The Generation of Input Data Using Interactive Computer Graphics.

The Air Force Avionics Laboratory utilizes a digital computer model of an air defense command and control system in its analysis programs. The model is quite large and requires an extensive input data set, of which approximately 80 is used to define the ground defense environment. Current techniques for preparation of the input data are totally manual, requiring many hours of tedious site preparation, data transcription, and keypunching. This paper presents a completely new approach to the preparation of the ground defense environment data. A system of three computer programs is identified that provides an automated process for converting basic site parameterization data into the required format for input to the model. An interactive computer graphics program is the core of the system and the principal vehicle through which all data modification and assignment actions occur. State-of-the-art concepts in software engineering, data storage and retrieval, and man-machine communication techniques are incorproated which enable early detection of erroneously defined data, increase the quality and timeliness of the final product, and improve overall system maintainability. Author