Sim and Simlet Versions

The following objects use a version number system to maintain a full audit trail of test changes and development:

• Sim
• Simlet

When you create either a sim or a simlet, it is assigned a version number starting at 1.

For both sims and simlets, new versions are not created unless you tell the system to create a new version. 

Each version of a sim or simlet points to a different IMO.

When you add  a simlet to a sim by typing in the simlet id, the version that is added is always the most recent version of the simlet and the version number of the simlet that is added is tracked by the sim from that point forward.

This means that a particular version of a sim always uses the simlets with the version number when they were first added to that sim.

Example

1. Create a Sim. Call it MySim.
2. System assigns version 1 to this Sim.  We'll designate this as MySim V1
3. Create two simlets, MySimletA and MySimletB.
4. System assigns version number 1 to these Simlets. So you have MySimletA V1, and MySimletB V1.
5. Add these two simletsto MySim.  When added the system adds the most recent version number of each simlet to the sim. 
6. So, you now have MySim V1, which contains MySimletA V1 and MySimletB V1

You test a bunch of people using this sim. All test event records record that you are using MySim V1.

6 months later, you want to make some changes to MySimletA. So you create a new version of the simlet. This becomes MySimletA V2, which creates a new IMO by copying the old one. You then make changes to the new IMO associated with MySimlet V2 .

Now, if you simply rebuild MySim V1, it will continue to use MySimletA V1 and MySimletB V1, since those are the versions that were initially associated wtih MySim. 

To force MySim to use MySimletB V2, you need to tell the system to create a new version of MySim. This will become MySim V2 and the system will automatically check to see what the latest versions are of each simlet and will use the latest version. So, this means, MySim V2 will contain MySimletA V1 and MySimletB V2.

Note that MySim V2 uses a different IMO and other data records than MySim V1. This means that any tests conducted with MySim V1 will always point to MySim V2 and any tests conducted with MySim V2 will always point to MySim V2. So, the audit trail is complete.  Analysis tasks like item response data analysis or reconstructing a test will always use the proper version.

So, to Make changes to an HR Avatar Simlet and then post to a test when ready. 

1. Create a new version of the simlet. The IMO will be copied when this happens. 
2. Make changes to the IMO.
3. Test it out. 
4. When you are ready to use the new version, create a new version of the sim and rebuild the sim. 
5. That should be it. The new version of the sim, when rebuilt, will use the new version of the simlet. 
6. All product records will be updated to point to the new version. Any tests in progress or incomplete will use the old version and any tests started after that point will use the new version.