What's New in Version 13.0 - August 2012

This topic lists all the additions and improvements incorporated in InfoNet 13.0 which were not available in previous versions.

New Distance and dimension annotation functionality

AutoCAD text annotations can now be imported into InfoNet. This is a useful feature for AutoCAD files with text annotations containing information on the location of network objects in relation to buildings or other structures / assets in the network. The general line network object has been added to InfoAsset Manager (collection and distribution networks) to allow the import of such annotations. When AutoCAD data is imported into an InfoNet network, users should select the General Line object for the layers containing annotations and specify which general line field (usually Length, but it can also be a user text or user number field) the text annotations are to be imported into. See Import from AutoCAD Dialog topic for further details.

By setting up custom autolabels, users can display the text annotations on the GeoPlan Window and print the GeoPlan or make a screenshot of it, as required. In case of discrepancy or inaccuracy between the annotation value and the real distance, the new Make Measured Length tool () from the More GeoPlan Tools toolbar can be used to adjust the geometry of a general line to match the value that is in the field that was selected for annotation import. See Displaying AutoCAD text annotations and adjusting values for further details.

As part of these enhancements, the Arrow Style property has been added to line-geometry object attributes so that line-based network objects such as general lines can now be represented on the GeoPlan as lines with double headed arrows. See Layer Theme Editor for more information.

Message Log Window

A new message window has been added. The Message Log Window contains details of all popup messages that have been displayed since the current instance of the application was started.

To turn display of the window on/off, select Message log window from the Window menu or use the toolbar button on the Docking Windows toolbar.

Drag and drop asset group to network

Drag and drop of asset groups onto the GeoPlan will now apply all applicable database items in the group to the currently open network.

For further information and details regarding special cases, see the Asset Groups topic.

Ability to choose scenario and version when exporting networks

It is now possible to select the scenario to be exported when exporting networks and other version controlled items to external files. The version of the scenario to be exported can also be selected.

To use this functionality, right-click on a network in the tree view and select an export option from the context menu. This will display the Select Network Version and Scenario Dialog. Choose the scenario to be exported from the dropdown list in the dialog. Click on the # button in the network selection box to display a Select Commit Dialog, from which a version can be selected.

For further information on exporting networks, see the Exporting Network Data section.

Open Data Export Centre - Append to existing data option

The ability to append data to existing files has been added to the Open Data Export Centre.

Check the new Append to existing data option to add exported records to an existing file/table instead of creating a new file/table.

See Open Data Export Centre Dialog for further information.

SQL Enhancements

The following enhancements have been made to the SQL functionality.

See SQL Syntax and SQL in InfoWorks ICM and InfoAsset Manager for further information.

New SQL GAMMALN function

A new SQL function has been added:

GAMMALN(x) calculates the natural logarithm of the gamma function, G(x).

The function will return NULL if x<=0.

New date/time processing functions

The following date/time processing functions have been added:

• NUMTOMONTHNAME(n) - returns the month name given an integer from 1 to 12.

• NUMTOSHORTMONTHNAME(n) - returns the short version of a month name (e.g. Jan) given an integer from 1 to 12.

• TODATE(year,month,day) - returns the date given the year month and day as integers.

• TODATETIME(year,month,day,hours,minutes) - returns the date given the year, month, day, hour and minute as integers.

Support for booleans in prompt grids

If the value of a scalar is true or false it will now be displayed in the SQL prompt grid as a check box; checked for true, unchecked for false.

It is also possible to force a line to display a check box by using the keyword BOOLEAN e.g.

LET $d = true; PROMPT LINE $d '' BOOLEAN; PROMPT DISPLAY

Option to use system fonts

A new option has been added to the General tab of the Options Dialog.

Check the Use system theme fonts for dialogs and grids option to use fonts defined in the system theme for all dialogs, property sheets and grids.

Graph printing improvements

A Unit combo box has been added to the Trace Style dialog for line width and symbol size to allow users to select different units when configuring separate printer settings. Available values are Points (default) and Pixels.

In earlier versions, the units for line width and symbol size for both screen and printer were pixels, which vary dramatically in size in each case. As a result, screen and printer line thicknesses would generally not match even if identical settings had been selected for both outputs.

The default display units are now points, which are virtually device-independent and are very similar to pixels for on-screen viewing. This means that using the default settings, the screen and printer line thicknesses are virtually the same, although there may be small discrepancies due to rounding.

For users who have previously specified defaults with different printer settings to get around this issue, it is recommended to keep these settings. In such cases, the units for the printer settings will be kept as pixels (the old implicit units, which are only provided for backwards compatibility), so that lines do not suddenly start printing out much thicker than before.

Enhancements to navigation functionality

A new Show all in grid option has been added to the navigation context menu.

Select this option to display a grid window containing all objects that are connected or related to the current object.

See Navigating Round Related Objects for further information.

Increased coordinate precision displayed in status bar

The display precision of the cursor location coordinates shown in the Status Bar now increases when zooming closely into the network.

Coordinates are displayed at up to six decimal places, with number of decimal places depending on zoom.

Long section enhancements

The following improvements have been made to the long section functionality:

Option to display horizontal grid lines

Display of horizontal grid lines can now be turned on and off using the new Show horizontal gridlines option on the Layout tab of the Section Properties Dialog.

New chainage type option

The option to select a Chainage type has been added to the Content tab of the Section Properties Dialog. The following methods of displaying link lengths in the long section can be selected:

• Specified - display long section using the specified length for the link. The next node or link will start from the point specified by that distance. (This method was used in previous versions of InfoNet.)
• Geographical - display long section based on any internal chainage found for the link. (Used for InfoWorks ICM Model networks. For Asset networks this option gives an identical display to the Specified option.)
• Schematic - display long section with nodes at regular intervals to generate a schematic layout. Use to avoid node overlaps around shorter links when real lengths of links are varied.

Improvements to handling of null elevations

In previous versions of InfoNet, collection network pipes with missing invert levels were not drawn on the long section window.

In this version, if a pipe has one missing invert level, it is drawn on the long section as a horizontal line using the known invert level. The line is coloured at the end with the known level, but not at the end where the level is missing.

Improvements to display of flood sections

When creating a flooding section, the path of the section is now displayed on the GeoPlan as a dashed blue line with blue squares at section points. The points are drawn in a lighter shade of blue at the first point to a darker shade of blue at the last point to indicate the direction of the section.

A strip plan of the drawn section, identifying the position of the points along the section, is displayed at the top of the Flooding Section Window.

Improved export to AutoCAD DWG

Improvements have been made to the long section to AutoCAD exporter.

Dimensions in the exported DWG are now accurate and all axis and label text is exported. (Previously only the text visible on the long section at the time of export was exported.)

AutoCAD 2013 support

InfoNet now supports import from AutoCAD 2013 format files. In addition DWG files generated from section and GeoPlan export are now in AutoCAD 2013 format.

Graphing enhancements

The following improvements have been made to graphs:

Persistence of default page orientation

InfoNet now stores the print page orientation parameter between instances (saved on exit), therefore if users set the orientation to landscape, it does not get reset to the default portrait orientation. This affects all views and graphs except the Geoplan Window, which has its own orientation settings (see GeoPlan Print Dialog).

More user control over time axis label display

The user now has more control over the format of the time axis for axes with absolute times. New configuration options have been added to the he X axis tab of the Graph Properties Dialog to allow label customisation (date repeat, include / exclude year, use of long date format).

Ability to change the Y axis decimal precision

It is now possible for users to change the number of decimal places on graph Y axes thanks to two new options that have been added to every Y axis tab of the Graph Properties Dialog. To change the number of decimal places, untick the Default precision checkbox which is enabled by default and select or type in the desired number of decimal places in the Decimal places combo box. This functionality is also available for the X axis in the case of scatter graphs.

Axis scaling saved in graph default properties

Saving graph property defaults now includes saving of axis settings based on the axis title.

Click the Default... button on the Graph Properties Dialog to save the current settings as default. Subsequent graphs of the same attribute type will use the same default axis.

Interpolated values in graph tooltips

In previous versions of InfoNet, values at data points on a graph could be displayed in a tooltip by hovering the cursor over the data point.

This functionality has now been extended to display an interpolated value when hovering over a trace between data points. Interpolated values are denoted in the tooltip by an asterisk.

See Graph View for further information.

Auto-label graph traces at current simulation time

When viewing Results on Graph Views it is now possible to display auto-labels showing trace values at the current time of simulation.

Right click on the Graph View and select Auto-label traces from the context menu to display the labels.

Font and text size control for graph key

The General page of the Graph Properties Dialog has been updated to include options for setting the font style and text size of the graph key.

Ability to open older format databases read-only

It is now possible to open databases (transportable or guest databases) created in previous versions of InfoNet as read-only without the need for updating. Objects from the read-only database can then be copied to the current master database.

This functionality applies to version 12.0 and version 12.5 databases for this release. A database format older than version 12.0 will require an update before it can be opened.

All older format databases will require an update before they can be opened as the current database.