Thanks Mats, you beat me to the announcement :)
ReefMaster version 1.7 has been released
You can update to v1.7 by running the "Check for Updates" program in the ReefMaster folder. Please note that sonar log files must be reimported to support the new sonar viewer. This happens automatically when opening an existing v1.6 (or earlier) workspace, and the process may take some time for larger workspaces.
Changes
Multi-channel sonar viewer
The Sonar Viewer has been completely overhauled, with added support for side-scan sonar from Lowrance and Humminbird in a vertical, waterfall display:
• View any combination of available channels from primary 2D, secondary 2D, Down-scan and side-scan, with pan, grab, zoom and playback speeds up to 30x.
• Sophisticated gain correction for side-scan channels compensates for dark fringes and bright central area by evening out the signal curve.
• Real time Slant Range Correction in side-scan channels eliminates the water column and geographically corrects the side-scan image.
• Drop waypoints in any sonar channel display, with offsets calculated for side-scan channels.
• Measure distance in any channel display.
• Estimate object height from shadow length in side-scan displays.
• Innovative Mouse Tracer feature shows the current mouse position in all visible displays.
• Export sonar viewer images to clipboard or file.
Application Layout
The overall application look has been updated, with some minor changes to the window layout and a range of functional improvements:
• The Asset Library and Main Toolbar, Edit window and Waypoints window are now contained in expandable panels to the side of the main work area. These panels can be expanded or hidden, and located on either side of the work area as required. The Edit window shows the editable properties for the active work window. This new layout increases the amount of screen space that can be made available for the work windows.
• Folders have been added to the Asset Library. Folders enable much more effective organisation of workspaces with large numbers of assets. Most operations that could be carried out on groups of assets can now also be performed using folders; e.g. a folder containing tracks can be added to a project, exported to file or deleted.
• Drag and Drop in the Asset Library. Assets and folders can be moved using drag and drop. Additionally, tracks and track folders can be dragged to projects instead of using the existing add to project functions.
• Full-Screen Mode for edit windows. Individual edit windows, such as tracks or projects, can be made full-screen by using the F11 key. Full-screen mode provides a little extra screen real-estate and is particularly useful on laptops with smaller screens.
• Application Size and State Restore. ReefMaster now remembers previous window size, and the state of individual edit windows such as tracks and projects. Options such as selected palettes are retained.
• Functions have been added to create copies of User Maps and Projects.
Performance Improvements
Database performance has been overhauled and is now much faster, particularly when opening a workspace; large workspaces load in seconds, not minutes. Vector maps also generate much more quickly than before. Overall performance in the graphical editing windows has also been improved.
Project Window
• The Define Map View has been updated to show individual data points instead of separate tracks. Individual points can be selected or deleted, which makes correcting bad data points across multiple tracks much easier. Additionally, track water levels can be adjusted from the same window and tracks can be opened for editing or sonar viewing using the right-click menu on any track-point.
• The map area can now be resized or dragged to a new position, in addition to the existing draw area function.
• Graphical performance in the define map view has been greatly improved, especially for projects with large shorelines and/or large numbers of islands.
Other Changes
• Export of waypoints in Shapefile format
• Support for MBTiles tiled image database format. Imported KML files are now tiled to a single MBTiles database file, that can be reused in other workspaces (or applications) without the need to reimport.
Matt