<s>
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
is	O
a	O
general	O
purpose	O
discrete-event	B-General_Concept
simulation	I-General_Concept
and	O
human	O
performance	O
modeling	O
software	O
tool	O
developed	O
by	O
Alion	O
Science	O
and	O
Technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
developed	O
using	O
C#	O
and	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
allows	O
users	O
to	O
create	O
discrete-event	B-General_Concept
simulations	I-General_Concept
as	O
visual	O
task	O
networks	O
with	O
logic	O
defined	O
using	O
the	O
C#	B-Application
programming	I-Application
language	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
uses	O
a	O
task	O
network	O
,	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
functions	O
which	O
decompose	O
into	O
tasks	O
,	O
to	O
create	O
stochastic	O
models	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
has	O
been	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
healthcare	O
,	O
manufacturing	O
,	O
supply	O
chains	O
,	O
business	O
process	O
re-engineering	O
,	O
workstation	O
design	O
,	O
call	O
centers	O
,	O
transportation	O
,	O
and	O
command	O
and	O
control	O
areas	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SAINT	O
was	O
a	O
FORTRAN	O
based	O
discrete	B-General_Concept
event	I-General_Concept
simulation	I-General_Concept
language	O
developed	O
in	O
the	O
1970s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
's	O
intuitive	O
graphical	O
user	O
interface	O
and	O
flow	O
chart	O
approach	O
to	O
modeling	O
make	O
it	O
a	O
tool	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
by	O
generalists	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
simulation	O
experts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2003	O
Micro	O
SAINT	O
was	O
completely	O
redesigned	O
by	O
MA&D	O
to	O
take	O
advantage	O
of	O
the	O
C#	B-Application
programming	I-Application
language	I-Application
and	O
Microsoft	O
.NET	B-Application
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
tool	O
was	O
renamed	O
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
models	O
contain	O
a	O
task	O
network	O
called	O
a	O
Network	O
Diagram	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
also	O
includes	O
more	O
low	O
level	O
features	O
such	O
as	O
global	O
variables	O
and	O
subroutines	O
called	O
Functions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Task	O
Effects	O
are	O
programmer-specified	O
C#	O
expressions	O
where	O
programmers	O
can	O
manipulate	O
variables	O
and	O
data	B-General_Concept
structures	I-General_Concept
when	O
a	O
task	O
is	O
invoked	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Events	O
are	O
occurrences	O
that	O
happen	O
in	O
an	O
instant	O
of	O
simulated	O
time	O
within	O
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
that	O
can	O
change	O
the	O
global	O
state	O
of	O
the	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
the	O
stochastic	O
nature	O
of	O
discrete-event	B-General_Concept
simulation	I-General_Concept
,	O
an	O
event	O
will	O
often	O
trigger	O
the	O
generation	O
of	O
a	O
random	O
variate	O
to	O
determine	O
the	O
next	O
time	O
that	O
same	O
event	O
will	O
occur	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nodes	O
can	O
connect	O
to	O
any	O
number	O
of	O
other	O
tasks	O
,	O
so	O
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
provides	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
sequencing	O
options	O
to	O
determine	O
the	O
task	O
to	O
which	O
the	O
entity	O
moves	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
has	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
global	O
variables	O
used	O
by	O
the	O
system	O
throughout	O
a	O
simulation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
provides	O
the	O
public	O
global	O
variable	O
Clock	O
which	O
tracks	O
the	O
simulation	O
's	O
current	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
also	O
has	O
private	O
variables	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
allows	O
the	O
modeler	O
to	O
create	O
custom	O
global	O
variables	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
accessed	O
and	O
modified	O
in	O
any	O
task	O
node	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Variables	O
can	O
be	O
of	O
any	O
type	O
native	O
to	O
C#	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
software	O
provides	O
a	O
list	O
of	O
suggested	O
variable	O
types	O
including	O
C#	O
primitive	O
data	O
types	O
and	O
basic	O
data	B-General_Concept
structures	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
also	O
provides	O
the	O
programmer	O
with	O
the	O
functionality	O
to	O
create	O
globally	O
accessible	O
subroutines	O
called	O
functions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
has	O
three	O
different	O
visual	O
representations	O
of	O
the	O
model	O
that	O
are	O
available	O
to	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
also	O
allows	O
user	O
to	O
view	O
individual	O
pieces	O
of	O
a	O
model	O
with	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
dynamic	O
real-time	O
charting	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OptTek	O
's	O
OptQuest	O
optimization	O
software	O
is	O
included	O
in	O
the	O
Gold	O
version	O
of	O
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
OptQuest	O
works	O
with	O
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
by	O
sharing	O
variables	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
can	O
directly	O
choose	O
the	O
variables	O
that	O
will	O
have	O
an	O
effect	O
on	O
the	O
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
model	O
results	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
provides	O
the	O
capability	O
for	O
your	O
model	O
to	O
communicate	O
with	O
files	O
,	O
databases	O
,	O
and	O
web	O
sites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
currently	O
six	O
types	O
of	O
communication	O
protocols	O
that	O
are	O
used	O
to	O
customize	O
protocols	O
for	O
models	O
:	O
(	O
1	O
)	O
ADO.NET	B-Device
,	O
(	O
2	O
)	O
Console	O
Command-line	B-Application
interface	I-Application
,	O
(	O
3	O
)	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Excel	I-Application
,	O
(	O
4	O
)	O
Network	B-Protocol
socket	I-Protocol
,	O
(	O
5	O
)	O
Text	B-General_Concept
file	I-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
(	O
6	O
)	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
console	O
protocol	O
allows	O
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
to	O
interact	O
with	O
command	B-Application
line	I-Application
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Excel	B-Application
protocol	O
connects	O
to	O
a	O
Microsoft	O
Excel®	O
spreadsheet	O
and	O
allows	O
the	O
modeler	O
the	O
capability	O
to	O
do	O
basic	O
reading	O
and	O
writing	O
of	O
cells	O
in	O
workbooks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
is	O
a	O
general	O
purpose	O
simulation	O
tool	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
several	O
customized	O
tools	O
have	O
been	O
developed	O
that	O
use	O
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
as	O
the	O
underlying	O
simulation	O
engine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
table	O
below	O
lists	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
Micro	B-Application
Saint	I-Application
Sharp	I-Application
based	O
tools	O
that	O
have	O
been	O
developed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tool	O
Purpose	O
Sponsor	O
IMPRINT	B-Application
(	O
Improved	O
Performance	O
Research	O
Integration	O
Tool	O
)	O
Predict	O
system	O
performance	O
as	O
a	O
function	O
of	O
operator	O
and	O
maintainer	O
manpower	O
,	O
personnel	O
,	O
and	O
human	O
factors	O
engineering	O
(	O
HFE	O
)	O
components	O
very	O
early	O
in	O
the	O
acquisition	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
