CTAN update: numodel-bundle
Date: October 9, 2026 7:07:14 PM CEST
Paul Zuurbier submitted an update to the
numodel-bundle
package.
Version: 0.10.0
License: lppl1.3c
Summary description: Numerical physics models with Forrester diagrams and auto-sized plots
Announcement text:
numodel-bundle v0.10.0 Write a numerical model once, and get everything a physics lesson needs from it. numodel lets you declare a model in LaTeX -- its variables with start values and siunitx units, its rules, a stop condition -- and does the rest. It computes the model (Euler integration in Lua) and typesets it in every form teaching material uses: the text model in the notation pupils know from their syllabus (English, or Dutch Coachtaal, with further languages as drop-in files), the Forrester stock-and-flow diagram, laid out automatically from the rules, and graphs of the computed results. Because all of these come from one declaration, the text, the diagram and the graphs can never disagree; change a start value and every view follows. The graphs come from numodel-plot, which is also usable on its own. It sizes each plot to a whole number of tick intervals, writes axis labels in the IEEE or ISO 80000-1 style, folds the power of ten of a scaled axis into an SI prefix -- "s (km)" rather than "s (10^3 m)" -- and places the labels sensibly for one-, two- and four-quadrant plots. New: numodel-coach -- from the text straight into Coach
In many Dutch secondary schools, pupils build and run their models in CMA Coach 7. Until now that meant retyping the model from the textbook, where the formatted table of a PDF does not copy. The new module numodel-coach writes the model as a Coach 7 activity: \coachmodel{free-fall} % writes free-fall.cma7 Pupils open the file and find exactly the model of the text, ready to run. This is more than a copy of the rules: * The rules are translated into Coachtaal with care for where the two languages differ. Coach gives unary minus and powers the same priority, so -x^2 is written -(x^2); comparisons joined by AND/OR get the parentheses Coachtaal requires; numbers get a decimal comma and function arguments the semicolon separator; names Coachtaal does not allow bare are put in brackets. Whatever cannot be translated exactly is reported as a warning, never silently changed. * Units become comments on the initial values, and every variable appears in Coach's variable list with its unit -- and with the axis range of its graph in the document, so a new graph in Coach looks like the one in the text. * An instruction text is written once in LaTeX, typeset in the PDF where you want it and shown in Coach's instruction window as well: paragraphs, lists, emphasis, and inline formulas with sub- and superscripts all carry over. * The iteration count follows numodel's maxiter setting; the file can also be embedded in the PDF. CMA does not document the .cma7 format. numodel-coach was developed against files saved by Coach 7.0 and tested with Coach 7 on Chromebooks; reports from other Coach versions are welcome. numodel
* A documented Lua interface opens the model to other tools: numodel.get_model returns the complete model (variables, start values, units, rules in order, stop condition, axis ranges), and numodel.plaintext renders it as plain text in Coachtaal or the English notation. numodel-coach is its first user. * Fixed: \diagrammodel failed when the unit of a y-variable is a robust command with an optional argument, such as the unit macros of physunits. numodel-plot
* scale-format=input: a scaled axis can now keep its unit exactly as written and put the factor in front of it ("10^3 km"), next to the existing prefix ("Mm") and exponent ("10^6 m") forms. * Ready for siunitx 3.6, which removes an internal that the SI-prefix axis labels relied on; verified against siunitx 3.3.8, 3.4, 3.5 and the 3.6 development branch. Documentation
* The README is now written for users of the packages; each of the three packages has its own manual. See CHANGELOG.md for the full list.
This package is located at https://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/luatex/latex/numodel-bundle More information is at https://ctan.org/pkg/numodel-bundle
Thanks for the upload. For the CTAN Team Manfred Lotz CTAN is run entirely by volunteers and supported by TeX user groups. Please join a user group or donate to one, see https://ctan.org/lugs .
numodel-bundle v0.10.0 Write a numerical model once, and get everything a physics lesson needs from it. numodel lets you declare a model in LaTeX -- its variables with start values and siunitx units, its rules, a stop condition -- and does the rest. It computes the model (Euler integration in Lua) and typesets it in every form teaching material uses: the text model in the notation pupils know from their syllabus (English, or Dutch Coachtaal, with further languages as drop-in files), the Forrester stock-and-flow diagram, laid out automatically from the rules, and graphs of the computed results. Because all of these come from one declaration, the text, the diagram and the graphs can never disagree; change a start value and every view follows. The graphs come from numodel-plot, which is also usable on its own. It sizes each plot to a whole number of tick intervals, writes axis labels in the IEEE or ISO 80000-1 style, folds the power of ten of a scaled axis into an SI prefix -- "s (km)" rather than "s (10^3 m)" -- and places the labels sensibly for one-, two- and four-quadrant plots. New: numodel-coach -- from the text straight into Coach
In many Dutch secondary schools, pupils build and run their models in CMA Coach 7. Until now that meant retyping the model from the textbook, where the formatted table of a PDF does not copy. The new module numodel-coach writes the model as a Coach 7 activity: \coachmodel{free-fall} % writes free-fall.cma7 Pupils open the file and find exactly the model of the text, ready to run. This is more than a copy of the rules: * The rules are translated into Coachtaal with care for where the two languages differ. Coach gives unary minus and powers the same priority, so -x^2 is written -(x^2); comparisons joined by AND/OR get the parentheses Coachtaal requires; numbers get a decimal comma and function arguments the semicolon separator; names Coachtaal does not allow bare are put in brackets. Whatever cannot be translated exactly is reported as a warning, never silently changed. * Units become comments on the initial values, and every variable appears in Coach's variable list with its unit -- and with the axis range of its graph in the document, so a new graph in Coach looks like the one in the text. * An instruction text is written once in LaTeX, typeset in the PDF where you want it and shown in Coach's instruction window as well: paragraphs, lists, emphasis, and inline formulas with sub- and superscripts all carry over. * The iteration count follows numodel's maxiter setting; the file can also be embedded in the PDF. CMA does not document the .cma7 format. numodel-coach was developed against files saved by Coach 7.0 and tested with Coach 7 on Chromebooks; reports from other Coach versions are welcome. numodel
* A documented Lua interface opens the model to other tools: numodel.get_model returns the complete model (variables, start values, units, rules in order, stop condition, axis ranges), and numodel.plaintext renders it as plain text in Coachtaal or the English notation. numodel-coach is its first user. * Fixed: \diagrammodel failed when the unit of a y-variable is a robust command with an optional argument, such as the unit macros of physunits. numodel-plot
* scale-format=input: a scaled axis can now keep its unit exactly as written and put the factor in front of it ("10^3 km"), next to the existing prefix ("Mm") and exponent ("10^6 m") forms. * Ready for siunitx 3.6, which removes an internal that the SI-prefix axis labels relied on; verified against siunitx 3.3.8, 3.4, 3.5 and the 3.6 development branch. Documentation
* The README is now written for users of the packages; each of the three packages has its own manual. See CHANGELOG.md for the full list.
This package is located at https://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/luatex/latex/numodel-bundle More information is at https://ctan.org/pkg/numodel-bundle
Thanks for the upload. For the CTAN Team Manfred Lotz CTAN is run entirely by volunteers and supported by TeX user groups. Please join a user group or donate to one, see https://ctan.org/lugs .
Numodel-bundle – Numerical physics models with Forrester diagrams and auto-sized plots
A LuaLaTeX bundle for writing and rendering numerical models (Euler-integrated dynamical systems) directly inside LaTeX documents, aimed at physics teaching material. The bundle contains numodel (the modelling engine with stock-and-flow diagrams) and numodel-plot (a PGFPlots styling layer that auto-sizes plots to whole-number tick intervals).
| Package | Numodel-bundle |
| Version | 0.10.0 |
| Copyright | 2026 Paul Zuurbier |
| Maintainer | Paul Zuurbier |