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Improved Demos

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One of the ways we try to teach users about specific features is by making a "bare bones" simulation as a demonstration of that feature. These "demos" don't usually generate a very exciting output data product, but they are fully self-contained (no external data required) simulations that focus on how to configure a specific feature. We have been distributing our growing set of demos with DIRSIG releases for some time.

In DIRSIG-4.4.0, we tried to make demos easier to use. The "demos" folder now includes a top-level HTML index file. On a Windows installation, this HTML index is can be opened by clicking the "Demonstrations" item in the "DIRSIG 4" sub-menu of the Start menu. On Mac and Unix/Linux, just open $DIRSIG_HOME/demos/index.html in your browser.
This shows a thumbnail image for each demo and gives a brief description of what the example demonstrates. Note the "Download this demo" link under each description. When you "download" the demo, it copies a .zip file from the installation folder (note, this does not require internet access). Simply unpack the .zip file and you have a writable copy of the demo.

Each demo has a README file that attempts to explain the finer aspects of the simulation. You can modify inputs and play around without worrying about messing up the original files in the DIRSIG installation directory. Most demos have a .sim file and can be loaded directly into the DIRISG4 user interface and run. However, some demos have not been updated from the DIRSIG3 simulation configuration and, therefore, cannot be loaded into the user interface. These older demos are being upgraded over time, but they can still be run from the command line and may contain valuable information you can incorporate into your modern DIRSIG4 simulation configurations.

So if you want to get familiar with a specific feature in DIRSIG, always check the list to see if we have already created a "demo" for it. If you don't see it there, let us know and maybe we will create one for you (and everyone else) when we get a chance.
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