GEM Read_me
Date: March 21, 2016

This read_me file contains information for
-	GEM 3.3.2 shell     version 3.3.2 (March 2016)
-	GEM.mdb database    version 3     (March 2016)
-	GEM projects folder

Help

If you encounter installation problems or problems using GEM please send an e-mail to:  
gem@pesticidemodels.eu or gem.support@wur.nl  

More information about GEM 3.3.2 is available at the GEM website: http://www.gem.pesticidemodels.eu

Installation

Note that if you installed GEM 2.2.2 before, we recommend to de-install this version first. GEM 3.3.2 has been developed to replace GEM 2.2.2, we recommend not to use GEM 2.2.2 anymore.

Installing GEM 3.3.2
GEM 3.3.2 requires also the installation of SPIN (Substance Plug In). SPIN is used to manage the substance database. SPIN is available on the website http://www.pesticidemodels.eu.

Run setup_gem.exe to install the GEM 3.3.2 application. Do NOT double click the executable, but right-click on the file and select ‘Run as administrator’ (Figure 1).  

By default GEM is installed on the C:\Program Files\PesticideModels\GEM3. It is allowed to change these settings during the installation.

The GEM Project folder is by default installed on the user’s personal folder. The exact location differs per user and depends on computer settings. It is allowed to change this during the installation. If the default folder is a network drive we strongly advise to change this to a folder on a local drive to guarantee a proper working of GEM 3.3.2.

Figure 1: Instruction on how to start up the installation of the GEM 3.3.2 application (this figure is only shown in read.me when opened in MS Word)

Installing GEM 3.3.2 when GEM 1.1.1 is already installed

GEM 3.3.2 can be installed next to GEM 1.1.1. Take care that the installation folder and the Project folder of both versions are not the same (e.g. ...\GEM1 and ...\GEM3)! In case the installation folder is the same the newly installed GEM version will overwrite the old version.  

At start-up GEM 3.3.2 will detect whether the database of GEM 1.1.1 or GEM 2.2.2 is in the project folder and, if so, will give an error message. It is not possible to proceed and GEM 3.3.2 should be newly installed (Figure 2). 

Figure 2: Error message that will be displayed when GEM 3.3.2 detects the database of GEM 1.1.1 in the selected Project folder (this figure is only shown in read.me when opened in MS Word)

Installing GEM 1.1.1 when GEM 3.3.2 is already installed

GEM 1.1.1 can be installed next to GEM 3.3.2. Take care that the installation folder and the Project folder of both versions are not the same (e.g. ...\GEM1 and ...\GEM3)! In case the de installation folder is the same the newly installed GEM version will overwrite the old version.

GEM 1.1.1 is not compatible with the new version of the database. When the new database is installed in the same Project folder, the model will not start and will show a series of error messages. If you encounter this problem, please reinstall GEM 1.1.1 and select a different Project folder.

Tips & Tricks

What to do in case of the error message: 
‘cannot create assessment directory D:\PesticideModels\GEM\projects\x\x’?

This error message generally occurs in case you want to run an assessment and corresponding input of output files of one of the models is opened in a text editor or other text editor. Therefore, before performing model simulations of an assessment make sure that you close all input and output files of this assessment. Also make sure that in Microsoft Windows Explorer you have not selected the assessment folder or any subfolder.

If you for instance installed the GEM Project folder on D:\pesticideModels\GEM and the project ID is 2 and the assessment is 5, then you should not select the folder D:\pesticideModels\GEM\projects\2\5 or any subfolder.

Hard and software requirements

Operating systems:
GEM 2.2.2 has been tested on Windows 7, 8 and Windows 10. GEM needs MICROSOFT.net for proper functioning. We refer to : https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=48130 for free downloading of MICROSOFT.net 

Access rights:
To install GEM 2.2.2 it is necessary to have administrator rights.

Preinstalled software:
SPIN version 2.2 and higher versions. 

Hard disk memory:
GEM 2.2.2 requires 70 Mb for installation of the application (including the GEM database)

Display:
Monitor with at least 1024x768, at 256 colours.
Use as display setting, Font size: Small Fonts.

Processor:
The faster the better.

Known bugs
In case a simulation is performed for 2 or more compounds (parent and one or more metabolites) TOXSWA may crash with the following error message in the runid.err output file: 

Negative concentration of compound encountered in sediment layer   2
under water layer segment   1
This error should not occur - please report

This happens most likely if one (or more) compounds has (have)a kom,sediment value of 1000 L/kg or higher and one (or more) of the other compounds has (have) a low kom,sediment value. A work around to solve the encountered problem is available upon request.