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[ short summary | implementation specific notes | some applications | version log ]
Oberon is the name of a modern integrated software environment. It is a single-user, multi-tasking system that runs on bare hardware or on top of a host operating system. Oberon is also the name of a programming language in the Pascal/Modula tradition.
The Oberon project was launched in 1985 by Niklaus Wirth and Jürg Gutknecht.
See also www.oberon.ethz.ch
Voyager is a project to explore the feasibility of a portable and extensible system
for simulation and data analysis systems. It is mainly written in and for Oberon.
The Voyager project is carried out by StatLab Heidelberg and was launched in 1993 by Günther Sawitzki, Martin Diller et al.
See also www.statlab.uni-heidelberg.de/projects/voyager/
AntsInFields is a software package for simulation and statistical inference on Gibbs Fields. AntsInFields is written in Oberon and uses Voyager. It has been developed since 1997 by Felix Friedrich.
It is intended for mainly two purposes: To support
teaching by demonstrating well known sampling and estimation techniques and for
assistance in research. By a clear concept the software meets today's typical
demands like portability, flexibility, extensibility and modularity. Its object
oriented design is very close to the mathematical structure, which - on the one
hand - provides scientific re-usability and - on the other hand - allowes an
implementation of interactive and consistent visualization, one of the
principal items used for intuitively illustrating complex mathematical facts.
AntsInFields contains handling and visualization of one, two and
multi-dimensional data. It provides a general abstract framework for Markov
Chain simulations and for Gibbs Fields. It includes concrete implementations of
the Gibbs Sampler, Metropolis Hastings Algorithms, Simulated Annealing and
Exact Sampling. Main focus is on techniques that use Markov Chains for two
dimensional, finite, data like, for example used in the Bayesian image analysis
approach. Various models like the Ising model, the Potts model, Graffigne's
Phi-model, auto-models, and extensions have been implemented and are ready for
experiments. Besides the MCMC based algorithms, parameter estimators for Gibbs
Fields are provided for special cases. AntsInFields contains a ready-for-use
graphical interface for beginners, students and for presentations, a command
based interface for flexibility on an intermediate level and reusable modules
for the scientist and the advanced programmer.
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For Oberon-people, who are not interested in Markov Chains, Gibbs Fields and the like, some Modules might still be interesting, because of some its novel features, as for example: Panels are scalable - by modifying Organizers into antsOrganizers.Mod, their content (including Fonts) is scalable; closing a Windows-window stops the running thread if it is attached to the window; threads are controlled and activity is displayed; etc. Check it out, if you like, and excerpt parts that you find interesting.
The system distributed is designed for use with "ETH Plugin Oberon for Windows". Many many many thanks to E. Zeller for producing all the Windows views and dialogs etc. ! I tried to make it work with people who did not know anything about Oberon beforehand. And, I think it works.
The version on the web is not specifically designed for Windows but at the moment you need a Windows 95/98/NT/XP/ME/2000 operating system for an easy installation. If you use Oberon for Windows already, I recommend to perform a COMPACT installation (select "compact" while installation progresses), since then only the AntsInFields registry is written to disk without affecting your (Windows-) Oberon. AntsInFields is then installed separately from Oberon. (The installer does not provide an installation into an Oberon system)
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2 Oct 2002 - First public version a1.01
current: a1.03
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