www.delorie.com/gnu/docs/mcsim/mcsim_37.html

search

	Buy GNU books!

MCSim User' Manual

6.4.1 Experiment definition

After global simulation specifications, "experiments" must be included in the input file. They define simulation conditions and specify outputs. An "experiment" section starts with the keyword Experiment and is enclosed in curly braces.

An "experiment" can make modifications to any model variable or parameter that was defined in the global section of the model description file. The syntax is the same, except that variables or parameters can only take constant values. So, for example, in an experiment the body weight could be modified with:

BodyWt = 83.2;

This overrides any previously assigned values, even if randomly sampled, for the specified parameter.

Inputs can be redefined with the input functions listed in the Mod reference section above (see section 5. Defining Models). Input functions can reference other variables (eventually random), as in:

Q_gav = PerExp(GavMag, 60, 0, RateConst);

The maximum number of experiments definable is 200. This can be changed by changing MAX_INSTANCES and MAX_EXPERIMENTS in the header file `sim.h' and recompiling. Within an experiment definition, or at the global level (if you want them to apply to all experiments), several additional specifications can also be used:

• StartTime(),
• Print(),
• PrintStep(),
• Data().