This project, based in the Centre for Computational Geography , aims to produce a Microsoft Windows based spatial interaction modelling workstation system. It is funded by the School of Geography at the University of Leeds, England, in collaboration with GMAP Ltd.
The teaching of the theory of spatial interaction modelling has in the past been heavily theoretical, and at least one of the aims of the AGW Workstation project is to provide an easily accessible route to practical experimentation with a range of spatial interaction models, for both students and researchers.
A primary aim of the AGW project is the reuse of existing code. There are many existing code fragments for a range of spatial interaction models available for reuse, written in a range of languages including Fortran, Pascal and C, and GMAP Ltd have developed a number of MS-Windows based subsystems for mapping, charting etc. in MS-Windows .DLL format.
In order to reuse the existing model code, all models are run as MS-DOS executables in a DOS shell under MS-Windows, communicating data with the main AGW via a set of predefined files. The AGW is written using MS C++ v8.0, and uses many of the existing subsystem .DLL's produced by GMAP Ltd.
The AGW Workstation defines a data format, and a set of descriptors for both model and dataset which are used to determine the compatability of a given model with a given dataset. These formats will ultimately allow the introduction of custom models and datasets by the user.
The AGW currently includes 5 test datasets, and the following models:
Machine requirements
The following are the minimum requirements for running the AGW workstation:
The software available
The current version is a beta release, version 1.6, available as described below. It is still under development, so please feel free to contact the authors with comments or suggestions for improvements. See the file readme.txt for latest version information.
How to retrieve the AGW software
By anonymous ftp from gam.leeds.ac.uk, in directory /pub/agwi/ Click here to download from this directory.
How to use the AGW
Installation: follow the installation notes in the readme.txt file accompanying the .ZIP files.
Usage: detailed instructions on the use of the system are contained in the on-line help files, which can be entered on starting the program by clicking on the 'introduction' button. A pre-release version of a School of Geography Working Paper is available in postscript form as agwpaper.ps , or in PKZipped form as agwpaper.zip .
The AGW Workstation was developed by Tom Glover and Prof. Stan Openshaw , with help from many of the staff at GMAP Ltd. Please feel free to contact us with comments or queries.
Tom Glover
School of Geography University of Leeds Leeds LS2 9JT ENGLAND Email: tom@geog.ac.uk Tel: 0113 2336834Prof Stan Openshaw
School of Geography University of Leeds Leeds LS2 9JT ENGLAND Email: stan@geog.ac.uk Tel: 0113 2333320GMAP Ltd
GMAP House Cromer Terrace Leeds LS2 9JU ENGLAND Tel: 0113 2446164Version 1.6 contains a historical introduction to spatial interaction modelling.
Version 1.6 now runs from a Novell server.