To gain a good understanding of how to model with NMOD, one needs to have read at least the first eleven chapters of NMOD Primer. However, reading so much of the Primer without experiencing the touch and feel of NMOD may be too dry and laborious for most people. Therefore, we suggest a sandwiched parallel approach for learning to model with NMOD.

We suggest that you breeze through first two chapters of the Primer first. You can return to this tutorial at that point, start with Chapter 1 and go as far as you can until you think you need to go back to the Primer to learn more about what is presented in the exercises here.

If and when your Primer progress starts to slow down again, you can come back here and go as far as you can with what you have learned in the Primer - again. You can also go through the problems and solutions discussed in the Examples section at this site to incrementally gain deeper understanding of NMOD.

By the time you finish all chapters in this tutorial, you will have decided whether NMOD is a tool you would like to work with. If it is, you will find it easy to go back and finish the Primer.

In this tutorial you will be doing hands-on modeling, performing the following steps:

• Graphically formulate models in Visio with ORMSware's modeling objects, and incorporate supplemental logic.

• Translate Visio reports of the model with ORMSware's NETrans, and create standalone EXEs of models.

• Execute models.

We will start in Chapter 1 with downloading and installing multi-vendor components of the ORMSware modeling environment, followed by a quick tour of the NMOD modeling process in Chapter 2. In the remaining chapters we will build from scratch the model used in the quick tour, and finish up by reverse-engineering a spreadsheet model and transforming it into a NMOD model.

1. Downloading and installing ORMSware's modeling environment

2. Quick hands-on tour of NMOD modeling process

• Launching Visio from browser

• NETransing models (translate ORMSware notation to compilable source) and create EXEs of models

• Running/executing models

• Working with ORMSware's Visio dialog boxes for entering network object properties

• About automatic synchronization of Visio file and complementary NET file of a model

• Performing reference check on any given item of interest in the model

• Process of tracking down logic errors in models

• Jumping directly to NETrans errors in a model's NET file

• Jumping directly to model content in NET file causing compilation errors

• Setting up a model's own optional configuration/modeling environment parameters file

• Setting up ORMSware's default configuration file for all models without their own parameters file

• Menu option for producing a model's network objects report from Visio

• Inserting comments in NMOD files (NET, and optional ADD and PGM files)

• Inserting WRITE statements as desired to write to screen and/or external files

• Using Echo notation ({?|x}) for tracking variable/property values

• Column-shifting a block of logic in NET file

• Unconditional execution of logic on conditional arcs

3. Building ORMSware networks - basics

• Placing objects from ORMSware stencil in the drawing area
• Connecting nodes with arcs to show dependencies of quantitative expressions
• Creating new nodes and arcs from nodes and arcs already in the drawing
• Visio's object ID assignment approach
• Aligning objects
• Constructing a quick, high level model with minimal data entry
• Entering network properties details of nodes and arcs
• Purpose of Type property of arcs

4. Building ORMSware networks - beyond basics

• Dragging objects up, down, left or right without losing their relative horizontal or vertical position
• Purpose of Type properties of nodes
• Role property of network objects
• Network [reference] nodes
• Creating subnets (referenced networks) in a file
• Making a node behave as convergence and non-convergence node using its predecessor arcs
• Defining Branch properties of arcs
• Using Nmod's CustomerID() function
• Changing automatically laid-out positions of arcs
• Changing default format of an arc's text box
• Using callout object

5. Storing more network object content in a model's NET and ADD files

• Using a model's NET file to enter more property logic for any given network object
• Why some network objects in a model's network diagrams are not in its NET file
• Creating ADD file
• Using a model's ADD file to accommodate user-defined arrays, special structures and procedures which will be available for use in any network object in the model.
• Model level variable declarations and procedures
• Network-object-level variable declarations
• How NETrans recognizes and handles network object properties (nops)
• CALLs to NMOD's Optimization Module
• SELECT CASE construct
• DO construct
• IF-THEN-ELSE construct
• Array sections
• Aligning contents of character variables
• UltraEdit's Search in conjunction with ORMSware reference check

6. Converting spreadsheet model to NMOD model

• Potential effort required in reverse-engineering of spreadsheet models
• Estimating transformation time and cost
• Cell breakdown process
• Cell status labeling
• Linking transitional data sources in NMOD to source cells in spreadsheet
• Long-term role of the intermediate/linking spreadsheet
• Periodic search for references and dependencies
• Tracking down (common) transformation errors