Provide a default starter file for users

[k-doering-NOAA]

This is inspired by the PEP team's recent work to adopt default model settings across species. It would be useful to review the settings in the starter file and come up with sensible defaults for the stock synthesis community to use.

[Rick-Methot-NOAA]

Great idea. We could set it up such that the quick starter file was just:
data.ss
control.ss
-1 // triggers use of defaults for everything else.

related to this idea is to make commonly changed items be manageable from the command line.

_use_par // command line input to read from ss.par, or not.

[k-doering-NOAA]

@Rick-Methot-NOAA , hmm, that's an interesting thought! I was thinking more to just provide a template for users to modify, rather than add a new feature to stock synthesis itself.

[Rick-Methot-NOAA]

If we like the external template, then we can hardwire it into the code as a default; like the forecast features and the advanced recruitment options

[iantaylor-NOAA]

There are very few starter file settings that I don't change from time to time.

I always leave min/max yr for sdreport outputs at -1 and -2, and I don't ever use cumreport.sso, but otherwise in any given assessment I will always use at least once most of the features like retro year, jitter fraction, turn on and off the .par file. The choice of depletion basis and SPR basis etc. at the bottom I also don't change, but my choices are regionally defined based on the Terms of Reference for west coast groundfish and other regions have different defaults for those.

All this to say, I think a standard file that is used by all would be hard. A regionally focused standard, such as the one that NWFSC was working on, is a bit easier.