TAS Simulator Control

The TAS Simulator allows several options for controlling the progress of a Tile Assembly Model simulation. Since simulation steps are automatically cached, simulation can be run both in forward and reverse directions. Several methods for controlling simulations are described below.

Breakpoints

There are three main types of breakpoints that can be set for a simulation: step, location, or tile type based breakpoints.

Breakpoints can be set and managed through the "Manage Breakpoints" window, which can be accessed by selecting the menu option "Control" -> "Manage breakpoints..." (or by pressing 'Control-B'). A sample image of the "Manage Breakpoints" window is shown below.

Manage Breakpoints window

Step based

Step based breakpoints can be set so that the simulator will automatically halt on specified simulation steps (when it is running in the forward direction).

Location based

Location based breakpoints can be set so that the simulator will automatically halt when tiles are placed at specified locations.

Tile type based

Tile type based breakpoints can be set so that the simulator will automatially halt when tiles of specified types are placed anywhere in the assembly.