For optimum performance, OpenSTAAD should be run in STAAD.Pro 2002 or higher. The object which controls the STAAD.Pro graphical interface (StaadPro.OpenSTAAD - dialogs, modeling tools, etc.) is only available in STAAD.Pro 2003 or higher.

As software development proceeds, it is sometimes necessary to modify STAAD’s database to accommodate new features or to maximize efficiency and increase processing speed. STAAD.Pro 2002 is the first STAAD release to include OpenSTAAD.  All subsequent releases of OpenSTAAD will be backward-compatible with STAAD.Pro 2002. 

It may be possible to run at least some of OpenSTAAD’s functions in earlier releases of STAAD.Pro or STAAD-III, but the results may be unpredictable, since OpenSTAAD did not exist at that time, and therefore compatibility with OpenSTAAD was not considered during the development of these earlier STAAD versions.  Bentley Systems, Inc. does not provide any technical support for OpenSTAAD running in STAAD versions prior to STAAD.Pro 2002.

In terms of  STAAD’s input file, STAAD.Pro is backward-compatible with all previous STAAD releases.  To use OpenSTAAD on a project that was created using an earlier version of STAAD.Pro or STAAD-III, you can open your old input file in STAAD.Pro 2002 and run the analysis.  This action will create a new database in a format fully compatible with OpenSTAAD.

OpenSTAAD is compatible with any version of Microsoft Office® Excel® that supports VBA macros.  OpenSTAAD is also compatible with Autodesk AutoCAD® 2000 (or higher) VBA.

With OpenSTAAD 2.0 and higher (available with STAAD.Pro 2003 and higher), a VBA editor is embedded within the STAAD.Pro environment. The version of VBA which the editor supports is not 100% VBA compatible. There are a few functions which can be supported in the Microsoft version of VBA which are not supported in the VBA editor/compiler which comes with STAAD.Pro. Every attempt is being made to support these functions. Currently, the functions which are not supported are not yet documented in this manual.