Studio EM 3.0 Release Notes

Important: Legacy application access to acQuire data sources: An unavoidable compatibility break has been introduced with this version's installation of acQuire Data Provider components. This will prevent legacy applications from accessing an acQuire data source after this product is installed. A workaround for mixed environment users is provided below (see "acQuire Data Connection - Failure after Upgrade").

Key Improvements

Smooth Contour Grid Colouring Options

Generate a 'smooth' contour grid legend to show subtle variations in contour values between contour isobars. Select from a range of custom smooth legend options and your output grid model displays smooth colour transitions between contour landmarks.

GETSAMP - Get Sample Data from Desurveyed Drillholes

A new process - GETSAMP - lets you create a flat sample file from selected drillhole attributes.

SWATHPLT Slices at any Orientation

The SWATHPLT process now lets you specify a rotation axis and angle to orient swaths in any direction in relation to the model and (optionally) input samples. Swaths are also output as distinct wireframe volumes, making it easier to see how the swaths interact with your data, and how grades and tonnages relate to model or sample slices.

Multiple Attribute Range Legends

The Multiple Attribute Legend wizard has been extended to support numeric ranges as well as distinct values, allowing for even more flexibility when generating visualization or evaluation legends.

Attributes from Perimeters

A new command - attributes-from-perimeters - transfers attributes and values from closed perimeter strings to enclosed target data. Target data can be points, strings, drillholes or wireframes.

Drillhole Data Selection Toggle

You can now use the quick key combination "tds" to swap between full drillhole and independent sample data selection in a 3D view. A new command - toggle-drillhole-selection - is also available.

View & Data Type Quick Filters

Apply previously saved quick filters to all overlays of a data type, or all overlays of an entire view, using new Sheets control bar menu options.

Calculate and Display Structural Orientations

Define and format 2D or 3D drillhole structural symbols using a new 3D properties screen. Choose up to 3 orientation angles and render core sample orientation data using a wide range of visualization options.

Calculate-structural-orientations automatically calculates dip and dip directions from core logged alpha and beta angles. The resulting dip and dip direction attributes can be used to visualize angles using downhole structural symbols.

offset-string Improvement

offset-string accommodates a wider range of input string shapes than before, including strings with near-coincident points that could previously generate erratic offset string shapes. You can also define a tolerance distance for overlapping strings in the current view orientation to allow structures such as declines to be offset accurately, and also omit unwanted self-overlapping sections.

A New Look & Feel

A streamlined experience for exploration geologists. Based on feedback, we have reorganized and refreshed the ribbon system, and it's now more intuitive and easier to navigate.

HTML5-compliant, Online Documentation

Access help via docs.dataminesoftware.com. This new online resource will, if an Internet connection is available (and you choose to access it), provide up-to-date system documentation that adapts to multiple target reading devices from laptops to phones. If no Internet connection is available, or you prefer to view compiled offline help, you can view the legacy installed content instead.

Not only that, but the latest help is deployed instantly, meaning you benefit from the latest knowledge available at all times.

docs.dataminesoftware.com will benefit from a lot of innovative development in the future, so it's worth taking a look!

Improved Data Source Drivers

  • Export Vulcan .bmf block models to file sizes up to 4GB. Previously, the limit was 2GB.

All Improvements

Commands & Processes

  • Case: STEX-199 The measure button on the Home ribbon now runs the Query Line command.

  • Case: CORE-7632 Contouring commands now tag output data with their source command name.

  • Case: CORE-7581 Legacy GRAPHICS and SCREEN windows no longer appear in your product.

  • Case: CORE-7569 Data objects derived from a database connection now display their connection string in the Data Object Manager.

  • Case: CORE-7478 Converge-segments has been refactored, making it faster and more robust.

  • Case: CORE-7579 SWATHPLT now lets you specify optional axes and rotation angles to orient swaths in any direction in relation to the model or samples.

  • Case: CORE-7254 SLIMOD has a tolerance to check for the creation of very small cells. A cell will not be created in the output file if it has a volume less than the parent volume of the output prototype multiplied by 0.00000001. This tolerance is smaller than in previous versions to allow for prototypes with a large parent cell dimension in one of the axes.
  • Case: CORE-7180 The legacy command make-dtm-from-objects is obsolete.

  • Case: CORE-7172 MODSPLIT has a @TOLERNCE parameter.

  • Case: CORE-7141 SELWF has a @SETABSNT parameter.

  • Case: CORE-7112 offset-string accommodates a wider range of input string shapes than before, including strings with near-coincident points that could previously generate erratic offset string shapes.

  • Case: CORE-7102 Choose Smooth Legend output when generating contour grids, allowing higher resolution colour maps to display.

  • Case: CORE-7079 By default, the Edit Attributes screen defaults to selecting value options from selected legend items.

  • Case: CORE-7026 Choose to hide the 'Browse for file' prompt when loading a project with broken file references.

  • Case: CORE-7012 HOLES3D has a @DESURVMD option if run interactively. It is used to locate sample centers or end points on desurveyed arcs.

  • Case: CORE-6883 A new command - toggle-drillhole-selection (quick key "tds") toggles between full drillhole and independent sample data selection in a 3D view.

  • Case: CORE-6793 You are now only notified of excessively large legends if the total number of bins exceeds 1000. Previously, the limit was 100.

  • Case: CORE-6570 snap-to-mid-string-switch now affects snapping to both the mid points of strings and drillhole segments.

  • Case: CORE-6152 Quickly store and reinstate quick filters using the Sheets control bar's context menu.

  • Case: CORE-6148 Choosing to auto-align a section after creation no longer automatically zooms to fit all data in the 3D view.

  • Case: CORE-6148 DECLUST now supports retrieval criteria.

  • Case: CORE-6086 By popular request, the unlink-wireframe command has been reinstated.

  • Case: CORE-6053 STATS has @PRINT options to control the scope of control bar report output.

  • Case: CORE-5954 The Multiple Attribute Legend wizard can be used define numeric ranges as well as distinct values. This provides greater flexibility when generating visualization or evaluation legends.

  • Case: CORE-5941 Define and format 2D and 3D drillhole structural symbols. Choose up to 3 orientation angles and render core sample orientation data using various visualization options.

  • Case: CORE-5861 Use string-at-gradient-on-wf to generate on-surface strings (such as surface roads) between start and end points, honouring a maximum gradient.

  • Case: CORE-5223 Enabling Lock Viewin a 3D window no longer adjusts the zoom setting of that view.

  • Case: CORE-5198 Automatically align the view when defining a 2 point section.

  • Case: CORE-1938 Apply a template to a 3D overlay by right-clicking it in a 3D view.

  • Case: CORE-1654 Lock any 3D view, or 3D view segment using a 3D window context menu option.

  • Case: STUDIO-6641 GETSAMP - a new process - has been added to extract flat sample file information from static drillholes, preserving interpretations.

  • Case: STUDIO-1095 COMPDH can composite both down and up holes, using a @REVERSE parameter.

  • Case: STUDIO-924 calculate-structural-orientations calculates dip and dip directions from core logged alpha and beta angles. The resulting dip and dip direction attributes can be used to visualize angles using downhole structural symbols.

User Experience

  • Cases: STEX-193, STEX-194, STEX-196, STEX-190 Studio EM has been rebranded, including documentation, splash screen and application icons.

  • Case: CORE-7405The deprecated command "Undo Last DTM" is no longer available via the ribbon system.

  • Case: CORE-7183 New look and feel options are available.

  • Case: CORE-7150 Dynamically resize the components of the Quick Filter control bar.

  • Case: CORE-6792 Display up to 1000 drillhole names for each drillhole object in the Sheets control bar.

  • Case: CORE-6767 Define custom cursor length intervals <1.

  • Case: CORE-6735 Hover your cursor over the object name in the grid-dtms screen to display the name in full.

  • Case: CORE-5442 The 3D Templates screen is reorganized and iconized to make template creation and application simpler.

  • Case: STUDIO-6629 A new process - GETSAMP - lets you extract sample data from a drillhole file to preserve interpretations.

Utilities & Supporting Services

  • Case: CORE-7451Rename multiple license solutions using a standard naming convention.

  • Case: CORE-7312 The License Services screen no longer appears behind the active Studio application if initiated by the third-party EPS application.

  • Case: CORE-7267 The Command toolbar icons have been updated.

  • Case: CORE-7130 If an attempt is made to import a Vulcan .bmf file that is larger than our Maptek-provided driver can accommodate, a message is issued before processing and the operation is aborted.

  • Case: CORE-6510 Studio products will no longer operate if the local version of License Services is downgraded to an earlier version than installed with the product. See “License Services – Important Information, above”.

  • Cases: CORE-5442, CORE-7118 Export Vulcan .bmf block models to file sizes up to 4GB (previously, the limit was 2GB).

  • Case: CORE-6816 A maximum fields check and warning display for Vulcan, Surpac, Text, MineSight and Micromine drivers.

  • Case: CORE-6816 Export an object attribute containing DXF line style names.

  • Case: CORE-6648 When importing data via the Text driver, only a single legend is created (based on the first attribute field). In previous versions, a legend was created for each detected field in the incoming file, leading to an excessive number of stored legends.

  • Case: CORE-5809 Import Amine-format SQL tables using the ODBC driver.

  • Case: CORE-5020 When importing Micromine block models, field names are no longer limited to 9 characters. They can be up to 24 characters on a long field system.

  • Case: CORE-5019 The Data Converter now converts MineSight block models to Datamine format.

Documentation & eLearning

  • Case: CORE-7414 The PICREC help file includes information on disambiguating reserved keywords.

  • Case: CORE-85 Your application is supported by online, HTML5-compliant help. If an Internet connection is available (otherwise, locally-stored help content displays), context and conceptual help is displayed via Datamine's online documentation website at docs.dataminesoftware.com.

Additional Defect Fixes

  • Case: CORE-7709 Reliance on the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 x64 Redistributable (10.0.40219) has been removed, following reports of potential insecurities.

  • Case: CORE-7684 An issue causing SELWF to produce unexpected output, if both input sample and model attributes have the same name but different lengths, has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-7684 An issue causing system instability when changing the format of a block model overlay in the Plots window has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-7622 Global selection buttons in the Data Provider table selection screen are now operational.

  • Case: CORE-7390 SELWF now assigns attribute values based on the order of input wireframe data, reinstating legacy behaviour.

  • Case: CORE-7300 MineSight Points Files can now be loaded by script.
  • Case: CORE-7291 SELWF now selects inside a wireframe correctly when the plane is not set.
  • Case: CORE-7255 If querying multiple strings the correct area is calculated for non-convex shapes.

  • Case: CORE-7250 An issue causing system shutdown, when clicking OK in the acQuire drillhole database import wizard, has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-7245 The Text driver no longer fails when the number of fields exceeds the maximum limit.

  • Case: CORE-7216 The Apply Filter option no longer incorrectly appears in Sheets >> Plots menus.

  • Case: CORE-7213 An issue preventing the import of a .mdl block model file has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-7202 'Point data' controls are correctly enabled/disabled on the generate-contours-from-holes-intercepts screen.

  • Case: CORE-7192 An issue causing system instability, when closing a project with the Extract Objects screen displayed, has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-7178 The Values drop-down list in the Edit Attributes screen initializes correctly.

  • Case: CORE-7171 Breaking strings with other strings (BKI or BKS) correctly breaks the target string.

  • Case: CORE-7145 After breaking a string with another string (BKI or BKS), attributes are edited correctly on resulting string segments.

  • Case: CORE-7139 In COPYMOD, default values of the new origin and angles are being set correctly set when angles and origin are blank.

  • Case: CORE-7126 An issue preventing the successful drag and drop loading of DWG and DXF files has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-7123 A legacy data driver problem causing system shutdown when reopening projects has been guarded against. In this version, a warning of unexpected driver input is issued, but all loadable project items are loaded afterwards.

  • Case: CORE-7122 An instance of system instability, if closing a project whilst the wireframe-volume screen is displayed, has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-7119 An issue causing system failure, when unloading objects via the Data Object Manager, where table data is selected, has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-7117 SELWF output is consistent between multiple runs with the same settings and data.

  • Case: CORE-7099 COMPSE will ignore trivial gaps between concurrent samples.

  • Case: CORE-7091 Internal block model blocks are rendered correctly in the 3D view when clipping.

  • Case: CORE-7094 edit-model-cell-values responds correctly to data unload operations.

  • Case: CORE-7087 An issue causing system failure when renaming an object data column in the Data Object Manager, has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-7080 An issue causing system instability, when using Drillhole Planner with the Data Properties bar displayed, has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-7077 An issue causing "Error 39" in License Services has been investigated and resolved by adding support for Dinkey Pro driverless dongles.

  • Case: CORE-7070 An issue causing WFCODE to generate only a single record when @ALLPTS=1 and @SETABSNT=0 has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-7069 The Edge Cylinder Segments label is no longer truncated on the System Options screen.

  • Case: CORE-7054 Messages no longer overlap on product splash screens.

  • Case: CORE-7038 Picture and plane objects no longer obscure transparent foreground filled strings and sections.

  • Case: CORE-7031 An issue causing system instability, if cancelling the Image Registration screen before the specified image has loaded, has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-7028 The 3D view no longer unexpectedly shifts view position after using the View Controller.

  • Case: CORE-7025 DESURV no longer terminates with confusing message if number of survey points in a hole exceeds 10000.

  • Case: CORE-7024 In DESURV, @DESURVMD=0 no longer resets all of the coordinates to 0 if @ENDPTS=0.

  • Case: CORE-7009 HOLES3D no longer resets the first Survey record to AT=0 if there is no AT=0 record.

  • Case: CORE-6935 DTM creation no longer fails to create a surface where coincident points exist.

  • Case: CORE-6987 Object data overlays are rendered in the correct way when object opacity is reduced.

  • Case: CORE-6983 DESURV: Under some circumstances zero length or horizontal samples when using @ENDPTS=1 could result in corrupted B0 ouput values. This has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-6978 DILUTMOD's subcell checking routines provide useful user feedback instead of creating (potentially) arbitrarily large model outputs.

  • Case: CORE-6915 An issue causing system failure, when resetting the customization profile from the Quick Access menu, has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-6877 The system no longer halts unexpectedly if the file source of a histogram chart cannot be found.

  • Case: CORE-6839 An issue causing incomplete export to Surpac .mdl format has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-6822 Adjusting the scale of a plot no longer causes unexpected repositioning of labels.

  • Case: CORE-6818 An issue preventing accurate data picking in 3D views, when high magnification has been applied, has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-6814 DECLUST no longer automatically lists X, Y and Z as default coordinate fields.

  • Case: CORE-6807 A data-specific issue causing system shutdown after importing a 3D sheet template has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-6781 In the create-new-legends command, changing the Precision value (of a Numeric Range legend) no longer results in the custom defined Range Filter being reset back to the defaults.

  • Case: CORE-6774 An issue causing the splash screen to flicker on startup has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-6730 The Edit Attributes dialog correctly references the ellipsoid data type.

  • Case: CORE-6720 An issue causing mouse wheel zooming to fail, after box selection and panning in 3D, has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-6607 An issue causing the system to fail after running make-dtm-from-object has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-6594 An issue causing system shutdown when moving points with the snap mode set to Lines has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-6548 An intermittent problem causing an unclean shut down of the system after importing files via the Vulcan driver, has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-6433 Mouse scrolling when editing date ranges in the Create New Legend wizard is no longer using inverse controls.

  • Case: CORE-6418 An issue causing scale locking in the Plots window to fail has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-6167 The dialog labels for the MODTRI process have been corrected.

  • Case: CORE-6166 The dialog labels for the BLKTRI process have been corrected.

  • Case: CORE-6160 The Project File control bar's Pictures folder, if displayed, displays a title as expected.

  • Case: CORE-6138 A data-specific issue causing SELPER to fail to sort the output by IJK has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-6137 An issue causing unexpected A0 and B0 results in output from COMPDH has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-6131 An issue that could cause create-ramp-string to fail with a particular gradient, radius and distance end limit settings has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-6128break-strings-at-intersections produces string breaks in expected locations.

  • Case: CORE-6124An issue preventing the import of a large number of 3D display templates in one action has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-6101 If a plot sheet is created without others existing, the legacy Design window is no longer displayed at the same time.

  • Case: CORE-6095 Running the unlink-triangle command will automatically deselect any previously selected triangles.

  • Case: CORE-6080 The Texture from Object setting is correctly applied from a visual display template.

  • Case: CORE-6072The URL to project startup scripts is decoded to remove escape sequences.

  • Case: CORE-6060An issue, that could cause system failure when applying a 2D label of BHID to loaded dynamic drillholes, has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-6043The grid value for the weighting column is no longer reset if it has been pre-defined (e.g. from Evaluation settings).

  • Cases: CORE-6039, CORE-5674 Linestyle and Thickness attribute values are exported to DXF and DGN as expected.

  • Case: CORE-6003 Text boxes are displayed as expected when switching back to Plots from the Print Preview window.

  • Case: CORE-5626 During volumetric block modelling, records are no longer saved in the control files if they have empty or non-existent filenames.

  • Case: CORE-5502 The Plots window correctly honours SCALE when a section definition file is applied from a script.

  • Case: CORE-5238 An issue causing the Data Converter to fail when accessing it via script has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-5209 An issue causing alphanumeric field data to be imported incorrectly via the ODBC v2 driver has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-4632 WFCODE no longer incorrectly sets alphanumeric zone fields to numeric if @SETABSENT=1.

  • Case: CORE-4333 Drillhole data selection in the 3D window is now more accurate with large data and high scaling.

  • Case: CORE-4238 A typographic error in the E-W Section ribbon button tooltip has been corrected.

  • Case: CORE-4085 In COMPBE, where FROM-TOs are greater than @MINGAP, compositing will continue at the next interval of the same hole, and won't skip to the next BHID as previously.

  • Case: CORE-3694 An intermittent issue causing 3D window zooming to fail after filtering has been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-3189 Unexpected rounding results in the A0 and B0 columns when using COMPBE have been resolved.

  • Case: CORE-3076 The ODBC v2 driver permits alphanumeric columns to be exported in Microsoft Access format.

  • Case: CORE-2692 Spinner button behaviour in Tools >> 3D >> Initial States is now as expected.

  • Case: CORE-2405 COMPDH produces accurate results when the EOH interval is 0.

  • Case: CORE-1449 An issue causing COMPBR to become unresponsive with certain interval values has been resolved.