  Computational Grids are emerging as a platform for next-generation parallel
and distributed computing. Large-scale parametric studies and parameter sweep
applications find a natural place in the Grid?s distribution model. There is
little or no communication between jobs. The task of parallelizing and
distributing existing applications is conceptually trivial. These properties of
parametric studies make it an ideal place to start developing integrated
development environments (IDEs) for rapidly Grid-enabling applications.
However, the availability of IDEs for scientists to Grid-enable their
applications, without the need of developing them as parallel applications
explicitly, is still lacking. This paper presents a Java based IDE called
Visual Parametric Tool (VPT), developed as part of the Gridbus project, for
rapid creation of parameter sweep (data parallel/SPMD) applications. It
supports automatic creation of parameter script and parameterisation of the
input data files, which is compatible with the Nimrod-G parameter specification
language. The usefulness of VPT is demonstrated by a case study on composition
of molecular docking application as a parameter sweep application. Such
applications can be deployed on clusters using the Nimrod/enFuzion system and
on global Grids using the Nimrod-G grid resource broker.
