Runtime

Software applications which involve distinct authoring and reading/viewing stages often have separate components to facilitate each. Once a work has been created, it must be distributed in a form which others can access. This may be done in one of three ways:

• the authoring system creates executable files, which may be run like any other program (eg. C, Pascal, and other programming languages)
• the completed work must be distributed with a reader application (eg. Guide)
• every reader must purchase the authoring system (eg. HyperCard)

The term "runtime" is used to describe those components which must be distributed with the completed work.

Companies sometimes require remuneration for distributing a work created in their application. Payment methods vary from a one-time unlimited runtime license (Folio VIEWS), to charges per runtime (SmarText), to royalties (HyperTies).