The GoldSim simulation environment is highly-graphical and completely object-oriented. That is, you build, document, and present models by creating and manipulating objects representing variables and relationships between the variables. For the purposes of discussing how to manipulate objects in GoldSim, it is important to differentiate between two types of objects: model objects and graphical objects.
A model object is used to quantitatively represent the variables and relationships in your model. Elements, the basic building blocks of a GoldSim model, are the primary model objects. Input and Output objects associated with each element, as well as Influences, are also model objects.
A graphical object is used to embellish or document the model. Graphical objects consist of images, text, lines, and other graphics that you can add to your model in order to document it. They have no impact on the simulation model itself, and only serve to improve the way in which the model is presented and documented.
There are some differences in the manner in which these two types of objects are manipulated in GoldSim, and this is specifically noted throughout the documentation. In particular, whenever the word "object" is used to describe an action or behavior, it applies to both model objects and graphical objects. If a particular action or behavior only applies to a certain type of object, the object type (e.g., model object, element, or graphical object) is explicitly used.
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