Workspace

The Simbrain workspace is the framework within which a simulation is run. It contains components which are coupled to one another, and tools for managing these interactions.   More specifically, the workspace  is responsible for:

(1) Maintaining a list of components (neural networks, virtual worlds, data tables, plots, etc.)
(2) Maintaining a list of couplings, which are links between components (e.g. from a neural network to a time-series plot of the activation of some nodes in that network).
(3) Managing simulation updates.  All updates are iteration based.   The network is updated using the press or play buttons in the toolbar, and the current iteration number is also visible in the toolbar. Custom forms of update are also available.

The workspace is visible in the GUI as the Simbrain desktop (see below). The desktop contains menus, a toolbar, and a main space in which all components are shown.   There is also a set of tabs at the bottom of the network which allow the user to view couplings, set certain properties of components, and monitor a simulation in other ways.

Workspaces are stored as .zip files.  These files contain .xml representations of all components and couplings in a simulation (and some other information as well)  They can be unzipped, and individual saved component and coupling descriptions can be inspected (Note that you cannot currently change the files, rezip, and re-open).