When a NextGen Simulation Office interface is booted up, displayed on the Home tab is a list of NextGen Simulation Servers detected on the network, including the local one on the same machine, and users can easily switch from one server to another.

Below that is a list of NextGen Projects that are accessible on that server, where each project can hold any number of NextGen Models. Then on the upper is a list of NextGen Models under the currently selected project.

This Home tab is where users can manage and organize models, as well as archive and restore models. Copying the archive onto a USB flash drive is the easiest way to transfer models between users if they are not connected to the same network.

To create a new model, a user can start from scratch and use the interactive Pipeline Builder to manually build the model, or use the Import feature to import the model from an external file or source. Models can be imported or automatically built from the following sources:

  • WinFlow Models
  • FlowDesk Models
  • GIS Shapefiles
  • Gregg Data Standard (database)
  • Excel Spreadsheets
  • Access Database (any data source including other vendors)

When a model is first created, the Steady State section is automatically activated. The Steady State section contains a map of the system and a variety of editors, graphs, and reports. A ribbon at the top contains buttons used to control most actions such as making runs or launching additional features or analysis tools.

To activate additional simulation sections such as Sequential or Transient Predictive, the user can go back to the Home tab and use the Section Manager to activate or deactivate them.