The parser allows the user to define a vector field or mapping in a simple textual format as opposed to C code language. This may be extended to a full description of the dynamical system by defining initial conditions and default ranges for the variables and parameters, declaring variables periodic on a specified interval, and defining auxiliary functions. Once a dynamical system has been defined in a text window, it may be interpreted and examined within DsTool.
The capabilities of the parser will be described by considering a number of examples. These examples are included as text files in the directory $DSTOOL/data/parser/, and may be loaded into the parser editor window.
While the parser is intended to be an easy-to-use general purpose tool, for extensive and/or more sophisticated calculations with a vector field or mapping, a full C-code model file should be compiled into DsTool. See section 4.2 for more information on this process. This is primarily because: