diff --git a/Apps/Common/SIMOverride.h b/Apps/Common/SIMOverride.h
index 8c3742b2..cc4940e1 100644
--- a/Apps/Common/SIMOverride.h
+++ b/Apps/Common/SIMOverride.h
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ public:
   //! \brief Empty destructor.
   virtual ~SIMOverride() {}
 
-  //! \copydoc SIMinput::read(const char*)
+  //! \copydoc SIMadmin::read(const char*)
   bool read(const char* fileName) { return base.read(fileName); }
 
   //! \copydoc ISolver::setInitialConditions()
diff --git a/Apps/Common/SIMSemi3D.h b/Apps/Common/SIMSemi3D.h
index b7f7f745..e4776cd5 100644
--- a/Apps/Common/SIMSemi3D.h
+++ b/Apps/Common/SIMSemi3D.h
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 #ifndef _SIM_SEMI3D_H
 #define _SIM_SEMI3D_H
 
-#include "SIMinput.h"
+#include "SIMadmin.h"
 #include "SIMdependency.h"
 #include "SIMSolver.h"
 #include "IFEM.h"
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ extern std::vector< std::shared_ptr<std::ostream> > plane_log_files;
 */
 
 template<class PlaneSolver>
-class SIMSemi3D : public SIMinput, public SIMdependency
+class SIMSemi3D : public SIMadmin, public SIMdependency
 {
 public:
   typedef typename PlaneSolver::SetupProps SetupProps;
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ public:
     startCtx(0), planes(1), procs_per_plane(1), output_plane(-1),
     direction('Z'), props(props_)
   {
-    SIMinput::myHeading = "Plane-decoupled 3D simulation driver";
+    SIMadmin::myHeading = "Plane-decoupled 3D simulation driver";
   }
 
   //! \brief The destructor deletes the plane-wise sub-step solvers.
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ public:
   //! \param[in] fileName Name of input file to read data from
   virtual bool read(const char* fileName)
   {
-    if (!this->SIMinput::read(fileName))
+    if (!this->SIMadmin::read(fileName))
       return false;
 
     // Setup our communicator
diff --git a/Apps/Common/SIMSolver.h b/Apps/Common/SIMSolver.h
index bca41f79..527fae3f 100644
--- a/Apps/Common/SIMSolver.h
+++ b/Apps/Common/SIMSolver.h
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 #ifndef _SIM_SOLVER_H_
 #define _SIM_SOLVER_H_
 
-#include "SIMinput.h"
+#include "SIMadmin.h"
 #include "DataExporter.h"
 #include "TimeStep.h"
 #include "IFEM.h"
@@ -49,11 +49,11 @@ int ConfigureSIM(T& t, char* infile,
   ISolver interface. It provides a time stepping loop with data output.
 */
 
-template<class T1> class SIMSolver : public SIMinput
+template<class T1> class SIMSolver : public SIMadmin
 {
 public:
   //! \brief The constructor initializes the reference to the actual solver.
-  SIMSolver(T1& s1) : SIMinput("Time integration driver"), S1(s1) {}
+  SIMSolver(T1& s1) : SIMadmin("Time integration driver"), S1(s1) {}
   //! \brief Empty destructor.
   virtual ~SIMSolver() {}
 
diff --git a/src/SIM/AdaptiveSIM.C b/src/SIM/AdaptiveSIM.C
index 57c76fe6..a458a0fa 100644
--- a/src/SIM/AdaptiveSIM.C
+++ b/src/SIM/AdaptiveSIM.C
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 #include <cstdio>
 
 
-AdaptiveSIM::AdaptiveSIM (SIMoutput& sim, bool sa) : SIMinput(sim), model(sim)
+AdaptiveSIM::AdaptiveSIM (SIMoutput& sim, bool sa) : SIMadmin(sim), model(sim)
 {
   alone  = sa;
   geoBlk = nBlock = 0;
diff --git a/src/SIM/AdaptiveSIM.h b/src/SIM/AdaptiveSIM.h
index 7805530e..38a181e5 100644
--- a/src/SIM/AdaptiveSIM.h
+++ b/src/SIM/AdaptiveSIM.h
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 #ifndef _ADAPTIVE_SIM_H
 #define _ADAPTIVE_SIM_H
 
-#include "SIMinput.h"
+#include "SIMadmin.h"
 #include "MatVec.h"
 
 class SIMoutput;
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ class SIMoutput;
   problems adaptively, based on element error norms as refinement indicators.
 */
 
-class AdaptiveSIM : public SIMinput
+class AdaptiveSIM : public SIMadmin
 {
 public:
   //! \brief The constructor initializes default adaptation parameters.
diff --git a/src/SIM/MultiStepSIM.C b/src/SIM/MultiStepSIM.C
index 8e586b28..d7593d15 100644
--- a/src/SIM/MultiStepSIM.C
+++ b/src/SIM/MultiStepSIM.C
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 
 
 MultiStepSIM::MultiStepSIM (SIMbase& sim)
-  : SIMinput(sim), model(static_cast<SIMoutput&>(sim))
+  : SIMadmin(sim), model(static_cast<SIMoutput&>(sim))
 {
 #ifndef SP_DEBUG
   msgLevel = 1;   // prints the convergence history only
diff --git a/src/SIM/MultiStepSIM.h b/src/SIM/MultiStepSIM.h
index b494d0f8..48c2bc57 100644
--- a/src/SIM/MultiStepSIM.h
+++ b/src/SIM/MultiStepSIM.h
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 #ifndef _MULTI_STEP_SIM_H
 #define _MULTI_STEP_SIM_H
 
-#include "SIMinput.h"
+#include "SIMadmin.h"
 #include "SIMenums.h"
 #include "MatVec.h"
 
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ struct TimeDomain;
   \brief Base class for multi-step solution drivers.
 */
 
-class MultiStepSIM : public SIMinput
+class MultiStepSIM : public SIMadmin
 {
 protected:
   //! \brief Enum describing reference norm options.
diff --git a/src/SIM/SIMinput.C b/src/SIM/SIMadmin.C
similarity index 71%
rename from src/SIM/SIMinput.C
rename to src/SIM/SIMadmin.C
index f7080a3a..9cb9cfa6 100644
--- a/src/SIM/SIMinput.C
+++ b/src/SIM/SIMadmin.C
@@ -1,21 +1,20 @@
 // $Id$
 //==============================================================================
 //!
-//! \file SIMinput.C
+//! \file SIMadmin.C
 //!
 //! \date Jun 1 2010
 //!
 //! \author Knut Morten Okstad / SINTEF
 //!
-//! \brief Base class for simulators with input parsing functionality.
+//! \brief Administration base class for FEM simulators.
 //!
 //==============================================================================
 
-#include "SIMinput.h"
-#include "IFEM.h"
+#include "SIMadmin.h"
 #include "Utilities.h"
+#include "IFEM.h"
 #include "tinyxml.h"
-#include "SystemMatrix.h"
 #ifdef HAVE_MPI
 #include <mpi.h>
 #endif
@@ -25,10 +24,10 @@
 #define strcasestr strstr
 #endif
 
-int SIMinput::msgLevel = 2;
+int SIMadmin::msgLevel = 2;
 
 
-SIMinput::SIMinput (const char* heading) : opt(myOpts)
+SIMadmin::SIMadmin (const char* heading) : opt(myOpts)
 #ifdef HAS_PETSC
   , adm(PETSC_COMM_WORLD)
 #elif defined(HAVE_MPI)
@@ -44,7 +43,7 @@ SIMinput::SIMinput (const char* heading) : opt(myOpts)
 }
 
 
-SIMinput::SIMinput (SIMinput& anotherSIM) : opt(anotherSIM.myOpts)
+SIMadmin::SIMadmin (SIMadmin& anotherSIM) : opt(anotherSIM.myOpts)
 {
   adm = anotherSIM.adm;
   myPid = anotherSIM.myPid;
@@ -52,7 +51,7 @@ SIMinput::SIMinput (SIMinput& anotherSIM) : opt(anotherSIM.myOpts)
 }
 
 
-void SIMinput::printHeading (int& subStep) const
+void SIMadmin::printHeading (int& subStep) const
 {
   if (myHeading.empty())
     return;
@@ -66,7 +65,7 @@ void SIMinput::printHeading (int& subStep) const
 }
 
 
-bool SIMinput::read (const char* fileName)
+bool SIMadmin::read (const char* fileName)
 {
   static int substep = 0;
   this->printHeading(substep);
@@ -84,24 +83,24 @@ bool SIMinput::read (const char* fileName)
 }
 
 
-bool SIMinput::readFlat (const char* fileName)
+bool SIMadmin::readFlat (const char* fileName)
 {
   std::ifstream is(fileName);
   if (!is)
   {
-    std::cerr <<"\n *** SIMinput::read: Failure opening input file "
-              << fileName << std::endl;
+    std::cerr <<"\n *** SIMadmin::read: Failure opening input file \""
+              << fileName <<"\"."<< std::endl;
     return false;
   }
 
   IFEM::cout <<"\nReading input file "<< fileName << std::endl;
 
-  char* keyWord = 0;
+  char* keyWord = nullptr;
   while (is.good() && (keyWord = utl::readLine(is)))
     if (!this->parse(keyWord,is))
     {
-      std::cerr <<" *** SIMinput::read: Failure occured while parsing \""
-                << keyWord <<"\""<< std::endl;
+      std::cerr <<" *** SIMadmin::read: Failure occured while parsing \""
+                << keyWord <<"\"."<< std::endl;
       return false;
     }
 
@@ -111,9 +110,9 @@ bool SIMinput::readFlat (const char* fileName)
 }
 
 
-bool SIMinput::parse (char*, std::istream&)
+bool SIMadmin::parse (char*, std::istream&)
 {
-  std::cerr <<" *** SIMinput::parse(char*,std::istream&):"
+  std::cerr <<" *** SIMadmin::parse(char*,std::istream&):"
             <<" The flat file format is depreciated.\n"
             <<"     Use the XML format instead."<< std::endl;
   return false;
diff --git a/src/SIM/SIMinput.h b/src/SIM/SIMadmin.h
similarity index 57%
rename from src/SIM/SIMinput.h
rename to src/SIM/SIMadmin.h
index eb2a852f..a68f058d 100644
--- a/src/SIM/SIMinput.h
+++ b/src/SIM/SIMadmin.h
@@ -1,50 +1,52 @@
 // $Id$
 //==============================================================================
 //!
-//! \file SIMinput.h
+//! \file SIMadmin.h
 //!
 //! \date Jun 1 2010
 //!
 //! \author Knut Morten Okstad / SINTEF
 //!
-//! \brief Base class for simulators with input parsing functionality.
+//! \brief Administration base class for FEM simulators.
 //!
 //==============================================================================
 
-#ifndef _SIM_INPUT_H
-#define _SIM_INPUT_H
+#ifndef _SIM_ADMIN_H
+#define _SIM_ADMIN_H
 
+#include "XMLInputBase.h"
 #include "SIMoptions.h"
 #include "ProcessAdm.h"
-#include "XMLInputBase.h"
 #include <iostream>
-#include <vector>
+#include <string>
 
 
 /*!
-  \brief Base class for NURBS-based FEM simulators with input file parsing.
+  \brief Administration base class for FEM simulators.
+  \details This class serves as a common base for all types of simulator drivers
+  in IFEM and contains the general top-level methods for reading the model input
+  file, as well as data for administration of parallel executions.
 */
 
-class SIMinput : public XMLInputBase
+class SIMadmin : public XMLInputBase
 {
 protected:
   //! \brief The default constructor initializes the process administrator.
-  SIMinput(const char* heading = nullptr);
+  SIMadmin(const char* heading = nullptr);
   //! \brief Copy constructor.
-  SIMinput(SIMinput& anotherSIM);
+  SIMadmin(SIMadmin& anotherSIM);
 
 public:
   //! \brief Empty destructor.
-  virtual ~SIMinput() {}
+  virtual ~SIMadmin() {}
 
   //! \brief Reads model data from the specified input file \a *fileName.
   virtual bool read(const char* fileName);
 
 public:
+  using XMLInputBase::parse;
   //! \brief Parses a data section from an input stream.
   virtual bool parse(char* keyWord, std::istream& is);
-  //! \brief Parses a data section from an XML element.
-  virtual bool parse(const TiXmlElement* elem) = 0;
 
   //! \brief Returns the parallel process administrator.
   const ProcessAdm& getProcessAdm() const { return adm; }
@@ -59,24 +61,23 @@ public:
   void setHeading(const std::string& heading) { myHeading = heading; }
 
 protected:
-  //! \brief Prints the heading of this (sub-step) solver, if any, to std::cout.
+  //! \brief Prints the heading of this simulator, if any, to IFEM::cout.
   void printHeading(int& supStep) const;
 
-  //! \brief Reads a flat text input file (obsolete file format).
+  //! \brief Reads a flat text input file (the old file format).
   bool readFlat(const char* fileName);
 
 public:
-  static int msgLevel; //!< Controls the amount of console output during solving
-  SIMoptions& opt;     //!< Simulation control parameters
+  static int  msgLevel;  //!< Controls the console output amount during solving
+  SIMoptions& opt;       //!< Simulation control parameters
 
 private:
-  SIMoptions myOpts; //!< The actual control parameters owned by this simulator
+  SIMoptions  myOpts;    //!< Actual control parameters owned by this simulator
 
 protected:
-  ProcessAdm adm; //!< Parallel administrator
-  int myPid;      //!< Processor ID in parallel simulations
-  int nProc;      //!< Number of processors in parallel simulations
-
+  ProcessAdm  adm;       //!< Parallel administrator
+  int         myPid;     //!< Processor ID in parallel simulations
+  int         nProc;     //!< Number of processors in parallel simulations
   std::string myHeading; //!< Heading written before reading the input file
 };
 
diff --git a/src/SIM/SIMbase.h b/src/SIM/SIMbase.h
index 006b6f5d..dc40e17a 100644
--- a/src/SIM/SIMbase.h
+++ b/src/SIM/SIMbase.h
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 #ifndef _SIM_BASE_H
 #define _SIM_BASE_H
 
-#include "SIMinput.h"
+#include "SIMadmin.h"
 #include "SIMdependency.h"
 #include "TimeDomain.h"
 #include "TopologySet.h"
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ struct Mode
   Sub-classes are derived with additional info regarding the problem to solve.
 */
 
-class SIMbase : public SIMinput, public SIMdependency
+class SIMbase : public SIMadmin, public SIMdependency
 {
 protected:
   //! \brief The constructor initializes the pointers to dynamic data members.
diff --git a/src/SIM/SIMoptions.h b/src/SIM/SIMoptions.h
index b2730702..be507028 100644
--- a/src/SIM/SIMoptions.h
+++ b/src/SIM/SIMoptions.h
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 #define SIM_OPTIONS_H_
 
 #include "ASMenums.h"
-#include <iostream>
 #include <string>
 #include <map>
 
diff --git a/src/SIM/XMLInputBase.C b/src/SIM/XMLInputBase.C
index 15db8f4c..9a5f2cbe 100644
--- a/src/SIM/XMLInputBase.C
+++ b/src/SIM/XMLInputBase.C
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
 
 #include "XMLInputBase.h"
 #include "IFEM.h"
-
 #include "tinyxml.h"
 #include <algorithm>
 
@@ -39,10 +38,10 @@ void XMLInputBase::injectIncludeFiles (TiXmlElement* tag) const
         foundIncludes = true;
       }
       else
-	std::cerr << __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ <<": Failed to load "
-		  << elem->FirstChild()->Value()
-		  <<"\n\tError at line "<< doc.ErrorRow() <<": "
-		  << doc.ErrorDesc() << std::endl;
+        std::cerr <<" *** SIMadmin::read: Failed to load \""
+                  << elem->FirstChild()->Value()
+                  <<"\".\n\tError at line "<< doc.ErrorRow() <<": "
+                  << doc.ErrorDesc() << std::endl;
     }
 
   if (foundIncludes)
@@ -56,16 +55,16 @@ bool XMLInputBase::readXML (const char* fileName, bool verbose)
 {
   TiXmlDocument doc;
   if (!doc.LoadFile(fileName)) {
-    std::cerr << __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ <<": Failed to load "<< fileName
-	      <<"\n\tError at line "<< doc.ErrorRow() <<": "
-	      << doc.ErrorDesc() << std::endl;
+    std::cerr <<" *** SIMadmin::read: Failed to load \""<< fileName
+              <<"\".\n\tError at line "<< doc.ErrorRow() <<": "
+              << doc.ErrorDesc() << std::endl;
     return false;
   }
 
   const TiXmlElement* tag = doc.RootElement();
   if (!tag || strcmp(tag->Value(),"simulation")) {
-    std::cerr << __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ <<": Malformatted input file "<< fileName
-	      << std::endl;
+    std::cerr <<" *** SIMadmin::read: Malformatted input file \""<< fileName
+              <<"\"."<< std::endl;
     return false;
   }
 
@@ -83,8 +82,8 @@ bool XMLInputBase::readXML (const char* fileName, bool verbose)
       if (verbose)
         IFEM::cout <<"\nParsing <"<< tag->Value() <<">"<< std::endl;
       if (!this->parse(tag)) {
-        std::cerr <<" *** SIMinput::read: Failure occured while parsing \""
-                  << tag->Value() <<"\""<< std::endl;
+        std::cerr <<" *** SIMadmin::read: Failure occured while parsing \""
+                  << tag->Value() <<"\"."<< std::endl;
         return false;
       }
     }
@@ -97,7 +96,7 @@ bool XMLInputBase::readXML (const char* fileName, bool verbose)
 
 
 bool XMLInputBase::handlePriorityTags (const TiXmlElement* base,
-				       std::vector<const TiXmlElement*>& parsed,
+                                       std::vector<const TiXmlElement*>& parsed,
                                        bool verbose)
 {
   const char** q = this->getPrioritizedTags();
@@ -108,8 +107,8 @@ bool XMLInputBase::handlePriorityTags (const TiXmlElement* base,
       if (verbose)
         IFEM::cout <<"\nParsing <"<< elem->Value() <<">"<< std::endl;
       if (!this->parse(elem)) {
-        std::cerr <<" *** SIMinput::read: Failure occured while parsing \""
-                  << elem->Value() <<"\""<< std::endl;
+        std::cerr <<" *** SIMadmin::read: Failure occured while parsing \""
+                  << elem->Value() <<"\"."<< std::endl;
         return false;
       }
       parsed.push_back(elem);
diff --git a/src/SIM/XMLInputBase.h b/src/SIM/XMLInputBase.h
index 8e30b61e..a18057f8 100644
--- a/src/SIM/XMLInputBase.h
+++ b/src/SIM/XMLInputBase.h
@@ -19,16 +19,18 @@
 class TiXmlElement;
 
 
-/*! \brief Base class for XML based input file parsing.
- *  \details This is inherited by SIMinput for input parsing handling,
- *           and is also used in applications for pre-parsing the input file.
- */
+/*!
+  \brief Base class for XML based input file parsing.
+  \details This class is inherited by SIMadmin for input parsing handling,
+  and is also used in applications for pre-parsing of the input file.
+*/
+
 class XMLInputBase
 {
 public:
   //! \brief Reads an XML input file.
-  //! \param fileName File to read
-  //! \param verbose True to print the tags being parsed to output
+  //! \param[in] fileName File to read
+  //! \param[in] verbose True to print the tags being parsed to output
   bool readXML(const char* fileName, bool verbose = true);
 
 protected: