Helpful things to know

  1. Understand is a 32 bit application only.
  2. The Understand does NOT use UNICODE. All strings are single byte characters. This is important to understand when you set up future projects.

Installation

  1. Purchase the product called Understand 4 C++ (Understand) from Scientific Toolworks. (Obvious right? Ok... Well what this documentation falls short of in terms of usefullness it strives to makes up in terms of humor).
  2. Install it.
  3. Examine the installation directory of Understand. It will look something like this: C:\Program Files (x86)\STI\bin\pc-win32. This directory is where the compiled, binary files are located. Notice that the last sub-folder is pc-win32. This is where the library files is located that you will need to link against is located. i.e. "C:\Program Files (x86)\STI\bin\pc-win32\udb_api.lib". Note also that the Understand C header file "udb.h" is also located in this folder.
  1. Download the source code for this managed API from codeplex. This is access via the Source Code page on the Latest Version Tab.
  2. Unzip the file you downloaded to any directory pleases you. Then find the following folder: "..\UnderstandAPI\Managed\ManagedAPI"
  3. create a sub folder there called 'src'. For example: "..\UnderstandAPI\Managed\ManagedAPI\src"
  4. Copy the Understand API header file you identified in step 2 (udb.h) to the new 'src' directory.
  5. Make another sub folder called 'lib'. For example: "..\UnderstandAPI\Managed\ManagedAPI\lib"
  6. Copy the Understand library file to the new 'lib' directory.

Compiling the Binaries, and Testing Results

  1. If you know how to use Understand, then the first thing you will need to do is create an Understand database for some test code. Browse to the following directory: "..\UnderstandAPI\TestSDK". There you will find code that is used for unit testing. Create an Understand Database for all the code in that directory.
  2. Now you need to specify the location of that database file for the unit tests. At this time the value is hard-coded in a string in the following file: ""..\UnderstandAPI\Managed\UnitTest\TestGlobals.cs"". Open up that file, and specify the location to your new Understand database file.
  3. Now you are ready to compile everything. Open up the following solution file: ""F:\CodePlex\UnderstandAPI\Managed\ManagedWrapper.sln"". Go ahead and compile the solution. This contains 3 projects:
    1. The Managed API itself. Written in C++/CLI
    2. The Unit Tests. Written in C#.
    3. The native code that the Unit Tests scrutinize. Written in C++.
  4. Now run the unit tests, by selecting F5 from within visual studio. If all is successful you should see the unit tests run successfuly.