VE Standalone Configuration for Mid-Sized Projects

Step 1 – Install a new SQL Server instance, or use an existing one.

This instance will host the Visual Expert Repository.

Any version of SQL Server could be used, except for Express Edition or Local DB, which do not leverage all the RAM and CPU available on the machine.

If you don't have a SQL Server license available, you can install SQL Server Developer Edition – free of charge – since it will be used in the context of your development activities, and not for running an application in production.

Go further:

• Install SQL Server Developer Edition
• System Requirements

Step 2 – Install a Visual Expert copy on the workstation.

Download and install Visual Expert from this page.

Step 3 – Create a Repository, get a License Key

After the Visual Expert installation, a wizard will guide you to:

1. Connect to the SQL Server instance prepared in Step 1.
2. Create a Visual Expert Repository.
3. Request a License Key.
   Once generated, you will receive a notification.
   Follow the instructions to download and install the key in the VE Repository.

Go further:

• Create a VE Repository
• Request a VE License key

Step 4 – Create a Visual Expert project

This primarily consists in selecting the code & database(s) you wish to analyze.

Several options are available. You can combine them in a single project:

• Option A – You can select files and folders containing source code,
• Option B – You can connect to the application database(s), to extract and read stored procedures, functions, and a description of the data model.
• Option C – You can connect to a source control, to fetch and read source code.

Once the code selection is completed, the analysis will start.

A Window will show the analysis progress, and potential warnings.

Go further:

• Tutorials for analyzing your code

Step 5 – Automate Recurring Tasks

Schedule code analysis

It is highly recommended to automate the code analysis so that it is always updated with recent changes made to the code. Developers will then see the latest version of the code when they use Visual Expert.

• You can use the Visual Expert scheduler to automatically trigger analysis on a regular basis.
• Another system can call Visual Expert via command lines to trigger analysis, for example when a new build is available.
• If you use Jenkins, you can use the Visual Expert plugin for Jenkins.

Automate tasks before analysis

If needed, you can automate certain preliminary actions, for example to copy code to an accessible location.

Other tasks

You can also automate code inspection or documentation generation.
In particular, this fits well with continuous integration and continuous delivery processes.

Step 6 (optional) – Visual Expert AI services

Configure VE AI

Visual Expert provides AI-powered features that enhance code analysis and documentation.

If you plan to use these features, additional network configuration may be required to allow secure communication between your Visual Expert server and the AI services.

• For detailed instructions, refer to the dedicated guide: Visual Expert AI – Architecture & Network configuration

AI Credits & Administrative Controls

• Visual Expert AI features consume credits tied to your licence — verify that your VE Web environment has a non-zero AI credit allocation before using these services.
• Credits can be managed at the repository/team level to control usage. Administrators can also disable AI by setting credits to zero for specific repositories.

For detailed instructions, refer to the dedicated guide: Manage and Monitor VE AI Credits