1). Q: Should there be a conflict between VS runtimes for plugins created for Creator that were compiled with VS 2008, but link to OpenFlightAPI 15's lib folder? (which was created using VS2013)
A: You are correct to worry about this because in general it is not recommended to mix VS runtimes. But you can thank MicroSoft (and Manifests) for maintaining such good compatibility - at least from VS2008 (VC9) to VS2013 (VC12). The Manifest system (and the MicroSoft Windows runtime) is doing all the magic that makes this work. As long as you have the VC12 Redistributable Package installed (you will if you’re running Creator 15) and either the VC8 Redistributable (or a version marked as compatible with both VC8 and VC12), the operating system just figures it out.
2). Q: OpenFlightApi 15 has mgapibuilders.dll in bin, but not in bin_vc9. Why is it not included?
A: We only distribute mgapibuilders (which is not part of the commercial distribution of the OF API) for the “current” (or primary) compiler of a release. For OFAPI 15, the primary compiler was vc12. Put another way… only the commercial OF API distribution (mgapilib.dll and its dependencies) is provided for “old” compilers in any release.
3). Q: OpenFlightApi 15 has no VS2012 release. Is it possible to use it from VS2012 projects?
A: Refer to question 1. While it is not recommended to mix VS versions, we (at Presagis) have seen no evidence that leads us to believe mixing VC12 (OFAPI) with VC11 (VS2012) is a problem.
Laura
1). Q: Should there be a conflict between VS runtimes for plugins created for Creator that were compiled with VS 2008, but link to OpenFlightAPI 15's lib folder? (which was created using VS2013)
A: You are correct to worry about this because in general it is not recommended to mix VS runtimes. But you can thank MicroSoft (and Manifests) for maintaining such good compatibility - at least from VS2008 (VC9) to VS2013 (VC12). The Manifest system (and the MicroSoft Windows runtime) is doing all the magic that makes this work. As long as you have the VC12 Redistributable Package installed (you will if you’re running Creator 15) and either the VC8 Redistributable (or a version marked as compatible with both VC8 and VC12), the operating system just figures it out.
2). Q: OpenFlightApi 15 has mgapibuilders.dll in bin, but not in bin_vc9. Why is it not included?
A: We only distribute mgapibuilders (which is not part of the commercial distribution of the OF API) for the “current” (or primary) compiler of a release. For OFAPI 15, the primary compiler was vc12. Put another way… only the commercial OF API distribution (mgapilib.dll and its dependencies) is provided for “old” compilers in any release.
3). Q: OpenFlightApi 15 has no VS2012 release. Is it possible to use it from VS2012 projects?
A: Refer to question 1. While it is not recommended to mix VS versions, we (at Presagis) have seen no evidence that leads us to believe mixing VC12 (OFAPI) with VC11 (VS2012) is a problem.