Cliff King
10-08-2007, 07:53 PM
Here's a brief overview of the differences between a full version, an evaluation version and a runtime version of Flexsim.
The full version is intended for licensed private, commercial and educational users. It includes all available libraries and modules except for the Container Terminal (CT) library and the OptQuest Optimization tool which are sold separately. Both single and network licenses are available.
The evaluation version is intended for people interested in "test driving" the modeling and analysis capabilities of the software. It is not intended for actual simulation projects where accurate results are required. Therefore, it has been restricted in both the size of the model that can be created, and in the validity of the results obtained from running a model. This is achieved by limiting the size of the model that can be created or saved to 20 objects or less, and by locking the random number generators so that statistically accurate results can not be obtained. The evaluation version and the full version share the same software installation. The full version simply defaults to an evaluation mode when a valid license and hardware key are not found. When in evaluation mode, a) advanced menu options are disabled, b) tree views and associated functions are disabled, c) the Experimenter is disabled, d) the Optimizer is disabled, e) new objects can not be created when a model contains 20 objects or more, f) models can not be saved if they contain more than 20 objects, e) the random number generators are locked, and f) statistics are fouled.
The runtime version is intended for those who want to run simulation experiments on pre-built models. Although the runtime allows parametric analysis, efforts have been made to keep the runtime version from being used to produce extreme model transformations such as a new layout design. We do not want runtimes to be used as an engine for automatic model building tools or libraries with highly configurable objects that compete directly with the Flexsim software. There are licensing schemes for handling these types of projects, but they need to be negotiated separately. The runtime version has its own installation program and requires a unique HASP key, User Name, User code and Version Code to work properly. The runtime version is essentially the full version with the following limitations: a) it blocks the creation of any new objects (other than flowitems) in the model, b) it blocks the ability to drag objects to a new location with the mouse, c) it blocks creating, loading and saving user libraries, d) it blocks adding any new tools such as global tables, time tables, etc.
The full version is intended for licensed private, commercial and educational users. It includes all available libraries and modules except for the Container Terminal (CT) library and the OptQuest Optimization tool which are sold separately. Both single and network licenses are available.
The evaluation version is intended for people interested in "test driving" the modeling and analysis capabilities of the software. It is not intended for actual simulation projects where accurate results are required. Therefore, it has been restricted in both the size of the model that can be created, and in the validity of the results obtained from running a model. This is achieved by limiting the size of the model that can be created or saved to 20 objects or less, and by locking the random number generators so that statistically accurate results can not be obtained. The evaluation version and the full version share the same software installation. The full version simply defaults to an evaluation mode when a valid license and hardware key are not found. When in evaluation mode, a) advanced menu options are disabled, b) tree views and associated functions are disabled, c) the Experimenter is disabled, d) the Optimizer is disabled, e) new objects can not be created when a model contains 20 objects or more, f) models can not be saved if they contain more than 20 objects, e) the random number generators are locked, and f) statistics are fouled.
The runtime version is intended for those who want to run simulation experiments on pre-built models. Although the runtime allows parametric analysis, efforts have been made to keep the runtime version from being used to produce extreme model transformations such as a new layout design. We do not want runtimes to be used as an engine for automatic model building tools or libraries with highly configurable objects that compete directly with the Flexsim software. There are licensing schemes for handling these types of projects, but they need to be negotiated separately. The runtime version has its own installation program and requires a unique HASP key, User Name, User code and Version Code to work properly. The runtime version is essentially the full version with the following limitations: a) it blocks the creation of any new objects (other than flowitems) in the model, b) it blocks the ability to drag objects to a new location with the mouse, c) it blocks creating, loading and saving user libraries, d) it blocks adding any new tools such as global tables, time tables, etc.