Initial Updates for O2DES.NET Version 4.0

[rizamarhaban]

This pull request introduces several configuration and codebase changes to improve code style consistency, version control behavior, and compatibility for the project. The most significant updates include the addition of a comprehensive .editorconfig file for C# coding conventions, updates to .gitattributes for improved diff and merge handling, removal of Visual Studio workspace state files, and new internal utility and compatibility classes for array operations and .NET Standard support.

Configuration and Coding Standards

• Added a detailed .editorconfig file specifying indentation, spacing, naming conventions, and C#/.NET coding preferences to enforce consistent code style across the project.

Version Control Settings

• Updated .gitattributes to clarify default behaviors for diffing, merging, and handling binary files, and improved comments for easier maintenance. This includes removing explicit text/eol settings for project files and adding commented-out sections for binary and document diffing. [1] [2] [3]

Cleanup of IDE Files

• Removed .vs/ProjectSettings.json and .vs/VSWorkspaceState.json to avoid tracking user-specific Visual Studio workspace state in version control. [1] [2]

Internal Utilities

• Introduced MathNet.Numerics/ArrayExtensions.cs, providing extension methods for efficient array copying for several numeric types.

.NET Standard Compatibility

• Added MathNet.Numerics/Compatibility.cs, which defines internal classes and methods to mimic missing .NET features (such as parallelism and attributes) when targeting NETSTANDARD1_3.

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O²DES.NET

O²DES.NET is a framework for Object-Oriented Discrete Event Simulation.

It hybrids both event-based and state-based formalism, and implement them in an object-oriented programming language. As it is event-based in the kernel, O²DES.NET is able to model the structure and behaviors of a system precisely. On top of it, the state-based formalism enables modularization and hierarchical modeling. Besides, the object-oriented paradigm abstracts the model definitions and makes them seamless to interact with analytical functionalities, regardless of their fidelity levels.

It is developed and used .NET with C# programming language. O2DES.NET library facilitates flexible integration with the latest academic research in simulation analytics and enables the connection to a variety of industrial-standard modern developments within the .NET ecosystem, including .NET Aspire to host as distributed applications, web API applications, mobile applications, enterprise software, Mix-Reality, and for Artificial Intelligence.

Supported .NET Version

• .NET Standard 2.1
• .NET 9 (Minimum Version)

Setup Options for .NET 9 (Windows/Linux/MacOS)

• Option 1: Install .NET 9 SDK.
• Option 2: From VS Code, then install .NET Extension Pack.
• Option 3: From Visual Studio 2022, enable the ASP.NET Core or .NET Desktop Development option when installing.

Change Log

Version 4.0 (Breaking Changes)

New Features

• All time based types is now using TimeSpan instead of DateTime. The ClockTime is also now using TimeSpan.
• Reorganizing constructor parameters for Sandbox and HourCounter to improve usability.
• Using built-in Microsoft logging framework for logging. The LogFile and other debugging methods are removed.
• Updated Unit Tests method names and structure to improve clarity and organization.
• Unit Tests for logging example using Serilog added.
• Added GetStatistics method to HourCounter to retrieve statistics such as mean, standard deviation, min, max, and percentiles.
• The MathNET.Numerics library is now included in the solution.

Version 3.6

• Improvement of HourCounter to synchronize with simulator ClockTime
  Improvement of HourCounter to synchronize with simulator ClockTime #1

Version 3.5.1

+ Include Beta, LogNormal, Normal, Triangular distributions

...

Version 2.4.1

+ Include Uniform and Exponential for the random generators.

Version 2.4

+ Include a dynamic server based PathMover (Zhou et al. 2017, WSC) module for simulating traffic network.
+ Include customized Empirical and Gamma random generators, with parameters fitting simulation studies.

Version 2.3.2

+ [Important Fix] All events generated are uniquely indexed. Revise the sorting mechanism the FEL (future event list) such that same time events are ordered based on the sequence they are generated. This prevents untraceable distortion of simulation results, i.e., it guarantees that the single random seed always leads to the same sample path.
- Remove conosle display if only log to file in Event. 

Version 2.3.1

+ Include Histogram and Percentile methods in HourCounter, to facilitate the statistics on the distribution of the observed count.
+ Differentiate "Utilization" (when the load is being processed by the server) and "Occupation" (when the load is occupying server's capacity, i.e., both being served and stucked) for the server statistics.

Version 2.3.0

+ Revise Queue and Server for higher modularity, and comply with DEVS standards.
- Temporarily remove FIFOServer, Resource, RestoreServer, and PathMover, due to unstable performance.
+ Include Synchronizer, that checks multiple conditions and triggers events when all conditions are satisfied or unsatisfied.
+ Modify "Utilization" of Server / RestoreServer by excluding those processed but not departed; instead add "Occupation" for the the inclusive counting.
+ Rename "Status" as "State" to be consistent with most simulation literature.

Version 2.2.1

+ Change font-size for Path label for displaying dense path network.
+ Add X, Y, Rotate transform to Path SVG description.

Verssion 2.2.0

+ In Depart() event of Server, instead of checking the first load in the Served list (and continue only if the first is departed), all loads will be screened for ToDepart condition and depart if respective condition is satisfied.
+ Implement FIFO Server, as for modelling PathMover system.
+ Add NCoccupied as dynamic property of Server / RestoreServer / FIFOServer, for easy call.
+ Add StartTimes and FinishTimes in Server, for Loads occupying the Server.
+ WriteToConsole method of Status / Component may take in clockTime:DateTime parameter, as need for determining position of vehicles in PathMover.
+ Include PathMover.

Version 2.1.2

+ Allows Load to have Static properties as "Category", considering it's a special type of 2. Component that have life cycles in simulation.
+ Rename Static property of a normal Component as "Config".
+ Therefore, they coincide with Statics of a Simulation as "Scenario".

Version 2.1.1

+ Simplifies structure of Component definition, by encapsulate StaticProperty based on root class, i.e., Component<TStatics> : Component.

Version 2.1.0

- Remove TScenario and TStatus in Component paradigm.
+ Construct Simulator by Assembly (Component).
+ Demo for the two revision above.