Forecaster Release Notes ============================== This file contains important supplementary and late-breaking information that may not appear in the main product documentation. We recommend that you read this file in its entirety. ============================================================================== CONTENTS * Known Installation Issues * Other Known Issues * Forecaster Version 2.2.0 * Forecaster Version 2.1.1 * Forecaster Version 2.1.0 * Forecaster Version 2.0.4 * Forecaster Version 2.0.3 * Forecaster Version 2.0.2 * Forecaster Version 2.0.1 * Forecaster Version 2.0.0 * Forecaster Version 1.13.1 * Forecaster Version 1.13.0 * Forecaster Version 1.12.2 * Forecaster Version 1.12.1 * Forecaster Version 1.12.0 * Forecaster Version 1.11.0 * Forecaster Version 1.10.1 * Forecaster Version 1.10.0 * Forecaster Version 1.9.5 * Forecaster Version 1.9.4 * Forecaster Version 1.9.3 * Forecaster Version 1.9.2 * Forecaster Version 1.9.1 * Forecaster Version 1.9.0 * Forecaster Version 1.8.0 * Forecaster Version 1.7.4 * Forecaster Version 1.7.3 * Forecaster Version 1.7.2 * Forecaster Version 1.7.1 * Forecaster Version 1.7.0 * Forecaster Version 1.6.4 * Forecaster Version 1.6.3 * Forecaster Version 1.6.2 * Forecaster Version 1.6.1 * Forecaster Version 1.6.0 * Forecaster Version 1.5.2 * Forecaster Version 1.5.1 * Forecaster Version 1.5.0 * Forecaster Version 1.4.4 * Forecaster Version 1.4.3 * Forecaster Version 1.4.2 * Forecaster Version 1.4.1 * Forecaster Version 1.4.0 * Forecaster Version 1.3.5 * Forecaster Version 1.3.4 * Forecaster Version 1.3.3 * Forecaster Version 1.3.2 * Forecaster Version 1.3.1 * Forecaster Version 1.3.0 * Forecaster Version 1.2.18 * Forecaster Version 1.2.17 * Forecaster Version 1.2.16 * Forecaster Version 1.2.15 * Forecaster Version 1.2.14 * Forecaster Version 1.2.13 * Forecaster Version 1.2.12 * Forecaster Version 1.2.11 * Forecaster Version 1.3.0 * Forecaster Version 1.2.5 * Forecaster Version 1.2.4 * Forecaster Version 1.2.3 * Forecaster Version 1.2.2 * Forecaster Version 1.2.1 * Forecaster Version 1.2.0 * Forecaster Version 1.1.6 * Forecaster Version 1.1.5 * Forecaster Version 1.1.4 * Forecaster Version 1.1.3 * Forecaster Version 1.1.2 * Forecaster Version 1.1.1 * Forecaster Version 1.1.0 * Forecaster Version 1.0.1 * Forecaster Version 1.0.0 ============================================================================== Known Installation issues: ========================== 1. The machine on which SQL Server is to be installed must have the "Client for Microsoft Networks" installed and must have "File and Print Sharing for Microsoft Networks" enabled. This is done by selecting Start | Settings | Network and Dial-up Connections, then double clicking on "Local Area Connection". 2. Add signing to all assemblies and installer and uninstaller. Other Known Issues: =================== 1. With regards branch models - users should note that both Blossim and the Generic branch model with default settings may under predict the diameter of the largest branches at stockings less than 300 stems/ha. Users of Blossim should contact the Stand Growth Modelling Coop for further information. Note that the BIX values predicted in Forecaster are available in the exported LogTrace and LogYield reports (for individual logs and log grade summaries respectively). 2. During a simulation Forecaster may consume large amounts of memory. The amount of memory consumed may be reduced by : a) Reducing the value specified in the "StandArea" option, e.g. changing it from 1.0 to 0.5 will reduce memory consumption by approximately 50%. The "StandArea" field is present in the Tools | Options form. b) Reduce the number of scenarios produced by doing one or more of the following : - reducing the number by combinations in the project being simulated - reducing the number of clearfellings in selected regimes - reducing the number of cutting strategies specified in clearfelling events in the selected regimes c) Reduce the number of Report tables, graphs and standard reports that are enabled in the Report Options entity which is referenced by the project being simulated. In particular the MonthlyCropCondition table will cause a lot of memory to be consumed and simulation will take longer to complete. 3. When branches are being modeled with Blossim or Generic branch models and long rotations are modelled (i.e. beyond 40 or 50 years) the following error may occur during the simulation : Error constructing new shoot - top height is not greater than base height. The error is due to there being very small annual mean top height (and hence stem height) increments at older ages. To workaround the error either stop the simulation at an earlier age, or set the branch model in the function set to NONE. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 2.2.0 ========================= Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. An optimum stocking calculator is now available under the Tools menu. This calculator can be used to estimate a final crop stocking of a radiata pine stand that will maximize the value of certain log products, given information on clear-fell age, site productivity, log prices and costs. 2. The Nitrogen and Phosphorous demand component of the nutrient balance model (NuBalM) has been implemented in Forecaster. This model can estimate the magnitude of elemental N and P that could be applied to a stand to close the productivity gap between current yield and the yield that would be possible if nitrogen and phosphorus were not limiting growth. NuBalM is a sub-model of C_Change, being based on the estimated pools of biomass. 3. A correction to the C_Change partitioning model has been made to avoid premature reduction of 1-year foliage. This has resulted in slight increases in biomass (<0.5%). 4. Radiata density model. An update has been made to the genetic improvement behaviour of the FFRDensity2011 model. The density index value contained in the property named "OWBHD from surface (kg/m3), Age (years)" will now be increased for genetic gain slightly more than in the previous version of Forecaster. This increase for genetic gain is also present in the "Generate Start Age Crop" (this form displayed when the "Generate Start Age Crop" button is clicked in the "Whole Stand" tab of the Crop form. 5. Modified the "Generate Start Age Crop" form to include an improved site index field. Also removed the restriction of having the same genetic measure in the Site and "Planted Genetic Base" in order to calculate an improved 300 index and site index. Updated the calculation of the adjusted indices. Reference: Kimberley, M.O., Moore, J.R., and Dungey, H. 2015. Quantification of Realised Genetic Gain in Radiata Pine and its Incorporation into Growth and Yield Modelling Systems. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 45(12). 6. Dfir density model. Improvements have been made to the NZFOA Douglas fir density model NZFOA_DFirDensity. It can now be started from the environmental values Mean Annual Temperature, and Soil C/N ratio, read from their spatial data surfaces, or from a measured value of stand-average outerwood breast- height density and its measurement age. 7. This version of Forecaster requires .NET Framework version 4.6.1. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 2.1.1 ========================= Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. Changes to the installer. The Forecaster installer no longer checks that the client's system has a suitably recent version of the .NET framework already installed. Instead, the installation of Forecaster will now always proceed, and the .NET version is checked when Forecaster is run. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 2.1.0 ========================= Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. Simulation performance has been improved when a branch model is used. Examples of performance improvements: i) When simulating a crop containing a large number of stems (using a stand area of 1 ha), scheduling three prunings on DOS and growing to age 30 and clearfelling the simulation time was reduced by about 50%. ii) When simulating a crop containing a small number of stems (using a stand area of 0.2 ha), scheduling three prunings on DOS and growing to age 30 and clearfelling the simulation time was reduced by about 30%. Note that simulations are significantly quicker when branches are not simulated (i.e. the branch model is set to "None" in the Function Set). 2. The calculation of missing heights in a stem list has been simplified to avoid fixed bounds where possible. This may result in small changes to predicted yield. Additional checks have been added to catch rare failures in the calculation of mean top height. 3. The stem list importing process now supports missing values denoted by NA which is commonly used in statistical data sets. 4. A new branch model for Douglas-fir (PSMEN) has been added. The model (DfirBranching) requires 3 parameters: Large branch probability, large branch scale factor and maximum branch size distribution. 5. Juvenile core volumes are no longer calculated for species other than radiata pine. Other species are likely to have a different definition of the juvenile core. 6. Cutting strategies with more than 62 log products can now be imported from CSV files but will be truncated; that is, any further log products are ignored. The description of the cutting strategy has "*** TRUNCATED!" pre-pended in this case. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 2.0.4 ========================= Defects that have been fixed in this release: -------------------------------------------- 1. Economic analysis. Annual costs were not being applied between the age of the last General cost and the clearfell age, if no harvesting costs applied. This would occur if no age range on any harvesting cost included the clearfell age. 2. Importing CSV files which have quoted column headers has been corrected. Previously an error similar to the following was given if column headers were quoted : System.Data.OleDb.OleDbException (0x80004005): In the text file specification 'Test.functionset.csv', the Col1 option is invalid. 3. Economic analysis. Production Thinning revenues were each appearing 3 times in the Economic Analysis Report (though not in the table) if the Carbon Price variation was non-zero. Also, any 3rd or 4th Production Thinning revenues were not being included in the report. 4. Economic Settings. Importing economic settings from a CSV file has been corrected. Previously, some values in the "Ages_years" column were not imported correctly; also when importing economic settings and overwriting an existing entity some of the values from the original entity were retained. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 2.0.3 ========================= Defects that have been fixed in this release: -------------------------------------------- 1. User specific settings entered under Tools | Options are ignored when running FCMD.exe. This has been corrected. 2. Economic Analysis Reporting. The Economic Analysis Report menu item in the Report Manager's Reports menu was always enabled, resulting in an error if it was selected when the Economic Analysis Standard Report had not been selected in the Report Options. 3. Exporting of projects, regimes, cutting strategies and function sets has been corrected. Under some circumstances exporting these entities would result in a null pointer exception. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 2.0.2 ========================= Defects that have been fixed in this release: -------------------------------------------- 1. Production Thinning. When a regime has multiple production thinnings, a check is made that only the first thinning has a value set for the percent area loss property. But leaving that property empty for any subsequent thinnings resulted in an error at simulation time. 2. Importing Crops from CSV files produced by SilviQC. The import method is now more flexible, and ensures correct typing of fields in "standard" CSV files, but has been fixed to allow the import of crops from other sources such as SilviQC. Previously, importing a SilviQC crop would fail with the error "Error importing crop ... Invalid CropInformationLevel". ================================================================================ Forecaster version 2.0.1 ========================= Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. Site Latitude. The minimum and maximum allowable values for a site's latitude can now be set in Tools | Options. 2. Updated 300 Index model to version 1.09 which has has a modified thinning subroutine to correct an error in the calculation of the thinning age shift which occured when a late thinning was applied with a non-zero drift factor. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 2.0.0 ========================= Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. New density model. A new density model for Douglas Fir, "NZFOA_DFirDensity", has been added. It is capable of modelling density to the ring-level. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.13.1 ========================= Defects that have been fixed in this release: --------------------------------------------- 1. Economic Analysis Report. Any costs due to a 4th pruning were being omitted from an Economic Analysis Report. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.13.0 ========================= Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. New growth models for Cypress Lusitanica and Cypress Macrocarpa (Berrill J.P. New Zealand Journal of Forestry Science 2004) and a corresponding height model 84 have been added. Implementations are based on the Cypress calculator implementation on the FFR web site. 2. A number of new growth models have been added : Douglas fir in NZ and the UK; a suite of models for native species in New South Wales (Southern tablelands alpine ash, southern tablelands mixed, western ironbark dominated, northern coastal, northern tablelands, southern coastal, southern coastal ash regrowth, western cyprus dominated); Pinus Caribaea in Fiji; Eucalyptus nitens in NZ and Tasmania; Radiata pine in Tasmania; Radiata pine in Victoria. Some of these models are in the public domain. 3. Max branch size for logs. When a branch model is selected, a simulation will now populate the field "MaxBranch_mm" with the size of the largest branch (whether live or dead) anywhere on the log. 4. Branch model BIX. Improvements have been made to the derivation of BIX from modelled branches. This may result in slight differences to BIX values compared to previous simulations. 5. A new growth model for Redwoods has been added called GM400Index. The 400 Index used by this new growth model can be specified in the Site entity. If it is zero then it will be derived from the crop. 6. The 500 Index can now be specified in the Site entity. Previously the 500 index was always derived. This name of this has been changed from "DFNat500Index" to "GM500Index". 7. Wood Property models. New models have been added for Microfibril Angle (MFA) and Spiral Grain Angle (SGA). 8. The default density model is now FFRDensity2011. This will be selected when a function set is constructed from the stand location (region). 9. The following global options have been added to Forecaster: i) SafeStemVolumeCalculation. When safe mode is set to "On" all stem volume calculations are performed on a stem within the range of the equations data. If the target stem is smaller than the minimum stem then the results are scaled down to apply to the target stem. (See Help:'Volume and Taper Equations' for more detail). This strategy allows all volume equations to be used from early ages and still predict reasonable values. However the safe volumes calculated in this way differ from the values predicted by the equation when it is extrapolated outside the range of its data. This makes tasks like regime comparison difficult as the yield curves may cross-over due to the data range of the equation rather than any change in productivity. When safe mode is Off the stem volume equation is used without adjustment. ii) SpatialSurfaceSampleArea. When specifying a site using spatial selection, this is the area (ha) sampled from the underlying surfaces of 300Index, density etc. A larger area will return more generalized and stable values whereas the values returned from a small area will be more accurate but more variable. An area of zero hectares will result in a single point sample. 10. Version 4.1 of the branch model BLOSSIM has been implemented. This version includes two model properties: i) Large Branch Probability. This is the probability of a cluster containing large branches, a value between zero and one. ii) Large Branch Scale Factor. This is the multiplier used to scale-up the size of the branches on a cluster selected to contain large branches. A value greater than or equal to one. Default values for these properties are 0.05 and 3.0. These values should result in most stems containing several large-branched clusters, which will change the mix of TRV between small- and large-branched log-grades. Use the values of 0.0 and 1.0 to revert to the behaviour of V4.0. 11. The following new columns have been added to the AnnualCropCondition and MonthlyCropCondition report tables: Species Site400Index_m3_per_ha_per_year Site1000Index_m3_per_ha_per_year 12. The following new columns have been added to the LogTrace and LogSummary report tables: MFAMean_degrees MFAVolumePercent SGAMean_degrees SGAVolumePercent New columns for the statistical variations (Min, Max, Mean StdDev) of each of those fields have been added to the LogYield report table. 13. Stand Density Management Diagram. Some improvements have been made to the labelling and layout of this standard graph. 14. Spatial Data Surfaces. New surfaces have been added for redwood site index, redwood 400 index, and cypresses site index (the same surface is used for both Lusitanica and Macrocarpa). The surfaces for radiata site index and 300 index have been updated. 15. Map-based Site selector. The site selector used by both Yield Generator and the site maintainer now includes a data grid to allow data to be edited more easily. 16. Yield Generator. The default FunctionSet generated is now based on the site's growth-modelling region, and the species in the Regime's Plant event. Valid species are PRAD, PSMEN, SQSEM, CULUS, CUMAC and EUFAS. 17. The editing of regimes and crop histories have been improved. The same regime editor is present in both Forecaster and Yield Generator. See the online help for details. Defects that have been fixed in this release: --------------------------------------------- 1. Branch modelling. When a log boundary occurred within the extent of a branch cluster (a rare situation), the cluster's largest branch may have been attributed to the wrong log (of the two logs at that boundary). 2. The calculation of Mean Crop Height has been corrected so that it returns Mean Height if no prunings have occurred. Previously it was returning zero when no prunings had occurred. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.12.2 ========================= Defects that have been fixed in this release: --------------------------------------------- 1. The model FNSWRad2010 has been updated so that negative stem weightings are no longer predicted. This sometimes occurred when small, suppressed stems were present in the stem list. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.12.1 ========================= Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. Growth Models. The model FNSWRad2010 has been updated (coefficients and functional form), and associated changes have been made to the height/age model 190. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.12.0 ========================= Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. Economic Analysis. An Age Offset has been added to Event and Harvesting cost items, allowing the item's cost to be applied not at the age that the event actually occurs, but at an offset (+ve or -ve years) from that age. 2. Reports tables. The Project's Economic Settings (both the entity name and its details) has been added to the ScenarioDetails table. Note that the Reports database schema version has been increased to 14. 3. Reports tables. The Crop Condition tables now include a column with the crop's Height/Diameter ratio. Note that the Reports database schema version has been increased to 14. 4. Economic Settings. An age at which a cash-flow item applies can now have a value as low as -50. 5. Economic Analysis Table. Columns have been added to the Economic Analysis table for the scenario's clearfell age, land expectation value, stumpage, and breakeven price. Note that the Reports database schema version has been increased to 14. 6. Economic Analysis Table. The names in the Category column have been changed for some items: Event-related costs are now named after the actual even type, e.g. Planting, Waste Thinning 1 etc., and Harvesting costs are also now named after their related event e.g. Production Thinning 1, Clearfell etc. 7. Economic Analysis Report. An Economic Analysis Report is now available as a standard report. Selecting this option produces a report for each "group" of scenarios, where a group is those scenarios that have the same set of entities, but differ only by clearfell age. Note that only any one scenario of a group need be selected in the Report Manager for all scenarios in that group to be used for the report. 8. Economic Analysis Chart. A chart showing NPV vs clearfell age is now available as a standard chart, and it is automatically included in the Economic Analysis Report. Note that the same selection scenario behaviour as for the Economics Analysis Report applies. 9. Stand Density Management Diagram. A Stand Density Management Diagram is now available as a standard chart. 10. Graph of Mean/Current Annual Increment. The standard graph showing Mean Annual Increment (MAI) by age has been extended to also show Current Annual Increment (CAI). This is the per annum increase of the Stand Volume. 11. Economic Analysis. When an IRR value cannot be calculated, e.g. when the sum of the undiscounted costs exceeds the sum of the undiscounted revenues, the analysis will no longer fail, rather, a warning message will be published, and the IRR column for that scenario will have no value entered for it. 12. The Log Yield report has been extended to include the volume components up to Total Standing Volume (or Total Thinned Volume for production thinning). The percentage breakdown of TSV into felling waste, cutting waste and TRV is now reported. 13. Silvicultural Details report. This new report combines the old Pruning Details report with information on any thinnings that have occured in the regime. The table of thinning details lists stand parameters for up to four thinnings. Values for before and after the thinning, as well as the thinned component, are reported. Parameters that are specific to thinning include: - the thinning coefficient indicating the size of the thinned stems relative to the residual stems; - the area lost to production due to the construction of roads and skids for a production thinning; - the number of stems thinned with DBH greater than 200mm. A stand table chart showing before and after DBH distributions is drawn for each thinning as well as the stocking (stems per hectare) time series. Site productivity indices (site index, 300 index) are listed at the start of the report. 14. Juvenile corewood. Values of log juvenile corewood volume (as a percentage of total log volume) are now calculated and written to the LogSummary, LogYield and LogTrace report tables. Log Product Definitions can now include a maximum juvenile corewood constraint. 15. Adjustments have been used in the prediction the carbon for Douglas Fir. Also coefficients in the Douglas Fir sheath density model have been updated. Carbon predictions have been compared against version 4.10 of the Forest Carbon Predictor. 16. Economic Settings. The initial age of stand management can now be specified or derived from the earliest ages of General or Planting costs. The initial land value is applied at this age. The final age is derived from the General and Clearfell Harvesting costs. The final land value is applied at this age. Annual costs age applied at each age from the initial age to the final age. 17. Regime Events. The Calibration Event is no longer supported. 18. Crops and Regime Measurement Events. The Stand Subset form of a Crop or Measurement Event is no longer supported. Existing entities will be automatically converted to the Whole Stand form when the Entities database is patched, and CSV data is automatically converted on import. Defects that have been fixed in this release: --------------------------------------------- 1. On Windows 7 PCs the installer will lock up if the .NET Framework is missing and has to be installed. This problem has been corrected. 2. Crop annual values. There was a minor error in the calculation of a crop's annual DBH, height and slenderness values. Currently these values are only used by the MOE stiffness model. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.11.0 ========================= Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. New sheath density models. New sheath-based density models have been implemented for Radiata and Douglas Fir. These models are now used instead of existing density models, to calculate sheath densities for the carbon model (C_Change). Reference: Beets, P. N., Kimberley, M. O., & McKinley, R. B. (2007). Predicting wood density of Pinus radiata annual growth increments. New Zealand Journal of Forestry Science, 37(2), 241-266. 2. New log density model. A new density model (FFRDensity2011) has been implemented. This model is used to predict log densities. It is is only available to the Future Forests Radiata Management Theme. Reference: Kimberley, M., Cown, D., McKinley, R. (2011). Modelling radiata pine wood density in relation to site, climate and genetic factors. Part 2: Modelling within-stem density. Unpublished FFR Report No R064. NZ Forest Research Institute Ltd. 3. The carbon model (C_Change) has been updated. This version includes new temperature dependent decay rate functions for estimating losses of carbon form the above and below ground dead wood and litter pools. Reference: Beets, P.N., and Kimberley, M.O.. (2011). Improvements contained in the Forest Carbon Predictor version 3. Unpublished Client Report. New Zealand Forest Research Institute. 4. Spatial Data. A new version (v4) of the spatial data is available and must be installed. It adds surfaces for the Radiata Density Index, Soil Carbon/Nitrogen Ratio and Mean Annual Air Temperature (NIWA 2012). Values from the new MAT (Mean Annual Air Temperature) surface are used to populate a Site property named "Mean Annual Air Temperature NIWA 2012 (degrees C)". This property is automatically added to existing sites, and those loaded from CSV files. The previous MAT surface was accessed via the property "Mean Annual Air Temperature (degrees C)", this name has been changed to "Mean Annual Air Temperature LENZ 2010 (degrees C)". Existing sites and those loaded from CSV files will automatically have the name changed. Note that the CChange carbon model now uses data from the NIWA surface, whereas it previously used data from the LENZ surface, thus there may be slight differences in carbon values predicted. 5. The way in which stocking, basal area and mean top height growth is allocated to each stem has been changed in all stand level models (including the 300 Index growth model). These growth allocation functions increment each individual stem's weighting, height and DBH according to the stocking, basal area and mean top height predicted by the growth model. This was done to avoid variability of stems being over estimated when simulations were done to late ages particularly with Carbon runs. This may cause slight differences in the timing of any events which aren't scheduled on date or age (e.g. Crop.MeanDOS). This may also cause slight differences in the log products predicted by Forecaster. The new stem level growth allocation functions also model the effect of pruning on growth. 6. Changes to the calculation of mean top height. A height/diameter regression is fitted in order to calculate mean top height. The way in which this is done has changed slightly so that the same strategy can be used even when there is little or no relationship between stem height and diameter. Stem weightings are now used in the calculation of mean top height. Previously it was assumed that each stem had an equal weighting. 7. Normally stem weightings are relatively similar within a stem list but, in regimes where high competition-induced mortality occurs, the smaller stems will often represent very few stems/hectare after a few years of growth. These very small weights can cause numerical errors in some summaries and reports. Stems that fall below a relative weighting threshold are now discarded from the stem list and their contribution is distributed across the remaining stems. The threshold is currently set at 0.01% of the average stem weight. Height / Diameter relationships in stem lists are now fitted using the stem weighting of each stem to ensure dominant heights and stem height increments reflect the importance of each stem. 8. When a crop is grown forward, height growth increments are added to individual stems in such a way that the new mean top height when derived from first principals from the individual stem heights is the same as the mean top height predicted by the height/age function. The new mean top height (as derived from first principals) is considered to be correct if it is within 0.04% of the mean top height predicted by the height/age function. Previously, an error occurred if the new mean top height was not within 2mm of the mean top height predicted by the height/age function. 9. Changes to the GM300Index growth model. The profile of volume through time has been smoothed (there was a slight kink in the previous version). Regional drift is no only applied below age 30. Some minor corrections have been made so that the calculation of the 300 index and growth predictions are closer to those from the spreadsheet implementation of the model. 10. Range checks are applied on importing a stem list into the crop form. Stems with illogical or extreme values are reported and must be corrected before the stem list can be successfully imported. 11. Annual Crop Condition Table. This table now has rows for each year prior to the start age, starting at age 0. When a simulation includes carbon modelling, those rows are populated with stocking, MTH, QMeanDBH and all carbon values. 12. Annual Crop Condition Table. This table now has columns for Current Annual Increment (CAI, the difference between adjacent years' TSV), and Reineke's Stand Density Index (a measure of site occupancy of a stand). 13. Annual Increment Graph. The CAI is graphed together with MAI under Report Manager's Graphs | Variable by Age | Mean/Current Annual Increment. 14. FunctionSet subforms. Data in the list browser forms used to select models and tables can now be sorted on any column by clicking that column's header. 15. Changes to "Generate Age 3 Crop" sub-form (accessed from the "Whole Stand" tab of the Crop form). This form and the corresponding button have been renamed to "Generate Start Age Crop". Starting crops are no longer always generated at age 3. The age at which the start age crop is generated depends on site index. With low site indices starting age will be greater (and vice versa). This was done to avoid the generated stem list being truncated due stem's whose heights were below breast height being discarded. By default the controls for calculating genetic improvement of the 300 index in this form are not displayed. These controls can be displayed/ hidden by using a toggle button. 16. Editing a Regime Condition. When editing in the Condition form, double- clicking on a variable in the Language Elements pane will insert the variable in the upper pane (as before), and place the cursor immediately after the variable. 17. Economic Analysis - Carbon. When an annual carbon volume increment is negative, i.e. at a clearfell, or possibly a thinning, the value in the Quantity column of the Economic Analysis table for that carbon item is now displayed as a negative value. 18. Stemlist data. In the stemlist form for both a crop and a regime measurement event, all columns of the stems' data are now displayed. 19. Crop and FunctionSet forms. The tab-ordering on these two forms has been improved, allowing easier movement between fields using the keyboard. 20. Selecting a site from a map. In the location selector (accessed from either the site maintainer form or the Yield Generator GUI), when using the mouse wheel to zoom, the ground point under the mouse pointer remains fixed i.e. it behaves in a similar way to Google maps. 21. Wood density values. For density values that are made available to models via properties, the distinction is now made between: a) Density values that are actual measurements. These are held in a property named "OWBHD measurement (kg/m3), Age (years)" (previously named "OWBHD (kg/m3), Age (years)") which can be set on Crops, Sites or the models themselves. Density measurements on existing entities, and those loaded from CSV files, will have their properties' names updated automatically. b) Density index values that come from the density index surface. These are held on a property named "OWBHD from surface (kg/m3), Age (years)" which can be set on sites only. This property is used only by the FFRDensity2011 model, but only when there are no measured values available. Existing Sites, new Sites located from the map, and those loaded from CSV files will have this property set on them automatically. 22. Documentation. The Forecaster documentation is now also provided as an epub file (in the Doc folder of the distribution). 23. Properties of Generic Sweep model. When a model property value with multiple, comma-separated values is badly specified, the reported error message more clearly indicates the cause of the problem. 24. Trace file. During a simulation, Forecaster writes various trace information into the file "ForecasterTrace.log". This file is now written to the output folder specified in Tools | Options (previously it was written to the user's "My Documents" folder). 25. Economic Analysis. When an IRR could not be calculated, it was reported as an error, which ended the analysis for that entire combination. Now, a warning message is published, and the analysis continues with no value for IRR being set in the Economic Analysis table for those scenarios. Defects that have been fixed in this release: --------------------------------------------- 1. Economic Analysis Table. For multi-scenario simulations, the residual (post- clearfell) carbon values being used for all scenarios were those of the last scenario. 2. WQI Acoustic Velocity model. For scenarios clearfelled prior to the age of measurement of the stand-level data (density and/or acoustic velocity), a simulation proceeded, but producing incorrect values of acoustic velocity. Such a simulation now halts with an error message, since insufficient stem data is available to the model. In cases where there is a production thinning prior to the measurement age, and its cutting strategy does not include any acoustic velocity constraints on log products, the simulation will proceed. 3. Economic Analysis. Some multi-scenario simulations failed with the error: "Error analysing Combination n: Specified cast is not valid". This has been corrected. 4. GUI. The number of combinations for a project with no crops selected, but a stemlist in a regime measurement event, was being incorrectly displayed as 0. 5. The mean pruned height that was input to the C Change was being under-estimated when a pruning a thinning occurred in the same year. The has been corrected. This will give slight differences in carbon predictions and economic analyses which use the carbon predictions from the previous version. 6. FunctionSet subforms. The Help button and F1 Help key were not bringing up the relevant help information. 7. Selecting a site from a map. When selecting a site from a map via the site maintainer form, the mouse wheel did not zoom the map. 8. Model properties for GM300Index growth model. One of the property names was mis-spelled. Existing FunctionSets that include this property (and those imported from CSV files) will have the name correction applied automatically. 9. Economic Analysis. An analysis was failing with an "Invalid units" error when a Production Thinning Harvesting cost item was defined with "$/stem" as the units. Units of $/stem are no longer permitted for Clearfell Harvesting cost items and Measurement Event cost items. Units of $/m3 are no longer permitted for any Regime Event cost items. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.10.1 ========================= Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. After a measurement event is encountered in a regime during a simulation, a new random normal value is assigned to each stem. Previously, some stems may have had the same random normal value assigned to them as other stems. The random normal value is used in the prediction of density, stiffness, heart- wood and branch index. This may give slight differences in the log product mix if any log products include constraints on any of these attributes. This will only affect projects where the regime contains a measurement event. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.10.0 ======================== Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. Economic Analysis. A new feature of discounted cashflow analysis (similar to that in StandPak) has been added. It uses costs and revenues as defined in an Economics Settings entity associated with a Project, and produces an Economic Analysis Report Table which can be exported to CSV or Excel. This feature is only available to members of the FFR Radiata Theme, and requires patching of existing Reports databases. 2. Age 3 crop generation and genetic improvement. A new series of equations have been implemented for making an age 3 stem list. These can work in concert with the 300 Index growth model, which is used to estimate age 3 basal area and mean top height given site index and 300 index. Additional equations allow for calculating an improved 300 index when planting genetically improved tree stock. This feature is only available to members of the FFR Radiata Theme. [Mina van der Colff, Mark Kimberley: 31/3/2011 "A system for generating Pinus radiata starting tree lists for use in Forecaster"] 3. Silvi-cultural history prediction. This calculator is available when entering Whole Stand information in the Crop form. It can be used to calculate the following : - The residual stocking of a thinning - Pruning age, pruned stocking and pruned height - Stocking, basal area and mean top height at a given age - Plant Stocking - 300 Index and site index This feature is only available to members of the FFR Radiata Theme. 4. The following improvements have been made to the predictions of mean DBH by the 300 Index growth model: i) An adjustment which improves performance of the model for rotations longer than 30 years. ii) An adjustment to the DBH model which affects predictions at or slightly above 200-250 stems/ha. iii) An adjustment that can alter predictions at high stockings. See the FFR Radiata Management Technical Note (March 2011), entitled "Improvements to the 300I Growth Model" for details. 5. BLOSSIM Branch Model. Version 4 of the BLOSSIM branch model has been implemented. This version requires new properties: Mean Annual Air Temperature, and either Breeding Value Branch Habit or GF Plus Branch Habit. Note: this new version is available as the Branch Model "Blossim", and the previous is also still available, but as the model "Blossim3". Thus, existing FunctionSets will, by default, use the new version of BLOSSIM. 6. A report has been added to the crop form to show the distributions of stem DBH, height and pruned height from either subset, whole stand or stem list. To view the report click the "Preview Stem List" button which is present in the "Stem List" tab. Since this report is only available from the "Stem List" tab, a stem list must be entered or generated. If stand subset or whole stand information has been entered then the "Convert to Whole Stand" and/or the "Convert to Stem List" buttons must be clicked in "Stand Subset" and/or "Whole Stand" tabs of the crop form. 7. The Report Manager has a new command: Graph | Stocking Distributions, which can show the distribution of stocking by DBH, height, etc at each event of a regime. Multiple histograms can be displayed in order to compare them. For example, DBH distributions before and after a production thinning, or the distributions of stem volume at clearfell by different regimes. 8. Density index surface. A new geospatial surface has been added which predicts a density index. This index is the breast-height outer-wood basic density of radiata pine at age 20 for a 1990s planting, see: Palmer, D., Cown, D., Kimberley, M., & McKinley, R. (2011). Modelling radiata pine wood density in relation to site, climate and genetic factors. Part 1: Density Surfaces. FFR Report No. R063. 9. Temperature Surface. A new geospatial surface has been added - Mean Annual Air Temperature, which is required by version 4 of the BLOSSIM branch model. 10. Tree volume equation T471 is available for NZ-grown Pinus radiata. This equation (Kimberley and Beets, 2007) is based on 715 sectionally measured trees from biomass studies and should perform well for trees ranging from establishment to clearfelling age, across a range of stocking rates and site types, excluding coastal sand sites. It can be used with a compatible polynomial taper equation (such as F237) for predicting log product dimensions. The authors highlight the danger of using volume equations outside their model range, pointing to prediction errors of over 10% in young trees. [Kimberley, M.O. and Beets, P.N. National volume function for estimating total stem volume of Pinus radiata stands in New Zealand. NZ Journal of Forestry Science 37(3): 355-371 (2007).] 11. A new scale has been introduced for specifying the degree of variation in stem ordering for pruning, waste and production thinning. This scale, previously named "StemOrderingStrictness" in regime CSV export files, is now named "StemOrderingStrictnessV2". Existing data are converted to the new scale when imported from CSV files or read from the database. The new scale is more linear and allows better control of the variation over the range of thinning coefficients and pruning selection seen in practice. 12. Stem Height CV% and prediction of missing stem heights. Stem heights are generated around the height/DBH curve (passing through mean top DBH / mean top height) using the conditional mean height from the curve and the coefficient of variation around this mean. This means that the predicted stem heights will differ slightly from those generated in previous versions. On importing a CSV file, the heights of any stems which are missing are predicted. Previously all predicted heights were "on the curve". The field in the "Stem List" tab of the crop form is now labelled "Stem Height(DBH) CV%" to reflect this. 13. Priority List bucker. The stage length used by this bucker is now calculated from its Cutting Strategy's log products' length specifications, in the same way as for the Value Optimising bucker. 14. Bucker stage length. The stage length used during harvesting is published in an informational message, visible in the Message Viewer if "Show Messages" has been enabled in the Tools menu. 15. When a waste or production thinning is performed the thinning coefficient is output in an informational message and in the AnnualCropCondition table. 16. Temperature Surface. The mean minimum autumnal temperature used by the MOE Stiffnesss model is now exposed as a Property that can be set on a Site or on the model itself in the Function Set form. 17. Surface-derived values. When a Site's location is selected from a map in the Site maintenance form, the Site will be populated with properties from all of the available geo-spatial surfaces. If any of those properties are already present, they will not be overwritten. Existing sites (i.e created pre-v1.10), sites imported from CSV files, and sites selected via the Yield Generator map selector will also have their properties automatically populated from the surfaces. 18. The last project simulated is now remembered. Clicking the "Simulate" button will re-simulate this project again - it is no longer necessary to re-select the project you wish to simulate. The tool-tip displayed when the mouse hovers over this button will show the last project which has been simulated. 19. When a stem list is imported into Forecaster any missing heights are filled in with predicted heights. Predictions are made using the height/DBH curve and the variation of the measured heights about the curve. Stem lists may be imported directly into the stem list tab of the crop form, or as part of a crop or a crop measurement in a regime. Defects that have been fixed in this release: --------------------------------------------- 1. Exporting tables. When exporting tables via Report Manager, if the named file already existed, only the worksheet produced for the table being exported was replaced, leaving any other worksheets in the file untouched. Now, if the named file already exists it will be entirely replaced by the export process. 2. Bucker stage length. This was being incorrectly calculated in some cases of log product ordering within a Cutting Strategy. 3. When using growth adjusment table 1 an error similar to the following would sometimes occur: Failed to set MTH from 43.204 to 43.205. This has been corrected. The error was due to this growth adjustment table containing a number of months in which there was some diameter growth but no height growth. 4. A correction has been made to growth model CHH641. The stocking is now bounded at a certain value. If the stocking is initially below this value then it will remain constant (i.e. no mortality will be occur). 5. The BIX models have been altered to - include the variation around the mean BIX assigned to a log height class, - convert from BIX to Max Branch correctly. The effect on the log mix will be noticed when using a cutting strategy which contains log products constrained to a small max branch size, and branch predictions are sourced from a BIX model. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.9.5 ======================== Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. In some situations where the mean top height increment is very small, (hence the annual shoots are very small), the branch model in Forecaster would give an error similar to the following : Unable to create clusters in shoot of length 14 mm. This version will no longer give this error but instead will create a annual shoot with no clusters (previously the branch model required there to be at least one cluster). The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. The C_Change carbon model could not be run with rotations longer than 50 years. This has been corrected. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.9.4 ======================== Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. In some situations Forecaster would give an error during a simulation similar to the following : Failed to set MTH from 47.4533 to 47.4543 This version will only give this error if the mean top height of the crop cannot be set to within 2 mm of the mean top height predicted by the height model. Previously it had to be set to within 1 mm. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.9.3 ======================== Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. The following growth models have been added for Forest Products Commision Western Australia : RadSLMRWEL,RadBW,RadHC,RadSC and RadMJP; together with the following height/age models : 191, 192, 193, 194 and 195. 2. In cases where a stem had a very small annual height increment, the branch model would occassionally would have insufficient room to fit clusters in the top most annual shoot. This would result in the following error : "Unable to compress shoot - clusters will overlap." The behaviour has been changed so that if there is insuffient room to fit clusters in an annual shoot, then the number of clusters is reduced (to a minimum number of one cluster per annual shoot). This means that this error will far less likely to occur. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.9.2 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. When the carbon model in the function set was set to C_Change, Forecaster would assume that the function set contained a function set element for P.RAD when retrieving the name of the density model to use. Forecaster now looks up the name of the denstiy model in a function set element based on the species of the crop being modelled. This is consistent with how other species specific models are looked up. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.9.1 ======================== Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. Tree Breakage Functions. The calculation of tree breakage has been modified to avoid creating stempieces with a length of less than 0.1m, which previously may have produced the error message: "Error breaking stem "XX": Breakage function returned an unusually short broken piece ..." The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. An attempt was being made to save a temporary file to the root of C: drive whenever the Pruned Height Graph was generated. This has been corrected. 2. Forecaster uses a tree breakage calculator to predict the heights at which each stem breaks when felled. Breakage equation B17 has been modified to avoid generating pieces of broken stem less than 0.1m which can cause the simulation to fail. This may have a slight effect on recovered volume reported, although normally short broken pieces are not considered in the log-making process. 3. The annual crop condition table now uses the plant month rather than the measurement month as the anniversary on which to record the state of the crop. 4. A fault in the implementation of the C_Change carbon sequestration model caused it to fail in some cases when the measurement month was not set to June. This has been corrected. 5. C_Change now responds to changes to the model properties of ClearFellPercent, ProductionThinPercent and NeedleRetentionScore. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.9.0 ======================== Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. A new Douglas Fir growth model (called DFNat500Index) has been added. This model is only available to the Future Forests Diversified Species Theme. 2. A new Douglas Fir density model (called KimberleyDFir2002) has been added. This model is only available to the Future Forests Diversified Species Theme. 3. A new individual tree growth model (called FNSWRad2010) has been added for State Forests New South Wales. 4. Growth Model Properties. At simulation time any properties required by the growth model are now searched for in the same way as other model properties, i.e. each growth model property is searched for first on the Crop, then on the Site, and then on the Function Set. Previously, growth model properties were picked up only from the Function Set. 5. Optimising bucker. An Optimal Value bucker has been implemented. It can be selected in preference to the Priority List bucker for a Cutting Strategy. 6. Log Trim Allowance. A Log Product Definition can now include the specification of an allowable trim length. The bucking process will produce logs using their gross lengths, but with values determined from their net lengths and volumes. See under Log Product Definitions in the documentation. The following now show net volumes as well as gross volumes: Log Yield Report, Log Yield Graph, and all Log-level tables. 7. Yield Tables. A Yield Table generated by selecting Export | Yield Table now includes data for any production thinnings with matching entities, simulation start time, and user name. It will also include the names of the entities (Crop, Site, Regime and Function Set), if the Export Entity Names option is set in Report Manager's Options menu. NB: This version requires the Reports database to be patched. It also requires version 4 of the .NET Framework (Full). This can be downloaded from: http://www.atlastech.co.nz/Default.aspx?tabid=529 The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. In some cases the following error message was displayed when it should not have been: No prunings found (all pruned stems may have been thinned out). 2. Forecaster required the spatial data to be installed even when no functions requiring this data were used in a simulation. This has been corrected. 3. Waste Volumes. Unusually high volumes of Waste were reported for stemPieces above the first shatter zone when using the multiple breakage function (number 17). 4. Reporting. When reporting on scenarios that have been saved in the Reports database, under some conditions the scenarios displayed in the reports were not those actually selected in Report Manager. 5. Report Manager. When the Report Manager was closed by clicking the Close button after a simulation, the results were always saved to the Reports database. The results are now only saved if the Tools | Save Results main menu option is checked. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.8.0 ======================== Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. A practical advice feature has been added which when enabled will detect certain conditions during a simulation and display advice. See the on-line help and manual for details of this feature. NB: The Forecaster Entities and Reports databases will require patching when this version is installed. 2. Triggers are no longer used in regimes and in a crop's history. Instead a condition (in the same form as conditions specified for practical advice entities) is now entered. This allows more flexible scheduling of events. For example, the months of June and July could be avoided when pruning by entering a condition similar to the following : Crop.MeanLiftDOS > 180 AND Date.Month != 7 AND Date.Month != 8 For details relating to conditions see the on-line help and manual. 3. PLI Constraints. A Log Product Definition can now include a minimum Pruned Log Index constraint. 4. Message files may now be viewed using the Tools | View Messages File... main menu option. Message files may be saved by selecting the File | Save As... menu option when the message viewer is displayed after a simulation has completed. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.7.4 ======================== Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. When the carbon model (C_Change) is run outputs are now in tonnes of C02 equivalent per hectare. Previously they were output in tonnes of C per hectare. NB: i) The Forecaster reports database will require patching when this version is installed. This will change the column names in the AnnualCropCondition table. ii) Any existing carbon data in the reports database will be removed when the database is patched. These scenarios will need to be re-run. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.7.3 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. When no area loss was specified for the first (or only) production thinning in a regime, then values for the production thinning removal were incorrectly reported in the Annual Crop Condition report table. This has been corrected. Rows containing Production thinnings have the value "ProductionThinningRemoval" in the "Event" column. 2. The setup now correctly detects the .Net Framework Service Pack level. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.7.2 ======================== Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. MOE Stiffness model. A new wood stiffness model "FFRMOE" is available to FFR members. This model produces mean log values of modulus of elasticity (MOE), and writes them to the LogYield, LogSummary and LogTrace results tables. 2. Help and Documentation. Updated documentation is available as a PDF document and Help file via the Start menu, and as context-sensitive Help from entity maintainer forms via the F1 key or their Help button. The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. If a crop history was entered which included pruning, and the measurement date was significantly later than the last historic pruning then DOS was calculated incorrectly and would sometimes result in an error similar to the following : System.ApplicationException: DOS of 502.7mm is outside the range of 10mm to 500mm. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.7.1 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. The basal increment predicted by the 300 Index growth model immediately after a thinning was incorrect in some cases. This was caused by the 300 Index growth model using a different residual basal area to the actual residual basal which remained when individual stems are thinned with Forecaster. This has been corrected. 2. The "Crop Condition" and several of the "Variable By Age" graphs which are available in the Report Manager previously included values from production thinnings (if the regime contained production thinnings). This has been corrected and these values are no longer present in these graphs. 3. When using the carbon model C_Change with a regime which contained no prunings and thinnings an error would sometimes occur during a simulation. This has been corrected. (Note: a Clearfell event is still needed in the regime for C_Change to work) ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.7.0 ======================== Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. Carbon model. The carbon model "C_Change" is included with this version of Forecaster. The carbon model in Forecaster predicts the same variables as the Forest Carbon Predictor spreadsheet (version 2.2). The carbon model outputs are included in the Annual Crop Condition report table. The outputs may be graphed by selecting Graphs | Variable By Age | Rotation 1 Carbon (or Rotation 2 Carbon) in the Report Manager after a simulation has completed. Because additional columns have been added to the Annual Crop Condition report table the Reports database will require patching once this new version has been installed. 2. The coefficients of the FarmPin growth model (owned by Forest Products Commission Western Australia) have been updated. 3. The Site tab of the Yield Generator now includes the growth modelling region and minimum autumn air temperature. If a location is entered or selected from the map then those fields which are missing in the underlying surfaces will be coloured. 4. The Horne-Robinson growth model for radiata pine in New South Wales has been implemented. This model can be used with the Height/Age model 188. 5. Version 2 of the Forecaster spatial data is required for this version. 6. Support for SQL Server 2008 R2 Express. The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. The measurement month was set to the same value as the plant month when the crop form was saved. This has been corrected. 2. Multiple breakage. When multiple breakage was specified (Breakage Table 17), not all of the extracted stempieces were being presented to the bucker, resulting in lower (and more varied) product volumes. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.6.4 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. The following error occurred when attempting to edit some existing crops : Wrong number of Members. Object AtlasTechnology.Forecaster.Entities.PruneEvent has 11 members, number of members deserialized is 8. This has been corrected. 2. In some installations an error similar to the following occurred when attempting to view a PDF report from the Reports menu of Report Manager : Access to the path 'L:\Pruning Details 2010-04-06 14.11.36.pdf' is denied. This has been corrected. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.6.3 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. The name and description can now be changed and saved when in the Crop form. In the previous version any changes to name and description were ignored. Also if an error was detected when the "OK" button was clicked in the Crop form, the form would immediately close after the error message was displayed and any changes were lost. This has been corrected. Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. Information from both the Crop Condition and Yield Table tabs in the Yield Generator application can now be exported to both CSV and Excel. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.6.2 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. In some cases Forecaster failed when an attempt was made to calculate a volume of a tree which had an extreme height/diameter relationship. The error message was similar to the following : Invalid calculated volume: -0.002m3 is not greater than or equal to 0.000m3 This has been corrected. 2. Occassionaly the following error occurred when doing a simulation which had no historical events (i.e. the crop had no crop history or the regime had no events prior to the measurement event) : System.ArithmeticException: Function does not accept floating point Not-a-Number values. This has been corrected. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.6.1 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. When the "Default From Site" button is clicked in the "Function Set" tab of the Yield Generator application, the density and acoustic velocity models were set to ones owned by WQI. If these models were not available (due to a company not being a member of WQI) then an error occurred. This has been corrected so that if the WQI models are not available then the density model is set to NzMeanWoodDensity and the acoustic velocity model is set to None. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.6.0 ======================== Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. YieldGenerator. This new user interface (only available to FFR members) is targeted at the forester producing log yield tables. The intent is to provide everything that the user needs, on a single screen. There is support for site selection from a map and default regional function sets. It is built using existing Forecaster functionality so the outputs generated are identical to those generated by Forecaster, and all inputs to YieldGenerator are saved to the Forecaster entitites database. Under the master group for Sites, Function Sets, Regimes, Report Options and projects a folder called "_YieldGenerator" is created, then a sub-group beneath this is created named after the current user. The entity is created in this user specific sub-group with the name "YieldGenerator". For example, given a username of "smith" the following entities will be created by YieldGenerator : Site : \Sites\_YieldGenerator\smith\YieldGenerator Function Set : \Function Sets\_YieldGenerator\smith\YieldGenerator Regime : \Regimes\_YieldGenerator\smith\YieldGenerator Report Options : \Report Options\_YieldGenerator\gordonj\YieldGenerator Project : \Projects\_YieldGenerator\gordonj\YieldGenerator These folders are created when YieldGenerator is started, while the entities are created when the "Generate Yield" button is clicked. Cutting strategies and Log Product Definitions must be created using Forecaster. Yield Generator only supports a single combination of Site, Function Set and Regime. If you wish to compare multiple combinations Forecaster should be used. Note that the entities generated by YieldGenerator can be copied to other folders from within Forecaster and used as the basis for scenario comparison. 2. A new Measurement event and Plant event can be added to a regime and used instead of specifying a crop in a separate entity from the regime. The old Measurement event (which could be used to change the stand stocking, basal area and mean top height) has been renamed from Measurement to Calibration. The attributes contained within a Plant event are those specified at the top of the crop form, while the measurement event contains the remaining attributes (i.e. subset, whole stand or stem list attributes). The plant and measurement dates are specified as date triggers. Any crop history is specified as regime events (with a date or an age trigger) between the Plant and Measurement events. A plant event must appear at the start of the regime. Combinations within a project which contain a regime with a Plant and a Measurement event should not contain a crop and vice versa. If the crop information is specified within a regime (using Plant and Measurement events) then this information does not need merging with the regime at simulation time, as is the case when a separate crop is specified. The disadvantage to specifying crop information within a regime is that same crop cannot be simulated with mutliple regimes. 3. Heartwood models. The FFR/WQI Heartwood model "FFRWQI2009", as defined in the WQI Report STR 28 "Heartwood and Green-Density Models for Pinus Radiata", is now available for FFR members. Note that the existing FFR heartwood model "FFRHeartwood" has been renamed to "FFR2008". The model's name will be automatically updated in any existing FunctionSets when they are (re-)saved, and on importing any FunctionSet CSV files that include the old name. 4. An age range can now be entered as a trigger in a regime to allow clearfelling over a range of ages to be easily specified. 5. The Function Set Form has been simplified. Models now appear in groups, only the name of the model is displayed and function set elements (i.e. groups of species specific models) are not displayed by default. 6. A column called "Event_number" has been added to the AnnualCropCondition and MonthlyCropCondition report tables. The "Event_number" column will contain the number of each event once it has been performed. For example, the first Post-Pruning row it will be 1, the second Post-Pruning row it will be 2 etc, the first Post-WasteThinning row it will be 1 and the second Post- WasteThinning row it will 2 etc. For all other rows it will be left blank. Note that the reports database will need to be patched using the Forecaster Database Wizard after this version is installed. 7. It is now possible to import and export a stem list CSV file to and from the stem list tab of the Crop form and Measurement event form. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.5.2 ======================== Defects that have been fixed in this release: ---------------------------------------- 1. Non-stemlist crops with specified history. Simulations with "Stand Subset" or "Whole Stand" crops that had a history specified were losing the crops' pruning details. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.5.1 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Two growth models (SwanPin and FarmPin) for pinus pinaster in Western Australia (for FPC WA) were shown in the list of available growth models within a function set as "Not Implemented". This has been corrected. 2. Forecaster now correctly reports cases when a prune event within a regime has both a stocking and a percentage specified, and the prune percentage cannot be achieved. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.5.0 ======================== Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. Various site related attributes can now be selected from a New Zealand map. The map of New Zealand will be displayed when the "NZ Map" button is clicked in the Site form. The attributes selected include location, site index and 300 Index. Since the files containing the various surfaces are very large, a separate download and install is required in order to use this feature. The setup is called "SetupForecasterSpatialData.exe" and can be downloaded from the Forecaster Support page on the ATLAS web site. This feature is only available to members of the FFR Radiata Theme. 2. Three BIX models from STANDPAK have been added to the function set. Stems can be bucked based on the branch sizes predicted by these BIX models. The three models available are: - InglisCleland1981 - public domain, available to all users - KnowlesKimberley1997 - available only to members of FFR Radiata Theme - KnowlesDFir - available only to members of FFR Diversified Species Theme The Forecaster Reports database will require patching by the DBAdmin tool. This is necessary to enable reporting of BIX predicted by these models in addition to BIX predicted from branches modelled by the BLOSSIM and Generic branch models. 3. Integration with Vegetation Management System (VMan). This version of Forecaster will import Crop and Site information which have been exported to CSV files from VMan version 1.2.50. To import this information select Tools | Import From VMan... from the Forecaster main menu. VMan is only available to members of the FFR Radiata Theme. 4. Changes to pruning behaviour. Additional flexibility has been added when selecting stems to be pruned in the prune event within a regime (or a crop's history). Previously the reprune option required ALL of the crop stems to be repruned. With this version a minimum percentage of crop stems to be pruned can be specified. The previous rigid behaviour caused a couple of annoyances when scheduling pruning events, which while manageable, took time to work around. We hope that the added flexibility will make the process much smoother. For more details on the reason for the changes, the new behaviour, and the implications, please download "Chenges to Forecaster Pruning Form" from the Forecaster support page of the ATLAS website. Existing regimes will behave the same way so existing simulations will produce the same results. 5. The GM300Index growth model has been modified so that if a 300 Index is entered which is different from that derived from the measured crop, then the basal predicted by the 300 Index will be the same as the measured basal area. Basal area predictions after the measurement date will then track such that it is consistent with the entered 300 Index. Previously, if a 300 Index was entered (rather than derived), then the measured basal area was effectively ignored. 6. There have been some minor reporting enhancements. Columns for crop name, site name, regime name, function set name and cutting strategy name (in log-related reports) can be added when exporting reports from the Report Manager. The "Export Entity Names" option must be enabled in the Options menu. Entity short name is reported rather than the full path. The full path is reported in the Scenario Details report if required. 7. When exporting and importing a project to and from a CSV file it is now possible to include all entities referenced by the project. To do this select "Project And Referenced Entities" from the "Entities to export:" field at the bottom of the file open or file save dialog. If this option is used then all referenced entities will be exported to the same folder as that containing the project CSV file, and all files will have the same name as the project CSV file (with the exception of the crop stem and crop history files). 8. The default extension for CSV files imported and exported to and from Forecaster has been changed as follows to clearly identify the type of entity contained within the file : Entity Type Default File Extension ----------- ---------------------- Project .project.csv Crop .crop.csv Crop Stems .stems.csv Crop History .history.csv Site .site.csv Function Set .functionset.csv Regime .regime.csv Species Set .speciesset.csv Log Product Definition .logproductdefinition.csv Cutting Strategy .cuttingstrategy.csv Report Options .reportoptions.csv 9. It is now possible to import a CSV file which is currently open in Excel. Previously attempting to import a CSV which was open in Excel would result in an error. 10. Only those entites which are selected will now be exported to CSV files. Previously all entities in the currently selected group were exported. 11. Two growth models for pinus pinaster in Western Australia (for FPC WA) have been added to Forecaster. Defects that have been fixed in this release: --------------------------------------------- 1. Error during growth of branched stem. Under some conditions, particularly of small annual increase in stem height, a problem with the growth of branching would cause a subsequent failure with the message: "System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object." ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.4.4 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. A stem list can now be imported which has measurements for DOS, DOS height and DOS maximum branch but no measurement of pruned height. If pruned height has not been measured then these DOS measurements will be ignored. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.4.3 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Generic branch Model. Branch angles were being incorrectly calculated (since v1.4.0). Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. Generic branch Model. Branch abscission is no longer modelled (the model's abscission properties are ignored). This may result in more clusters appearing on stempieces, since no cluster will now be omitted from the stempiece (by being considered "non-visible" when all of its branches are abscised). 2. Generic branch Model. Some bounding constraints on branch diameter have been removed. Under some conditions (in particular, where a modelled branch's diameter is large compared to its cluster's diameter) this may result in larger branches than previously. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.4.2 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. If a simulation was done with a regime which contained no prunings then an error would be generated if the "Stand Table Graph" was selected in the Report Manager. This has been corrected. 2. Stempiece details missing. For a production thin (and any subsequent clearfell), the resulting stempiece details were missing. They are now available, but only for the last command in a regime that produces extracted stempieces i.e. a production thin or clearfell. =============================================================================== Forecaster version 1.4.1 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. With some simulations the following error would occur : "Unable to compress shoot - clusters will overlap" This has been corrected. 2. When using height/age table number 119 during a simulation an error similar to the following would sometimes occur : "No solution possible with these starting points. Converged to (0.585485, 0.008648)" This has been corrected. 3. When using the 300 Index growth model the following error would sometimes occur during a simulation : "Unable to set crop stocking and basal area. Invalid total stocking (NaN)" This has been corrected. Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. The database server and database name for both the entities and reports databases is now included in the title of the main form. ================================================================================ Forecaster version 1.4.0 ======================== Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. The 300 Index growth model has been updated to version 2 (i.e. the individual tree version). The stand level predictions (i.e. basal area, mean top height and stocking) remain the same as the previous version of the model; however the apportionment of the annual increment of basal area, height and stocking to each stem is now done by the growth model rather than by Forecaster. This means that the 300 Index models the pruning effect at the stem level and is responsible for modeling the change in the distribution of stems with growth through time. 2. Acoustic velocity model. The WQI acoustic velocity (stiffness) model has been updated in accordance with WQI Report INT 13. Note that the model's name is now "WQIAcousticVelocity", and that there are a number of changes to its properties (see the Help documentation). 3. Density model. The WQI density model has been updated in accordance with WQI Report INT 11. 4. Branch model. The BLOSSIM branch model has been updated to version 3.2 5. Support for silvi-cultural scheduling has been improved with the ability to include stem level measures of DOS, DOS height and DOS max branch for the last pruning lift. Also those stems which are to be pruned in the next lift can be marked by setting the "Is_Crop_Stem" column to "TRUE". Note that this will override the "Stem Selection" criteria in the Prune Event in the regime. This version of Forecaster should be used with version 1.11.8 of Silvi-QC which will output a stem list which includes these additional fields. NB: Currently the pruned height on branched stems (as predicted by the branch model) will not be the same as the measured pruned heights on the stems in the CSV file. This will mean pruned height and hence pruned log products will be slightly incorrect if a simulation is done with a stem list with measured pruned heights. 6. Heartwood constraint on log products. A new wood property constaint on log product definitions allows a log's maximum allowable heartwood diameter to be specified. 7. StemPiece Viewer. The companion utility program StemPiece Viewer has been updated (version 1.0.10) to display acoustic velocity and heartwood data, if they have been modelled during a simulation. 8. Forecaster now uses an improved INIFile reader/writer class that amongst a lot of other things allows comments in INI files. (AtlasTechnology.Common 5.4) The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. When simulating a crop which contains a crop history, an "historic" crop is created at age 3. This crop is grown through the events specified in the crop history then merged with the measured crop. Previously, a best guess was made at the stocking and basal area of the crop at age 3. In some cases when using the 300 Index growth model, the basal are declined and the stocking increased in the first year of growth. Now, when using the 300 Index the age 3 stocking and basal area at age 3 is predicted by the growth model. 2. StemPiece details. When a simulation did not produce any StemPiece details, it was still possible to invoke the StemPiece Viewer from ReportManager (it would display data from a previous simulation). Now, if there are no StemPiece details generated, their graphing and exporting options are not available in ReportManager. ====================================================== Forecaster Version 1.3.6 ======================== Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. Installer improvements. Prompt for database access includes remote (default), local, and local unsupported. Added support for Unattended installs. The installer will assume connection to remote databases and .NET 2.0 or greater is installed on the host machine. To do a silent unattended install... 1. create an INF file (response file that setup will read from). Enter... SetupForecaster /saveinf=filename.inf 2. to install silently SetupForecaster /loadinf=filename.inf /verysilent If Forecaster is already installed it will uninstall silently (with no prompt to uninstall) and the new version of Forecaster will be installed. Forecaster Version 1.3.5 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. When simulating pruning regimes which had a branch model defined in the function set, an error similar to the following would sometimes occur: "Failed to find highest cluster below height of 6.392" This has been corrected. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.3.4 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Occasionally when performing a simulation an error similar to the following would be reported: Error analysing Combination 1 : Object reference not set to an instance of an object. The error occured when simutlating a crop containing a crop history. This has been corrected. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.3.3 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Occasionally when performing a simulation an error similar to the following would be reported: Error analysing Combination 1 : Invalid growth adjusted age of 16.94. Crop growth adjusted age is 15.94. The error could be worked around by changing the monthly growth adjustment table in the function set. This has been corrected. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.3.2 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. An error sometimes occurred when doing a simulation with a regime which contained are large number of commands with clearfellings (when generating yield tables). This has been corrected. The error message reported was something like the following : Item has already been added. Key in dictionary: '54;f4a27408-7d260a972f5c' Key being added: '54;f4a27408-7d260a972f5c' ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.3.1 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Forecaster (and associated programs) will now run under 64-bit Vista. Previously a COM error was reported on startup. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.3.0 ======================== Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. A new density model called "WQIBasicDensity1" has been added, together with a stiffness model called "WQIStiffness". Both these models can now be selected within the Function Set form. Details of these models are available in the on-line help. These models are owned by the Wood Quality Iniative (WQI) so will only be available to certain clients. 2. A new Radiata Pine Heartwood model by Ping Xu, Dave Cown and Russell McKinley has been added. This is owned by Future Forests Reseach (FFR) so will only be available to members of FFR. Details are available in the on-line Help. 3. A crop history feature has been added. This allows historic silvicultural events to be associated with a crop by clicking the "Crop History" button in the Crop form and entering pruning and thinning information in a similar way to regimes. Since these events are historic, an age or date must be specified which is prior to the start year and start month which has been specified in the crop form. It is assumed that no events occur prior to age 3 so the ages or dates specified must not be less than age 3. When a simulation is performed with a crop which has a history, the simulation will begin with a crop created at age 3. This crop will be grown through the historic events up to the start year and month specified in the crop. At this point the crop will be merged with the "start" crop (as specified in the crop form), this merged crop will then be grown through any future events specified in the regime. The regime must begin with the events which have been specified in the crop history or the simulation will not proceed. The crop history feature was needed so that the GM300Index growth model can derive a 300 Index correctly as it needs a knowledge of historic thinnings and prunings. Also this feature was necessary in order to calculate annual DBHs and shoot heights prior to the crop start date, as this information is required by some models (e.g. branch models and WQI density models). 4. Sweep constraints. When creating or editing a LogProductDefinition, it is now possible to specify a particular length over which the maximum allowable sweep deviation is to apply, rather than having it apply to the entire log. 5. Stem Selection rules have been removed. These entities were used by regimes in versions prior to 1.2. 6. Projects can now be imported and exported to and from CSV files. 7. Crops can containing stem lists can now be exported to CSV files. 8. The "Show Input Details on Reports" option on the Report Manager will now work when scenarios have been saved. 9. The order of log products on the Prune Height graph has been improved. 10. A counter has been added to the main window showing the number of items selected. 11. The Prune Height Graph has been corrected to show only the age of the last pruning. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.2.18 ========================= Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. Further functions have been added for Hancock Natural Resources Group, they are: growth model CHH641 and height age table 120. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.2.17 ========================= Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. Further functions have been added for Hancock Natural Resources Group, they are: growth model CHH007, height age table 119 and breakage table 20. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.2.16 ========================= Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. The mean pruned height of the crop during a simulation, should now be significantly closer to the average pruned height of the measured prune height of the stems which comprise the crop. The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. When using the 300 Index growth model, if a production or waste thinning occurred at the simulation start age (i.e. no growth occurred before the first thinning event), then thinnings were ignored (i.e. after a thinning the stocking reverted back to the pre-thinning value). This has been corrected. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.2.15 ========================= Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. The memory used during simulations has been significantly reduced. This was an issue when simulating crops which contained a large number of stems (i.e. over 900). ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.2.14 ========================= Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. Further functions have been added for Hancock Natural Resources Group, they are: growth model CHH841, height age table 118, and tree volume and taper tables 469 (CHH4001). 2. The tree volume and taper tables numbered 467 (CHH4000) have been renumbered to 468. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.2.13 ========================= Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. In some cases files created when exporting the Scenario Detail table to Excel or CSV from the Report Manager could not be opened by Excel. This was due to cells in the "Crop_Detail" column exceeding the maximum cell length limit for Excel (particularly when the crop being simulated contained a stem list). Any strings exceeding this length limit are now truncated before being exported to Excel or CSV files. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.2.12 ========================= Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. Some tree volume functions predict negative volumes with trees of small diameters and/or heights. Forecaster has been changed so that an alternative method is used to predict volumes when a stem's diameter and/or height is less than the minimum specificied for the tree volume table used. This alternative method is used where the volume equation is independent of the taper equation. 2. Checks have been added so that pruning and thinnings which cannot be performed due to obvious errors, (such as the residual stocking being greater than the current stocking), are reported more clearly. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.2.11 ========================= Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. A number of functions have been added for Hancock Natural Resources group. They are growth model CHH870, height age table 117, tree volume and taper tables 467 and breakage function 19. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.2.10 ========================= Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. The State Forests Growth models FNSWRAD, FNSWFLG, FNSWBBT, FNSWSPG and FNSWDWG have been updated with the latest report from Charles Muhairwe. 2. Detailed trace information has been added to messages generated when scheduling prunings. The trace information includes a list of stems which have been pruned as well as a list of stems which could not be pruned together with the reason why they could not be pruned. This information is particularly useful when scheduling on DOS. 3. The batch version of Forecaster (FCMD.exe) can now be run with the name of an existing project. This switch can be used as an alternative to specifying either CSV files containing crops, sites, function sets etc or existing groups containing crops, sites, function sets etc. The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. When a simulation was done starting with a user defined stem list, pruned heights were ignored. This has been corrected. 2. The default branch abscision parameters for the Blossim branch model has been corrected. The default values were "1, 5.0" where they should have been "1, 0.005". These parameters were used to calculate the number of years from a branch dying to it being abscised. The default parameters meant that this was being over-estimated. 3. The warning and informational message generated when running the batch version of Forecaster were not being saved to the file specified on the command line. This has been corrected. 4. Branch modelling. A problem in branch growth resulted in under-prediction of branch diameters, manifesting only when the Generic branch model was used. This has been corrected. 5. A minor correction has been made to the export of Report Options entities to CSV files. If there were multiple report destinations specified for a particular table in batch mode output tab, then all but the first report destination was ignored if a report options entity was exported to a CSV file and then imported from the same CSV file. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.2.9 ======================== Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. The 300 Index growth model (GM300Index) has been updated to version 1.05. This new version of the model has three new properties : - an annual percentage adjustment to mortality. - a percentage adjustment multiplier for mortality. - a regional drift parameter. Values for these parameters can be changed by clicking the "Properties" button beside the growth model field when the GM300Index model has been selected in a function set. The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Exporting a Function Set to a CSV file failed if the "None" Forking model was selected. This has been corrected. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.2.8 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. The Function Set maintainer does not display correctly on some screen sizes when large fonts are used. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.2.7 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. The Log Yield report table incorrectly contained rows for each log product at each clearfell age repeated for each scenario. This has been corrected. 2. In some cases Forecaster would still fail when forking stems (as described in note 2 in version 1.2.6 below). This has been corrected. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.2.6 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. An improvement has been made to the algorithm which sets the heights of individual stems, such that when mean top height is derived from the individual stem heights it is closer to the mean top height entered in the "Whole Stand" tab in the Crop form. This algorithm is used when creating a stem list from subset information and when updating stem heights during growth. 2. Under some conditions, growth using the HBay growth model would fail with the message: "Unable to find property "Altitude". This has been corrected. 3. Forking modelling. When modelling forking on a stem, for some volume and taper tables the process of equating the stem's total forked volume with its unforked volume would fail with the message: "MpkLibrary.Assert failed: x1,x2 do not span solution" The behaviour now is that any such stem will be left unforked, with a warning message published: "Stem "123" - unable to be forked". 4. Caliper and percentage pruning. Previously pruning with either of these strategies, might have failed with a message like:"No cluster found at 1234", particularly where this was not the last pruning. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.2.5 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. The standing volume reported immediately prior to clearfelling in the annual and monthly crop condition tables was incorrect as it had some volume removed due to breakage already having been applied. This has been corrected. 2. Where a stop event occurred in the middle of a regime prior to a number of clearfellings a scenario was shown in the Report Manager for each clearfelling even though the clearfelling events were never performed. This has been corrected. 3. When the frequency of forking was increased the pruned volume decreased, even though forking only occurs above pruned height. This was due to a difference in how sweep was modelled on the pruned logs. Sweep is now modelled prior to the stems being forked. This means sweep on the pruned part of the stem will be the same independent of whether or not the stem is forked. 4. The volume of the forked stem is now much closer to the volume of the same stem which is not forked. Previously the volume increased when the incidence of forking as predicted by the forking model was increased. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.2.4 ======================== Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. The Forecaster Database Wizard failed to backup large databases with a time out error. This has been corrected. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.2.3 ======================== Enhancements included in this release: -------------------------------------- 1. Imported stem lists are expanded according to the "StandArea" option to give a list of approximately StandArea*TotalStocking representative stems. This ensures the stem list is large enough to give stable results. If the imported stem list is larger than required (according to the "StandArea" option), no change is made. Basal area, stocking and mean top height are preserved. 2. Measured pruned heights on an imported stem list are applied to the stems before the regime is started by pruning the stems using the measured height as the maximum pruned height. This results in removal of branch clusters up to the cluster that is at or just below the maximum pruned height, resulting in a pruned height that will be slightly lower than the measured height on average. This will be corrected when silvicultural histories are included in Forecaster to allow the full set of known treatments and QC measurements to be incorporated up to the starting point of the simulation. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.2.2 ======================== The following is a list of enhancements included in this release: ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. When importing a stem list from CSV to represent a crop, if any stem heights are missing in the stem list, Forecaster will attempt to fill-in values by fitting a height/DBH relationship to those stems that have both DBH and Height measured. This relationship is then used to estimate the missing heights as a function of DBH. Note that this version of Forecaster should be used to import stems from SilviQC version 1.10.2 and above, since this version will export stems which have missing heights and there has been a correction made to the calculation of stem weighting. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.2.1 ======================== The following is a list of enhancements included in this release: ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. The mortality function in the 300 Index growth model has been updated. The implementation in Forecaster now corresponds to version 1.04b implemented in Excel. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.2.0 ======================== The following is a list of enhancements included in this release: ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Stem Selection rules are no longer used by pruning and thinning events in regimes. Instead, when pruning or thinning, stems may be ordered by various criteria and the operation will be performed on the stems in the order given. This ordering may be strict or have a degree of randomness (see the on-line documentation for discussion and examples). 2. The scenarios generated when a simulation is run can now be saved to a database. Once a simulation has completed all scenarios may be saved by selecting File | Save from the Report Manager menu. The Report Manager may be used to view all scenarios which have been saved to the database by selecting Tools | Report Manager from the Forecaster main menu. When run in this mode selected scenarios may also be be deleted by right-clicking on a scenario and selecting "Delete Selected Scenarios". 3. Messages generated during a simulation are now displayed once the simulation completes. Messages are grouped by the combination and the various processes (e.g. growing, felling, bucking) in which they were generated. A messages may be an error, warning or information message. Warnings are typically generated when a function is used to make predictions outside the range of data from which it was built. The displaying of messages may be turned off and on, using the "Show Messages" option in the Tools menu. 4. If an error occurs during a simulation and the "Show Messages" option checked, rather than halting the entire simulation, an error message will be displayed for the current combination and the simulation will continue with the next combination. 5. A "Measurement" event is now available when specifying Regimes. This event can be used to specify a new basal area, stocking and mean top height. 6. The generic branch model has been corrected and extended to respond to spacing and stem dominance. The lower the stocking for a given mean top height and the larger the stem DBH relative to the stand mean DBH, the larger the maximum size of the largest branch in a cluster. Existing function sets which use the generic model must be updated to be used successfully. The model is described in the documentation. 7. Prune event properties. It is now possible to specify a "don't care" value for the prune event property "Maximum Pruned Height" by leaving (or setting) it's value blank. Note that the "Minimum Green Crown Remaining", and the "Minimum Lift Length" properties must have values specified. 8. The two parameters (MinimumExtractableDiameter and MinimumExtractableLength) have been moved from the cutting strategy to global options, accessed by selecting Tools | Options. These settings determine whether a felled piece will be extracted for bucking. 9. Forecaster now requires an environment variable called ATLASINI to be set. This environment variable will be set automatically when Forecaster is installed. It is used to find a file called ATLAS.ini which holds various settings (e.g. datase and licensing server names) which are used by Forecaster. This file may be shared with other ATLAS applications such as GeoMaster. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.1.6 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. The standing volume calculation has been corrected. This is calculated by summing the stem volumes predicted by the tree volume function. 2. The "Crop Q Mean Diam" field in the Pruning Details report has been corrected. The quadratic mean diameter of the whole stand was being reported rather that the quadratic mean diameter of the stems pruned in each lift. A new field called "CropQMeanDBH_mm" has been added to the PruningDetail table. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.1.5 ======================== The following is a list of enhancements included in this release: ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. The mortality model in the GM300Index growth model has been updated from the latest Excel implementation (version 1.03). ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.1.4 ======================== The following is a list of enhancements included in this release: ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Pruning Details Report. The pruned height distribution graph now displays the full pruning history. For each pruned height class, stems are grouped by all of their pruning lifts, not merely their last. 2. Pruning strategy. The property Max Pruned Ht can have a "don't care" value specified by leaving its value blank in the prune event screen. Both the Min Lift Length and Min Green Crown Remaining properties must have a value specified which must be non-zero. 3. GM300Index. There have been minor improvements to the use of post-prune event's crop's mean pruned height. This may slightly change the model's predictions. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.1.3 ======================== The following is a list of enhancements included in this release: ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. When scheduling on DOS, a copy of the crop is taken and pruning is performed on this copy. If if 90% of the selected stems are actually pruned, and the Mean DOS of the pruned trees is such that the trigger condition is met then the pruning is performed on the original crop. If either of these conditions are not met then the crop is grown for another month and the process is repeated. 2. When selecting stems by pruned height, the stems are sorted first by pruned height, and then by the product of stem dbh and stem height. Previously, the second-level ordering was just by dbh. The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Pruning with branch modelling. The 'prunability' of a stem is determined by stem height, min lift length, max pruned ht, and min green crown remaining. If branching is being modelled, the position of the next lowest cluster to the ht is considered too. Some minor corrections have been made to checking the consistency of this data. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.1.2 ======================== The following is a list of enhancements included in this release: ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. The Crop form has been enhanced to allow the whole stand information that is derived from subset information, to be displayed on the form. Do this by clicking the "Convert to Whole Stand" button in the "Stand Subset" tab. The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. In some situations the predicted MTH was reducing with growth. This has been corrected. 2. The algorithm used to apportion the increment in MTH as predicted by the growth model to the heights of the individual stems has been improved. Note that this will result in a different distribution of stem heights. 3. The algorithm used to shift a strategy curve specified in a stem selection rule to meet a specified target has been improved. This will result in different (but more appropriate) weightings on stems which are selected. Also the message shown if the selection process fails has been improved. 4. The stem's dbh used to model branches was incorrect and has been corrected. This is likely to result in slightly different diameters of modelled branches, hence branch index etc. 5. The maximum branch being used to predict DOS was wrong. This has has been corrected. 6. Previously the 300 Index was required in the Site. If the 300 Index is not specified (i.e. is set to zero) it will be derived during the simulation. So, when starting from a measured crop height and basal area, use a "generic" site that only has location and altitude specified. 7. The EARLY basal area level prediction in the Crop form has been corrected. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.1.1 ======================== The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. In earlier versions of the Forecaster setup assumed that MSDE was installed and would fail when it attempted to start the MSDE service. This meant that MSDE had to be installed with Forecaster even when the Forecaster database was located on another machine. This assumption has been removed from the setup which means that if you do require MSDE you must either reboot your computer after it installing MSDE or manually start the MSDE service (called MSSQLSERVER). ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.1.0 ======================== The following is a list of enhancements included in this release: ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. A number of new growth models have been added, including CANT, CLAYSFT, GDNS81, HBay, NAPIRAD, NM90, NZ1, SANDS, SGM3, Westland and ITGM (Individual Tree Growth Model). Some of these models are owned by cooperatives so will only be available to Forecaster users who are members of these cooperatives. 2. The MPK component of Forecaster (which includes such low level mensurational functions as tree volume, taper and breakage, height/age and height diameter) has been ported to .Net. This was done primarily because a large amount of memory was not being released by this component as it was implemented with compiled code. 3. With the .Net implementation of the MPK component the management of the files containing tables of coefficients has been simplified by putting all the system tables in one file and allowing all user defined tables to be put in another file. Also the format of the user defined tables file has been changed from binary .DAT files to an XML file - this means that translt.exe no longer needs to be run to convert from .TXT to .DAT. The fully qualified name of the file containing coefficients for MPK system models is specified in the "MPKSystemModelsFileName" field which is present in the Tools | Options form. The fully qualified name of the XML file containing user defined tables is specified in the "MPKUserModelsFilename" field. User defined models present in this file will override or add to the system models present in the system model file. By default the system tables file is located in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\ATLAS. An example user defined file called "MPK Example User Models.xml" is present in the root of the Forecaster CD. It contains an example of a set of user coefficients for all model types. 4. Production Thinning has been implemented - it is available as an event within the regime form. 5. The progress displayed during a simulation has been improved in terms of reporting more detail and allowing the simulation process to be aborted by clicking the Cancel button. 6. A choice of DOS functions is now available in the Function Set form. Note that some of these DOS functions are only available to members of the Forest and Farm Plantation Management cooperative. 7. A new 3-point tree volume and taper function has been added (number 460). These are owned by the Forest and Farm Plantation Management Coop. 8. Clearfell age now appears on all clearfell related reports. 9. It is now possible to import a crop containing stems which have been generated by Silvi-QC. The crop and the stems are in separate CSV files. An example of these files are present in the root of the CD. To import the example crop do the following : - select the Crop folder you wish to import the crop into - right click in the list view and select the Import option - select the file called "SilviQC crops.csv" (present in the root of the CD) 10. A number of user interface enhancements have been made including : - Projects now appearing in the same tree as other entities. - Retaining the currently selected entity in the list view once the entity form is exited by pressing OK or Cancel. Previously the first entity in the list would be highlighted. - Improvements to the regime form (e.g. commands are now banded to make it easier to identify each command and the pruning event subform is now validated when OK is pressed on the subform rather than when the whole regime is saved). - Allowing most forms to be resized and remembering the size and location of most forms. 11. The watermark that was present in PDF reports has been removed. The following is a list of defects that have been fixed in this release: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Previously under Windows 2000 the following error message would occasionally be displayed when creating a new function set or editing an existing function set : Object reference not set to an instance of an object. This has been corrected in this version. 2. Memory usage has been improved in that memory used during a simulation will be freed once a simulation has completed. Forecaster may still use large amounts of memory during a simulation (see item 2 in the "Other Known Issues" section above). 3. Branch modelling. In the case of non-integral-aged stems (i.e. when the plant month and measurement month differ), the calculation of branched stems' shoot heights was open to minor miscalculation. In extreme cases, this could cause the branched stem construction phase to fail with a divide-by-zero error. 4. Information missing in the Pruning Details report has been added. 5. With some simulations which used the 300 Index growth model the stocking would initially increase. This has been corrected. Following is a list of known issues with this release: ------------------------------------------------------ 1. A forking model has been added to the the Function Set form but is currently disabled. This will be enabled in a subsequent version. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.0.1 ======================== The following is a list of known defects that have been fixed in this release: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Fix to the priority bucker. Will correctly create pieces of waste mid-stem piece rather than generating a taper calculation error. 2. A bug in the Database Wizard which required MSDE to be installed when Forecaster was being setup to use Microsoft SQL server has been corrected. 3. Stempiece density data. Density values are now included in the file of stempiece details used by the stempiece viewer. The following is a list of enhancements in this release: -------------------------------------------------------- 1. The NZ1 growth model has been added. ================================================================================ Forecaster Version 1.0.0 ======================== The following is a list of known issues in this release: --------------------------------------------------------- 1. Under Windows 2000 you may occasionally receive the following error message when creating a new function set or editing an existing function set : Object reference not set to an instance of an object. This will be corrected in a future release. Workaround: Forecaster must be shut-down and restarted. If you still cannot open the Function set form, contact Atlas. You can create and import a Function set via csv files. 2. Both memory usage and performance have not been optimised in this release. A simple rule of thumb is : the more standard reports, standard charts and report tables you enable in Report Options, the more memory Forecaster will consume and the longer the simulation will take. In particular, we recommend that you do NOT enable the Monthly Crop Condition table unless you are interested in the distribution of monthly growth. Workaround: a) Close and re-start Forecaster between simulation runs to clear memory. b) If Forecaster consumes all available memory during a simulation you may need to reduce the number of scenarios produced and restart Forecaster. The number of scenarios can be reduced by doing one or more of the following : - reducing the number by combinations in project being simulated - reducing the number of clearfellings selected regimes - reducing the number of cutting strategies specied in clearfelling events in the selected regimes 3. Production thinning has yet to be implemented. Workaround requires two steps: a) Model the production thinning as a waste thinning, to capture the impact on post-thinning parameters including clearfell volumes; b) Create a second regime with both a waste thinning and clearfell at the intended production thinning age. Use the waste thinning to remove the final crop element, leaving the production thinning to be modelled as a clearfell. 4. Crop information can be entered as a stand subset or as whole stand data. This information is converted to a stem list during the simulation process. Direct entry or import of a stem list has not yet been implemented. Workaround: None. 5. Forking is not currently modelled, therefore there is no waste or downgrade due to forking. 6. The intention is to report various wood quality parameters by log grade and allow them to be used as a criterion in log making (i.e. as part of the log product definition). Currently only a limited number of wood quality paramaters are reported (e.g. BIX) and only a limited number are included in the log product definitions (e.g. branch size and branch angle). This will be added in a future release and as well as adding a number of other log qualities such as juvenile wood, rings per inch, and clearwood depth. 7. When a Log product definition was removed from a Cutting Strategy, the priorty could have been incorrectly calculated and prevent saving. ================================================================================