Simput

Goal

To provide a simple way to write input simpulation files.

Installation

$ npm install -g simput

Usage

After installing the package you will get one executable Simput with the following set of options:

$ Simput

  Usage: Simput [options]

  Options:

    -h, --help                    output usage information
    -V, --version                 output the version number

    -i, --input [file|directory]  Input file or directory
    -o, --output [directory]      Output directory to output to
    -t, --type [type]             Type of input

    -s, --silent                  Do not open the browser

    -c, --compile [directory]     Directory to compile files
    -m, --minify                  Minify compiled file

Examples

$ Simput -p

Starts a server and opens your web browser, showing a landing page with a choice of inputs which you can create.

Demos

There are a few supplied demos in the folder types, each have their own README.

• vCard is the simplest example, with a single type of output.
• oscillator is a bit more complex, because it derives from a real benchmarking application meant to exercise in-situ analyses on hpc systems.
• pyfr and vera produce input files for real applications, and are realistically complex.

Development

$ git clone --recursive https://github.com/Kitware/simput.git
$ cd simput
$ npm install
$ npm run build
$ npm link
$ Simput

  Usage: Simput [options]

  Options:

    -h, --help                    output usage information
    -V, --version                 output the version number

    -i, --input [file|directory]  Input file or directory
    -o, --output [directory]      Output directory to output to
    -t, --type [type]             Type of input

    -s, --silent                  Do not open the browser

    -c, --compile [directory]     Directory to compile files
    -m, --minify                  Minify compiled file

Then to compile pyfr and open a development server which watches for another compile:

$ npm run type:pyfr
$ npm run dev

Creating a new simulation type

In a separate location create a folder for your type:

# Replace [mytype] with your type name.
mkdir [mytype]
cd [mytype]
git init

Create the folder and file structure:

• /src
  • /lang
    • /[language] e.g. "en", "fr"
      • label.json, attribute and property labels.
      • /help, help dialogs, recommended, not required
        • /[folders for each attribute]
          • [file for each property, contents are html]
  • /templates
    • [template file and helpers]
  • model.js, primary data structure.
  • convert.js, converts the model into the simulation deck format.
  • parse.js, converts a complete input file to the simput model; recommended, not required.
• /samples, empty or partially full sample datasets; recommended, not required.
• /versions, an output folder for your compiled type; recommended, not required.
• README.md, a description of your type; recommended, not required.

For examples of each take a look at types/demo

Optional: Add the type as a submodule to this repository

It's critical that these are executed in order

# start in the [mytype] directory from above. Replace [mytype] with your type name below.
git checkout -b type-[mytype] #replace 'mytype' with the name of the new type
git commit -m "initial commit"
git remote add origin https://github.com/Kitware/simput.git
git push origin type-[mytype] # where 'mytype-branch' is the current branch name
cd [your simput repo] # usually cd ../..
git submodule add -b type-[mytype] https://github.com/kitware/simput types/[mytype]
git add .gitmodules types/
git commit -m "added [mytype]"
git push

Add to compilation and landing page

Simput changed to a Vue.js framework, and no longer has the ability to dynamically add and load types - they must be present when Simput is built by webpack.

Add another script to package.json which compiles your type.

Add a call to Simput.registerType() for your type in static/index.html

This will likely change soon.

Licensing

Simput is licensed under BSD Clause 3.

Getting Involved

Fork our repository and do great things. At Kitware, we've been contributing to open-source software for 15 years and counting, and want to make Simput useful to as many people as possible.