Rapid construction of simulation-driven animations in web pages using NLX and Flash

Abstract

Recent versions of Adobe Flash include library functions to exchange data between Flash and Java or Javascript. This facility made it possible to incorporate Flash graphics into the NumberLinX (NLX) system for rapid construction of interactive numerical simulations in Web pages. To build an interactive simulation, the mathematical equations for the simulation model are first entered into the forms of a wizard-like NLX Model Builder program, producing the Java code for the model, an HTML template page, and an HTML documentation page for the model. The interactive simulation page is then constructed using the NLX input and output objects integrated into Adobe Dreamweaver, including linking attributes of the Flash graphic to model output variables. The entire process - from equation entry to page building - can be accomplished without coding, once a few standard lines of Javascript have been added to the Flash graphic file.