Hello DSSATers,
Below please find a summary from the DSSAT survey, which was
recently circulated via this listserver. Only seven
responses were received.  Of these, one was a single comment.
With such a small response, I decided to present the actual
responses rather than summaries.
 
Best regards,
Jeff White, CIMMYT
 
 
For questions 1, 2, 3 and 7, answers of each user are in vertical
columns.  A "+" means the user responded to more than one category.
Comments in question 6 are from three users.
 
1.  YOUR USER PROFILE.  Mark the category that fits you best:
             farmer/grower
             ag-consultant
             extension/outreach
             student
          +  instructor/teaching
      X   +  researcher -- model applications
X X     X    researcher -- model development
          +  software developer
2.  PLEASE RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING ASSERTIONS BY RATING EACH
      ON A SCALE FROM 1 TO 5, WHERE 1 = STRONGLY DISAGREE AND 5 =
STRONGLY AGREE
5 5 4 2 3 2 a.  The new GUI should closely mimic the present structure
of
           pull down menus (e.g., Data, Models, Analyses ...).
2 4 2 5 2 3 b.  The new GUI should be customizable, so users can create
an
           interface that matches their specific needs.
1 4 3 5 2 4 c.  Ease of use for experienced users should be emphasized
over
           ease for beginners or infrequent users.
4 5 5 5 4 1 d.  The new GUI should still be called "DSSAT."
           Comments: (NONE)
 
3. PLEASE RATE THE FOLLOWING PARTS of DSSAT3 FOR THE QUALITY OF THE
INTERFACE.  USE A 1 TO 5 SCALE WHERE 1 = VERY DEFICIENT AND 5 = VERY
  2 4 1 2 4   a.  Experiment description/definition (XCREATE)
    1   1     b.  Entry of experimental results (TACREATE -- in beta
version
  2 4 4 2 3   c.  Weather data tools: data entry/export
  2 3 4 2 3   d.  Weather data tools: data analysis
  3 1   4 2   e.  Soils data tools: retrieving existing data
  2 1 3 2 1   f.  Soils data tools: estimating parameters for new
profiles
4 4 4 3 4 3   g.  Actual simulation models
5 3 4 3 4 4   h.  Graphical display of outputs
    4 3   4   i.  Seasonal analysis tools
  2 3     3   j. Sequential analysis tools
  3   3   3   k. Spatial analysis tools (in beta version of DSSAT3.1)
  2     3 3   l. Tools for managing lists of files (e.g., of
experiments)
          2   m.  General database programs (e.g., in Background)
      Comments: (NONE)
 
4.  OF THE MODULES LISTED IN QUESTION 3:
  -- Which three do you use the most:
        Sim models, Graphics
        Sim models, Graphics, Weather data entry/export
        (No answer)
        Sim models, soils, seasonal analysis
        XCREATE, weather, graphics
        Seasonal, spatial, soils database
 
  --  Which three do you never use or use the least:
        (No answer)
        Sesonal analysis, TACREATE
        (No answer)
        XCREATE, TACREATE, file manager
        Seasonal, Spatial
        TACREATE, Sequential, XCREATE
 
       Which do you find the most confusing or hard to use:
        (No answer)
        Sequential analysis, XCREATE, Weather data entry/exp.
        (No answer)
        XCREATE, file manager, database
        Actual models
        None of these
 
Comments: "I think all the modules have been developed in a way that
almost
everybody with some computer skills should be able to operate
them."
 
5.  CAN YOU SUGGEST OTHER CROP MODEL OR SIMILAR INTERFACES ...
      ArcView, GUICS (2 votes)
 
6.  PLEASE PROVIDE ANY OTHER COMMENTS ON HOW WE CAN IMPROVE THE DSSAT
           USER INTERFACE:
 
A.  Make the control buttons consistent throughout the different
modules.
For example, <escape> will usually allow the user to go backward.
However,
in the model output graph section this doesn't necessarily apply
especially
when trying to get out.  Pressing <escape> will de-highlight the menu,
so
the user must press F10 to get the menu highlighted again. This is
inconsistent with the shell which will allow the user to get out of the
module as well as the shell when <escape> is pressed.
 
B.  Take a good look at the GUICS program by Mironenko and Pachepsky.
It
took me only about a week to install SimPotato into it even tho it was
developed for Glycim, which has a very different set of input/output
files.  GUICS uses a system of script files to identify and describe
the contents/format of the input files so it is pretty flexible.  At
least it has many or most of the features that you would want in a
user interface.
 
C.  Yes, I think we should strongly focus on making the simulation
models
modular. This modularity is required for a lot of more sophisticated
analysis tools such as intercropping or erosion studies. So it is not
really the GUI where most of the emphasis should be but more the models
themselfs.
 
7.  WHICH VERSION OF DSSAT DO YOU CURRENTLY USE:
      +        2.X
      +        3.0
X X   + X  X   3.1