Survex 0.98 released!

[Olly Betts]

Downloadable from:

http://www.survex.com/download.html

Except on MS Windows, this release is functionally identical to
0.98-prerelease6.  On MS Windows there are new icons for the Survex file
types, and a minor tweak to the file associations.

Note: the sample dataset is finally available again.  You'll need Survex
0.98 to process it, as it makes use of many of the new features.

Full list of user-visible changes between 0.97 and 0.98:

* (MS Windows version): major overhaul of file associations and icons;
  improved documentation overview.

* Added --survey command line option to all commands which read .3d files to
  restrict the operation of the command to a sub-survey in the .3d file.

* Various improvements to character set handling.

* aven: added optional grid; dashed surface survey now the default;
  Indicators moved to submenu of View menu.

* aven: initial scaling now ignores unused fixed points (unless there
  are no legs at all), and scales survey so it fits inside window.

* aven: can now load a survey with no legs, only stations.

* aven: reporting initialisation errors in a message box wasn't working
  (problem was a wxWindows bug which we now work around).

* cavern: allow interleaved data formats - e.g. "station", "tape compass
  clino", "station", "tape compass clino", ...

* cavern: covariance matrices are symmetric - now only store 6 of the 9
  entries.  Typically uses 10% less memory and is 15% faster.

* cavern: added --log option to send output to a .log file.

* cavern: --quiet no longer suppresses node statistics.

* cavern: fixed problem with points fixed with errors.

* cavern: *title without quotes now stops at a comment; *title with no
  argument no longer allowed - use `*title ""' if you really mean to
  set an empty title.

* cavern: allow *copyright/*date/*instrument/*team/*title between
  *begin and *export.

* cavern: fixed typo which prevented *instrument from being recognised
  as a valid command.

* cavern: removed option to produce ascii .3d files.

* cavern: on error, remove any existing .inf file for consistency with
  .3d and .err files.

* cavern: nosurvey legs now count as a "use" of a fixed point and suppress
  "unused fixed point" warnings.

* cavern: give at most 5 warnings about use of any particular
  deprecated feature.  Otherwise processing an old dataset just gives
  an avalanche of warnings which buries any other warnings or errors.

* cavern: implemented `*infer equates'.

* cavern: fixed *entrance - it was trying to insist its argument was a
  survey, not a station.

* cavern: a leg with the same station at both ends now causes an error
  rather than just a warning.

* cavern: added station name to "station equated to itself" message.

* cavern/3dtopos: cavern no longer produces .pos files - they're
  mostly useful for hand plotting and are larger than the
  corresponding .3d files so most of the time they slow processing and
  then clutter up the disk.  A new utility 3dtopos produces a .pos
  file from a .3d file, and has the added benefit that it sorts names
  with numbers in numerically (i.e. 2 before 10).

* cavern: improved parsing of unquoted *include/*title strings - used
  to end at the first literal space; now they end at the first BLANK
  character (space, tab, and comma by default).  So the odd case of an
  unquoted string with commas or tabs will require quotes to be added.

* cavern: an empty label was being added to the .3d file for a station
  fixed with standard deviations.  Such labels are also now ignored by
  img on read-in.

* cavern: Fixed bogus errors about matrix not being positive definite.

* cavern: Fixed bug in articulation point code which could result in
  a traverse "exploding" in certain situations (introduced in 0.95).

* cavern: Check for chunks of survey not connected to a fixed point is
  now done earlier on (which simplifies quite a bit of the network
  code).

* print*: Added --output command line option to override the output
  setting in the .ini file (ignored by printwin).

* print*: reduced memory usage.

* printwin: fixed problem where it hung when waiting for input; exit cleanly
  if no printer drivers are installed.

* aven/extend: if a .3d file is truncated or corrupted part way through,
  aven would previously load part of it without complaint.  Fixed to
  complain and give up.

* .3d files now store prefixes for legs (the prefix is taken from the
  "from" station of the leg);  Station names and leg prefixes in .3d
  files are now stored compressed.  Despite now storing prefixes for
  legs, .3d files are now typically 25%-33% smaller than before.

* aven: --version now works, and --help produces more helpful output.

* cavern/xcaverot/sorterr: fixed --help output to include long options.

* diffpos: the arguments can now be .pos or .3d files, or one of each.

* sorterr: new utility for sorting .err files by various criteria.

* caverot: adjust to speed of machine/size of survey on initial draw,
  rather than on first action from user.

* xcaverot: buttons now size to widest label; added --pda switch to
  turn off less useful buttons for use on small screens (such as the
  ipaq PDA).

* Minor documentation updates.

* More testcases added to the test suite.

Cheers,
Olly