Please keep this training manual – and your handwritten notes! Skimming back through this during breaks in the coming weeks and months is the best way to consolidate your long-term memory of the intensive programme of features covered in the last two days! Try to work through by yourself any of the advanced exercises which you were not able to complete during the original course.
If you get stuck with a particular feature while using the software, try pressing <F1> in any dialog or on any menu item. You may be surprised to find that the online help system has an immediate answer, or that you can follow hyperlinks within the help system to find what you need. Take a few moments to familiarise yourself with the contents of the help systems for both the Editor and Results programs.
If you want to get a broader view of the capabilities of the software, then take a few minutes to explore the Help system further – sometimes you may see something in this casual browsing which is not of immediate interest, but which may be recalled later when you face a given challenge. You can also use the Search functionality in the online help system to find out more about particular topics.
If you don’t understand some specific results from a model, then don’t forget the audit function! You can ask STEM to audit a named result, and it will tell you which inputs affected the output, and how, without you having to know how STEM works on the inside. This vital feature allows you to open up any aspect of the so-called ‘black box’ to review the automated calculations on the inside.
Although we recommend that you try to solve your own problems wherever possible, as this is the best way to develop your own knowledge and understanding, we also provide high quality technical support during UK office hours to our commercial clients through a licence maintenance contract.
Full contact details can be found by selecting Contact Implied Logic… on the Help menu in STEM, or you can email us directly at support@impliedlogic.com. We will be pleased to answer your questions, and to listen to your suggestions for additions to future versions of the software.
Finally, we include in 2.3.17.1 Identifying the elements of a STEM business model some notes to consider in advance of the modelling workshop which usually follows these introductory exercises, and which may be a useful starting point for any new model.