The latest major 8.0.3.357 update with a number bug fixes and a bunch of new features is now available for download (Aquabase will check for an update on start-up) and will require a password to complete the update process. This password is sent to users of the Aquabase Support and Development programme by email and you are encouraged not to share it with users that have not subscribed to the programme. If Aquabase cannot download the update automatically you can also get it from the Downloads section of this website, for which you have to be a registered user.
Please read the notes during installation for the latest exciting additions and bug fixes! We are constantly working on improving and fixing Aquabase functionality. Please let us know if you find any bugs and would like to make suggestions for new functions.
SO WHAT’S NEW IN THIS LATEST VERSION?
- The PROJ libraries have now been fully integrated into Aquabase by using the proj.db resource, which is a database defining, amongst others, all Coordinate Reference Systems (CRS) and their areas (countries etc.) of use. Therefore by choosing a country in Aquabase the list of CRSs changes accordingly which makes it possible to store coordinates in any of the CRSs and view them in (switch between) any other of the CRSs. As SRID numbers for the different countries and their descriptions have changed, or have been added to, the present coordinate settings may no longer be relevant (although the conversion between them still work), but the new name and number must be set when opening the Aquabase Preferences. This will ensure that the latest libraries and codes will be used to convert between coordinates with high accuracy.
- A basic (experimental) map viewer facility (using the TMapViewer component) has been implemented. It is accessible from the Tools menu. This allows the plotting of sites (current, a View or “allsites”) on different maps (OpenStreetMap, OpenTopoMap, Google, Virtual Earth etc.; more will be added in future) to see where they are. Geolocation searches can be done to move the map to the area of interest. Ctrl-clicking on the site allows jumping to the site in the dataset and simple GPS tracks can be loaded over the maps as well. This is still under development and as the control develops we will add more features like labelling and simple thematic displays (different colours according to values in database for e.g. water level, yield or chemistry). The map can also be saved to a PNG image file in your workspace for use in other applications. This is in no way a GIS replacement but allows quick viewing of data on an integrated map viewer and will in future only be exactly that.
- When adding new sites there is an additional option to use “Automatic concurrent numbering” for the Site Identifier, which creates numbers “without intelligence”, but which are unique. These could be combined with “Free-form” Site Identifiers which could have some form of “intelligence” like project or area numbers or any other character/number combination, BUT: they must be unique! When using Map References as part of the Site identifier (applicable to South Africa only) then a default coordinate in the middle of the 1 : 50000 map may be selected when viewing coordinates in any South African projection and will be automatically inserted.
- There is a menu item to view all available Coordinate Reference Systems under the Tools menu. Simple filters can be set to restrict the records to e.g. countries or other search criteria.
- The splitting of the Geological Log with Depth-dependent chart over 2 pages of a report, as introduced in the last update, has been improved to not only split it 50/50 over two pages but a choice of how much of a log must be stretched over the two pages. The smaller the percentage chosen for the first page is, the more detail will be displayed and vice versa. This is useful if only certain parts (top or bottom) of the log are very detailed. If the middel part, or the top and bottom, is/are detailed then a setting of 50/50 (default) would be appropriate.
- For “South Africa” Workspaces the Region/Authority fields have been enhanced to automatically insert the relevant municipality or water management areas when one of these are selected in the Region/Authority Type dropdown. So, when editing a (new) record, if ‘MUN’ or ‘WMA’ is selected and the Region Description is empty then the Description will default to ‘<AUTOMATIC>’ and will be updated automatically as soon as the Basic Information record is posted. If the Description is typed in and does not correspond with the description of the municipality/WMA for the coordinates the user will be asked if it should be fixed automatically.
AND WHAT HAS BEEN FIXED SINCE THE LAST VERSION?
- When “importing” Pumping Test data with the Pumptest Import function the Drawdown and Static Water Level were reset when leaving the form and activating the form again. This has been fixed and also a message implemented that warns the user, when changing to another site, that the Drawdown and Water Level may not be valid for that site.
- The key combination Shift-Del in the edit and dropdown boxes on some forms did not work as expected: that combination should delete the contents and set the field value to NULL. It is doing that now, for most of those (fields that must have a value are excluded).
- The check for Drainage Regions (South Africa Workspaces) from the coordinates only worked correctly when viewing/saving coordinates in geographic (latitude/longitude) units. This has now been fixed to also check when in any other coordinate system. This also applies to the new Region/Authority checks.
- There was a problem to update the Longitude/Latitude fields from South African LO X_COORD and Y_COORD coordinates: they were swapped and a Integer conversion error could occur when converting the coordinates. This is now fixed.
- A whole lot of smaller bugs and optimisations.