This tutorial guides the first-time users to open LMM, explore its components and test the models available in the installation. The only way to learn using a software is to try it. Therefore, users are invited to test and explore any aspect of the windows appearing while following the tutorial. This software comes with an extensive manual (see here for a list of the main pages), covering every window of the programs in the package, and discussing many issues concerning Lsd simulation modelling.
The following text explains the steps required for an early exploration of the system. There are many links to other manual pages. Use the icon bar in your screen to use the links, observe the Lsd/LMM windows, and return to this page.
To install and run the system read the  installation instructions in the LMM manual. At start time choose the "Create a new Text File" option.
 

Operations	Instructions
Observe LMM Interface	LMM is made of a text editor with several menus containing mostly standard editing commands. However, the menu Model is special. It allows to select a Lsd model and, when this is done, its commands refer to that model. For example, the command Model/Show Equations automatically inspect which is the source file containing the equations of the model selected and loads it into the LMM editor. The menu Edit includes many commands useful for writing C++ code, particularly on international keyboards (e.g. insert the ever present '{' and '}', missing in French keyboards, by menu entry or by keyboard shortcut). Note that most of the items in the Model menu are not active, since no model is selected yet. See the manual for information on the LMM interfaces. The menu Help offers the manual pages most likely to be useful to Lsd programmers.
Select a model	Open menu Model/Select Model. LMM will list all models available. Scrolling the list a brief description of the model highlighted is shown. When a model is selected, LMM loads a brief description of the model content. A Lsd model is a combination of C++ compiled code (implementing the equations) and a Lsd specific data structure to implement the model elements. Using LMM a modeller can access the C++ file containing the code for the equations (i.e. how Variable X must compute its values), and modify it. LMM permits also to modify the compilation options, and generally performing every operation necessary to compile a Lsd model program.  When a model is loaded in LMM the editor shows initially the same description seen in the list of models. Moreover, the commands in menu Model become active, and will refer to the specific model selected (the header line of LMM reports the model information). Users can use this menu to access the most relevant model files. See the LMM help page for more information on menu Model.
Run the Lsd model model program	Create a Lsd model program using the command Model/Run. The system automatically compiles all the Lsd source files and the model specific equation files. If no errors are found, LMM links and run the Lsd model program for the model selected. Failures to compile may be due either to Lsd system configuration (e.g. wrong libraries) or to errors in the model's code. See the manual page on this command.  The very first time this command is issued may take few minutes, since it compiles all the Lsd source files. Future requests to compile any Lsd model program will use the same pre-compiled Lsd source files, having only to re-fresh the model specific code (the model' equations). A Lsd model program is an independent program (you may run it even outside LMM) containing the equations code that tell the simulation how to compute each Variable at each time step. Any Lsd model program has the same appearance, which are the interfaces used to load model configurations, to change the initialization, to run and control a simulation, and to manage the results. However, each model differ in the equations it contains. The main interface is the window Browser which issue commands before and after a simulation (during a simulation it is not active). The menus in this window contains all the commands to control every aspect of a simulation simulation (see the help page on this). The window Log contains messages and is used to control a simulation run (e.g. interrupt or abort a simulation). Several other windows are created depending on the actions requested to the Lsd model program (see the help page listing the Lsd windows)
Run a test simulation	Using the newly appeared interface for the Lsd model program choose the command File/Load, choose one of the configuration file(s). After that, choose menu Run/Run to run a simulation. The simulation will either show a graphical representation of the series produced, or will print messages in the Log window. The data produced during a simulation are stored in memory so that to analyse them after a simulation (or during the interruption of a simulation run). These operations will be seen in the second tutorial. After the simulation close the Lsd model program (menu File/Quit). See help on the Lsd main Browser, or the general help page on Lsd for further details.
Select and test  other models	Back in LMM select and run other simulation models. Remember to close a Lsd model program before running another one. They can actually run in parallel, but this would overcrow your screen.
End of the tutorial	You are now ready to pass to the tutorial 2 learning to use in detail a Lsd model program features to control model configurations and analyse the results of existing models.