8 July 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Greg Chien
ProtoDesign, Inc.
(630)759-9930
gchien@protodesign-inc.com
New SansGUI Version 1.2 Supports
OpenGL®
Bolingbrook, Illinois, July 8, 2003 (www.protodesign-inc.com)
- ProtoDesign, Inc. today announces the release of SansGUI version 1.2,
an update to this highly-regarded modeling and simulation environment for
developing and deploying scientific and engineering simulators without
the need to write any Graphical User Interface (GUI) code. With the
new SansGUI Modeling and Simulation Environment, scientists and engineers
can easily combine a schematic editor for building hierarchical network
models, graphical user interface for data entry, validation, and simulation
controls, and dynamic charting with 3-dimensional graphics animation driven
by their own simulation code. Incorporating dynamic 3D graphics for
scientific or engineering visualization and data exploration become a simple
task in simulation software development.
A new Graphics class supports the industry standard OpenGL®
application programming interface (API) directly without an additional
layer of API functions. The Graphics class provides simulation developers
with an application framework that manages multiple 3D graphic windows
and interactive user interface features, such as 3D object translation,
rotation, zooming, selection, continuous run, single step or fast forward
animation controls, printing, exporting image files, and many more.
With this new class, the developers can concentrate on developing the underlying
logic and mathematics of their simulation programs that control the graphical
objects, rather than spending precious time on learning and programming
the GUI details. The developers use the SansGUI Development Environment
to define the model building blocks and implement their behavior of domain-specific
systems. The simulation users configure their models from these building
blocks, enter model parameters, run simulations, monitor execution progress,
examine intermediate and final simulation results to refine their designs
in the highly interactive SansGUI Run-Time Environment.
"With the solid foundation built in SansGUI, namely the universal data
object format and single API function prototype, we are able to integrate
dynamic 3D graphical display into the SansGUI environment seamlessly,"
said Greg Chien, Principal Software Designer at ProtoDesign, Inc.
"All of the run-time user controls, such as step-wise execution and fast-forwarding,
are applicable to dynamic charting and 3D graphics. Some users raised
concerns of performance degradation due to the introduction of 3D graphics,
or any graphics in general. Our solution is to let the users decide
whether to update graphic windows with a user settable interval, only at
the end of a simulation run, or not to update at all by not opening the
graphic windows." This translates into very low or no run-time penalty
for computation-intensive applications, and the user has the control over
it.
SansGUI supports Microsoft Visual C++® and Compaq Visual
Fortran® for developing tightly-coupled, highly interactive
in-process simulators with dynamic 3D graphics. External process
simulators can be written in any programming language or development environment
and invoked by a customizable command script.
SansGUI version 1.2 is available immediately on Microsoft Windows®
platforms. The SansGUI Professional Edition is priced at US$599 per
license; while the Run-Time Edition costs only US$49. Another key
advantage of using SansGUI for simulation development is that there is
no royalty fee involved in distributing simulators created with the SansGUI
environment. An educational license for the Professional Edition
costs US$299, and a Student Edition with limited capabilities is available
for US$99. All items can be ordered directly from ProtoDesign's on-line
store.
About ProtoDesign, Inc.
ProtoDesign, Inc. is a privately held software company with a mission
to help customers break the complexity barriers to incorporate emerging
technologies into interactive computing. Established in 1997, ProtoDesign,
Inc. has provided customers with human computer interface (HCI) software
tools, applications, and integration services. Further information on ProtoDesign,
Inc. is available at http://www.protodesign-inc.com
or call (630)759-9930.
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ProtoDesign and its logo is a registered service mark and SansGUI and
its logo is a registered trademark of ProtoDesign, Inc. OpenGL is a trademark
of Silicon Graphics, Inc. Other products or brand names are trademarks
of their respective holders. |