This section is useful if you just want to get a sample tile assembly system loaded and start a simulation. It will explain how to load one of the sample tile assembly systems packaged with ISU TAS, briefly explain how to see the different components, and give instructions on how to run a simulation. For a much more detailed description of how ISU TAS works, please start here.
To load the sample tile assembly system 'grow', in the window titled 'ISU TAS Simulation Window' click on the 'File' menu. Within the 'File' menu, select 'Load tile assembly system...'. This will bring up a dialog that allows you to browse to files on your system. Use that dialog to browse to the folder above the 'Release' folder which contains TAS.exe. Select the 'samples' folder which is in the same folder as the 'Release' folder. In the 'samples' folder, select the file 'grow.tdp' and click the 'Open' button.
After opening 'grow.tdp', ISU TAS will load both the seed assembly file (grow.tdp) and its associated tile set file grow.tds because the 'Load tile assembly system...' option was selected. (Alternatively, each of those files could be loaded individually as long as the tile set file, grow.tds, is loaded into the editor first and then into the simulator, and then the assembly file grow.tdp is loaded.)
Once the tile assembly system has loaded, you will see the 'SEED' tile, surrounded by four blue squares representing the current frontier in the ISU TAS Simulation Window. By moving the mouse cursor over the 'SEED' tile, you will be able to see an expanded view of it in the panel labeled 'Tile Type' on the left side of that window. The window area containing the tiles represents the 'tile space' in which the assembly grows. Each position has a unique pair of x and y coordinates, and the positions are surrounded by red squares as the cursor moves over them, with their coordinates being displayed both in the 'Tile Space' panel and at the bottom of the 'ISU TAS Simulation Window'. For example, the coordinates of the 'SEED' tile are (1,1).
By left-clicking and holding the left mouse button, then moving the mouse cursor, you can drag the tile space around to view different locations. You can also use the scroll bars to move the viewable portion of the tile space. Another way to navigate around the tile space is to use the 'Overview' window. That window shows a much smaller representation of the entire tile space at any given point. The blue box within it represents the portion of the tile space that is currently viewable in the main 'ISU TAS Simulation Window'. By clicking on a position in the 'Overview' window you can cause the main window to automatically scroll to that position.
Note that the 'Overview' window can be resized or moved around, even docked in the the side or bottom panels of the main window along with the 'Tile Type' and 'Messages' panels. Each of the panels can also be hidden or made visible again via the 'Appearance' menu.
Also note that the tile space automatically grows as necessary to accomodate the space requirements of the tile assembly. Because of that, its proportions may become uneven (e.g. height much greater than width). The 'Overview' window represents the entire tile space within its own dimensions, which may be proportional. Therefore, the representation in the 'Overview' window may look quite distorted at times.
To view the entire tlie set that is loaded by the 'grow' tile assembly system, look at the 'ISU TAS Tileset Editor' window. Within the main panel of this window (in the 'Tiletype editor' tab) you will see the six tile types displayed. By moving the mouse cursor over each one, you can see an expanded view of it in the 'Tile Type Definition' panel on the left.
In order to select a tile type for editing, you must left click on that tile type. Then, the box surrounding it in the 'Tiletype editor' panel becomes blue and that tile type remains the currently selected one even when the mouse cursor is moved off of it. At that point, any of the value for that tile type can be modified within the 'Tile Type Definition' panel. In order to keep any changes made, you must hit the 'Apply' button at the bottom of that window. Once that is done, the tile type will be updated in the 'Tiletype editor' panel. By once again left-clicking on a selected tile type you can un-select it.
Note that changes made to tile types or the tile set in general within the 'ISU TAS Tileset Editor' window are not propagated to the 'ISU TAS Simulation Window' automatically. This is because any changes made can potentially invalidate the current assembly. In order to propagate such changes (and therefore automatically attempt to reset the current assembly back to the seed assembly), you must press the button in the toolbar of the 'ISU TAS Simulation Window' with the tool tip 'Load the current tile set from the editor'.
When the 'grow' tile assembly system is initially loaded, it is in the seed assembly stage. In order to advance the simulation, thereby allowing tiles to be added to the assembly, use either the 'Forward' or 'Fast Forward' buttons in the toolbar. The 'Forward' button will simulate the addition of a single tile at a randomly selected location on the frontier. The 'Fast Forward' button will begin a sequence of such additions that will only stop once either the frontier becomes empty or the 'Pause' button is pressed. The 'Backward' and 'Fast Backward' buttons work analogously.
As the assembly grows, the tile space will automatically grow to accomodate it. That may cause odd behaviors with the automatic scrolling of the main simulator window, and also with the 'Overview' window (see 'Viewing the Seed Assembly' for more information).
The zoom level at which the assembly is viewed can be changed by either pressing the '-' or '+' magnifying glass buttons in the toolbar, or by manually entering a zoom level in the box between them and pressing 'Enter'.
Finally, the assembly can be reset back to the seed assembly stage by pressing the button in the toolbar with the tooltip 'Reset the current assembly'.
Hopefully the above descriptions, although brief, provide enough information to allow you to begin using the included samples, and after some experimentation you can modify them or make your own and explore the behavior of the Tile Assembly Model on your own.