The 'SUM' field in the 'accounts.csv' file can now be specified as a floating point number that will be used to scale attribute values prior to adding in to the account. The existing syntax continues to work, and TRUE will be treated as a scaling factor of '1', FALSE will be treated as a scaling factor of '-1'.
Scaling factors can also be used where ever the TRUE|FALSE choice was allowed in account specifications (for example, when adding road accounts).
Exclusive accounts now behave as proper Targets. Previous behaviour was for the Exclusive account to subsume the summary account that was the root of the exclusive account. In the new behaviour the exclusive account still exists and can be used to set target values.
A new table is available the contains information about all routes in the model. The NetworkTable can be accessed using the Control.getNetworkTable() method. This table is useful for mapping information about all routes simultaneously.
The 'treatment.csv' file now allows a parameter to specify a curve to help calculate the post-treatment age. When the curve is specified, the post-renewal age is computed as follows:
Add current age and offset.
Use the value as an index into the curve, and obtain a new offset value.
if 'ADJUST' is 'A', then this value is post renewal age. Otherwise, the current age is added to this value to compute the new post-renewal age.
The scheduling algorithm has changed slightly. Product attributes have always been allowed to have negative ages for the "future" attribute. This could be used to imply that some activity should occur before the final harvest takes place. An example would be to account for underplanting costs 20 years before a harvest. The change is that treatments will not be allowed to accrue product values prior to the first year of the simulation. For example, a treatment that implies a underplanting 20-years prior would not be eligible for scheduling in the first 20 years of the simulation.
Work is underway to move the Patchworks code base from older version of Java (1.4) to the latest version (1.5). Java 1.5 was released several years ago, and we have waited for the new code to stabilize. We have been testing Patchworks running under version 1.5 for several months, and now we have begun compiling the software using the 1.5 development kit. So far, only minor changes have been required, and no adverse effects have been noticed. We will begin releasing the new code as this most recent build. The new code should be fully compatible with the old Java 1.4 runtime, so no further updates are required by end users. Please let us know of any code compatibility problems that occur.
The data preparation toolkit now contains a translator to convert FS-SIM models into ForestModel XML. The translator converts volume, class, group, asx, regen, param, oaf and landoaf files. Many of the features of the FS-SIM model are translated automatically, but some require manual setup as targets or scheduled activities.
Minor changes and fixes:
The join key in the access table editor will now update automatically after a script has changed the value.
Fixed a problem with the Target Charts changing values when the window was hidden and restored.
Corrected problems with leading blanks not be recognized in CSV files.
Fixed a regression with the Composition tool opening and saving files.
Increased the size of the threshold search distance in the Proximal Topology and Group Fragments tool.
The Application Chooser window is now resizable.
Improved the error messages that result from invalid road networks.
The parser was incorrectly calculating values for attributes from spatial coverages. When a shapefile or coverage was added to the MapViewer, attributes would only display during period 0. This has now been fixed.
Popup warnings are provided when files cannot be saved correctly. Previous behaviour was that error messages were written to the console.