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Alexander Herzog edited this page Nov 3, 2022 · 3 revisions

Frequently asked questions

Do I really need Java to execute Warteschlangensimulator?

Yes, Warteschlangensimulator is a Java program. There is an exe file in the installation folder. This will search a Java installation and start the Simulator.jar file using this installation. If there is no Java installation, the exe wrapper cannot start the main simulator.

Having a Java installation on a computer is no risk. The only disadvantage is that Java will need about 300 MB of disk space. The previous security concern have been about the Java applets which allowed to execute code from foreign sites in a (sometimes not perfectly sealed) sandbox in the browser. Java applet are not anymore supported by modern Java distributions. Java is nothing more than any other library needed by some other local program.

Java is completely open-source and can be downloaded for example from the Adoptium.

Which Java version is the best for Warteschlangensimulator?

Warteschlangensimulator needs as minimum a Java version 8. But all newer Java versions are also supported. If you use a high DPI display (e.g. you have set up a display scaling >100%), you should at least use Java 11. Java version prior to 11 cannot handle display scaling and will display very small windows with very hard to read small fonts. Newer Java version in general have a better support for more modern hardware. So if you are free to install a Java version of your choice, you should install the newest version you can get.

To be able to use all features of Warteschlangensimulator, you should prefer the Java Development Kit (JDK). In the smaller Java Runtime environment (JRE) some functions are missing which will limited the available features in Warteschlangensimulator.

Java itself is open-source. The OpenJDK project offers this source. Different vendors are building binaries and adding installers etc. and offering them for download. A non-exhausive list of available Java download sources can be found on the page Installing. If you do not have any special preferences, using the version from Adoptium is just fine.

How can I update my installation?

This depends on the type of your Warteschlangensimulator installation:

  • If you have installed Warteschlangensimulator via the Windows installer in user-mode, it will update itself (as long as you have not turned auto update off in the setup dialog). There is nothing you need to do manually.
  • If you have installed Warteschlangensimulator via the Windows installer in admin-mode, you will have to download the latest version and just install it again in admin-mode. The new version will replace the old version. All settings will be kept and there also won't be two uninstall records in the Windows settings. Just installing the new version over the old version is no problem.
  • If you use the portable version: Download the new portable version and replace it. (If you want to, you can transfer the Simulator.cfg to keep you settings.)

Which file formats Warteschlangensimulator uses for the model files?

Warteschlangensimulator uses xml as file format for everything. The format for models, statistics etc. is documented in dtd and xsd mode see here:

Because xml files tend to get large, Warteschlangensimulator can optionally zip the files when storing them and also read models, statistics etc. from ziped xml files.

The fact Warteschlangensimulator uses xml as it's home format, does not mean it will not understand other formats: Table data can be loaded and stored in xlsx as well as in ods format. And for report generation pdf, docx, odt, html, tex and many more are available.

Can I use Warteschlangensimulator for commercial projects?

Yes. Warteschlangensimulator is licensed unter the permissive Apache License Version 2.0 which allows private as well as commercial usage. It allows to modify the source code and to redistribute new versions - as long as the license and the copyright notices are kept. For more details on the Apache License Version 2.0 see: choosealicense.com/licenses/apache-2.0/

Where can I find example models to understand how Warteschlangensimulator works?

There are many built-in example models available directly from the file menu of Warteschlangensimulator. In the file menu you will also find a model generator which can create simple models for you. You will only need to specify some basic properties of the queueing systems to be generated.