RELEASE 3.10
Product Notes
2006
The following changes have
been made to DAT/EM products. Please review these items before installing
your update.
As always, DAT/EM welcomes
comments and suggestions from you, our clients, so please don’t hesitate to
contact our support department at support@datem.com,
or by calling in or faxing us with your requests.
Release 3.10 is compiled
specifically for Windows 2000 and XP.
PLEASE NOTE: If you are thinking about purchasing a 64-bit
computer, please contact DAT/EM. There are newly pending drivers associated
with hardware and software. Special considerations for compatibility are
necessary when using this newest option in hardware technology.
Summit
1. Low overlap and ADS40 image projects experienced an extents problem with the embedded birds-eye window. This prevented positioning far to the left and occurred after choosing “Show stereo region”. This was fixed.
2. The ZINDEX “Save” feature was fixed to save the correct highlighted point numbers. For example, if points 3, 7, 12, 15 and 18 were highlighted, “Save” would process numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
3. A change was made for PCI epipolar projects which improves memory performance.
4. Terrain Visualizer 
was added to Summit Evolution Professional.
This is a real-time contour display which updates as DTM objects are edited.
Contours can be generated using a uniform Grid, or a TIN (Triangular Integrated Network). Grid spacing may be defined, along with the desired contour and index intervals. Defining a Minimum Area eliminates small circular contours. Smoothing improves the appearance of contours to minimize jagged corners.
If Capture is active and a
CAD drawing contains break lines displayed in Super/Imposition in the
Click the double arrow icon on the far left bottom of the dialog to shrink the dialog without total minimization. Click it again to restore the dialog in its entirety.
“Apply” activates any changes made to the dialog. “Set bounds” resets the boundary area within which the contours will be updated interactively. The bounding area is slightly larger than the stereo view so that as you pan, you always see contours. There is a progress bar indicating that contours are still generating, if there is a delay in the display. “Stop” ends any contour creation in progress.
The Line Style tab is where colors are defined to represent index and intermediate contours.
“Color by elevation” results in a color gradient based on elevation which when applied to the contours, allows for quick observation of contours without use elevation query tools. Line style options for thickness and opacity can be applied using the slider bars.
The Contour Visualization Labels tab is an interactive text label option.
Text labels displayed are for viewing purposes only. Text size and color options are available.
In the Bounds tab, check on “Automatically update bounds” to automatically adjust the contour window as your cursor moves across the project.
The window area defining contour updating is adjusted without any additional input as you pan. Turn this off when randomly panning around a project, or if you wish to control the contour update bounds manually.
By allowing for “Edge” and “Bounds view size” settings you can avoid updating too large or too small of an area, and visualize contours unaffected by a bounds edge. Contours near the edge of the bounds may be slightly different when points outside that bounds edge are considered. The Edge setting determines how soon the boundary extents will be adjusted with respect to the cursor position from the edge of the existing boundary. The bounds view size is a percentage of the stereo view. Contours are updated each time a new boundary is calculated.
“Maximum points” controls how many points will be used in generating contours. For projects with a great number of points, setting this value will prevent contours from being created when zooming out, or if there are so many points within the bounds area that it takes too long to see new contours.
For example, if maximum points is set to 30000 and there is a dense point
cloud where we zoom out, we may see a message displayed like the following. 
The TIN tab has settings for controlling the display of No TIN, TIN with Contours, or TIN only. You may view the TIN without having the TIN option checked in the main Contour tab.
The TIN color is selectable, and there is an option for colorization by elevation.
5. Distributed
with
6. Column width adjustments made to the project definition window are saved.
7. Multiple DTM/DEM files may be loaded to define coverage for Terrain Mode, SAR projects, and other DTM input. Simply highlight all of the files to be loaded in the selection dialog. Previously, only one file could be selected at a time.
8. A scaling option was added to cursor selection. This increases or decreases the size of the cursor without having to recreate it.
9. The number and types of possible Input Devices has been changed in the Tools->Options dialog.
More than one type of input device may be used at the same time by checking on the device type in the Input Devices tab. For example, one can have an Immersion Softmouse and a DAT/EM Z footdisk operating at the same time.
In addition, ISM Handwheels are supported. This is important because DiAP clients currently upgrading to Summit Evolution can use their existing input hardware without the expense of purchasing different input devices.
10. The DatemAPI was updated to support MS Dev Studio 2005. Now there are two directories under DatemAPI – one for 6.0, the other for 2005. This versions supports the MFC 8.0 interface.
SuperImposition
MicroStation S/I
AutoCAD
S/I
No changes.
Stereo Capture for ArcGIS
1. ArcMap crashed when the main DAT/EM toolbar was loading.
The cause was incomplete initialization of all of the DAT/EM drawing tools. Now
everything is initialized prior to the toolbar load so ArcMap
may continue.
2. DTMIT was
modified to use the same Z as the previously dropped point when driving to the
next grid location. It used to use an interpolated elevation from the boundary.
Capture
for AutoCAD
NOTE: All changes apply to AutoCAD
2000-2006 versions unless stated otherwise. Enhancements and bug fixes do not
apply to AutoCAD R14. AutoCAD R14 will not be supported after Release 3.10.
1. AUTOLIST was
fixed. If an object was listed using AUTOLIST before selecting or accepting
that same object for AutoCAD’s ERASE command, AutoCAD would crash. AUTOLIST
could be on, off, or closed at the time of ERASE, and the crash would still
occur as long as at least one of the objects selected had been previously
listed using AUTOLIST.
2. CLIPIT was
changed to handle multiple polyline types within the
same layer. Previously, only one type was supported.
Capture
for MicroStation
Changes apply to Capture for
MicroStation V8/2004 Edition series only. MicroStation V8 version should be
08.05.00.64 or higher.
1. Was your DAT/EM
menu disappearing for no apparent reason? Then you may have been using a user
workspace with MS_COMMANDWINDOW set to 1. If this MicroStation environment variable is undefined or 0, the
DAT/EM pulldown menu displays normally. We
made some internal changes so the environment variable setting no longer
affects the pulldown menu.
2. JOINIT was
joining objects into a complex chain, but the active level was assigned and not
the level of the object. This was fixed so that the level of
the objects joined remain the same.
3. FILTER
settings were adjusted to accommodate Latitude/Longitude ground units in
decimal degrees.
4. New TOUCH
command options are introduced with Release 3.10. These include the following.
a. TOUCH ENDS creates corners from two line strings based on
where the line selection is made.
Choose to extend or clip the first element to the XY
intersection only, or to extend/clip to the XYZ intersection. If “Match Z to
Second Element” is chosen, enter a maximum distance that the Z of the second
element may be from the Z of the first element. If the difference between the
elevations is greater than the tolerance entered, nothing will be done.
Select two elements. Both elements will be extended or
clipped to meet at the virtual intersection. If the element is to be clipped
the side where the element is selected is the side that will remain, and the
other side will be clipped from the intersect position.
Keypad support includes the following key-ins: TOUCH
ENDS, TOUCH ENDS 2D, TOUCH ENDS 3D, TOUCH ENDS 3D TOGGLE, and TOUCH ENDS
ZTOLERANCE <any number>.
b. TOUCH (Interactive)
There are two methods of using this command. Select
two elements either by picking them, or by using “Fast Radius”. The first
element selected will be extended or clipped to meet the intersection of the
second element. If the elements do not meet, nothing will be done, and an error
message will be posted.
The second object is not changed, or is modified by
one of the options listed. If “Add Vertex” is active, a vertex will be inserted
into the object at the intersect position. If “Break” is active the object will
be broken at the intersection point with the first element.
Elevation options include “XY Intersect Only”, which
extends the first element only in XY, ignoring any elevations. Choosing “Match
Z to Second Element” with a tolerance value means the extension or clipping
will only be performed if the intersection point is within the tolerance
distance from the first element. When the extension/clipping is made, the first
element’s new endpoint will be set to the Z of the second element where they
meet. Otherwise nothing will be done and an error message will be posted.
Fast Radius is a totally interactive
quick selection method of elements for extend/clip options. Check on
Fast Radius and enter a search radius value in ground units. The value will be
used to draw a circle on screen around the cursor, establishing the search
area. When an endpoint of an element is within the circle it will be
highlighted as a possible tentative extension. The closest second element will
also be highlighted, but in a different color. If the objects are to be
connected, a Pick is performed. A Reset will toggle through any other potential
connection possibilities. The search radius value may be changed at any time
during the command.
Keypad supported key-ins are: TOUCH, TOUCH VERTEX
ON/OFF/TOGGLE, TOUCH BREAK ON/OFF/TOGGLE, TOUCH2D, TOUCH3D, TOUCH3D TOGGLE,
TOUCH ZTOLERANCE<number>, TOUCH RADIUS ON/OFF/TOGGLE, TOUCH
RADIUS<number>, and R=<number>.
c. TOUCH BATCH processes multiple objects at once. It is also
available for use with the MapEditor.
Extend/Clip To and From sets
of objects are defined. The design file(s) are searched for the endpoints of
the “From” set. For each endpoint encountered it will look for the closest
element in the “To” set. If there is no element within the Search Radius,
nothing will be done. If there are elements within the search radius, the
closest endpoints will be connected at their extended intersect positions.
Once again there are options for the “To elements” for
addition a vertex to that element, breaking at the intersection, or making no
change to it, merely extending or clipping. The elevation option “XY Intersect
Only” ignores the elevations between the two objects. “Match Z to Second
Element” with a tolerance will only extend/clip if the tolerance is NOT
exceeded, and the Z of the “From” element will be set to the Z of the “To”
element.
5. CRBUILDING
now repeats every time a building is moved and copied. The placement of the
copied building will reflect the active elevation of the cursor.
6. CPLINE now
allows a user to select several line strings, one after the other, to shift the
objects to the current symbology. However, for now,
this does not work on complex chains.
7. CHCELL will
process shared cells as well as graphic or point cells. In previous releases,
shared cells were not included.
8. DATDRAW
AUTOARC could cause data loss or crashing at undetermined times. There was a
memory leak problem, which has been fixed. If anyone notices these problems in
Release 3.10 or later, please contact DAT/EM Support.
9. Many of you
are still getting used to the changes for PSQR. There is no Psqr
Settings dialog any longer. Now the PSQR dialog appears whenever the command is
active (and your MicroStation PopSet
is
disabled). The dialog remains onscreen while the command is active. You may
click in the dialog to make settings changes at any time while using PSQR.
The pitched
roof option is only available in Corners mode. The checkbox options were
provided so that pitched rooflines can be drawn without having to UNDO a
vertical drop point if the Z Tolerance is exceeded. In Release 3.9, there was
no pitched checkbox and all rooflines were assumed flat unless the vertical
drop point was removed with UNDO. When digitizing in Edges mode, all roofs are
flat.
A bug in
which the first building digitized would not display properly was fixed. This
was a problem with transient element display in MicroStation.
General
Interface Changes
None.