You’ve developed or downloaded a SAMSON Extension you were excited to try, only to discover it doesn’t load when you launch SAMSON. If you’re working in molecular modeling and rely on extensions to speed up your workflows—whether for visualization, simulation, or analysis—this can be a frustrating roadblock. Fortunately, there’s a clear reason behind this behavior, and a well-defined system in place to determine compatibility between SAMSON and its Extensions.
Understanding Compatibility: It’s All About the SDK
SAMSON Extensions are built using a specific version of the SAMSON Software Development Kit (SDK). When you start SAMSON, it checks whether each installed Extension is compatible with the current version of the SAMSON SDK. Only Extensions built with SDK versions compatible under certain rules are loaded and executed.
The Compatibility Rule Simplified 🧩
SAMSON follows semantic versioning. Each SDK and SAMSON release has a version number in the form major.minor.patch. To be compatible:
- The major version numbers of SAMSON and the SDK used to build the Extension must be identical.
- The minor version number of the Extension’s SDK must be lower than SAMSON’s.
For example, an Extension compiled with SDK version 1.5.2 will load in SAMSON version 1.7.8, since the major versions (1) match and the SDK’s minor version (5) is less than SAMSON’s (7).
An Example in Action
If you have SAMSON version 1.7.8 installed and an Extension built with SDK version 1.8.5, SAMSON will not load this Extension—even though it appears only marginally newer. The reason is that the Extension might be using a functionality introduced in SDK 1.8, which SAMSON 1.7 doesn’t recognize.
What You Can Do
- Update SAMSON regularly to stay compatible with the latest Extensions…
- Or, check the SDK version of the Extension before installing, and ensure it falls within the compatibility rules.
- If developing your own Extensions, target an SDK version that is actively used and supported by the SAMSON versions your users run.
Automatic Updates Are Your Friend
Whenever a compatible version of a SAMSON Extension appears on SAMSON Connect, it will automatically be updated—assuming you have an internet connection. This ensures you’re using the most stable and feature-complete Extensions available for your version of SAMSON.
But if the new version of the Extension is built using a newer, incompatible SDK, SAMSON will keep the older, compatible version installed—preventing compatibility issues from disrupting your workflow.
This safety check means you can confidently open SAMSON and know that everything loaded is fully tested and compatible with your current environment.
Why It Matters
In molecular modeling, unexpected software behavior can waste your time or compromise research quality. By understanding how SAMSON manages Extension compatibility, you can avoid errors and get the best performance from your tools.
Learn more about SAMSON’s versioning and compatibility model.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can get your copy at https://www.samson-connect.net.