The first time you run FRAGSTATS you must create a new model. A model is simply a FRAGSTATS formatted file that contains the model parameterization. Once a model has been created and saved, it can be opened and run, or modified before running. The following options are available from the tool bar or from the File drop-down menu:
- New -- Creates a new (or blank) model file and opens the dialog shown in figure 3.
- Open -- Opens an existing (previously saved) model file and the dialog shown in figure 3, but containing whatever parameters were previously saved.
- Save -- Saves the current model to a file with the extension .fca. Note, if you are saving a model file for the first time, you will be prompted to specify a location and file name. If you are saving model with the same name as one that already exists in the current directory, you will be asked whether to replace the existing file. This model file contains all the parameter settings in the dialog boxes (below) at the time the file was saved. This can be very useful if you are running FRAGSTATS repeatedly with the same or similar parameterization schemes.
- Save as -- Saves the current model to a location and file name (with extension .fca) that you specify.
Figure 3. Model dialog for parameterizing FRAGSTATS, shown here for a "new" model that has yet to be parameterized, and with the "Input layers" tab in the left panel selected.