A: DevTools is written is ANSI C and supports all leading UNIX, LINUX and Windows 32 and 64 bit computing environments.
A: All DevTools evaluations are free of charge and you receive full support during the evaluation period. You must sign a short Software Evaluation Agreement and we supply you with the documentation and a pre-compiled version of DevTools for a specified UNIX, LINUX or Windows system. Evaluation periods are typically from 30 to 60 days.
A: Licensing DevTools requires signing a Software Licensing Agreement. There are two basic fees involved, a Development License Fee and a Distribution License Fee. The Development Fee is a relatively low, recurring annual fee which is dependent upon the number of development sites and licensed toolkits. The Distribution Fee is a form of royalty which is paid when actual units, incorporating DevTools, are sold. Standard discounts are applied for volume and features used.
A: All clients receive the source code in obfuscated form. This allows you to compile the software on any operating system or computing platform you choose, with any compiler options you desire.
A: All documentation for all our component software products is in HTML form. Many clients install a link to it on their company intranets. We maintain current versions of the documentation on our ftp site and as a licensee or evaluator of our software you can download updated documentation at any time.
A: None, there is no license manager in any of our products.
A: All detected errors are reported through a single error handler function. All memory allocation is performed with three functions which most of our clients override so that they can detect any memory allocation failures and recover. As component software, our products must exist dutifully in the host application - nowhere do we "exit", "assert", "printf", etc.
A: Basically yes. Our development language is ANSI C which does not preclude us from implementing a very solid object-oriented architecture. All our modules have formal constructor and destructor functions and support strict data encapsulation. We never write to a global variable, so as a result, all our software is thread safe except for the case when an underlying system or graphics function is not.
A: Yes. In addition to the C language bindings we generate a thin C++ class layer on top of our C modules. This C++ class layer has the identical feature set as the C bindings but provides all the benefits of a full C++ class library. The majority of our clients use the C++ bindings. We also provide C# and FORTRAN bindings.
A: Bugs exist in any large scale software system like DevTools and when they are reported to us or we discover them they receive the highest priority. Since our products are object oriented and we deliver source code, once the bug is fixed, we update our affected clients by simply emailing the appropriate source file to them.
A: We release new versions of our software every 6 to 9 months. All clients get identical versions of the modules they license. All enhancements are incorporated into the core toolkits, there are no extra cost options. All development at VKI is internally funded - do not expect to be charged extra for your enhancement request to be implemented.
A: Good. About half of the major CAE software companies world wide incorporate one or more DevTools libraries in their products.
A: DevTools libraries are licensed by a wide range of CAE application developers around the world. That list includes: ANSYS, Autodesk, Computational Mechanics, Bentley, Ceetron, DNV Software, ESI, Intelligent Light, Metacomp Technologies, MSC Software, nCode International, NEI Software, PTC, Siemens PLM, SolidWorks, Tecplot, VCollab, VSG and more.
A: licensing components allows you to focus on your core competence and differentiation while reducing time and cost to market. VKI has a proven history of providing commercial grade components to CAE software application developers..
