Frequently Asked Questions

We have a very extensive website with a lot of information available right online. Considerably more detail is available in the online Manual. If a customer wants to view our documentation, we ask them to sign a license giving them permission to download the files from our website for a fixed period of time. We can also provide trial use licenses for a reduced fee if that is critical to a prospect’s decision. We also provide access to our extensive list of satisfied customers who can speak to the quality of our code and support. Email info@smlib.com for more information and for answers to your specific questions.

There is training available on the customers premises at a very reasonable cost. We are interested in getting our customers trained and their applications developed to meet their business needs. Our libraries are well documented, so most customers have not needed on-site training, but it is available to those who need a quick start.

The first level of support is telephone and email. Most customers choose to initiate an interaction via email since our customers are global and in virtually every timezone in the world. Customers usually can document the details of the problem so we can duplicate it with the latest software. If we discover a bug, we typically respond within days with a fix. Occasionally, the problem is more complex and requires more in-depth analysis to develop a solution. We pride ourselves on rapid response to customer problems. Secondly, we are in continual development of new capabilities, so twice yearly we release a new version of the software. It contains all of the bug fixes to date and incorporates new features and documentation.

All of our libraries are available as a fully paid up license or by periodic payments. Most customers use a monthly form of payment, but many choose to pay quarterly, twice yearly, or annually. After 30 months, the customer owns a perpetual use license and may choose to terminate payments. The vast majority continue to pay since they continue to receive support and new releases which are now critical to their business since the SMS libraries are now embedded in their applications.

The SMS libraries have been developed by the pioneers and experts in the industry. They represent an exhaustive set of routines kept current via regular interaction with our customer base. In addition, we have a responsive support team, typically providing new technology or bug fixes within days. This allows our customers the most effective and efficient use of the technology. Our support is second to none.

NURBS are a polynomial representation of data based on non-uniform, rational, B-spline technology. See the white papers on “NURBS at Boeing” and “NURBS at SDRC” for more details on how the technology originated.

The SMS geometry kernels, NLib, TSNLib, and SMLib are used by application developers when they need precise geometries representations of their data. The SMS library provides an increasing level of capability starting with an extensive set of NURB-based routines in NLib and progressing right to the advanced non-manifold topology of SMLib. Go to the Products page to find more details on the products.