The SIMDIS Software Development Kit (SDK) is an open source C++ framework providing functionality to create 3D scenes consisting of objects, whose position and state change with time, that are placed relative to a geographic map. The primary modules provided by the SDK supply functionality to manage object position/state data, update object position/state data as time changes, and render 3D representations of objects within a 3D scene. Secondary modules provide utilities for parsing SIMDIS data files, performing coordinate system conversions, object state vector computations, and data metric calculations.
The intent of the SIMDIS SDK is to provide a C++ framework to be used by third party developers to incorporate functionality similar to that provided by the SIMDIS 3D Visualization and Analysis Toolkit within their own applications. The SIMDIS SDK serves as the basis for development of each new major SIMDIS release.
The SIMDIS SDK was developed by the Visualization Systems Integration branch of the Tactical Electronic Warfare Division at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. For more information visit:
The SIMDIS SDK is not SIMDIS. It is a C++ framework that is the underlying application framework supporting SIMDIS. SIMDIS is built on top of the SIMDIS SDK. You can use the SIMDIS SDK to build your own SIMDIS-like application, or to build geospatial software using SIMDIS's tested core library of conversions and calculations.
The SIMDIS SDK is also not the SIMDIS Plug-in API. The SIMDIS Plug-in API is a toolkit for writing plug-ins to SIMDIS that interact directly with SIMDIS inside the memory space of the application, using dynamic load libraries or shared objects as appropriate for your system. The SIMDIS Plug-in API is available on the SIMDIS website. A free SIMDIS account is required to download. The SIMDIS SDK is used for building standalone applications using the same framework as the SIMDIS application.
The SIMDIS SDK is provided as a package containing C++ source code for use with Windows and Linux operating systems.
The SIMDIS website also hosts precompiled binaries of the SIMDIS SDK, precompiled binary third party dependencies ("Third Party Packs"), and a small sample data repository. A free SIMDIS account is required to access these downloads. See the file INSTALL.md for detailed information about supported systems/compilers, third party dependencies, and installation instructions.
Though the Third Party Packs can be useful, they are not required. You can build your own dependencies and pass them to CMake at configuration time. The SIMDIS SDK relies on CMake to configure all build options and third party dependencies. The CMake configuration will intelligently enable and disable different parts of the SDK and examples based on the configured third party libraries that you have specified.
The SIMDIS SDK source distribution comes with a number of example programs as well as a sample data set. The example which illustrates the most common usage of the SIMDIS SDK is the Platform Symbology example. Detailed tutorials describing SIMDIS SDK use will be added at a later date.
HTML based API documentation for the SIMDIS SDK source code can be found in
the Doc subdirectory. This documentation describes the different software
components provided by the SDK. You can generate the documentation by running
the directory through Doxygen.
The SIMDIS SDK provides support for loading all 3D model formats supported by OpenSceneGraph (OpenFlight, 3D Studio, Wavefront OBJ, etc), loading the SIMDIS .db Terrain and Imagery files, and streaming terrain and imagery data from the ReadyMap server product developed by Pelican Mapping using osgEarth.
The 3D models provided with the SIMDIS SDK sample data package, available on the SIMDIS website, have all been converted to the native OpenScenegraph .ive binary file format, which embeds the 3D model's geometry data and associated texture files within a single, easy to distribute file.
Limited free support is available on the SIMDIS Help Desk. Create a new topic under the project SDK for assistance. You can search through previously answered tickets to find solutions to common problems. An account on the SIMDIS website is required to access the Help Desk. Use of the SIMDIS Help Desk is the fastest and most reliable way to get free support for the SIMDIS SDK.
We also accept pull requests. If there are modifications you wish to share with the community, please consider submitting a pull request. All pull requests should abide by the Code Style Guide.
The SIMDIS SDK has scheduled releases every six months, coinciding with the release schedule for the SIMDIS software. The SDK receives updates on a regular basis between releases as we add features, fix bugs, and enhance the SDK to support applications in the SIMDIS toolkit.