A permanent license is tied to a specific hardware platform.  Once installed, Ocean Contour will allow data files from all instruments of a particular family (e.g. Signature Series) to be imported and processed for one year from the time that the license was generated.  Upon purchase, a temporary license suitable for operation with a single instrument will be generated and e-mailed. A permanent license request should then be made from the machine on which Ocean Contour will be used.  The license file should be saved to disk and installed in Contour by using the Help: Update License menu option.

Application upgrades are allowed. However, a license only allows the application to import data for one year from the time of generation.  After this time period, data may still be analyzed and displayed, but it will no longer be possible to import new data. Renewal of the license via a maintenance plan purchase is then required to continue to import new data.

License information can be found in the “About” information. Checking for updates will also highlight whether or not the newest available version can be used with the license currently installed.

The maintenance period for the license can be found in the “About” information. Checking for updates will also highlight whether or not the newest available version can be used with the license currently installed.

Given the large sizes of data files that are possible to collect, Ocean contour can use a significant amount of memory, especially during the import phase. If the import of a data file appears to stall without any progress showing on the progress bar, the likely issue is an over allocation of memory resulting in memory being swapped to disk. If this happens, the import should be halted (and application stopped) and a lower memory allocation factor selected by choosing Preferences: Data Import and selecting ½ or ¼ for the file sizing (see the section on Import File Sizing).

Double clicking on the Ocean Contour shortcut will start the application. A prompt will be displayed to select a directory for all work data to be stored (the “workspace”). A new folder can be used by clicking on the “Make new Folder” button and then selecting the folder after it has been created. Ocean Contour will use this directory to store all projects and project related data. Once a folder has been selected, the application will then start.