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Project Explorer

The Project Explorer is SimGe's single, unified navigation and control center. It consolidates modeling, configuration, and generated outputs into one coherent, IDE-style hierarchy — replacing the separate explorers used in earlier versions. From one tree you work with:

  • Object Models — inspect and navigate Federation/Simulation Object Models (FOM/SOM) and their structural elements.
  • Federate Applications — configure, inspect, and validate the federate applications taking part in the federation execution.
  • Generated Code & Artifacts — reach the generated source code and related artifacts, grouped under their owning federate application.

Integrated project navigation

Project management is tightly integrated with the Project Explorer:

  • One tree for everything — all project assets (object models, federate applications, and generated outputs) are visible and managed from a single explorer tree.
  • Context-aware commands — each item's right-click menu and its commands are enabled only where they are semantically valid, so you cannot trigger an action that does not apply.
  • Live updates — changes to project state are reflected in the tree immediately, without a manual refresh.

This keeps the project structure and its artifacts in sync at all times.

The project tree

Under the project root, the tree groups everything into two top-level areas:

  • Object Models — the object-model repository:
  • Federate Applications — the federation's federate applications, each with its generated code & artifacts grouped beneath it.

Double-clicking a module opens it in the OME; double-clicking a node in the dependency graph or an explorer item behaves the same way. Right-clicking any item opens a context menu tailored to that item.

Context menus

Each kind of item has its own right-click menu. Most menus also include Expand / Collapse.

Project root

Command What it does
Rename Project… Renames the project and its folder. See Opening & Saving.

"Object Models" folder

Command What it does
Load SimGe OM… Loads an existing object-model index into the project.
Create New OM… Creates a new (FOM) object model.
Clear All OM Removes all object models from the project.

"FOM Modules" folder

Command What it does
Add New FOM Module… Creates a new, empty module. See Managing Modules → Adding modules.
Add Existing FOM Module(s)… Brings existing module file(s) into the project. See Managing Modules → Adding modules.
Module Dependencies… Opens the Module Dependencies tool.
Remove All Modules Clears every module in one batch. See Managing Modules → Removing.

"SOM Modules" folder

Command What it does
Create New SOM… Creates a new SOM module.

A module (FOM / SOM)

Command What it does
Open in Editor Opens the module in the OME (read-only for dependency/standard modules).
Rename Module… Renames the module and its files. See Managing Modules → Renaming.
Duplicate Module… Copies the module under a new name. See Managing Modules → Duplicating.
Paste OMT Element Pastes a copied element into the module. See Copy and Paste OMT Elements.
Set as Project FOM Marks this module as the project's primary FOM.
Merge Modules… Merges modules into one. See Managing Modules → Merging.
Module Dependencies… Edits this module's dependencies. See Managing Modules → Editing dependencies.
Remove Module Removes the module from the project. See Managing Modules → Removing.
Export FDD… / Export FED… Exports the module to a standard file. See Importing & Exporting.
Properties Shows the module's properties panel.

An OMT element (inside a module's content)

Command What it does
Rename Renames the element.
Copy Copies the element. See Copy and Paste OMT Elements.
Delete Deletes the element.
Properties Shows the element's properties panel.

"Federate Applications" folder

Command What it does
Generate All Code Generates code for every federate application. See Code Generator.

A federate application

Command What it does
Generate Code Generates code for this federate. See Code Generator.
Open Latest Generated Code Folder Opens the most recent output folder in Windows Explorer.
Rename Renames the federate application. See FAME.
Delete Removes the federate application.

Generated code (run folder / file)

Command What it does
Open in File Explorer Reveals the generated folder or file in Windows Explorer.

MOM Explorer (System Library)

SimGe includes a dedicated "MOM" folder under the "Object Models" root node in the Project Explorer. This acts as a System Library providing the standard IEEE 1516-2025 Management Object Model (MOM). - Read-Only: System-defined elements within the MOM module are robustly protected against modification or deletion. - Editor Access: Double-clicking the MOM module opens it in the OMT Table Editor in a read-only state, allowing for deep inspection of standard structures. - Utilization: You can view the properties of the newest HLA 4 MOM objects, interactions, and unsigned data types. These standard elements can also be copied (via right-click or drag-and-drop) into your custom FOM/SOM modules.

Drag-and-Drop OMT Elements

You can easily transfer OMT elements (such as Objects, Interactions, and Data Types) between modules using native drag-and-drop within the Project Explorer. 1. Click and hold the left mouse button on a source OMT element. 2. Drag the element over a target FOM or SOM module node. 3. Visual Feedback: The cursor will change to a "plus" (+) sign when hovering over valid, editable targets. It will show a "prohibited" sign when hovering over invalid targets (such as the read-only MOM module or the Project Root). 4. Release the mouse button to drop the element.

SimGe automatically invokes the copy-paste validation, ensuring the element is placed in the correct OMT section and resolving any name conflicts via a confirmation dialog.

Copy and Paste OMT Elements

Use this feature to copy an OMT element into one of your FOM/SOM modules. Whatever the source, the pasted item is created as a new UserDefined element in the target.

What can be copied (source)

  • UserDefined elements — your own classes, datatypes, dimensions, etc.
  • MOM elements — even though they are read-only, you can copy standard elements out of the MOM system library into your own model.
  • Cannot be copied: other read-only content (built-in / MIM), the module root, and OMT metadata nodes.

Where it can be pasted (target)

  • The target must be an editable, UserDefined FOM or SOM module. Read-only modules (MOM/MIM) cannot be paste targets.
  • SimGe pastes into the matching OMT section for the element's kind. If the target has no compatible section, the paste is refused with a warning.

Copy

  1. In Project Explorer, expand a module and its Content tree (or open the MOM library).
  2. Right-click a copyable element and choose Copy.
  3. A confirmation dialog summarizes what will be copied: source module, element/OMT-node type, the number of child tree elements, and owned details (e.g. enumerators, record fields, variant alternatives, dimension input data-type references). It also notes that only UserDefined content is copied and the result becomes a new UserDefined element.
  4. Confirm to store the copied element on the internal clipboard.

Paste

  1. Right-click the target FOM/SOM module and choose Paste OMT Element.
  2. SimGe places the element in the matching OMT section, for example:
  3. Enumerated data type → EnumeratedDataTypes
  4. Simple data type → SimpleDataTypes
  5. Object class → Objects / HLAobjectRoot
  6. Interaction class → Interactions / HLAinteractionRoot
  7. Dimension → Dimensions
  8. Dependent data types are brought along. If the copied element references data types that are not yet present in the target, SimGe copies those too and rebinds the element's references to the target's types.
  9. On success the destination section expands, the pasted element is selected, and the project is marked as having unsaved changes.

Name Conflicts

If the destination section already contains an element with the same name, SimGe offers a generated unique name (for example StatusType_copy) and asks you to confirm before pasting.

Clipboard Behavior

The internal paste buffer is cleared after every paste attempt — whether it succeeds, is refused, or you cancel a name-conflict prompt. To paste again, copy the element again.

Recovering Missing Module Files

Each FOM/SOM module is stored on disk as two files in your project's Fom folder: a small metadata file (.sfom) and the model content file (.xml). If a project is moved, a file is renamed or deleted, or a shared drive is offline, SimGe may not find these files when you open the project.

Spotting a broken module

Modules whose files are missing are marked with a red warning badge (a circled !):

  • In the Project Explorer tree, next to the module name.
  • On the Start Page dependency graph, on the module's node.

Hover the badge (or the node) to see a tooltip describing what is missing and a reminder that double-clicking starts recovery.

What happens when you open a broken module

When you double-click a module whose files are missing, SimGe first tries to find them automatically in the usual project locations (the project folder, its Fom subfolder, and the configured FOM folder). If both files turn up there, the module is repaired silently and opens as normal.

If they still cannot be found, a Module File Missing dialog appears with these choices:

Option What it does
Locate… Opens a file browser so you can point SimGe at the module's .sfom file.
Remove Module Removes the broken module from the project (after a confirmation). Use this when the file is gone for good.
Repair SimGe… Shown only for the bundled sample projects — guides you to repair the installation to restore the original sample files.
Cancel Closes the dialog without opening the module.

Locating a file

  1. Choose Locate… and browse to the module's .sfom metadata file.
  2. SimGe checks that the selected file really belongs to this module. If it belongs to a different module, you are warned and asked to confirm before continuing, so module links are not silently mixed up.
  3. The module is reloaded from the chosen location and its contents reappear under the correct FOM Modules or SOM Modules folder in the Project Explorer.
  4. If the metadata is found but its content (.xml) file is not next to it, SimGe tells you exactly which file to place beside the .sfom and try again.

The browse dialog remembers the folder you last used during the current session, so locating several files in a row is quicker. It resets to the default folder the next time you start SimGe.

Tip: Because the project path was repaired, SimGe marks the project as having unsaved changes. Save the project to make the corrected location permanent.

A note on sample projects

The bundled sample projects (e.g. Chat, STMS) are installed in a shared, read-only location, so Save is disabled for them. To keep your edits — including a repaired module path — use Save As to store your own copy in a writable folder such as your Documents. Save As is always available for samples.