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Frequently Asked Questions

Note: This list will be an evolving list based upon questions received during site fieldings and via the help desk.

Question

  • How does OneSAF model the night scene?
  • What map data formats does MSDE support?
  • What are the procedures/steps and details pertaining to importing an MSDE supported map database into MSDE?
  • Did 1.5 ship with the wrong version of PostGreSQL?
  • Why does OneSAF 1.5 not install correctly on a linux machine after being prompted for another disk?

    • Answer

  • What is a SAF?

    SAF stands for Semi-Automated Forces. There are many computer generated forces (CGF) simulations. These are often referred to as constructive simulations. CGFs model and simulate combat entities and systems. These entities and systems are actors in the simulation. (In contrast with constructive simulations, in virtual simulations [like flight simulators] the humans are actors in the simulations.) A SAF is a CGF in which the entities have some level of autonomy. For instance SAF entities often react to contact, can do some limited route re-planning when faced with an obstacle, can choose some actions based on their knowledge of the current situation, etc. SAF entities are semi autonomous, because they generally require human operators to do holistic planning, provide goals for goal-directed behaviors, etc.

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  • What is OneSAF?

    OneSAF is actually the name of the program office, not a product. The term OneSAF refers to our mission of creating one SAF CGF to meet a broad spectrum of simulation needs across multiple modeling and simulation domains. These domains include the Advanced Concepts and Requirements (ACR) – R&D laboratories and TRADOC analysis centers; Training, Exercises, and Military Operations (TEMO) – battle simulations centers, course of action analysis, etc.; and Research, Development, and Acquisition (RDA) – the various battle laboratories. In addition, OneSAF will be one of the training common components on every Future Combat System (FCS) platform designed to enable an embedded training capability. The program office was established to build a single SAF to replace many existing CGF’s and SAF’s to save the Army money. By having a single SAF, a new weapon, system, enemy capability, etc. would have to be implemented once and shared among many applications.

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  • What is composability?

    Composabiltiy is a design philosophy and implementation methodology of OneSAF that enables users to rapidly tailor the simulation to meet the needs of a specific simulation exercise or experiment. The toolbox analogy is useful in explaining composability. When a person wants to fix a light switch, he or she doesn’t generally drag the entire work bench from the garage to the site of the repair. Instead, he or she takes the two or three tools from the bench and takes only those. When that person now wants to rebuild the master brake cylinder on his car, he takes a different set of tools from the bench. With OneSAF, the designer of the simulation exercise or experiment can build an instance (or composition) of OneSAF that has only those tools needed for that job. OneSAF also supports battlespace composition. The entity, unit, and behavior composer tools allow the user to modify the way the simulation operates – without recompiling any software.
    Composability is enabled through the OneSAF product line architecture framework PLAF. Software is commonly developed in a horizontally layered architecture. In OneSAF, tools are arranged in vertically organized product lines. The interactions between modules in these product lines are controlled through hundreds of defined application programmer interfaces (API’s) and data interchange formats (DIFs). This modular architecture enables developers outside of the OneSAF team to develop new modules to replace ones built by Team OneSAF. As long as these new modules comply with the architecture and use the correct API’s and DIFs, a user can build a composition that includes their own module rather than one of ours. We feel that our open architecture, open-source software, composability, and modular design will create numerous business opportunities for industry to build replacement modules or new modules with functionality we haven’t yet considered.

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  • How can I get OneSAF?

    You can request a copy of OneSAF via the OneSAF Distribution Agreement. If you are other than U.S. government, you must submit a request through your government program sponsor.

    Download the OneSAF Distribution Agreement, complete, and fax to:

    • Pearce Bybee
      321-235-7708
      pbybee@ideorlando.org
    • Raul Seda
      Help Desk Support, One Semi-Automated Forces (OneSAF)
      rseda@ideorlando.org
      Phone: 321-235-7625


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  • How can foreign governments obtain OneSAF?

    There are normal procedures for foreign customers to get access to U.S. systems and software, including the Foreign Military Sales program, Project Agreements, and Information Exchange Agreements. Interested foreign customers are encouraged to contact the program office to learn more about OneSAF products, but requests for them will be handled through normal DoD processes.

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  • What terrain databases will be available?

    At FOC, OneSAF will be delivered with JNTC (NTC, 29 Palms, etc.), JRTC (Ft. Polk), Ft. Hood and Graffenfels terrain databases in the Objective Terrain Format (OTF).

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  • What types of terrain databases are usable by OneSAF?
    OneSAF supports the use of the Objective Terrain Format (OTF) databases.
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  • What tools are available to create terrain files into OTF?
    OneSAF does not provide terrain generation tools but the COTS vendors
TerraSim and Presagis offer tools with the capability to generate OTF
terrain databases.
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  • What tools are available to convert from CTDB to OTF?
TerraSim and Presagis offer tools with the capability to convert from
CTDB to OTF terrain formats.
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  • What OneSAF versions are supported by OTF?

OneSAF version 1.0 and 1.1 are supported by OTF version 5.0 terrain databases. OneSAF version 1.5 and 2.0 are supported by OTF version 6.0 terrain databases.

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  • What is the IDE?

    The Integrated Development Environment is our facility in Orlando, Florida, and the software tools that enable collaborative development. There are many unique aspects of OneSAF development, including spiral development and implementation of extreme programming. The OneSAF developers are a real team. Currently collocated in the IDE are eight contractor teams working under 12 task order (IDIQ) contracts, our combat developer (TPO OneSAF), representatives from our customers (ACR, RDA, and TEMO), and the very small team of government engineers and managers. There is no prime contractor; the government is the prime. We have an architecture and integration contractor that serves many of the functions normally assigned to a prime contractor, but the government team is responsible (and INVOLVED IN) the creation of OneSAF. All members of the team are involved on a daily basis. The glue that helps bind all of these groups together is a set of (mostly open source or freeware) tools and CMMI level 5 processes that enable communication, collaboration, rapid code-test cycles, etc. This collection of tools and process is commonly referred to as the IDE and is manifested in our Web-based collaborative environment, OneSAF.net.

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  • What is User Feedback vs. Help Desk Support?

    User Feedback may be either a request by the OneSAF community for enhanced or revised capabilities or notification of a problem with a released OneSAF baseline. This information is to be provided to PM OneSAF via the User Feedback Tool. PM OneSAF provides Help Desk Support to provide a contact point for all users of OneSAF to direct questions, to assist the OneSAF user to maximize their use of OneSAF software, and to respond to customer requests for technical support for operator, administrator, and developer levels. A web-based Help Desk Request tool is available on the onesaf.net and is the preferred method for contacting the Help Desk.

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  • Is OneSAF DIS and HLA compliant?

    Yes. OneSAF is both DIS and HLA compliant.

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  • Is OneSAF CTIA compliant?

    OneSAF has basic compliance with CTIA through the live range adapter. Currently, the only linkage between OneSAF and TENA is via the CTIA adapter.

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  • What is the Military Scenario Definition Language?

    MSDL is being developed by OneSAF to provide simulations with a mechanism for loading Military Scenarios. As a standard, MSDL is not being developed for simulation alone. The intent is for MSDL to define Military Scenarios that are independent of the application of that scenario. To that end, MSDL is an XML based data interchange format that enables C2 planning applications to interchange the military portions of scenarios with Simulations and other applications.

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  • What does MSDL include (scope)?

    The scope of MSDL is bounded by the situation at one instant in time combined with the COA about to be taken in context to that situation. The intent is for MSDL to include that information which is either Core or Common to the situation and course of action of a military scenario.

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  • What is Military Scenario Development Environment

    The Military Scenario Development Environment (MSDE) is a PC-based program designed to allow training developers to design and develop simulation exercises in an effective, efficient manner. MSDE operates in the Windows NT© environment using Microsoft PowerPoint©, and permits the user to generate a detailed simulation exercise scenario complete with scenario map.

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  • What is the Analysis and Review Product?

    The Analysis and Review (A&R) Product supports the graphical review and analysis of all data collected during the OneSAF simulation. It provides the mechanisms to collect, review, manipulate, and analyze the collected data, and contain the components to:

    • perform data collection in support of training and analysis,
    • annotate training exercises with Observer/Controller observations,
    • perform after action review in support of training, and
    • perform verification and validation-related model analysis.

    The A&R Product supports mining of collected data to construct MOEs/MOPs and analytical charts and graphs in addition to allowing data export to COTS Office Automation and analytical review tools. The A&R Product contains the following components:

    • After Action Review (AAR),
    • Annotator Tool, and
    • Model Verification Tool (formerly Verification and Validation Tool).

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  • What are the features of the After Action Review Component of OneSAF?

    Based on the PowerStripes AAR system, the After Action Review (AAR) Component provides the ability to interface to existing and future AAR products through standard interfaces.The AAR component provides the AAR functionality of JANUS. Its features and capabilities include:

    • integrated 2D (PVD) and 3D (Stealth) visualization,
    • extraction of time-varying simulation results in a form suitable for input to other programs,
    • options to filter output variables,
    • display and list activity of any designated entity or unit for any portion of a run,
    • rapid replay using map displays,
    • data analysis of results,
    • methods to guarantee traceability on desired activities, and
    • selectable storage of data for all events to the subsystem level.

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  • What is the C4I Adapter?

    The C4I Adapter Product provides a bi-directional interface between OneSAF and real-world C4I devices. The product supports translation between simulation and tactical message representation, connection to the real world C4I devices, and Monitor and Control services, as well as provides common operations for the:

    • Through the pre-exercise Mapper Generator Tool, gui based application to create new translation mappings or modify existing mappers
    • C4I Adapter GUI (version 1.1 and beyond) which allows viewing of services / log files the C4I Adapter is performing, as well as modification of some properties at runtime
    • Interfaces and Mappers for the following C4I devices: MCS-GW, MCS-WS, ASAS-L, AFATDS, AMDWS, FBCB2 for version ABCS SWBI, and ABCS SWBII (Version OOS 1.5)

    The C4I Adapter is the conduit to interface between simulations and real world C4I Devices. Models are responsible for the doctrinally correct behaviors needed to accept orders from the C4I Devices and produce the needed reports, as well as behaviors that may be needed based on functional area and the echelon that is being simulated. For this reason, there is a coupling of functionality needed to be supported by the C4I Adapter as well as the Models to allow an interface to a C4I Functional area to be supported.

    The C4I Adapter interfaces to C4I systems and structures. It provides the capability to directly transmit simulation situational data and outcomes to existing C4I systems as well as receive data from a C4I device so that the simulation has this data as well. The C4I Adapter is compatible with real-world C4I architectures allowing data exchange between OneSAF models and actual C4I systems. This capability is required in order to train soldiers, evaluate weapons systems, and assess new systems on the digitized battlefield. The C4I Adapter also allows an operator of a C4I system to end data to entities modeled in OneSAF and to receive native C4I reports from those entities. The C4I Adapter is currently supported on Sun Microsystem's Solaris® UNIX® and Microsoft Windows® platforms only. Linux® is not currently supported as a component that the C4I Adapter reuses (CMP) is not available on Linux . The C4I Adapter product functionality consists of three product-specific components:

    • Monitor and Control Services,
    • Translation Services, and
    • Connect Services.

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  • Does the C4I adapter need to be installed on all machines?

    The C4I adapter needs to be installed only on the machine(s) that will be connected to the tactical network (typically only one machine will be running the C4I Adapter in a OneSAF configuration); this machine will have dual NIC (Network Interface Cards) so the machine is on both the tactical and simulation LANs.


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  • What if I get an error message while installing PostGreSql 8.0?

    If you receive this error message, "Installation Package could not be opened. Contact the application vendor to verify that this is a valid windows installation Package.", then you should download it from this web site: ftp://ftp-archives.postgresql.org/pub/binary/v8.0.4/win32/

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  • How to install PostGreSql 8.2 for OneSAF v1.5?

    There is currently a problem installing PostGreSQL v8.2 on a system that
    already had OneSAF installed. This doesn't happen on every box with OneSAF.


    When you do the following steps:

    Start the install for PostGreSQL
    Select the language for the installation (English)

    This occurs:

    A window briefly appears stating the system is preparing for the
    installation.
    That window closes and the entire installation ends with no error message
    other than an obscure log file in the PostGreSQL install direcotory.

    As a workaround please do the following:

    Rename the cygwin directory, e.g. to "cygwin_temp"
    Run the installer for PostGreSQL, using the supplied instructions Rename the
    cygwin directory back to its original name.

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  • How does OneSAF model the night scene?

    Currently, man-made light sources are not modeled. There is just a general light level setting in foot-candles that is taken into account when the sensor runs. This light level value is plugged into the ACQUIRE sensor model for determining the acquisition level.

  • What map data formats does MSDE support?

    OTF and CTDB

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  • What are the procedures/steps and details pertaining to importing an MSDE supported map database into MSDE?

    On MSDE toolbar go to import, terrain(AOI), and then navigate to the directory to where the terrain files are located

  • Did 1.5 ship with the wrong version of PostGreSQL?
    The incorrect version of PostGreSQL was delivered with the OF-OOS v1.0.2.
    The correct version is v8.2.3, can be found at:
    http://www.postgresql.org/ftp/binary/v8.2.3/win32/.

    If you have any problems downloading this file, please create a help desk
    item.


  • Why does OneSAF 1.5 not install correctly on a linux machine after being prompted for another disk?
    To continue with the install find the CD/DVDRom or CDRecorder icon that opened on the desktop. Right click and eject the CD. Then insert the new CD and the install will continue normally. normally. If the icon is not available to eject you can open a new terminal window and type the following command (you may need sudo rights) umount /media/CDRECORDER/ then manually eject using the button on the cd recorder.







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