Setting up the MSVC++ Compiler for MapleSim

www.maplesoft.com

MapleSim requires the Visual Studio C++ Compiler to be installed to run on 64-bit versions of Windows.

To install Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2015 for Windows Desktop, please do the following:

� Note: This guide assumes that you have already installed Maple and MapleSim, and you verified that

both programs are working properly by running a simple example calculation (e.g. 1+1; ).

If you are not able to perform this calculation, please contact Maplesoft Technical Support before

continuing.

� Note: You need to log into an account with administrative privileges to set up and install the Microsoft

Visual C++ compiler.

� In a new web browser window, go to http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/downloads

� Expand the Visual Studio 2015 section.

� Click the Express 2015 for Desktop section.

� Select your download language from the dropdown box.

� Click Download to begin the Visual Studio Express installer download.

� Once the download has completed, click on the wdexpress_full_ENU.exe file at the bottom of the

web browser screen to launch the installer. Alternatively, if you do not see the downloaded file on

your screen, check your Downloads folder and launch the installer from there.

� When the Security Warning dialog box appears, click Run.

� If you see a window asking you to perform a setup update, please install the Update before

continuing. If you do not see this window, proceed to the next step.

� Choose the location to install the Visual Studio package. Generally, we recommend leaving the

default location if possible. Click Next.

� On the Selected features page, click Install.

� If you receive a User Account Control pop up window, click Yes to continue.

� The installation has now begun. This can take a while depending on your internet connection

speed as it has to download and process a few gigabytes of data. Please be patient and let it finish

before continuing.

� Once the installation is complete, click on the Restart Now button.

� Note: After finishing the Visual Studio installation, you may be required to register Visual Studio

Express with Microsoft within 30 days to continue to use it.

With the Visual Studio Express installation finished and the computer rebooted, you can confirm if the

install was a success by running a sample simulation in MapleSim.

�

Click the Run Simulation button to

perform the test.

Open MapleSim and choose a

sample model like Examples >

Multibody > Catapult.

Ensure the right hand side’s

Settings tab has the Compiler

option checked.

Confirm that the Console Output

window has no errors after the

calculations have completed.

After verifying that there are no errors in the Console Output, you should now have a fully functioning

compiler set up with your MapleSim program.

If you have any questions or run into any issues during the installation of the compiler, please refer to the

“Installing and Setting Up a Microsoft Visual C++ Compiler” section of the MapleSim Installation

Instructions, or alternatively, contact Maplesoft Technical Support at support@maplesoft.com

If your test of the MSVC++ compiler in MapleSim fails, you may need to manually point Maple to the new

compiler’s location to complete the installation.

� Open Maple by right clicking the shortcut and choosing Run as Administrator.

� Once Maple has started, click the New Document button on the Maple Start screen.

Troubleshooting:

� At the Maple prompt, type Compiler:-Setup(); and press Enter.

� In the dialog box, you will need to specify the full path to the vcvarsx86_amd64.bat file.

If you have Visual Studio installed in the default location, you should find this file in the following

location:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\bin\x86_amd64\vcvarsx86_amd64.bat

� You can navigate to this folder by clicking the Browse button, then click on the Computer shortcut.

� Double click on Local Disk (C:) > Program Files (x86) > Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0 > VC > bin >

x86_amd64 > vcvarsx86_amd64.bat

� Click Done to complete the configuration.

� Maple will output the file path to reflect a successfully configured path. If it does not echo back the

file path, please run the command again and double check that you have selected the correct file.

� Close Maple and launch MapleSim to confirm that the Visual Studio compiler is now connected.