Silico is a spiritual continuation of the now defunct Sysdea software. If you have previously been familiar with the Sysdea software, you should find most things about Silico are very similar, though you will find some small differences and additions. Over time, these additions will grow as the power of Silico is added-to.

Importing Sysdea Models

Sysdea models are largely supported for import into Silico. Please see the full Sysdea Importer documentation for more information.

Differences from Sysdea

Models vs. Projects

The key difference affecting how models are organised is that you first create a Project. A Project holds one or more related models, and all models in a Project share the same Settings. You share Projects with other people - and therefore all models in the Project, and models can use others in the same Project as sub-models.

This means you would likely have only closely-related models in a single project, such as parent/sub-model sets or progressive versions of the same model. It will be common to have a single-model project.

How Sysdea models look in Silico

You should find that the Silico version of your model looks almost exactly the same as the Sysdea version - only nicer! The main differences are:

• The Inspector that opens when you click an object is not ‘floating’ as in Sysdea, but docked at right of the window
• Within the Inspector you can roll-up or roll-down both the Settings and Data tabs for the object
• Project structure is shown on the left, listing all models in the Project and the option to start another.

Additional features

While the core modelling features of Sysdea are similar, Silico has a much stronger emphasis on making it straightforward both to bring data into projects, as well as analysing and reporting on projects.

• DataTable elements within a model that can hold spreadsheet-type data inline, as well as a dedicated Data configuration area for each Project, which can bring external data in from Silico Sync.

• Project dashboard allowing configuration of reporting via widgets, and customisable input controls. These dashboards can also be published and shared within a Silico organisation.