·         Questions regarding inactive and unused blocks not being visible have been corrected so they onloy appear when necessary.

·        

·         Bug fix to absolute/induced strain routine.

• Miscellaneous bug fixes to Excel plotting routines.
  

6 June, 2006:

26 April, 2006:

• Release of Version 53.
• New CAD > Edit > Subdivide Edge implemented for 3D blocks, DD planes and clines. This enables easy repair of miss-built entities.
• New Show and Hide Keyword Filters added to Visualization Database. This allows visualization points to be filtered for display and plane fitting.
• New Point Grids - to show individual stress points.
• Miscellaneous bug fixes related to Snap Grid, Go to CAD, Excel plotting, Edit Undo/Redo.
• Updated HTML and Ebook Manual.
• Updated PDF Manual includes previously incomplete and missing sections.
• Other formats available on request.

7 April, 2006:

• Interactive object picking using "View > Length", "Plot > Excel > Polyline", "File > Output Selected Grid Components > Polyline" and "File > Output Selected Surface Components > Polyline" command did not pick edges of elements, always picked corners - bug fixed.
• Point grids were not plotted - now are plotted as 3-D spheres (as in Visualization. Point grids are created by specifying the same point 4 times for a Grid Plane, or 2 times for a Grid Line.
  

27 March, 2006:

• Hyperbolic backfill model gives incorrect results for thickness not equal to one - fixed for correct results for any value of thickness.
• Hyperbolic backfill model gives tensile stresses when "Elastic only" is checked - fixed for correct results with "Elastic only".
  

8 March, 2006:

• Hide Toolbar - UHall modified to unhide all grids as well as blocks.
• EXCEL would not plot from Map3D when minimized - fixed. 
• Mouse capture released after point pick while EXCEL plotting.
• Drag Polyline out caused display rotation while EXCEL plotting - fixed.
• EXCEL plotting set to skip blanked interiors of excavations.
• Plot > Miscellaneous > Dgrid and Dgrid/Lgrid recalculated for each mining step.
• Unclosed blocks occurred for more than 32768 surfaces - fixed.
• Visualization > Make Pnt failed when Visualization > User File not open - fixed.
• Picking routines rewritten with finer control over entities nearest front of display.
  

18 January, 2006:

• Plot > User > Range not updating display - fixed.
• CAD > Build > FFLoop & DDLoop - loop complete message not displayed - fixed.
• CAD > Build > FFLoop creates odd shapes - fixed.
• Build toolbar closes after build - should stay open - fixed.
• CAD > Build > Gplane > Fixed grid spacing cased Gid Inactive - fixed.
• Disk performance test causes program crash - fixed.
• CAD > Build > DDLoop extrude to FF not always prompting for extrusion vector - fixed.
• Plot > Surface Components > Off - button added.
• Excel Polyline plots extrapolated too far for small interpolation widths giving erroneous point - fixed.
• Seismic plotting with Min versus Max reversed - fixed.
• Contact checking failed for certain shapes - fixed.

10 January, 2006:

• Miscellaneous minor bug-fixes. regarding tangent and intersection snapping and  text strings.

6 January, 2006:

• New "Visual editing" database tools.
  • Map3D Visualization routines now support OLE (Object Linking and Embedding).
  • Items such as graphics files, documents, spreadsheets etc. can be attached to Map3D Visualization points.
  • These can be activated or modified by picking with the right mouse button.
  • These can be displayed as before by picking with the left mouse button.
• New Map3D > Help menu items:
  • Email: support@map3d.com
  • Email: Key Check to supoort@map3d.com
  • Download: Map3D update
• Miscellaneous bug-fixes relating to user interaction with dialogue boxes.
  

23 December, 2005:

• New interactive visual editing - CAD > Edit functions now show modified geometry interactively.
• New CAD > Edit > Move Vertices function.
• New CAD > Edit > Vmove Search Width function.
• Improved Build Offset function for DD construction.
• Bug fix to Hcl routine.

15 December, 2005:

• Refinements to closure checking routines for narrow shaped elements.
• Further corrections to DD extrusion to FF routine.
  

14 December, 2005:

• Correction to DD extrusion to FF routine.
• Hide grids in groups by name.
• Clines saved with File > Output Screen Image function.
• Support for 200 colours in View > Hide Colours (Hbl routine).
• Specify plane by interactive picking normal to element in Visualization > Plane function.
  

13 December, 2005:

• Correction to non-OpenGL interactive graphics interface - coordinate picking fixed.
  

12 December, 2005:

• User defined coordinate system grid drawn at wrong location  - bug fixed.
  

9 December, 2005:

• Bug in merge geometries fixed.
• Crossing box entity selection refined for entities partially clipped out of view.
  

• Map3D version 52 features many enhancements to solve problems and build models faster:
• New Excel plotting routines support selected points and user defined lines.
• New CAD > Snap > User Defined Coordinate system, Tools > Pick Box Size, Plot > Options > Topo-Contours.
• Undo/Redo buttons on build toolbar so that complex DDLoop and FFLoop can be easily re-meshed.
• Remove Vertex/Insert Vertex routines now supplement the Smooth function for construction lines.
• Improved highlighting of unclosed blocks - these are now marked with a bold white outline.
• Plot > Polygon Box supplements Average Box routine for finding average and maximum contour values.
• CAD > Edit > Group command now merges multiple blocks into one - interior surfaces automatically deleted.

• File Save - block renumbering fixed to keep original block numbers instead of incrementing by +10.
• DDLoop - routine fixed so it does not miss interior zones (refer to www.map3d.com/t-pillar.htm
• Plot > User - routine now accepts UCS, phi and q as arguments.
• Plot - Contours can now be topographically scaled to magnitude (refer to Plot > Plot Options > Topo-Contours
• CAD - point picking bug fix - sometimes the wrong point was selected.
• CAD - allow picking of grid lines.
• CAD - Construction line smoothing fix.
• Plot - internal points plotted in error - fixed.
• Many other miscellaneous bugs fixed.

• Bug fix for interior grid point detection.
• Bug fix for DD element solver routines.

• Optional generatation of individual blocks in FFLoop.
• AutoCAD LWPolyline import - additional bugs fixed.

• Grid discretization incomplete - fixed.

• New tutorial examples in all help files.
• Miscellaneous minor bug fixes.

• DDLoop routine failed to build individual triangles - fixed.
• Demo version failed to execute - fixed.
• New HTML Help file format.
• PDF Map3D Manual.
• Electronic-book Map3D Manual.

• Map3D Version 51.
• Note that Windows NT4.0 and Windows 98 are not supported by this new release.
• Space-bar to repeat last Edit or Build command.
• Tools > Pick-box Size.
• Tools > Shift-key Selection.
• User defined plots include: UCS and PHI as well as F1,F2...F8 user defined material parameters.
• DDLoop routine now supports simulataneous construction of multiple internal or external loops.
• DDLoop routine now supports internal gridding for improved element generation.
• New CAD > Pack and Renumber Blocks routine.
• New Analysis > Options > Physical RAM - Allows access to large amount of RAM.

  19 November, 2004:

  • ERR calculations gave different values than MINSIM - fixed.
  • File > Output > Selected Grid Components gave wrong values for ERR with smoothing enabled - fixed.
  • DXF in ignored LWPolyline - fixed.
  • Analysis > Options > Accelerator filed for very large models - fixed.

  30 October, 2004:

  • CAD > Build > DDLoop and FFLoop routines rewritten for improved element shapes.
  • CAD > Build, Edit and Snap toolbars reorganized for improved clarity.
  • Cursor display fixed.
  • OpenGL functionality verified for Nvidia-Gforce and ATI-Radeon graphics chipsets.

  27 October, 2004:

  • Grid selection and block colour selection buttons - bug fixed.
  • Cursor display fixed.
  • CAD > Build > Bgrid – bug fixed.
  • Picking/Snapping - bug fixed.

  15 October, 2004:

  • Cursor display during Picking/Snapping - bug fixed.
  • Slow initialisation of Sentinel SuperPro fixed.
  • Construction of triangles modified for better shapes.
  • Slow display of toolbars for Mining Steps, Girds, Block colours and Cline colours fixed.

  9 October, 2004:

  • Picking/Snapping of seismic points - bug fixed.
  • FFLoop badly warped quadrilaterals automatically subdivided into triangles.
  • ERR calculations along DD excavation boundaries (Plot > Surface Components > ERR).
  • Normal and t-distribution probability functions now available in Plot > Stress > User.

  22 July, 2004:

  • Picking/Snapping unable to locate point - bug fixed.

  16 July, 2004:

  • DDLoop and FFLoop bug fix.
  • New Analysis > Options > RAM and Analysis > Options > Drive buttons.

  5 June, 2004:

  • Problems selecting Gplane - fixed. 
  • Updated key drivers includes USB support.
  • Miscellaneous bug fixes.

  18 May, 2004:

  • Coordinate system conversion option for File > Open Construction Lines.

  5 May, 2004:

  • Non-OpenGL pick of construction lines fixed.

  30 April, 2004:

  • CAD > Edit > Vmove intermittently failed to move to selected location - fixed.
  • Plot > Plot Options > Trajectories intermittent program crash - fixed.

  5 April, 2004:

  • Modifications to RAM allocation routines for accommodation of extremelylargeproblemsizes(>100000 elements).
  • New Analysis > Option > RAM button provides details of system memory resources.
  • New Analysis > Option > Drive button provides details of system disk resources.
  • Optimizing Map3D performance under windows:
    • Setup the virtual memory paging file with both initial and maximum size equal to 4096MB.
    • There are performance advantages in having 4GB RAM installed particularly if the /3GB boot option is used as described below.
  • Map3D now supports Windows 4GT RAM Tuning.
    •  32 bit Windows provide applications with a 4 GB virtual address space. The virtual address space is divided such that 2 GB is available to the application and the other 2 GB is available only to the system.
    • The 4GT RAM Tuning feature increases the memory available to the application to 3 GB, and reduces the amount available to the system to 1 GB. This benefits Map3D applications with extremelylargeproblemsizes(>100000 elements) since they require more than 2 GB of virtual address space for optimum performance.
    • To enable this feature, add the /3GB switch to the Boot.ini file.

  Example: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows Server 2003, Enterprise" /fastdetect /3GB

  The /3GB boot option enables applications to use the first 3 GB of the address space on the following systems:

  Windows Server 2003 family

  Windows XP Professional Edition

  Windows 2000 Datacenter Server

  Windows 2000 Advanced Server

  Windows NT 4.0 Enterprise Edition 
  
  On other versions of Windows NT and Windows 2000, this parameter should not be used since it will restrict the kernel to addresses above the 3 GB boundary, even though user-mode applications cannot access more than 2 GB of address space.

  Please note that under Windows XP, some drivers (especially video adapter drivers with onboard RAM) cannot run with the /3GB boot option because they require more address space than the 1 GB kernel address space permits. 2 April, 2004:
  • Corrections to Analysis > Options > Move Points for improved accuracy.
  • Correction to Plot > Options > Tension Cutoff function.

  24 March, 2004:

  • Corrections to windows interface so Map3D window does not overwrite other windows.
  • Corrections to Analysis > Auto Plot and Auto Range routines for proper operation under OpenGL.
  • Fix escape from FFLoop, DDLoop and Pack.
  • Resizable Analysis Dialogue box.

  22 March, 2004:

  • Corrections to zero strain placement routines to accommodate multiple cycles of excavation and placement.
  • Correction to block edit routine - too many entities extruded  - fixed.
  • Miscellaneous streamlining of graphics routines for more logical flow.
  • Bug in FFLoop routine causing intermittent program crashes fixed.

  18 March, 2004:

  • Build > FFLoop routine rewritten to accommodate more complex shapes.
  • Build > Block Grid Spacing routine now works for odd shapes.
  • New Inactive grid type.
  • New Centroid option for Edit > Scale routine.
  • New Snap > CLoop mode - enables easier tracing around construction line loops.
  • Non-OpenGL pick failed to select correct surface. This happened for certain triangles only - fixed.
  • Non-OpenGL pick failed to select certain grids when more than 2 where displayed - fixed.
  • DDLoop extruded to FFs failed to display certain triangles correctly - fixed.
  14 February, 2004:
  • Miscellaneous corrections to graphics routines.

  9 February, 2004:

  • Miscellaneous corrections to graphics routines.
  • Blanking routine interpolated to wrong location near boundaries.
  • Tension cut-off added to in-plane and ubiquitous parameters.
  • Check marks not always updates on menu items.
  • Grid and Step toolbars not always updated properly.
  • Build > Grid followed by Build > Undo corrupted model.
  • Plot Options > Blanking colour added.
  • Update display when CAD > Snap > Grid centre moved out of view.

  29 January, 2004:

  • Most of the effort in Version 50 has been directed at a complete rewrite of Map3D-NL. 
  • This new 3D non-linear capability will be available shortly.
  • As a result of this work many enhancements have also been made to Map3D-SV.
  • Enhancement to solver routines for faster solutions with non-linear problems.
  • New zero strain placement routines provide improved accuracy.
  • Corrections to algorithms that detect multiple material placements.
  • Corrections to FFLoop routine for simple pyramid shapes. Previously the routine would not build simple shapes with fewer than 8 corner nodes.
  • Correction to hyperbolic backfill model to support tensile stress conditions.
  • Correction to copy block routine. Previously the routine would join copied blocks together.

  13 November, 2003:

  • Modification to non-linear DD solution procedures for enhanced stability with fewer iterations.
  • Modification to non-linear DD solution procedures to allow for specification of large tensile strength to disable tensile yielding.
  • Correction to non-linear DD solution procedures for compressive yielding.
  • Modification to accelerator and cgm routines to automatically reduce virtual memory allocation size for very large problems where windows 32 bit addressing limit is exceeded.
  • Miscellaneous corrections to strength factor calculations.

  10 November, 2003:

  • Plot > Options > Blank - fills excavation interiors with black and outlines these in white for clearer identification.
  • Multi-step dump for File > Output > Selected Grid and Selected Surface components.
  • Enable non-OpenGL cursor crosshairs.
  • Allow save with no model data to save material properties only.
  • CAD > Build > Build Grid Spacing - automatic grid generation with DDLoop and FFLoop extrusion.
  • Larger arrow heads on stress trajectories.
  • Check box in material properties to enable/disable elastic/plastic response.
  • Ignore hidden guide lines in DDLoop and FFloop construction - fixed.
  • CGM solver caused divide by zero (Nan error) for initialization step with no excavations - fixed.
  • CAD > Unpack blocks/Unpack surfaces - new feature.
  • No results plotted for DD elements with material 1 inserted - fixed.
  • Strains on grid planes plotted with zero values if total strain option selected - fixed.
  • Non-OpenGL pick failed intermittently - fixed.
  • Interior of certain blocks not detected properly for grid points - fixed.
  • Analysis > Suspend hangs with Asynchronous I/O - fixed.
  • ERR for new excavations is now be calculated without specifying test blocks.
  • Miscellaneous fixes to ERR calculation routines.
  • Analysis > Disable - new feature to disable any elements with serr greater than 10 times the rms.

  28 August, 2003:

  • Analysis > Options > MSCALC reported zero values for strain - fixed.
  • CAD > Build > FFLoop failed if guide line was selected as starting point - fixed.

  16 August, 2003:

  • Larger toolbar buttons.
  • New command "Tools > Cursor Crosshairs <On/Off>". This command can be used to disable cursor crosshairs during model building. Faulty display adapters leave crosshair remnants on screen.
  • New command "Tools > OpenGL Pick <On/Off>". This command can be used to disable OpenGL picking. Faulty display adapters can cause program crashes.
  • Grid results corrupted when analysis interrupted during grid assembly - fixed.
  • Linear element results corrupted when analysis interrupted during solution - fixed.
  • Miscellaneous bug fixes.

  19 June, 2003:

  • V49 official release.
  • This update of Map3D features many enhancements to solve problems faster. 
  • Solution stability for fault slip and hyperbolic backfill problems has been enhanced by reworking the solution procedure. 
  • A new solution accelerator (Analysis > Options > Accelerator) has been employed that identifies and fixes poorly conditioned locations.
  • Solutions are generally now be obtained in half the number of iterations.
  • Numerous minor bugs have also been fixed.

  3 June, 2003:

  • V49 beta (map3d.zip) modification to solve for better stability.
  • File > Subtract Restart Files fixed.

  6 May, 2003:

  • V49 beta (map3d.zip) has a new accelerated solver. This generally halves the number of iterations required for solution.
  • Further improvements to solver routines for hyperbolic backfill and fault slip problems. 
  • Corrections to code for linear elements.

  25 April, 2003:

  • V49 beta (map3d.zip) has further improvements to solver routines for fault slip problems. This should eliminate most solution instabilities. 
  • File > Output > Selected Grid Components fixed.

  7 April, 2003:

  • V49 beta has solver routines optimized for faster convergence. The new routines are particularly effective for poorly conditioned problems, problems with fault slip and problems where hyperbolic backfill is used.

  26 March, 2003:

  • Convergence problems when using hyperbolic backfill fixed.
  • File Save naming problem fixed.

  7 March, 2003:

  • Block closure checking missed some unclosed blocks - fixed.
  • Seismic contouring - fixed.

  18 February, 2003:

  • Plot > Average Box - fixed.
  • File > Image Viewer - fixed.
  • File > Subtract - fixed.
  • Analysis > Linear - fixed.

  6 February, 2003:

  • DDLoop construction failed to remember previous entity properties - fixed.

  5 February, 2003:

  • V48 official release.
  • New line grids displayed as tubes (Plot > Options > Radius).
  • Field point grids fixed.

  15 January, 2003:

  • V47 install problem fixed.

  13 January, 2003:

  • Bug fixes to grid assembly routine.
  • New line grids added.

  8 January, 2003:

  • Fix to Analysis > Options > Initialization routine.

  7 January, 2003:

  • Bug fix in coordinate read and merge.

  6 January, 2003:

  • CAD > Edit > Group Block function fixed in V48.

  3 January, 2003:

  • Miscellaneous bug fixes to V47 and V48.

  16 December, 2002:

  • The V48 beta features many enhancements to make model building and editing quicker and easier, as well as enhanced speed of execution:
  • Construction lines displayed with results.
  • Windows like selection (hold shift key for multiple selections).
  • Select by entity, number, colour, material, name or mining step.
  • Write selected entities to file.
  • Right click for select options.
  • Faster grid assembly (grid sorting has been streamlined).
  • Ctrl+C and Ctrl+Shift+C to copy screen to Windows clipboard.
  • New inactive material zones for rockmass domain specification.
  • Interior/exterior zone detection for blanking excavations.
  • 40 mining steps.
  • Pick normal extrusion vectors.
  • New Plot > Miscellaneous > Dratio - displays elements that are very close to one-another identifying possible construction errors.

  5 December, 2002:

  • Problem with scratch file D: fixed.
  • Miscellaneous fixes to several routines.

  15 November, 2002:

  • Numerous bug fixes and corrections involving the functions:
  • FFLoop, DDLoop, Snap Trace, Select, Intersection Analysis > Collapse,

  Discretization Analysis, Solution and more.

  • Model stablity has been further improved

  9 October, 2002:

  • Corrections to closure control routine in solver.

  8 October, 2002:

  • Miscellaneous corrections to intersection routines.

  3 October, 2002:

  • Contact checking in the Intersection Analysis has previously taken a long time to complete for large models. This routine has been rewritten and is now at least 10 times faster. This can reduce analysis times for large jobs by many hours.

  1 October, 2002:

  • This update features numerous enhancements to speed up hide/unhide and entity selection for large models.
  • Snapping further enhanced to give corners priority - fixed.
  • Snap > Grid display was positioned incorrectly in OpenGL - fixed.
  • DD zones were unnecessarily renumbered upon File > Save - fixed.

  20 September, 2002:

  • This update features numerous corrections to the graphical user interface including:
  • Better snapping during model building. Block corners are now given priority over edges when in snap nearest edge mode. This avoids near misses of existing block corners making construction faster and more reliable.
  • Cursor crosshairs and construction grids are now displayed using native OpenGL. This has eliminated display problems related to these items and fixed problem with the OpenGL Redraw function.
  • There has been a correction to the intersection routines that fixes a problem where adjacent block intersections were missed sometimes.

  ·         Construction line data is now stored with 64 bit accuracy.

  12 September, 2002:

  • Jagged line drawing in OpenGL mode fixed.
  • Faster screen updates after rotations in OpenGL with the new Tools > OpenGL update checked.
  • Adjacent FFloop's are now saved as separate entiites. Previously these were merged together.
  • Problem with DD's running along edges of alternate material FF zones fixed. Previously this configuration handled the transition between material types incorrectly.
  • A few miscellaneous display and interface problems have also been fixed.

  29 August, 2002:

  • Error in discretization routines fixed.

  27 August, 2002:

  • This update of Map3D features support for larger problem sizes, enhanced speed of execution, and increased geometric accuracy.
  • Problems with up to 128000 surfaces and coordinates, and up to 333333 boundary nodes (one million degrees of freedom) and 333333 field points can now be run.
  • The program have also been speeded up by compilation for PentiumPro and streamlining of slower operations (notably during discretization and field point calculations.
  • Geometric accuracy has been increased by storing all coordinates with 64 bit accuracy. This will eliminate problems with models that span very large dimensions, improve model building and intersections.

  19 August, 2002:

  • The most significant enhancement in this update is greatly improved performance during discretization and matrix assembly stages of analysis.
  • Numerous minor bugs have been fixed: support for linear elements has been implemented for non-trivial geometries, conversion to and from FF to DD elements, dumping of contour lines in DXF screen dumps, and more.

  17 July, 2002:

  • This update of Map3D features a new matrix pre-conditioner. This has been added to speed convergence and eliminate lack of convergence for poorly constructed 

  9 July, 2002:

  • This update of Map3D features fixes for entity picking in non-OpenGL, line display during block building in OpenGL, and repairs to FF block collapse into DD's.

  17 June, 2002:

  • This update of Map3D features a new matrix pre-conditioner. This has been added to speed convergence and eliminate lack of convergence for poorly constructed models.

  13 June, 2002:

  • This update of Map3D features completely rewritten intersection, closure and contact testing routines. This section of the code is now more accurate and produces smaller, faster models.
  • Several modifications have been made to the OpenGL interface to make it work better with problem drivers and graphics adapters.

  30 May, 2002:

  • Strength factor contouring fixed for non-OpenGL plotting interface.

  16 May, 2002:

  • Miscellaneous corrections to graphics interface.

  22 April, 2002:

  • RAM allocation error fixed. Previously if you requested more RAM than could be provided by the operating system, no RAM would be allocated. Now Map3D tries to allocate as much as it can. Also memory is released between subsequent analyses.

  20 April, 2002:

  • Additional stress, strain and displacement components added. These allow for plotting of components in any desired plane. These components are useful to determine for example stresses acting parallel and perpendicular to a borehole.
  • Minor correction to the FFLoop routine - problems when loops were ordered in reverse directions fixed.

  2 April, 2002:

  • Further enhancements to the CAD > Build > DDLoop routine. Guide lines can now intersect. This allows for automated construction of more complex tabular mining examples where multiple mining faces must be traced. This routine can also be used to automatically trace grids of zones. This feature will be very for useful room and pillar mine layouts. Please refer to http://map3d.com/t.htm for an example demonstrating the DDLoop routine. Refer to Help > CAD > Build > DDLoop for details.

  28 March, 2002:

  • Problems with saving 3D FF blocks fixed. 

  27 March, 2002:

  • CAD > Build > DDLoop routine enhanced to automatically trace multiple loops. This makes model building very quick for tabular mining examples where multiple mining faces must be traced. To use this routine, simply trace around the perimeter of the desired zone. Any enclosed sub-loops will be detected and automatically traced as well. Please refer to http://map3d.com/t.htm for an example demonstrating this new functionality.
  • CAD > Build > FFLoop routine enhanced to allow use of guide lines. These can be used to force the sides to be subdivided along these lines. Please refer to http://map3d.com/ffloop.htm for an example demonstrating the FFLoop routine.
  • There have been a few miscellaneous corrections to other parts of the program.

  20 March, 2002:

  • Selection problems during CAD edit functions fixed (users reported problems selecting entities and by windowing).
  • Note that surfaces are now grouped by colour so that selection by "entity" automatically selects meaningful groups of surfaces.
  • There is now a new "surface" selection mode that allow users to select individual surfaces if desired.
  • Many of the examples are now available for download so that users can work with the models.

  18 March, 2002:

  • Snapping problems during CAD build functions fixed (users reported problems selecting points when zoomed in very close).
  • Object selection during CAD edit functions fixed (users reported that not all faces of blocks were always selected).

  1 March, 2002:

  • Miscellaneous corrections to LERD routines, OpenGL routines.

  19 February, 2002:

  • You can now set any desired contour interval to generate more than 10, or less than 10 contour intervals if desired.

  18 February, 2002:

  • Numerous corrections to the OpenGL interface including: Plot > Average, extrude FFLoop using CAD > Build > Offset, Map3D-IV sequential image display, Cad > Scale, CAD > Snap > Rectangular grid, in-plane shear stress, and more.

  6 February, 2002:

  • A few problems with the FFLoop routine have been identified and fixed. The error caused models to be
    saved incorrectly and hence not reload properly.
  • A function has been added to the DDLoop and FFLoop commands to allow the user to abort construction during lengthy builds, if desired.

  5 February, 2002:

  • This update of Map3D features a faster and more accurate graphics display through the implementation of OpenGL.
  • For optimal performance you will need a graphics adapter that supports 3D T&L (translation and lighting) with on board hardware. An OpenGL driver must be installed. Users should see approximately 100 fold display rate increase.
  • For user's without T&L graphics hardware, Windows can emulate OpenGL functionality through software emulation. Even though there will be no increase in display rate, the graphics display will be more accurate due to z-buffer hidden surface removal.
  • A few new display features have also been added including:
     - contouring on all grid planes simultaneously (previously limited to 2 planes),
     - simultaneously contouring of seismic data and grid planes,
     - labeling of block numbers, names and coordinate numbering (see View > Render),
     - selection of horizontal or vertical contour banner (see Plot > Options),
     - user specified points sizes and line widths (see View > Render).
  • Some user's experienced problems with saving models created using the FFLoop routine - fixed.

  22 January, 2002:

  • Correction to field point grid calculation routines. This bug correction only affects very large problems. If you updated the display during the field point calculations the result file (*.001) could become corrupted resulting in display of incorrect values on grid planes. Fortunately such results were easy to detect as they appear as a patchwork display of random values. Analysis results with this error must be rerun.
  • Correction to the routines to display cartesian stress, strain and displacement components. A few users reported that cartesian components were not calculated with sufficient accuracy. This problem has been fixed. Analyses need not be rerun as this was a display issue only.

  27 December, 2001:

  • Addition of USB support for WinNT/2000/XP. This only affects USB SuperPro key users.

  18 December, 2001:

  • Corrections to CAD > Pack and Renumber Clines - did not find unclosed loops.
  • CAD > Build > FFLoop. Further modifications to make routine more robust.

  15 December, 2001:

  • Minor correction to key initialization routine.

  29 November, 2001:

  • CAD > Build > FFLoop. Further modifications to make routine more robust.
  • Modifications to the Plot > Average routine to calculate surface shear components more accurately, and to report "Weighted Sum" as well as "Average". The weighted sum is useful for determining the total force acting on a surface, or to calculate the seismic moment.
  • Miscellaneous bug fixes in user interface.

  24 November, 2001:

  • CAD > Build > FFLoop. Modifications to improve interpolation between loops.
  • CAD > Snap > Trace. Modifications to avoid loop retracing.

  21 November, 2001:

  • CAD > Build > DDLoop. This function has been enhanced to support construction of interior zones (i.e. pillars inside the DDLoop).
  • CAD > Build > FFLoop. This new function builds 3D FF blocks between a series of floor plans or sections (interior zones are supported).
  • CAD > Snap > Trace. This function has been enhanced to avoid loop retracing and to make selection of closed loops much quicker.
  • Tools > Global Transform. This new rotation model forces the horizon to remain horizontal. Z+ up or Z- up can be selected.
  • Faster load time for *.inp files. Geometry checking has been streamlined for improved performance.

  10 November, 2001:

  • Snap toolbar highlighted incorrectly under Windows 2000 - fixed.
  • Analysis > Batch > Execute only ran the first job under Windows 2000 - fixed.

  5 November, 2001:

  • Collapse of FF blocks to DD planes using CAD > Edit > Entity Properties > Element Type failed for triangular shaped blocks - fixed.
  • Preprocessor modified to delete duplicated DD elements.
  • Tangent and Intersection snap modes could not be activated from CAD > Edit functions - fixed.
  • Inactive DD elements displayed surface components (i.e. Ride, Closure, etc.) - fixed.
  • View > Hide modes including Inactive, Solids and Unused worked inconsistently - fixed.

  26 October, 2001:

  • B&W screen dump problem for 32 bit screen resolution fixed.
  • File > Output > Selected Grid Components error fixed.

  11 October, 2001:

  • Image viewer now supports viewing of PNG, GIF (images or animated) and BMP files. Individual images or sequentially numbered sequences of images can be viewed with rudimentary animation control.
  • GIF and BMP image dump problem fixed for odd sized windows.

  2 October, 2001:

  • Colour support enhanced to allow full control over block colours (Tools > Block Colours) and individual contour colour selection (Tools > Contour Colours). 4 different contour patterns have been preprogrammed. All colour selections are saved between sessions.
  • Seismic visualization now supports simultaneous use of contoured, shaded and scaled size spheres.
  • Support for GIF graphics format screen dumps.
  • New screen dump options enable easy construction of animation sequences to either a single animated GIF file (File > Output > Animated GIF), or to multiple sequentially numbered image files (File > Output > Image Recorder) in PNG, GIF or BMP format.
  • Screen dump speed enhanced.
  • Foreground/Background flipped function fixed (File > Output > PNG, GIF or BMP - B&W flipped).

  28 August, 2001:

  • Map3D verified compatible with Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

  21 August, 2001:

  • Miscellaneous bug fixes.

  13 June, 2001:

  • This update features a new initialization option (Analysis > Options > Initialization). This allows a new run to be started from where a previous run left off, effectively allowing for an unlimited number of mining steps. All non-linear deformations, zero-strain placement and seismic loading effects are applied to the new model. Please refer to the help notes for details.
  • This update features mostly corrections to small details and bug fixes in the code. There have been a few minor enhancements to certain routines including the Snap Trace routine.

  23 April, 2001:

  • This update features reworked View > Hide Block Colours and View > Hide Cline Colours routines. The new routines make it much easier to hide and view portions of complex geometries.
  • The File > Restart routines have been reworked for increased user friendliness and reliability.

  4 April, 2001:

  • This update features some new fast model building features. Please read the help documentation on the following:

    CAD > Snap > Trace Snap

    CAD > Edit > Smooth Clines

    CAD > Pack and renumber clines

  • These routines enable automatic tracing of points along construction lines using the DDLoop command. This allows complex tabular shapes to be constructed much faster. These can of course be extruded into blocks if desired.
  • Some new features have been added to the Visualization routines to allow for contouring of point data and fitting of a grid plane through this data.
  • There have also been numerous bug fixes.

  19 March, 2001:

  • V43 saves the element and grid sorting information with the restart files so that re-load times are faster. This will only have an effect on analyses conducted with this new version. Old restart files will still take the same amount of time to re-load.
  • Result files with different number of grids can now be subtracted. Results will of course only be valid on the grids that are common to both result files.

  15 March, 2001:

  • A bug associated with File > Save has been fixed.
  • Problems with more than 64000 field points failed to load using File > Open a restart file - fixed.

  13 March, 2001:

  • A bug in the Analysis > Options > MSCALC feature caused convergence problems in step 2 and above only - fixed.
  • Visualization of user defined point data has been further enhanced to accommodate contouring of this data. Various statistical measures such as density, magnitude, etc. can be contoured under user control. The contour plane can be fitted through the data, copied from a Map3D grid plane or user defined. User suggestions for features and enhancements are most welcome.
  • Display of a grid when there were no grids defined - fixed.
  • Miscellaneous bugs fixed.

  19 February, 2001:

  • Boolean intersection routines have been further improved. I can no longer find any examples that do not get through. If anyone has such an example please forward it to support@map3d.com
  • DXF import problem fixed.

  15 February, 2001:

  • Analysis only version now available - this program can be run as a standalone batch processor requiring no graphical interface. This executable is available for Intel processors under Win95/98/NT/2000 and Alpha processors running Linux.
  • Linear Analysis - this option provides improved accuracy near corners and in problems where bending effects are important. An error was found and fixed in the display of surface stress components for gravity loading examples. This error does not affect analysis or grid results.
  • Persist plot option saved between sessions.
  • Miscellaneous bug fixes.

  30 January, 2001:

  • Seismic Plotting - this option enables visualization of point data. Points can be displayed as light source shaded spheres with diameter and/or colour varying as magnitude. Each point can be tagged with a series of numeric values (e.g. colour, magnitude, orientation etc.) and a text message. Upon clicking on a point, the location, magnitude and text message are displayed on the status bar. This feature can be used to display a database of useful geologic information such as grade, rockmass quality etc.

  23 January, 2001:

  • Analysis > Options > Zero Strain Support Placement - this new option enables alternate material zones to be placed with zero strain. When simulating stiff support systems such as arches, steel sets, props, thick liners, chocks (shields or breaker line supports), strong backfill etc., it is necessary to simulate ground movement up to the point of support placement, then insert the support elements either in a stress/strain free state, or with a prescribed pre-stressing. When this option is checked, Map3D conducts the necessary calculations to place support elements in this way.
  • Analysis > Options > Linear - solution accuracy and matrix conditioning has been improved for this option.
  • View > View Grid Plane caused program crash - fixed.

  3 January, 2001:

  • The intersection routines have been improved to provide more reliable intersections, unclosed surface detection and contact detection for complex models. Recently some users have sent in very complex models that failed to get through the Boolean intersection routines successfully. Close examination of these models indicates that these problems generally occur near locations where there are very complex intersections. In most cases these problems can be fixed by ensuring corners of blocks lie along the edge of other blocks to eliminate unwanted gaps and/or overlaps. This process can be assisted by specifying a reasonable value for the colinearity radius (see Analysis > Options > Colinearity).

  29 December, 2000:

  • Analysis > Options > Accelerator - this new feature was still failing for certain mining sequences. This problem has been fixed one again.

  23 December, 2000:

  • Analysis > Options > Accelerator - this new feature failed for certain mining sequences giving null solutions (zero stresses everywhere). This problem has been fixed and this should work for all problems now.
  • Analysis > Options > Colinearity - an error was introduced when the maximum problem size was increased. This caused vertices to be moved to the wrong location under certain circumstances.
  • The Boolean intersection routine has been modified to be more robust and reduce the number of small slivers that are produced. The modified routines provide better conditioned models that solve faster.

  13 December, 2000:

  • Analysis > Options > Accelerator - this new feature can be used to accelerate convergence for all problems and will reduce the number of iterations required for solution by half or better. This can be used with the CGM option to provide an over all reduction in iteration count by a factor of 4 or more. It is recommended that users check both the Accelerator and CGM options.
  • Analysis > Options > CGM solver has been reworked to accommodate multiple material models better. This will now accelerate convergence for all types of problems.
  • Allowable problem size has been increased to 64000 blocks and coordinates, and 128000 boundary elements providing solution of problems with up to 384000 degrees of freedom. This has been implemented due to user requests for larger problem sizes.

  2 December, 2000:

  • Analysis > Options > CGM solver has been enhanced for improved convergence rate and stability. These modifications can double convergence rates in some cases.
  • View > Hide > Names allow hiding by selected block name.

  10 November, 2000:

  • Fault slip flow rule further improved to give faster convergence with yielding DD planes. When combined with Analysis > Options > CGM convergence is now very rapid and stable.
  • Fault slip flow rule required correction for zero strength.
  • Miscellaneous bugs regarding Analysis > Restart - fixed.

  4 November, 2000:

  • Analysis > Options > Colinearity did not display the search radius - fixed.
  • View > Hide > Unused - this new feature can be used with View > Hide > Solids to help visually verify where alternate material zones cut through other alternate material zones (e.g. a dyke cutting through an ore zone).

  1 November, 2000:

  • File > Restart an Analysis - this new feature restarts an analysis that has been aborted or interrupted.
  • Fault slip flow rule improved to give faster convergence with yielding DD planes.
  • File > Open > Merge Geometries - this new feature merges geometric data from different models.
  • File > Open > Merge Materials - this new feature merges material data from different models.
  • Subtract grid results for huge models now supported.
  • View > Hide > Block Colour failed after erasing blocks - fixed.
  • Toolbars loaded on top of one another and were hard too find - fixed.
  • Numerous small bugs in the graphics interface fixed.

  25 October, 2000:

  • Miscellaneous corrections to the help files including correction of font problem in figures.
  • Batch processing support has been improved to allow complete control over each batched analysis. Most importantly this allows users to specify different MSCALC and LERD filenames for each analysis.
  • Numerous corrections to the Map3D interface have been made including fix of problem with toolbars lying over top of one another, minimizing of analysis dialogue box during analysis, minimizing of model display during analysis (Analysis > Minimize/Restore), display of numbers such as 0.100000001, option to output point files or polyline files from File > Output > Selected Grid Components).

  14 October, 2000:

  • To start Map3D help select Start > Programs > Map3D-SV > Map3D Help The Map3D Reference Manual (documenting all program functions) has undergone a few minor revisions.
  • The Map3D User's Guide has now been ported to Windows Help and is included in this update. This manual includes a discussion of modelling in general, model building, applications, interpretation of results, and three step by step model building tutorials.
  • A few minor corrections have been made to the code regarding the Snap > Intersection routine. Also corrections to the menu checkmarks indicating the active snap, hide and rendering functions have been fixed.
  • Support for 100 user defined field point grid planes is now built into the interface.

  7 October, 2000:

  • All program functions have now been documented and are available as context sensitive help. The remainder of the user's manual is currently being ported to Windows help and should be available next week.
  • Note that the help functionality is available as a shortcut on the Map3D-SV programs tab.
  • Correction to the intersection and collapse routines that caused unclosed surfaces and non-convergent problems in certain complex cases.

  27 September, 2000:

  • Correction to the routine that saved single surface FF elements. These models are not saved correctly and loss of data could result. 3D FF blocks still work fine.

  25 September, 2000:

  • Correction to the "Analysis > Options > Renumber" routine. 3D FF blocks worked fine. This error only occurred for zones that were defined by multiple FF surfaces. In this case some surfaces were not renumbered, causing unclosed surfaces.

  22 September, 2000:

  • Map3D Version 41 - This new version contains a large number of enhancements that make Map3D much easier to use and understand.
  • Probably the most important modification is the addition of context sensitive help (use the help menu or just right click on any item). All CAD and Analysis functions have been thoroughly documented. Some features have not been documented yet (plotting and miscellaneous view functions) but will be added in the coming months.
  • Another extremely valuable upgrade in this new release is the option to use higher order linear elements for the BEM analysis (Analysis > Options > Linear). Certain bending problems were giving poor accuracy using the previous constant element formulation. This included problems such as wide stopes with notches or irregular shaped sides. The use of linear elements solves this inaccuracy problem with very little extra analysis overhead.
  • Manipulation of the orientation and position of the model can now be controlled by simply dragging the orientation icon around (right click on the orientation icon for details).
  • A maximum width parameter has been added to all 3D FF blocks, DD planes and field point grids (CAD > Edit > Entity Properties). This gives users more control over the discretization process and permits easy generation of regular element and grid discretization.
  • A new snap intersection mode has been implemented (CAD > Snap > Intersection). This allows snapping to the intersection of two lines.
  • The logic of the CAD > Edit functions has been streamlined allowing for more flexibility and easier use.
  • Correction to File > Save - blocks with triangular sides were saved incorrectly sometimes resulting in unclosed and incomplete blocks.

  8 June, 2000:

  • Correction to Boolean intersection routines - colinearity checking of intersecting blocks provides more reliable intersections.

  6 June, 2000:

  • Correction to DDLoop routine - conversion to FF blocks failed for certain geometries - fixed.
  • Mining step change routine resulted in jumbled grid data - fixed.

  17 May, 2000:

  • Correction to centroid calculation in LERD/LSS routine.
  • If failure criterion type was specified as "None" properties were not saved - fixed.
  • Output > Selected Grid Components, displayed wrong coordinates for points inside excavations - fixed.

  1 May, 2000:

  • Correction to DDLoop routine - conversion to FF blocks failed for certain geometries - fixed.
  • Updated compiler with some bugs fixed.

  24 April, 2000:

  • Correction to grid plane construction routine - new grids were not displayed - fixed.
  • Correction to mining step loading routines - with no grid planes Map3D incorrectly reported errors - fixed.
  • Further enhancements and corrections to LERD calculations.

  18 April, 2000:

  • Further enhancements to LERD calculations.
  • Correction to LERD calculation - if you plotted results during solution LERD results were invalid - fixed.
  • Correction to hide routine - if you hide blocks during solution they were made inactive - fixed.

  16 April, 2000:

  • Correction to smoothing routine - some corners were missed.
  • Correction to CGM solver for inactive blocks.
  • Correction for DD plane excavations sandwiched between two FF blocks.

  10 April, 2000:

  • Numerous corrections and enhancements to LERD calculations including automatic calculation of stress at the centre of the test block.

  9 April, 2000:

  • Batch file processing added (see Analysis > More > Batch).

  6 April, 2000:

  • "Conclude" (see Analysis > Conclude) was not reset between mining steps giving non-converged results for subsequent mining steps - fixed.
  • Element and grid sorting was unnecessarily repeated when changing between mining steps. This is very time consuming - fixed.

  31 March, 2000:

  • CGM solver was found to be non-convergent for certain problems - fixed. Note that the CGM solver can reduce the number of iterations required for solution by as much as a factor of 5, and normally achieves a factor of 2 or more. This can reduce the solution time by at least half and sometimes more. It is recommended that this option be enabled for all analyses (see Analysis > More > CGM).
  • Conflict between the CGM solver and Creep option - fixed.
  • Plotting of surface results on DD planes for Creep analyses had errors - fixed.
  • Residual normal modulus for hyperbolic backfill saved incorrectly - fixed.

  23 March, 2000:

  • Problem with surface smoothing routines when plotting very large problem sizes caused program crash - fixed.

  22 March, 2000:

  • Hide/Unhide construction lines did not unhide properly - fixed.

  21 March, 2000:

  • Trajectory orientations for surface shear components was plotted in reverse direction - fixed.
  • Trajectory orientations for principal stresses sometimes plotted towards screen - fixed so they always point into the screen.

  20 March, 2000:

  • Faster load time for restart files - smoothing functions optimized.
  • DXF output problem fixed - mining step information saved incorrectly.
  • Hyperbolic backfill parameters fixed - saved incorrectly.

  26 February, 2000:

  • A simple multi-step fault slip example has been added.

  24 February, 2000:

  • Smooth surface contouring. This feature is very useful for viewing results on DD planes as it eliminates blocky looking contours.
  • New key security routines have been added to make reinitialization of keys more reliable when renewing leases.

  10 February, 2000:

  • Enhanced "Key Check" routine to diagnose license file problems.

  9 February, 2000:

  • Error in restart files (*.1 and *.2) affects restart of interrupted analysis - fixed.

  3 January, 2000:

  • Grid assembly for point grids was very slow - fixed.
  • Minimize/Restore during analysis froze analysis dialog box display - fixed.

  16 December, 1999:

  • Enhancement to CGM solver provides solutions for very unstable problems.
  • Updated Sentinel SuperPRO driver for more reliable key communication.

  13 December, 1999:

  • Correction to RAM allocation. Amount used for CGM solver deducted from total allocation requested.

  9 December, 1999:

  • Correction to Boolean intersection routines caused unclosed surfaces for certain intersections with DD elements adjacent to FF elements.
  • Uninstall problem fixed.

  30 November, 1999:

  • Correction to Boolean intersection routines caused unclosed surfaces for certain problems.

  26 November, 1999:

  • Performance enhancement of CGM solver to reduce number of iterations required for solution.

  23 November, 1999:

  • Performance enhancement of 10-15% in matrix assembly and grid assembly time.
  • Principal-Cartesian stress conversion corrected in material property specification.

  18 November, 1999:

  • Dip and dip direction calculation added to the measure length function.
  • Larger model size available. Default model dimensions are limited to 32000 surfaces and 64000 elements (192000 degrees of freedom). Program dimensions are now unlimited and can be set to any size desired upon request.

  16 November, 1999:

  • 20 user defined plotting functions saved to Map3D.INI

  9 November, 1999:

  • First shipping version of Map3D for Windows 95/98/NT.

  10 December, 1990:

  • First shipping version of Map3D for DOS.