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For the model to run, you must specify

•how many of each Entity Type are present at the start of the simulation, and

•the initial value for every stock and attribute of every entity in the model.

 

You may also provide, for any specific entity,

•alternative constant values for any auxiliary or flow whose "constant" checkbox is checked,  

•alternative table entries for lookup functions

 

You provide this information through creating sets of Entity Initialization data, listed in the Model Overview panel. These input data sets are a combination of one or more files containing numerical values for initial conditions and other inputs for each entity.

 

•Creating Initialization Data Sets

 

•Using Initialization Data Sets

 

If no initialization data are provided, Ventity will create one of each Entity Type, and use the default values that you entered in the definitions of the stocks and attributes as initial values.

 

Note that initialization information is different than external, time-series data provided to the model during the course of simulation. Those driving data appear in the model via data entities and are described in the Data Entities section of Defining Entity Types.