Modelbase System : A distributed database on the Internet
Masayuki Hirafuji · Medical Entomology and Zoology · 2000
Many kinds of models (simulation programs) and databases are required in agriculture. So far many models and fact databases have been developed. Some groups collected models on their web sites such as Software database of Japanese agricultural institutes http://ss.narc.affrc.go.jp/~kiura/meta_index/index.ht ml (Japanese), WWW-Server for Ecological Modelling http://dino.wiz.uni-kassel.de/ecobas.html, CropSyst http://www.bsyse.wsu.edu/cropsyst/cropsyst.html. And program libraries such as Biosystems Analysis Group http://biosys.bre.orst.edu/src_doc.htm provides enormous collection of functions and objects. We have collected links to such web sites on http://yummy.narc.affrc.go.jp/Hirafuji/mbres.htm, which includes about two dozens URLs, and the each URL includes also a dozen URLs. So we estimate that there are thousands models at least on the Internet. It is, however, extremely troublesome to use programs on the web sites. Because users must find candidate models for their purpose by using search engines, and read documents carefully to know specifications of models. Then they need to download a file with several mouse/key operations, and melt it using an archive program. Then they install it and test