DEVELOPMENT OF PORTABLE AND EXTENDED VERSION OF MODELING LAB

MLAB IS A UNIQUELY POWERFUL, VERY HIGH-LEVEL MATHEMATICAL AND GRAPHICAL PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE. IT IS EXTREMELY VALUABLE TO THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY AT THE NIH AND OTHER BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS. HOWEVER, MLAB RUNS ONLY ON DEC-10/20 COMPUTERS BECAUSE IT IS WRITTEN IN THE SAIL LANGUAGE, USES A SPECIAL GRAPHICS PACKAGE WRITTEN IN DEC-10 MACRO-ASSEMBLER, AND IS TIGHTLY BOUND TO THE DEC-10/20 OPERATING SYSTEM. WE PROPOSE TO STUDY CONVERTING THE MLAB INTERPRETER INTO A MORE PORTABLE FORM, IN ORDER TO MAKE IT MORE WIDELY AVAILABLE AND TO ENABLE IT TO SURVIVE THE EVENTUAL DEMISE OF THE DEC-10/20 COMPUTER. WE PROPOSE: 1.TO EVALUATE HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ALTERNATIVES, 2.TO ORGANIZE AND INITIATE THE CONVERSION EFFORT, ESPECIALLY THE GRAPHICS PACKAGE, AND THE ULTIMATE RESULT OF THIS EFFORT WILL BE THE CREATION, AMONG OTHERS, OF THE FOLLOWING MARKETABLE PRODUCTS: 1.A COMPLETE, PORTABLE MLAB SYSTEM, INCLUDING INSTALLATION, MANUALS, TRAINING, MAINTENANCE, ENHANCEMENTS AND CONSULTATION, AND 2.A HIGH-QUALITY GRAPHICS PACKAGE, INCLUDING TEXT IN MULTIPLE FONTS, 2- AND 3-DIMENSIONAL GRAPHICS, TERMINAL INDEPENDENCE, SUITABLE FOR GENERAL