IDA Introduction
Introduction
IDA SE is an object-oriented simulation environment (SE) designed to handle a wide range of different types of simulation problems. The systems to be simulated are decomposed into subsystems that are modeled using the Neutral Model Format (NMF) or Modelica. These models are then connected together to form a simulation model of the original system. The equation solver can solve most systems of differential-algebraic equations that can be formulated in NMF or Modelica. Both steady-state and dynamic problems can be dealt with, as well as discontinuities in the solutions.
The basic IDA help documentation consists of the following sections:
How to build an IDA system: creating a system, inserting components, parameters, boundary conditions, connections, etc.
How to simulate an IDA model
Viewing the system and the results
Navigating in IDA system: view types; saving and printing results
Extra features that may be implemented in IDA applications: resources, database, parameter mapping, calendar, etc.
How to edit the forms
Help topics about menus, dialogs, diagnostic messages, etc.
Information about IDA applications
Information for application developers
Writing new applications and extending existing ones
See also
A single or several systems are stored in an IDA document. To each document there is a corresponding file on the disk. The IDA simulation environment can also handle a few other types of files, e.g., text files and plot files (time series).
The system(s) to be simulated is constructed in an open document by adding different types of objects. There is one symbol corresponding to each object. Some objects represent mathematical models written in a modeling language, NMF or Modelica. Other objects represent boundary conditions, connections or entire systems. Some objects are mere graphical symbols designed to make it easier to understand the structure of the whole system. See also Modeling.
An object may be selected at any time. It then becomes a part of the selection. Many functions operate on the selected objects. A selected object may be unselected at any time. See To select objects for instructions on how to select and unselect objects.
A system that can be simulated is called an executable system. In order to be executable a system must, among other things, be well-posed, i.e., it must contain a correct set of boundary conditions. A system that is not well-posed may still be used as a component in another system.