Thursday, July 30, 2009

What’s New in the latest GTData

The latest version of GTData (version 8.0.0.4) contains four new utilities. If we count the recently released version 8.0.0.3, we can add a 5th new utility.

There are now some 55 different utilities provided with GTData. The latest additions may not be of immediate use to many of you, but I want to use this post to run through what they do. After all, knowing what tools you have may be as useful as having the tool in the first place.

GTRemoveAttr – this utility will take a GTViewer tabular data file (data.txt) and a list of table/attribute pairs and produce a new tabular data file with the specified attribute values obscured (replaced with asterisks). Some customers have asked for this functionality to simply the process of building alternate GTViewer datasets to give to contractor or other entities outside their company. While you may say, that you could just create an alternate .GTM file that specifies a data.tab with the attributes hidden, you would be right, but the GTRemoveAttr utility will physically remove the sensitive data out of the data.txt file making it the safest way to distribute the data (other than loading the data without the sensitive data in the first place).

GTPreset – this utility solves the difficult problem of keeping your Display Preset definitions (.gtp) in sync with changing data. With Style Definition based datasets like G/Tech, ESRI, Smallword, and any GTViewer data produced by FME, the continual addition of new Filter Ids as new style or features show up make it challenging to keep the Display Presets up-to-date. After all, the .GTP files have been created by taking a snapshot of the current display settings and exporting them to a file. The GTPreset utility takes a .GTM file and a Display Definition File and produces a new .GTP file on demand. This step can be added to the conversion process and will always keep the Display Presets current with the data. How this works is that the Display Definition file describes the state of the display settings for the Preset in a different way than with just Category and Filter ids, so that the more abstract description can be used to generate the preset instead of the snapshot of view settings. The Display Definition File uses the same notation as the Display Toggle Definition recently added to GTViewer's ToolBox functionality, so they can easily describe what you want the preset to be using GIS Feature/Component Numbers to set a feature on or off, or using more general concepts like everything in a particular category is set on or off. This approach was added to GTQuery a couple of years ago to solve this same problem when building queries that were dependent on a changing set of Filter ids. Now, the Presets can use the same technique to always stay in sync with the data.

GTGtx2Gtg – this utility allows you to perform a common task in GTViewer on the command-line (or in a script). Instead of opening up an Extract file (.gtx) in GTViewer, selecting Draw/Export/Export Graphics and specifying a file to create (.gtg), you can now use GTGtx2Gtg and specify a .gtx file as input and a .gtg file as output. The session category is then exported out as a new .gtg file. This process can be scripted and can easily process large numbers of .gtx files if necessary.

GTOrcl2Mdb – this utility creates an Access file (.mdb) from a SQL statement and an Oracle connection. There are certainly other ways to perform this task, but this utility provides a means of doing it quickly and easily and in-line with the other GTData utilities. Why would you need to use this process with GTViewer? There turns out to be a couple of problems already that it can solve. With the G/Tech Loader, it turns out that there is often data that is outside the reaches of the Oracle server hosting the G/Tech data such as Customer Information Records, Inspection records, etc. This tool actually uses an OLEDB connection, so it theoretically can pull data from OLEDB data sources other than Oracle, but it was originally intended to be used in conjunction with Oracle. The G/Tech Loader allows an Exported Table to be specified as a Join between a SQL query made to the G/Tech data and a SQL Query made to the Access file. A common key must be present to link the two together, but the end result is just another table the GTViewer data with attributes from both the G/Tech Data and the data in the .MDB file. The second use for this utility is to build an Access file for use with a GTViewer External Application. It is sometime easier to build an app using pure OLEDB in .NET to find application specific data, rather than going through GTViewer's query mechanisms. The Access file can also support multiple indexes, it can contain data from different sources other than the G/Tech database, etc.

GtOrcl2Txt – this utility is very similar to the GTOrcl2Mdb utility except that instead of creating a .MDB file, it outputs the query results to a text file. There are many uses for this utility too, but the primary reason for its creation was to create unique value list files for GTViewer External Applications. For example, if you want a list of unique circuit ids used in your data, this utility can easily make a .txt file that lists these values. The utility's scriptability makes an easy way to keep such lists up-to-date with the data.




GTData version 8.0.0.4 is Available


GTData version 8.0.0.4 is available.
-----------
08.00.00.04 - 7/30/09
-----------

- CHG - #5907 - GTMergeGtg - All deleted elements are now filtered from the output file.

- CHG - #5909 - GTGetKeys - All Deleted elements are now ignored.

- NEW - #5923 - GTOrcl2Mdb - New Utility added for convert Oracle SQL statements to an Access (.mdb) file.

- NEW - #5931 - GTRemoveAttr - New Utility added to obscure attribute values in a tabular data file.

- NEW - #5948 - GTOrcl2Txt - The GTOrcl2Txt utilty has been added to GTData to save a SQL query to a text file.

- NEW - #5954 - GTFilterImp - The -fea flag has been added to allow filter settings to be imported based on GIS information (Fea/Comp).

- NEW - #5966 - GTQuery - FilterOmitString entry added to defintiion file to omit filter names that contain the specified string.

- NEW - #5967 - GTGtx2Gtg - New Utility added to export the Session from a .GTX file to a .GTG file.

- NEW - #5974 - GTPreset - Converts a Display Definition file into a Preset file (.gtp).

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

GTV .NET Control version 8.0.0.25 is Available




The GTViewer .NET Control for Windows version 8.0.0.25 is Available.

------------
08.00.00.25 - 07/28/09
------------


- FIX - #5895 - Text using an extended style color would not de-color when using
the Emphasize Session Graphics mode.


- FIX - #5926 - The first record in the sorted index (.idx) would not be returned
when multiple records with the same keys were found.

------------
08.00.00.24 - 05/30/09
------------

- CHG - #5844 - CreateSession will now return false if the two parameter are for
the same file name.

- FIX - #5845 - OpenFile will now return false if scale parameter is not -1 and
less than or equal to 0.

- FIX - #5847 - CaptureModeId is not reset to 0 after mode mode change from Capture
mode.

- FIX - #5852 - PanSteps property was not being property used to step the panned view.

- FIX - #5853 - Raster property was not being set to false after CloseFile or DetachView.

- FIX - #5856 - MeasureFactor was not being applied to distances not using the LatLongFlag=1.

- FIX - #5857 - MeasureFactor now defaults to 1.0.

- FIX - #5858 - Extended Style was not being correctly stored on session element with the CurrentExtendedStyle property.

------------
08.00.00.23 - 05/20/09
------------

- FIX - #5818 - Dimension Elements (Type 112) in the Session Category are now
absorbed instead of returning an invalid session file.

------------
08.00.00.22 - 05/05/09
------------

- FIX - #5795 - Reading .GTS files where element with no embedded followed elements with embedded data, the element with no embedded data would get a copy of the previous element's embedded data.

------------
08.00.00.21 - 04/20/09
------------

- FIX - #5780 - DeleteSelected method did not work.

- NEW - #5783 - Support for Linked Documents (subset of the Link functionality
in GTViewer).

------------
08.00.00.20 - 04/14/09
------------

- FIX - #5764 - Emphasize Mode did not work for Printing.

Friday, July 24, 2009

GTViewer version 8.0.1.50 Available



GTViewer version 8.0.1.50 is available.

-----------------------
08.00.00.50 - 7/24/09
-----------------------

- NEW - #5961 - The New Session dialog now supports 15 items in its history (instead of 10), and a Clear button has been added to clear out the file history.

- NEW - #5962 - New Command-Line flags added: -Loc, -Preset, -Raster, -Emph, -Track. - FIX - #5963 - If the Open Last file option is on, the command-line file parameter would get ignored.

- NEW - #5964 - ToolBox Actions have been added for KeepGpsIndicatorInViewOn and KeepGpsIndicatorInViewOff.

- NEW - #5965 - Session Data Info support added. New Methods: AddSessionDataInfo, ClearSessionDataInfo, RemoveSessionDataInfo, GetSessionDataInfo.

- FIX - #5968 - Default Toolbox position was not correct.


Thursday, July 23, 2009

GTMetaEx version 1.0.0.30 is Available



Version 1.0.0.30 of the GT/Metadata Explorer is available.

-----------
01.00.00.30 - 07/23/09
-----------

- NEW - #5911 - Export tab added to export Metadata to CSV and MDB formats.

- NEW - #5921 - Feature/Component Used By Tab added to the Style Tab.

- NEW - #5922 - Paper Scale added to Legend List on Feature to Style tab.

- FIX - #5930 - Expression Parameter list with String containing comma would not be correctly parsed.

- NEW - #5933 - Support for LIKE in the Style Rule Expressions.

- CHG - #5943 - Equal and Not Equal Expression Operators in style rule expressions will now let integer and string types be directly compared without a type mismatch error. Integer are converted to string and the comparision is done with string values.

-----------
01.00.00.29 - 06/02/09
-----------
- NEW - #5867 - Upgraded Graph Layout components.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Pocket GTViewer version 8.0.0.4 is Available



Pocket GTViewer version 8.0.x.4 is available.

-----------
08.00.00.04 - 06/19/09
-----------

- CHG - #5906 - The SSF Capture Point mode now provides a Clear softbutton to reset the captured points. The SSF Point capture mode will capture SSF Points until the Finish button is pressed.

-----------
08.00.00.03 - 05/27/09
-----------

- FIX - #5819 - Dimension Elements (Type 112) in the Session Category are now absorbed instead of returning an invalid session file.

- FIX - #5843 - The SSF Writer Option Log Carrier was not persistent from one view of the dialog to the next or one session to the next.

-----------
08.00.00.02 - 04/10/09
-----------

- FIX - #5748 - AddSelectedElement did not work with Mode 100.

-----------
08.00.00.01 - 10/21/08
-----------

- FIX - #5158 - Adjustments to Style Manager to prevent style gaps at boundary threshold values.

- NEW - #5549 - New Logos.

Thursday, July 09, 2009

GTViewer version 8.0.x.49 is Available



GTViewer version 8.0.x.49 is available.

-----------------------
08.00.00.49 - 7/8/09
-----------------------

- NEW - #5910 - The Attribute Info dialog now supports a Ctrl-P to print the active tab. A Print button has also been added to the dialog.

- NEW - #5912 - ToolBoxes 6 through 10 have been added.

- NEW - #5913 - ActivateZoomMode, ActivateInfoMode, ActivatePanMode, FitData, FitSessionGraphics, ActivateDisplayFilter, ActivateOverviewMode, ActivateMagnifyMode, ActivateMeasureMode, ActivateGpsDialog, ToggleKeepGpsIndicatorInView, and GotoPreviousView commands have been added to the ToolBox Command Action.

- CHG - #5914 - Toolboxes now use Blue for Display related states and Orange for Modes.

- FIX - #5915 - Toolboxes did not initialize the button state color when turned on from the Tools menu.

- NEW - #5916 - Button Height can now be defined for ToolBox buttons.

- NEW - #5917 - UseDescriptionForLinkMenuItems option added to Additional Properties section to allow the description of the Link to be displayed on the Right Mouse menu instead of the filename.

- NEW - #5918 - ActivateGpsReferencePointDialog, ClearGpsReferencePoint, ActivateGpsReferencePointPlacement.

- NEW - #5919 - AutoGpsRefPointMode entry has been added to Additional Properties section of the .GTM file. 0 is default, 1 is always use ref point on locate, and 2 is never use ref point on locate.

- FIX - #5924 - The first record in the sorted index (.idx) would not be returned when multiple records with the same keys were found.

- CHG - #5935 - UpdateElementSetText will now pad the new text element with spaces instead of nul characters if the new text string is shorter than the existing one.

- NEW - #5953 - PostCloseMessage entries are now supported in the General Info section to allow a message to be displayed when a document is closed.

-----------------------
08.00.00.48 - 6/17/09
-----------------------

- NEW - #5901 - Post Copy action will create the output directory if it doesn't exists.