RockWorks/16 Revision History
2013/Q4 (10/01/13-12/31/13)

(152) Improvement (12/30/13/JCJ): The Borehole Manager / File / Export / Multiple Tables / Text & Excel programs now display the export options as a dialog menu rather than a "tree" menu.  This allows for for selecting categories as groups rather than being forced to scroll and click through a long list of options.

(150-151) New Features (12/30/13/JPR): Two new improvements have been made to the Utilities / Solid / Fracture Disks -> Solid program;

(148-149) New Features (12/30/13/JPR): Two new improvements have been made to the Utilities / Planes / Strike & Dip Diagram (3D) program;

(142-147) New Features & Improvements (12/26/13/JPR): A variety of improvements have been made to the Utilities / Planes / Strike & Dip Map program;

(141) Improvement (12/19/13/JPR): The solid model declustering has been completely redesigned and improved as follows;

  1. Points outside the model are no longer discarded.

  2. Points within voxels that only contain one point are no longer reassigned coordinates equal to the containing-voxel midpoint. Instead, their original coordinates are left as-is.

  3. The averaging that occurs within voxels that contain more than one point is no longer based on a "running average". For example, if a voxel contained 10 control points, and the first 9 points ranged between 0.0 and 0.1, the running average would be somewhere between 0.0 and 0.1. If the 10th point had a g-value of 1,000, the program would compute the final value as 500. This new version computes the average using a simple sum(g)/population method to compute a true average.

The downside of this new approach is that it creates two temporary block models and a temporary xyzg data structure in memory. Given that this occurs before the final block model is created the memory and speed requirements are considered to be acceptable. For example, desclustering 50,000 points based on a 73x73x91 node model only required an additional 4 seconds to process and the 50,000 points were reduced/averaged to 8,100 points.  The average loss in fidelity was determined to be 1.7%.  These results are summarized below.

(139) Improvement (12/15/13/JPR): The horizontal reference lines within sections now extend to the edges of the striplogs rather than the log axes.

(138) Improvement (12/15/13/JPR): The horizontal axis within sections now extends to the edges of the striplogs rather than the log axes.

(137) New Feature (12/12/13/JPR): A new set of options has been added to the Borehole Manager / StripLogs / 2-Dimensional / Section program menu.

Thew new options determine how stratigraphic correlations will be plotted relative to the striplogs within the sections. 

To view a video about these improvements, click here ---> http://youtu.be/KwKl3-KcTEo

(136) New Features & Improvements (12/12/13/JPR): The following changes have been made to the Borehole Manager / StripLogs / Pick Stratigraphic Contacts program;

The Axis-to-Axis setting will draw correlations as straight lines from the axis (as defined within the Log Designer) of one log to another.  This was the scheme used within the previous versions of this program.  This setting is used when correlating thin logs in which a horizontal fill within the logs themselves might be misleading from a structural standpoint.

The Edge-to-Edge setting will draw the correlations as horizontal color-fills within the logs themselves and connect the edges of the logs to one another using diagonal fills.  This setting is often desirable when correlating logs that have multiple columns of data (e.g. raster logs, multi-curve logs, etc.).

To view a video about these improvements, click here ---> http://youtu.be/_PLirsf3fMo

(135) Bug Fix (12/12/13/MIW): The Grids->Strat Logs program now honors the grid's enabled checkbox.

(134) Bug Fix (12/12/13/MIW): If the Grids->Strat Logs program encounters an empty cell for the superface or subface it skips that unit.

(133) Bug Fix (12/12/13/MIW): If the Grids->Strat Logs program encounters a null value within the grid, that unit will be skipped.

(132) Bug Fix (12/09/13/MIW): The Pattern Legends in RockPlot2D were incorrectly setting the Title height based on expected vertical exaggeration.

(131) Bug Fix (12/09/13/MIW): The starting coordinate for World Files created when exporting Raster files from RockPlot2D was incorrect.

(130) Bug Fix (12/09/13/MIW): The Upper and Lower Surface Filters in the Log Projected Section with i-Data and P-Data Correlations were removing all data.

(129) Bug Fix (12/09/13/MIW): The Grid->Stratigraphy program now finds all the units in the database.

(121-128) Improvements (12/09/13/JPR): A variety of improvements have been made to the "tree menus" that are used by hundreds of programs within RockWorks;

To view a video about these improvements, click here ---> http://youtu.be/vTJZN1x7_OQ

(120) Improvements (12/09/13/JCJ): When adding a new borehole to the Borehole Manager, the program now saves the load and saves the correct default borehole symbols.

(119) Cosmetic (12/08/13/JPR): The Borehole Manager / Locations / Other Coordinate Projections / PLSS sub-menu now lists the Range, Township, and Offset directions as radio buttons rather than small, two-item pull-down menus.  Albeit a bit more cluttered looking, this change eliminates up to four mouse-clicks when entering a location.

(118) Bug Fix (12/05/13/MIW): The horizontal reference lines in Sections, Projected Sections and Profiles now honor the elevation settings and when using Project Dimensions or Automatic the placement matches the elevation scale bars.

(117) Bug Fix (12/05/13/JPR): The Borehole Manager / Striplogs / 3-Dimensional / Multiple Logs w/Linear Stratigraphic Correlations program no longer plots extraneous correlations for panels if the base of the lowermost unit is undefined and the base of the same unit within a connecting log is defined.


(116) Bug Fix (12/04/13/MIW): The Log Section program now plots all correlations after a new section polyline has been created.

(115) Bug Fix (12/04/13/MIW): The Projected Section no longer omits and/or incorrectly plots borehols within the last panel.

(114) Bug Fix (12/04/13/MIW): The manual pattern scalers within RockPlot2D are no longer ignored.

(113) Improvement (12/04/13/JCJ): Creating a list of boreholes within the menus is significantly faster.

(112) Improvement (12/04/13/JCJ): Plotting a single striplog is significantly faster.

(111) Improvement (12/04/13/JCJ): The LAS -> Borehole Manager import is 50% faster.

(110) Bug Fix (12/03/13/MIW): The Stratigraphy 3D Isopach display was being controlled by an option that wasn't available in that menu.

(109) Bug Fix (12/03/13/MIW): Sections with polygon clipping turned on now places the end panels in the correct location.


(108) Improvement (12/03/13/MIW): The GIS Link now supports both the 10.0 and 10.1 versions of ArcGIS.

(107) Improvement (12/03/13/JPR): The Borehole Manager / File / Export / Stratigraphy / Stratigraphy Data -> Text File program now includes the Stratigraphic Rules within the menu.  This eliminates the need to adjust the Stratigraphy Rules elsewhere.


(106) New Feature (11/27/13/MIW): The Section, Projected Section, Profile and Fence selection dialogs now have an option to display a background image. The image can be geo-referenced by the Project Coordinates, manually entering coordinates or by a World File (assumes in the Project Coordinate System). When the Display Raster option is active the BH titles are displayed with a yellow background for better visibility.

To view a video showing this new capability, click here ---> http://youtu.be/Det9JgpBao0


(105) Bug Fix (11/27/13/MIW): The RockPlot2D program no longer allows hidden items to be selected.

(104) Bug Fix (11/25/13/MIW): The RockPlot3D Model Reveal animation no longer generates an Access Violation error if the extension is not properly set.

(103) Bug Fix (11/25/13/MIW): Surface profiles in Sections, Projected Sections, and Profiles are now clipped based on the top clip elevation.


(102) Improvement (11/22/13/MIW): Changes to the memory management for p-data, i-data, etc. allow for the handling of larger datasets.


(101) Improvement (11/22/13/MIW): Changes to the RockPlot2D color-filling now allow for the handling of larger datasets.


(100) New Feature (11/21/13/JCJ): A new option has been added to the Borehole Manager Orientation table such that the user may now enter downhole inclinations in one of three fashions;

Note: A change to this setting determines how the program will interpret downhole inclination for ALL boreholes..


(099) New Feature (11/20/13/MIW): A new program titled "Projected Section" has been added to the Borehole Manager / I-Data sub-menu.

This program is used to project vertical boreholes into a multi-vertex I-Data section in which the vertices don't necessarily correspond to borehole locations. 

For more information about projected sections please refer to the writeup for item #092.


(098) New Feature (11/20/13/MIW): A new program titled "Projected Section" has been added to the Borehole Manager / Aquifers sub-menu.

This program is used to project vertical boreholes into a multi-vertex aquifer section in which the vertices don't necessarily correspond to borehole locations. 

 

For more information about projected sections please refer to the writeup for item #092.


(097) New Feature (11/20/13/MIW): A new program titled "Projected Section" has been added to the Borehole Manager / Colors sub-menu.

This program is used to project vertical boreholes into a multi-vertex color section in which the vertices don't necessarily correspond to borehole locations. 

For more information about projected sections please refer to the writeup for item #092.


(096) New Feature (11/20/13/MIW): A new program titled "Projected Section" has been added to the Borehole Manager / Fractures sub-menu.

This program is used to project vertical boreholes into a multi-vertex fracture section in which the vertices don't necessarily correspond to borehole locations.

For more information about projected sections please refer to the writeup for item #092.


(095) New Feature (11/20/13/MIW): A new program titled "Projected Section" has been added to the Borehole Manager / P-Data sub-menu.

This program is used to project vertical boreholes into a multi-vertex P-Data section in which the vertices don't necessarily correspond to borehole locations. 

For more information about projected sections please refer to the writeup for item #092.


(094) New Feature (11/20/13/MIW): A new program titled "Projected Section" has been added to the Borehole Manager / T-Data sub-menu.

This program is used to project vertical boreholes into a multi-vertex T-Data section in which the vertices don't necessarily correspond to borehole locations. 

 

For more information about projected sections please refer to the writeup for item #092.


(094) New Feature (11/20/13/MIW): A new program titled "Projected Section" has been added to the Borehole Manager / Stratigraphy sub-menu.

This program is used to project vertical boreholes into a multi-vertex stratigraphy section in which the vertices don't necessarily correspond to borehole locations.

For more information about projected sections please refer to the writeup for item #092.

(093) New Feature (11/20/13/MIW): A new program titled "Projected Section" has been added to the Borehole Manager / Lithology sub-menu.

This program is used to project vertical boreholes into a multi-vertex lithology section in which the vertices don't necessarily correspond to borehole locations.

For more information about projected sections please refer to the writeup for item #092.


(092) New Feature (11/20/13/MIW): A new program titled "Projected Section" has been added to the Borehole Manager / Striplogs / 2-Dimensional sub-menu.

This program projects boreholes within a swath onto a cross section, similar to a Profile but made up of multiple connected panels.  Projecting borehole into more than one panel presents a paradox in terms of holes that may project perpendicularly into more than one panel.  To address this dilemna, RockWorks employs a scheme whereby points boreholes within the convex portion of a bend in the traverse are projected to the corresponding traverse vertex.  This strategy is shown within the diagram below depicting the section selection menu.  Note how the convex portion of the traverse bend (where boreholes will be projected into a vertex) is shown by a red cross-hatch pattern.  Also notice how the red lines are used to show which boreholes will be projected into which segment within the traverse.

As is the case for other RockWorks sections, inclined and deviated boreholes within projected sections will be treated as vertical boreholes as shown by the following example in which the deep hole that projectes below the base of the lithology slice is actually a deviated/horizontal well.

The "target applications" for these new capabilities include civil engineering applications in which road, railroad, and tunnel geological engineers want to show cross-section along polyline-style routes.


(091) Bug Fix (11/16/13/JPR): The IDW-Advanced block modeling algorithm now used the designated value for "undefined nodes" (as defined within the Undefined Nodes portion of the Solid Modeling Options menu) if either the Horizontal Cutoff or Vertical Cutoff filters have been activated.

(090) New Feature (11/15/13/JPR): A new option titled "Stratigraphy Types To Be Included" (see image below) has been added to the following programs;
  • Borehole Manager / Stratigraphy / Model
  • Borehole Manager / Stratigraphy / Profile
  • Borehole Manager / Stratigraphy / Section
  • Borehole Manager / Stratigraphy / Fence / Fence Diagram
  • Borehole Manager / Stratigraphy / Fence / ESRI Shape (Modeled)
  • Borehole Manager / Stratigraphy / Surface Map
  • Borehole Manager / Stratigraphy / Plan Map

This new capability will only process the stratigraphic units that are designated as "active" by the "Show in Legend" checkbox within the Stratigraphy Type table.

This new capability provides a means for generating models and diagrams that only depict selected stratigrahic units of interest.  In the following example, we start with a database that has little data above the formation of interest (Niobrara).  Specifically, the wells in the database have just a few contacts for the Fox Hills, Pierre, Hygiene, and Parkman formations.  The same is also true for the formations below the Skull Creek (Dakota, Lakota, and Sundance).

Example output; Top = All units above Skull Creek.  Bottom = All units between Skull Creek and top of Niobrara.


(089) Improvement (11/19/13/JPR): When processing stratigraphy data, the program will no longer attempt to sort the units if the "Infer Partial Units" and "Insert Missing Units" (located within the Stratigraphic Rules menu) are both disabled.  This allows the user to make the program behave in a fashion similar to RockWorks15.  While we're on the subject of inferring partial units and inserting missing units, how about a brief rant?  Ok, good, here it goes;  The new Infer Partial Units and Insert Missing Units options were designed for users who are downloading large databases typically based on petroleum "scout cards".  These datasets are often filled with partial data, missing data, improperly sorted data, etc.  In other words, they're typically of poor quality.  These new features were designed to help make sense of this data.  Once a project gets "serious", we strongly recommend that you disable these features and stick with manually inserting missing contacts and units.


(088) Bug Fix (11/19/13/JPR): The AutoKriging algorithm no longer generates a rarely-occuring, floating-point error.


(087) Bug Fix (11/14/13/MIW): The sort order for RockPlot2D color legends is now saved.

(086) New Feature (11/13/13/JPR): The Borehole Manager / Map / Borehole Locations -> Google Earth (Advanced) program now includes options for plotting the plan-view trace of the well path.


(085) New Feature (11/13/13/JPR): A new option titled "Images" has been added to the Borehole Manager / Map / Borehole Locations -> Google Earth (Advanced) program.


This option will embed any images that are referenced within the Bitmaps table within the Google Earth message box that appears when the user clicks on the well symbol.


(084) Improvement (11/12/13/JPR): It is no longer possible to delete disabled layers with RockPlot2D.  This prevents problems with unintended deletions.


(083) Cosmetic (11/12/13/JPR): The Google Earth message box that appears when the user clicks on a symbol within the output from the Borehole Locations -> Google Earth ( Advanced) program now use horizontal dividers to delineate the item groups (see example within item #081 below).


(082) New Feature (11/12/13/JPR): A new option for listing the optional location fields has been added to the Borehole Manager / Map / Borehole Locations -> Google Earth (Advanced) program.



(081) Cosmetic (11/12/13/JPR): The Borehole Manager / Map / Borehole Locations -> Google Earth has been spit into two versions; Simple and Advanced.  The Simple version is used to just plot symbols and an optional label whereas the Advanced version includes options for linking additional information to each point (e.g. clicking on the well symbol and seeing a "scout card").



(080) Bug Fix (11/12/13/JPR): The Utilities / Volumetrics / no longer generates an error message when attempting to create 2D or 3D diagrams.


(079) Bug Fix (11/12/13/JCJ): When the XYZ values are included within the Borehole Manager / File / Export / Excel and Borehole ManagerFile / Export / Text programs, the Z values now correctly reflect the direction of the depth (i.e. when the depth is positive the equivalent change in the Z value is subtracted from the starting elevation).


(078) Bug Fix (11/12/13/JCJ): After inserting a new borehole, the calculation of XYZ values will no longer cause an error in the Borehole Manager with the first Optional field.


(077) Bug Fix (11/12/13/JPR): The Utilities / Volumetrics / 2D ( Grid Model ) program now generates the selected diagrams and reports.  The previous version would generate the final grid but failed to display it or the reports.


(076) Improvement (11/12/13/JCJ): After inserting a new borehole, the cursor will remain on that borehole instead of jumping to the first borehole.


(075) Improvement (11/12/13/JCJ): The drop-down list of Stratigraphy (Lithology keywords, Well Construction materials, and Aquifers) in the Borehole Manager size was increased to 20 items.


(074) Cosmetic (11/11/13/JPR): The Borehole Manager / File / Export /Locations to Google Earth option has been renamed to "Borehole Locations -> Google Earth" and re-located back into the Borehole Manager / Map menu (long story w/apologies to all for the flip-flop).


(073) Cosmetic (11/11/13/JPR): When used in conjunction with a Windows 8.1 Taskbar replacement (e.g. WinStep), maximized dialog boxes will no longer appear "underneath" the taskbar if the taskbar is configured not to allow underlying menus.


(072) New Features (11/11/13/JPR):  Several new symbols have been added to the raster symbol library.


(071) Bug Fix (11/06/13/MIW):  Fixed an "access violation" error in RockPlot2D when re-compiling a 2D strip log.


(070) Bug Fix (11/06/13/JCJ/JPR):  The "This program requires at least 3 data points." error is no longer erroneously reported when switching between projects and attempting to generate diagrams that use the stratigraphy-types table.  Formerly, this problem could only be fixed by restarting the program.  This bug dates back to RockWorks2004.


(069) Improvement (11/06/13/JPR):  It is no longer necessary to disable boreholes that have no stratigraphy data when performing stratigraphic operations within the Borehole Manager.


(068) Improvement (11/06/13/JCJ):  Borehole Manager programs now run a bit faster, expecially large data sets, thanks to an improvement whereby the internal xyz coordinates for points are no longer recalculated if the location data has not been changed.


(067) New Feature (11/05/13/JCJ):  A new checkbox for showing Enabled Boreholes has been added to the View / Filter / Select Boreholes dialog such that if both the Show Enabled Boreholes and Show Disabled Boreholes are un-checked the cartoon will not be drawn.  This is useful when the project has a large number of boreholes and drawing this cartoon takes a lot of time.


(066) Cosmetic (11/05/13/JCJ):  The Network License Manager has been redesigned and re-worded in regards to "Borrowing" a license.


(065) Improvement (11/01/13/JCJ):  The KGS, IHS, WCS, and GDS imports no longer terminate if a problem is encountered.  Instead, the offending record will be skipped and the import will continue.


(064) Improvement (11/01/13/JCJ):  Clicking on the expand/collapse button within the Download selection menu will not select the item group.  Instead, it will only expand/collapse the group.


(063) New Feature (11/01/13/MIW):  The RockPlot3D DXF Export now has an option to view the file within the default viewer.


(062) Improvement (11/01/13/MIW):  The vertical position of Stratigraphy Text within 2D Boreholes is now adjusted to the expected vertical exaggeration.


(061) Improvement (10/30/13/JCJ) The error reporting has been improved within the Transfer Locations from Utilities to Borehole Manager. The program also checks for required fields and proper units for Easting/Northing.


(060) Removal (10/30/13/MIW): The "Skip Startup Dialog" checkbox has been removed from the configuration dialog.


(059) New Feature (10/30/13/MIW): The T-Data Time-Graph and Time-Graph Map programs now allows the user to specify a logarithmic scale.


(058) New Feature (10/30/13/MIW): The T-Data Time-Graph and Time-Graph Map programs now allows the user to manually specify the Minimum and Maximum values for the chart.


(057) Improvement (10/29/13/JCJ) The error reporting has been improved within the Borehole Manager imports (e.g. Text, Excel, GDS, IHS, KGS).


(056) Bug Fix (10/29/13/JCJ) Optional Borehole Manager fields are now shown within a blank database.


(055) Improvement (10/29/13/MIW): The current Vertical Exaggeration in RockPlot3D is now stored within the graphic file and set upon loading.


(054) Improvement (10/29/13/MIW): When reading floating point numbers in RCL files, RockWorks will default computers' regional format setting if the US format conversion fails.


(053) Bug Fix (10/29/13/MIW): Spatial filters are now applied to the Lithology Volumetrics.


(052) New Feature (10/28/13/MIW): A new option to enable (default) text anti-aliasing in RockPlot2D graphics has been added to the RockPlot2D tab of the General Preferences. Anti aliasing smooths the appearance of text on the screen and in raster exports but can make very (000) small text appear fuzzy. With anti aliasing disabled small text may appear pixelated. This also applies to RockPlot2D files displayed within ReportWorks as well as all printing and exporting to raster files.


(051) Bug Fix (10/28/13/MIW): Failed exports of raster images from ReportWorks now generates a relevant error message.


(050) Bug Fix (10/28/13/MIW): Labels in Section Maps are no longer set to a 0 size font.


(049) Bug Fix (10/28/13/MIW): Printing very large images from ReportWorks sometimes forced them to black and white.


(048) Bug Fix (10/28/13/MIW): Menu items in the Grid Edit dialog now work correctly.


(047) Bug Fix (10/28/13/MIW): Fixed Invalid Floating Point error when using the Zoom option in RockPlot2D when no scrollbars were visible.


(046) Improvement (10/25/13/JCJ): The Network Users Dialog / Log-in button now updates RockWorks correctly, and the Check-in User button only works when run from the computer hosting the License Server.


(044) Improvement(10/25/13/JCJ): Improved Network Licensing error trapping, specifically if the Host or Port had not been set.


(044) Improvement (10/25/13/JCJ): If Rockworks16 encounters an error that displays the extended error dialog, the user is logged off the network License server so the license is available, and if the user chooses to continue, he/ahe is logged back in and RockWorks is updated correctly.


(043) Improvement (10/25/13/JCJ) Several "memory leaks" have been found and corrected (e.g. RockPlot2D and RockPlot3D).


(042) Cosmetic (10/25/13/JCJ) The prompt for saving datasheets now includes the datasheet title within the dialog.


(041) Improvement (10/25/13/MIW): ReportWorks raster exports now generate an error message if the output image is too large.


(040) Bug Fix (10/25/13/MIW): Text Anti-Aliasing has been turned off for ReportWorks raster exports.


(039) Improvement (10/25/13/MIW): ReportWorks can now plot very high resolution pages (e.g. posters) with full color output.


(038) Improvement (10/23/13/JCJ) If the license level changes (e.g. from Level 1 to Level 4), the Borehole Manager will now show the appropriate menu items. Prior to this change, the visibility of menu items was only determined during the initial startup.


(037) New Feature (10/23/13/JCJ): The user can now show the current network users even if not using a Network license. In this way, the user can see who is using the Network Licenses while waiting for one to become available. If a Network License is available the user can check-out the license from this dialog.


(036) New Feature (10/23/13/MIW): LAS files can now be imported directly to the Utilities data sheet.


(035) Bug Fix (10/23/13/MIW): Text within RockPlot2D diagrams is now plotted at the correct size when using RockWorks within Windows Vista.


(034) New Feature (10/22/13/JCJ): The Administrator for the RockWare Network License Manager can now turn on/off the ability to borrow/checkout a license to run when their system is off-network. The maximum duration can also be set to a number of days from 1 to 30.  These setting can be made from the client, so the Administrator does not have to manually edit the ini file. 


(033) Improvement (10/22/13/JCJ): The Network License Server communication with the Service Control Manager has been improved when there are startup problems.  Specifically, the problem description is sent to the Event Log and the service is stopped.  The most likely error is missing or corrupted critical files or even file access permission problems.


(032) Bug Fix (10/22/13/MIW): The Grid Editor menu items now work correctly.


(031) Bug Fix (10/22/13/MIW): The Grid Editor Statistics report is now created and displayed.


(030) Bug Fix (10/22/13/MIW): Fixed a Range Check error for RockPlot3D Triangles when there was only 1 triangle in the list.


(029) Improvement (10/22/13/MIW): In RockPlot3D users were unable to tear off a scene after appending a file.


(028) Bug Fix (10/22/13/MIW): In RockPlot2D an error occurred when trying to zoom using the combo box if scroll bars were not visible.


(027) Bug Fix (10/21/13/MIW): The Fast Inverse Distance solid modeling search now uses the correct maximum number of points per borehole.


(026) New Feature (10/17/13/MIW): The transparency color setting that is designated when plotting horizontal and vertical images within RockPlot3D is now transferred to Google Earth when using the RockPlot3D->Google Earth export program.

Mine level maps, cross-section, and breccia pipes at Pea Ridge mine, Missouri.



(025) New Feature (10/14/13/JPR): A new program titled "Connect Polygons" has been added to the Utilities / Grafix / 3D Utilities sub-menu.

Given a list of polygon files (datasheets with xyz points), this program connects pairs of polygons using the designated colors.

In the example above, polygons within the File A column will be connected within the the polygons within the File B column producing a diagram such as the one shown below.

This diagram, depicting a group of metastized breccia pipes was created by defining a series of polygons at various elevations from a series of mine-level maps as shown below.  This digitizing was performed by using the RockPlot3D digitize feature to trace the outlines of the breccia pipes as indicated by the red arrows.  Each of these polygons was stored within it's own datasheet as referenced by the example datasheet above (i.e. pipe number and elevation).  Albeit tedious, the task is quite feasible thanks to the RockPlot3D digitizing options.

The net result can be very illustrative of complex geometries especially when combined with other diagrams (such as the 2,675' mine level map below) and rotated within an animation.


(024) Bug Fix (10/17/13/MIW):  Several bugs were introduced into the RockPlot3D->Google Earth utility within the 10/14/13 release (e.g. defective shading).  This release fixes those bugs.


(023) Improvement (10/17/13/JCJ): When updating only the Location table via the "Text/Excel Multiple Tables", updating the axis-relative XYZ values for all of the downhole data is now suppressed. The previous version would unnecessarily update all of the downhole data.


(022) New Feature (10/15/13/JCJ): A new progam titled "Excel -> Locations" has been added to the Borehole Manager / Import sub-menu.  This program simplifies the import Excel files for which the user only wishes to import locations.


(021) Improvement (10/15/13/JCJ): The Text and Excel imports no longer displays unnecessary conversion information.  For example, if the input is in longitude/latitude and so is the output, the user will not be prompted for any conversion parameters.  In addition, if the x, y, and z coordinates do not require conversion, the conversion dialog isn't displayed at all.


(020) Improvement (10/15/13/JCJ): The Text and Excel imports no longer displays unnecessary conversion information.  For example, if the input is in longitude/latitude and so is the output, the user will not be prompted for any conversion parameters.  In addition, if the x, y, and z coordinates do not require conversion, the conversion dialog isn't displayed at all.


(019) New Feature (10/01/13/JPR): A new program titled "Lateral 3D GeoSteering Comparison" has been added to the Utilities / Survey menu.

This program reads the same downhole survey files as the new Lateral GeoSteering Diagram program (item #001 below) and plots the planned wellpath and the actual wellpath.

This program is meant to augment the Lateral GeoSteering Diagram which only shows the differences between the planned and actual wellpaths in cross-sectional view.  Conversely, the Lateral 3D GeoSteering Diagram program will show if a well has "gone off the rails" in terms of the azimuth (e.g. placing the well off your lease or colliding with another wellpath).  The Lateral 3D GeoSteering Diagram program also includes capabilities for displaying surfaces depicting the top and base of the pay zone.  These surfaces are generated by specifying offsets relative to the planned wellpath.

Four new sample files have been added to the Samples folder to provide examples of the four tables that are used by this new program.

(018) New Feature (10/01/13/JPR): A new program titled "Lateral GeoSteering Diagram" has been added to the Utilities / Survey menu.

This program reads planned downhole survey data, actual downhole survey data, gamma, resistivity, and gas data from four designated datasheets and produces a diagram that depicts a profile showing a depth versus elevation plot showing the difference between the planned and the actual survey.  In addition, an idealized formation thickness may be specified to show if the actual well is following the desired path.  The plotting of resistivity, gamma, and mud gas data along the top of the diagram is also used to determine if the actual well is within the payzone.

Four new sample files have been added to the Samples folder to provide examples of the four tables that are used by this new program.


(017) New Feature (10/06/13/JPR): The Datum (Reference Ellipsoid) menu has been completely redesigned and radically improved.  Specifically;


(016) Bug Fix (10/14/13/MIW): The RockPlot3D program now reads the local coordinate system reference point (origin) correctly.  This fixes a bug when exporting diagram that are expressed in local coordinates to Google Earth.


(015) Bug Fix (10/14/13/MIW): The RockPlot3D program no longer generates an error message when converting footage-based coordinates to meter when exporting to Google Earth.


(014) Bug Fix (10/14/13/JCJ): Dynamic updating (e.g. number of nodes) of the output dimensions now works correctly when the dimensions are being specified within a "stand-alone" window (i.e. selected from a sub-menu).


(013) Bug Fix (10/11/13/JCJ): The datasheet window no longer disappears behind the main RockWorks menu when it is selected from a database table or the File / Import option.


(012) Improvement (10/11/13/JCJ): The ASCII / Excel import programs now trim off any extra carriage-return or line-feed characters from the comment fields.


(011) Improvement (10/10/13/MIW): Vertical panels and draped images within RockPlot3D can now be exported to Google Earth.  This eliminates the need to plot these images separately within the EarthApps.



(010) New Feature (10/10/13/JCJ): A new capability has been added to the network licensing whereby a user can check-out a "floating license".  Here's how it works; Let's say that Fred works at an office with a 250-user network version of RockWorks.  Now, let's say that Fred wants to use RockWorks on his portable computer while he's out of the office without access to the office network.  He can now checkout a floating license for his portable.  While he's gone only 249 users can access the network version.  When he returns, he can check it back in and the network version will now support 250 users.


(009) Bug Fix (10/10/13/MIW): The Utilities / Solid / Model now allows the user to select Stratigraphy, Lithology or Aquifer legends.


(008) Bug Fix (10/10/13/MIW): Raster images displayed within RockPlot2D are now correctly clipped to the vertical axes.


(007) Improvement (10/10/13/MMM): The help files have been updated.


(006) Bug Fix (10/02/13/JCJ): The Edit-As-Datasheet operation (for editing borehole data tables) now retrieves the proper Borehole ID if the table had no data to begin with.


(005) Bug Fix (10/02/13/JCJ): The datasheet will now display at least one blank row if the user elects to delete all rows.


(004) Bug Fix (10/02/13/MIW): Annotated polylines with text and/or symbols now plot the text and symbols at their proper angles when a vertical exaggeration is not 1.0 within the RockPlot2D and ReportWorks programs.


(003) Improvement (10/02/13/JPR): One of the major new features of RockWorks16 is the automatic conversion of datasheet input into the specified output coordinates.  For example, if you designate a column as representing miles and the project output is specified as meters, the input will be automatically converted from miles to meters during the associated data processing.  If the input units are unspecified, the program assumes that they are in the same units as the specified project output units.  So far so good.  Unfortunately, a problem arises if the input units are specified in units that can't be converted to the output units (e.g. converting grams per cubic centimeter to meters).  For example, let's say that you wanted to contour geochemical values and you made the "mistake" of specifying the input units as grams per cubic centimeter.  In the previous version of the program you would receive an error message saying that the program can't convert grams per cubic centimeter to the project output z-units (e.g. meters or feet).  The only recourse was to set the input units to text (i.e. undefined units).  This has been changed.  Specifically, the program has been modified such that the values will be left as-is if there's a conflict (thereby assuming that they're in the output units).  Here are some examples to illustrate the new logic;
  


(002) New Feature (10/01/13/MIW): The RockPlot3D Digitize window can now be closed from a button or the Windows system button.


(001) Bug Fix (10/01/13/MIW): The Stratigraphic Units are now being saved correctly within RockPlot3D.

Previous Quarter (Q3/13) - RockWorks16