Möbius Modeller is a free and open-source web-application for parametric modelling. It runs in the Chrome browser.
In Möbius, users are provided with a set of visual programming tools to define scripts for generating models. These tools integrate two types of visual programming: flowcharts and procedures.
Flowcharts consist of nodes connected together with wires. Each node in the flowchart has a set of input and output ports, and contains a small procedure to perform some type of action.
Procedures consist of a sequence of lines of code. There are four types of code lines: 1) variables assignments, 2) ‘for-each’ loops, 3) ‘if-else’ conditions, and 4) function calls.
Function calls are lines of code that call a particular function. Libraries of different functions are provided. Additional libraries of functions can be added at any stage.
User Interface
The Möbius Modeller user interface consists of four main viewports, with one viewport on the left and three viewports on the right. The viewports can be rearrange into any configuration. By default, the Output viewport is on the right side, and the Flowchart, Procedure and Parameters viewports are on the right side.
· The Flowchart viewports is for defining the flowcharts, consisting of nodes connected with wires. Selecting one of the nodes in the Flowchart viewport will change the contents of the other three viewports.
· The Procedure viewport is for defining the procedure inside each node. The procedure that is shown is for the node selected in the Flowchart viewport.
· The Parameters viewport is for setting the parameter values associated with each node. The parameters that are shown are for the node selected in the Flowchart viewport. This viewport also contain the green ‘Execute Flowchart’ button, which will execute the flowchart using the specified parameter values.
· The Output viewport is for viewing the output generated by executing the script, as well as for viewing Help. The Output viewport has a number of different viewers. The most basic viewer is the Text Viewer, which is for viewing basic text. There is also an Output console, which is where various messages (including error messages) get printed.