The ISMDOS.EXE file contains the DOS version of Interpretive Structural Modeling software. This software was developed in the mid-1980's at the Center for Interactive Management at George Mason University (GMU). This Center has now moved from GMU, and the software is made available by John N. Warfield, Director of the Institute for Advanced Study in the Integrative Sciences (IASIS). The software was developed for use with the Interactive Management design process. Description of this process can be found on the IASIS Homepage, located at: http://www.gmu.edu/departments/t-iasis/

Additional information can be found on John Warfield's Homepage, located at: http://www.gmu.edu/departments/t-iasis/warfield/warfield.htm/

The ISMDOS.EXE file that is available for download is a "self-extracting zip file," meaning that it contains a set of files that have been compressed and placed in a single file. This facilitates the process of copying the original files.

If you are using your Internet browser and the IASIS Homepage, you can download the ISMDOS files by clicking on the appropriate menu options.

If you are using FTP, you can download the ISMDOS.EXE file by using your mouse to click on the filename. It will be placed in your browser's default "receive directory," unless you tell it to place the file in a different directory. The file size is 273K and takes from 2-5 minutes to download, depending on the speed of your modem, network traffic, etc.

After the file is downloaded, you will need to "extract" the original ISM files. You can do this by double-clicking on the filename using Windows Explorer (in WIN95) or Windows File Manager (in WIN3.1). This will result in the creation of a set of 15 files totaling approximately 1 MB. By default these files will be placed in a directory called ISMDOS that will be created on your fixed disk drive. You may specify a different directory if you like, or you may move the files to a different directory after they are extracted.

One of the 16 files included with the ISMDOS.EXE is called ISMDOS.WPD. This is a wordprocessing file created in Wordperfect 6.1 that serves as a user's guide to the ISMDOS software. It is taken from the HANDBOOK OF INTERACTIVE MANAGEMENT, by John Warfield and Roxana Cardenas, published by Iowa State University Press, Ames Iowa, in 1994. This file can be downloaded separately. Using your Internet browser, click on the appropriate menu option. Using FTP, you can download the user's guide by holding your SHIFT key while clicking on the filename ISMDOS.WPD. The file will be placed in your browser's default receive directory. The file size is 178K. Most wordprocessors will be able to open this file.