Project Wizard Overview

To access this dialog:

Using the Start window, select New Project.
Select the New Project icon on the Quick Access ribbon.
Click the File button and select New Project

The Project Wizard dialogs are used to create a new project, define the project precision and project settings; optionally create a MineTrust aware project and add project files.

All projects created in your projects are extended-precision.

The project wizard may be displayed when the your application is started (if the On startup option on the General tab of the Options dialog is set to [Show Project Wizard]).

Purpose of the Project Wizard

There are three main functions of the Project Wizard, with each function being assigned a tab, to be completed in a specific order:

to set up general project properties such as name and location etc. More...
to add or remove files from the project database (or references to external files) More...
to display a project summary and create the project database.

Your application will automatically convert legacy single-precision projects to extended precision format when they are loaded. Single-precision projects are not supported, although you can still create and use single-precision datafileswithin your projects..

Understanding Projects

The concept of the 'project' is important in that there is more than one way to use the project 'database'. A project file is effectively a table containing information relating to the group of files relevant to that specific project e.g. a geological modelling project, a mine design or scheduling project. The data forming part of the project can be stored in a number of ways:

within the project file,
within external files,
a combination of both.

Data can either be 'referenced', meaning that the location of a file on your system or network is held within the project file, or it can exist as part of the project file. When using your application, when creating files, you will often have the opportunity to choose how your data is going to be stored. There are no 'hard and fast' rules regarding which option you should choose, however, the following guidelines may help you decide:

if data is generic in nature, and may be utilised by other projects, save to an external file
if data is specific to a project, or operation within a project, you should save the data within the project file itself.

Single Precision vs. Extended Precision Data

Your application supports can read both single and extended (sometimes referred to as 'double') precision data. It can generate extended precision files.

In a legacy single precision file, numeric data is represented as single precision floating point values giving around 6 to 7 significant figures. In the extended equivalent, numeric data is represented by double precision floating point values giving up to 16 significant figures and therefore denoting a higher level of data 'resolution'. The most common cases were precision is an issue are coordinates (global coordinate systems have northings in the millions of metres – so you need 10 significant digits to get mm accuracy) and tonnage values, which can get into the billions for large mines.

You may also see a 'Welcome' page when the wizard is initially opened. You can, if you wish, skip this page in the future by enabling theSkip this page in futurecheck box.

Using the Project Wizard

All Datamine application wizards use the same, standard buttons to control progress from page to page:

Select this...	...to do this
Back	Go back to the previous page.
Next	Move to the next page.
Finish	Complete the wizard and create the project.
Cancel	Cancel the wizard without saving any settings.
Help	Get help on the wizard.