
and simulation environment.  Its aimed at students (even in K-12!)
and newcomers, so as such it is quite easy to get started.
The language it is based on is *logo, which in turn was based on logo.
Full documentation is at:
    http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/docs
There are many useful tutorials, and the manual is pretty good.
(Though some key concepts are not explained as well as they should be,
I think in part as a part of their particular approach to teaching/learning.)
    
You can download NetLogo from the NetLogo download page.
Or you can get an account on the CSCS computers and run it there.
To run it in CSCS computers, just enter 

   netlogo &

(NB: you can run it this way remotely only if your machine is
running an X server...see the CSCS doc pages for more information
on running applications remotely.)

To get some help on using netlogo, go to the NetLogo doc pages
and look around, e.g., start with the Introduction (What is Netlogo?
Sample Model: Party), then try the tutorials---they will walk you
through much of the interface and how to use it.
(You can pull down Help->Users Manual and go to the
introductory and tutorial sections...but sometimes that doesn't work
right on the CSCS computers.)

Or you can just pull down  File->ModelsLibrary
and pick a few models to play with.  Each model comes with its own
built in help, under the Information tab.
Some to start with include:
   ComputerScience -> Cellular Automata -> Life
   SocialScience -> Altruism or Cooperation or ...
   Biology -> Flocking or Termites or ...
For each, if you click on the model name in the ModelsLibrary list,
a brief description with be displayed to the right of the list of models.
Usually the information includes references to the origins of the model
which can lead you to interesting papers, books, etc., as well
as some suggestions for little "experiments" to try with the model.
You can then run the ones you want by pressing the Open button
at the bottom of that ModelsLibrary window.
When the model is loaded, the Information tab in the main NetLogo window
will also describe the model, experiments to try, etc.

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