OCTA FAQ

OCTA FAQ

What is OCTA?

OCTA is an integrated simulation system for soft materials. Current version of OCTA consists of four simulation engines (COGNAC, PASTA, SUSHI, and MUFFIN) and a simulation platform GOURMET. All the engines use UDF (User Definable Format) for their input and output files. By using GOURMET, you can edit input UDF files, run the engines, and analyze the output UDF. OCTA is free of charge and distributed with an open source policy. For more detail, see What is OCTA page or download pamphlets.

How can I get OCTA?

Go to OCTA BBS, register your name and e-mail address (It is free). Then, you get your login password for OCTA BBS by an e-mail. Using this account, you can login to OCTA BBS and download OCTA from [Download] directory of OCTA BBS.

How can I discuss about OCTA?

Go to OCTA BBS and register your name and e-mail address (It is free). Then, you get your login password for OCTA BBS by an e-mail.

I have an OCTA CD-ROM. Can my friends use it to install OCTA to their machines?

Yes. But please tell them that they should register at OCTA BBS to use OCTA.

What is UDF?

UDF is a file format used by simulation engines in OCTA. You can view, edit and analyze UDF file by using GOURMET, the user interface software in OCTA. By using UDF for input/output files of your simulation engines, you can easily add your engines to OCTA system and use powerful analysis tools in GOURMET. UDF is a plain text file, and consists of definition part and data part. In the definition part, you can define the data structure of your engine in a simple and natural way. The data in UDF can be easily accessed and modified by using UDF interface libraries for C/C++, Fortran and Python.

What kind of problems can I solve by OCTA?

The four engines included in OCTA covers from coarse-grained molecular dynamics to continium field dynamics, and can study wide range of temporal and spacial scales. They can be applied to various problems in soft materials (polymers, interfaces, etc.). Please check Examples page for sample applications.

What operating systems are supported by OCTA?

GOURMET, the user interface program, runs on Windows NT, 2000 and XP, Intel-based Linux, and Mac OS X. Simulation engines can also run on alpha-based Linux system and SGI system.

Who can use OCTA?

There is neither limitation nor restriction for OCTA users. Anyone can use it for research and/or development. Students, professional researchers, engineers, etc. Feel free to try it. It is appreciated if you could submit your response to our BBS.

Is OCTA free?

Yes. But you should register your name and e-mail address at OCTA BBS to use OCTA.

How can I get any information about version-up (or bugs)?

Please visit our web-site, http://octa.jp. Pre-release version may be available at OCTA BBS.

Can I use the results obtained by OCTA for a scientific paper?

Congratulation for your success in using OCTA! Please acknowledge OCTA in the form "using OCTA (<http://octa.jp>)" in your paper.

I have a difficulty in downloading OCTA.

Full set of OCTA is very large, because it consists of GOURMET and four engines. If you have trouble in downloading the full version, please try to download the minimal version, which includes only GOURMET and examples. Or you can order CD-ROMs. In detail, please see OCTA CD Request.

Can I commercialize OCTA?

A RIGHT TO COMMERCIALIZE OCTA IS KEPT BY OCTA LICENSING COMMITTEE. PLEASE CONTACT THE COMMITEE AND GET CERTIFICATION. FOR MORE DETAIL, PLEASE CONSULT OUR BBS.