Build Macro-Equation ProcessorΒΆ
Build pulls together equations estimated with G7 into a model. It does so by writing a C++ program, HEART.CPP, which must then be compiled by a C++ compiler and linked with two object programs, RUN.OBJ and UTILITY.OBJ, to produce an executable file, RUN.EXE, that is a complete model that is ready to run. Basic documentation may be found in The Craft of Economic Modeling.
The HEART.CPP program now is written for the Borland C++ compiler. We have had success with every Borland compiler from Turbo C++ 2.0 to Borland C++ 5.5, which now is available for free. In case you have some other C++ compiler, the source code for the RUN.CPP and UTILITY.CPP files has been included, and you can recompile them with your compiler. Various other changes might need to be made in the make file or in headers, depending on your compiler. The output of Build is:
- BWS.IND:
- BWS.BNK:
A G data bank containing the historical values of all variables in the model.
- HEART.CPP:
The C++ program to compute the model. Now written for the the Borland C++ compiler.
- RUN.LAG:
A binary file necessary for the running of the model.
- RUN.NAM:
The names and some information about each variable in the model. In front of each variable name are three numbers. The first is the sequential number of the variable, the second is the maximum number of lags with with it occurs, and the third is the number of times that it is defined in the model. If this last is zero, the variable is exogenous. Watch out for variables that are defined more than once! While not necessarily an error, this condition can indicate that the same name has been used for more than one concept.
- RUN.GR:
A file for graphing all of the variables in the model. It also indicates whether the variable is exogenous or endogenous.
When Build starts, it reads the BUILD.CFG file to get its basic configuration. Read this file and ensure that it is appropriate for your setup. Similarly, RUN.EXE, the model itself, will read RUN.CFG.
Please visit the Software pages of the Inforum web site for more details and to download the Build software: http://inforumweb.inforumecon.com/software/software.html.
