FastShip Changelog

What's new in FastShip 6.1.30

Apr 3, 2012

Hydrostatics Defaults changed to correspond more with US definitions and standards.
Hydrostatics output labels changed to agree with ATTC definitions; this will mostly be transparent to users, other than "CPL" for CP, since the ATTC definitions agree largely with those commonly used in the US.
Hydrostatics calculations corrected to provide better values for metacentric height; previous versions assumed if a center of gravity was not provided that metacentric height was to be calculated from the waterline. The new version uses KM (from the keel at the station of maximum area).
Hydrostatics calculations modified to refer to the station of maximum area.
Algorithms to create a PMF file for a user hull are included. These algorithms have very limited capability and generally only provide the beginnings of a PMF file. They will be effective on a hull that is one surface, with the waterline at the Z=0 level, that already has the topology of a parallel middle body with the 5 relevant columns exactly the same in y and z for every net row. Alion intends to improve this in later releases and hopes the limited feature will still provide the beginnings of a PMF file that can later be edited manually to equip a new hull for parametric use with the Fastgen macros. (Note: the PMF file export will not work for all users, only for those who have the "Parametrics/Hull Library" option.)
The name "Proteus Engineering" is being de-emphasized as Alion integrates the subsidiary it purchased several years ago. Accordingly, the name has been removed from the logos displayed in the software and the location of the software has been renamed to C:\Program Files\Alionscience\Fastship 6. This makes it even more important that previous versions of the software be removed using "Add/Remove Programs" on the Control Panel before loading Fastship 6.1.30. However, the Proteus Engineering Web site will continue in use for downloads and information on the software. Support questions may continue to be addressed to [email protected]. These names will eventually be phased out but should continue working for a substantial time.

New in FastShip 6.1.29.2 (Apr 3, 2012)

New in FastShip 6.1.29.1 (Apr 3, 2012)

New in FastShip 6.1.29 (Apr 3, 2012)

Added a new member called transform to the perl hydrostatics variable in order to allow macro writers to retrieve the floatation plane transformation resulting from a hydrostatics calculation.
Modified the commands copy-surface and mirror-surface so that if the original surface had trimming information, the new surface maintains the trimming information with the exception that trimming associativity is removed (i.e. all trim curves are unlinked). This exception is necessary since it is not known if the surfaces on which the trim curves depend were also copied or mirrored.
Modified the behavior of the command, write-model, to allow the keyword "current" when exporting hydro or area entities. The use of "current" informs FastShip that it does not need to update the hydrostatics calculations before exporting the necessary files. This is useful for certain FastShip Perl macros.
Modified the behavior of the command, write-2d-dxf, to include the coordinate axes for all 3 views in a "3-view" file export.
Modified the behavior of the command, flip-normal, to try to maintain the trimming logic such that the same portions of the surface are trimmed away.
Modified the command, create-planing-hull, to include two new shape factors. These are a bow roundness factor controlling the fullness of the bow shape and a transom width at deck factor allowing taper of the hull aft. Additionally minor modification were made to the planing hull algorithms to result in more realistic hull shapes. See the command reference for complete documentation.
Modified the logic for commands which internally interpret XML (e.g. load-model, add-model, measure-volume-ex) so that the user is informed and given a chance to continue in the unlikely event that the operations for setting internal locale fail. In the past the command would just fail and return.
Fixed a bug in an internal FastShip routine used to compute meshes of offset surfaces. The bug could cause a program crash for certain surfaces having somewhat "unusual" knot vectors by FastShip standards.
Fixed a bug in an internal FastShip routine used to project points onto a surface. The bug could cause a program crash for certain surfaces having somewhat "unusual" knot vectors by FastShip standards.
Fixed a dimensioning bug in metapoles.
Fixed a bug in hydrostatics calculations when using the "fixed trim" option in which the LCG was not being properly derived from the resultant LCB.
Fixed a bug in the command goodness-of-fit in which only 4 error bands (instead of the documented hard limit of 8 bands) could be used when the command was accessed from the Goodness of Fit dialog box.
A new version of the Hoops Graphical library (version 11) has been incorporated into FastShip in order to provide improved rendering performance and robustness.
Modified the FastLock utility to support both FastShip and VisualSMP locks.

New in FastShip 6.1.28 (Apr 3, 2012)

A new command, fit-surface-edge, was added which allows the user to perform a least squares fit between a polyline (offsets) and a candidate surface edge (including slope discontinuities). The new command was added to the NURBS menu.
A new command, create-process, has been added to allow the user to launch an external executable from FastShip.
Two new commands were added to FastShip related to images and texture mapping. The commands read-image inserts a gif file as an image into the current model. Currently there is no control over its location or size and it is not persisted in the pex file. This image always faces front as it is not associated with any geometry. The second new command, read-texture, allows reading a gif file as a texture map. The user specifies the name associated with the texture map which can then be applied to surface geometry via the set-surface-color command with the name of the texture as the surface color. Textures are not yet persisted and there is no easy way to display all currently loaded textures so you must remember what you called it. This functionality will be developed further in future releases using feedback from users.
Modified the FastShip hydrostatics command, measure-volume-ex, to correct some issues related to the option to insert a surface representing the resultant flotation plane. These issues were related to improper sizing of the waterplane surface when current units were not SI units and to properly transforming the flotation plane surface for upright (non-free float and non-rollover) hydrostatics calculations.
Changed the commands set-project and set-description commands to set the modified flag so that FastShip thinks the model has changed when either of these commands is invoked and will prompt the user to save the model before closing it.
Added a new optional argument, "nofilereset" to the read-surface command so that we can force it to act like it is adding a surface model to the current model as opposed to opening a new surface model. Specifically this argument has the effect of telling FastShip not to set the internal filename or the FastShip window title to the filename being added.. This addition was necessary because if a user reset the current system by selecting File/New and then adds a file (as opposed to opening it) we still want the system to think the model has not yet been named. If it was given the name of the added model, then if the user adds a second model to the first and saves, the original model file would get overwritten instead of prompting the user for a filename to save to as is now the case.
Fixed a bug in which opening a FastShip model by double clicking the file in Explorer had caused the window title to display the "Untitled" filename instead of the current model filename.
Fixed bug in the command associated with the y-coordinate spin button (y-nudge).
Modified how corner control points are displayed when they are frozen. If frozen they are now drawn as asterisks like internal control points.
Modified the command, set-false-colormap, to accept a new list argument defining minimum and maximum curvature magnitudes for the curvature map. Also modified the Surface Curvature dialog box to allow setting these values. While adding this new functionality, a problem which had existed in the fixed map indices was corrected. A legend was added to show the current curvature mapcolor range.
Modified the command, read-iges, to fix a bug which was introduced in an earlier modification related to reading entity 406 to obtain FastShip partnames.
Increased the size of FastShip's internal fixed-length strings by a factor of 4 to accomodate longer project names and project descriptions. This became necessary as a result of the generalization of the commands set-project and set-description to allow for very long stsrings.

New in FastShip 6.1.25 (Apr 3, 2012)

New in FastShip 6.1.20 (Apr 3, 2012)

A new command, add-model, was implemented to allow users to add all or part of another FastShip model in .pex format to the current model. Previously it was only possible to add models in .srf file format to the existing model. Only surfaces and optionally sections are added from the selected models. Systems settings such as units, model orientation, etc. are ignored. The new command is invoked from the File/Add menu item if a .pex file is chosen to add. If a .pex file is chosen the user is presented with a tree view containing the surface parts tree contained in the selected file. The user can pick and choose which parts to add to the current model. After clicking OK the selected parts of the model are added to the current model. A checkbox is provided on the Add Surface Model dialog box allowing the user to ignore sections when adding the selected pex file. This corresponds to entering the 'nosect' keyword when executing add-model from the command line. Users should be aware that selecting this checkbox will cause any trimming information associated with sections in the model to be added to be lost. Existing trimming information in the current model will be unaffected.
Modified the command, fit-surface, to allow the user to constrain the movement of the control points to one of the principle orthogonal planes or axes. See the reference manual for a complete description of the constraint options. A new dialog box has been added to allow the user to specify all input to this command. The dialog is invoked from the Nurbs/Fit Surface menu item.
Modified the commands, set-project and set-description, to allow (virtually) unlimited length strings. Previously the project field was limited to 15 characters and the description field was limited to 63 characters. The Project/Description dialog box has been modified to allow the user to enter longer strings. In addition, the Save As dialog box has been extended to allow the user to enter a project and description when saving. The Open dialog box has also been extended to permit the user to view the saved project/description information when a file is selected. To accomodate saving a model in the .srf file format, the project and description are truncated to 15/63 character limits when saved as a .srf file.
The Measure toolbar and menu have been modified. The Measure toolbar has a new dropdown button added to implement the measure-porcupine command. It offers the following list of choices for porcupine quill scaling factors: 0.5, 0.6, 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, Specify, Last. The new option, Last, allows the user to use the same scaling factor chosen the last time the command was executed. This is particularly useful when the Specify option was selected the previous time as it provides a means to cache the last user-specified scaling factor and reapply it later. The Measure menu has been modified to reflect the same list of choices. The command, measure-porcupine, has been extended to accept the 'last' keyword.
The Sections toolbar and menu have been modified. The Sections toolbar has a new dropdown button added to implement the refine-sections command. It offers the following list of choices for refinement tolerance: On Surface, 0.01, 0.005, 0.001, 0.0005, 0.0001, Specify, Last. The new option, Last, allows the user to use the same refinement tolerance chosen the last time the command was executed. This is particularly useful when the Specify option was selected the previous time as it provides a means to cache the last user-specified tolerance and reapply it later. The Sections menu has been modified to reflect the same list of choices. The command, refine-sections, has been extended to accept the 'last' keyword.
Modified the command, write-rhino, to have a new 'layers' keyword which allows the user to export FastShip partnames to layer names in Rhinoceros. The Rhino Export Options dialog box to incorporate this new option (and to have a parts tree control) as well as to allow specification of Rhinoceros export version instead of using the dropdown filter
Modified the command, measure-iacc, to support the new Version 5.0 of the IACC Rule.

New in FastShip 6.1.16 (Apr 3, 2012)

A new command, set-mouse-wheel, was created to allow the user to control the zoom behavior of the mouse wheel. The command takes an integer argument. A value of 0 corresponds to the default FastShip behavior which is to zoom in when the wheel is rolled toward the user and to zoom out when the wheel is rolled away from the user. A value of 1 reverses this behavior. Finally the keyword 'toggle' toggles the mouse wheel behavior to the opposite setting. The System tab of the Preferences dialog box has been modified to incorporate this new functionality.
The command for measuring hydrostatics, measure-volume-ex, was modified to allow insertion of a plane representing the resultant flotation plane. The command takes a new keyword argument, 'plane', indicating the user wishes to insert this plane. This keyword is mutually exclusive with the 'transform' keyword, i.e. the user cannot transform the model and insert the resultant flotation plane in the same hydrostatics calculation. This should not be necessary because if the user chooses to transform the model, the z=0 plane is the resultant flotation plane by definition. Changes have been made to the Hydrostatics dialog box to accomodate this new functionality.
The command, measure-volume-ex, has been modified to allow a new flotation plane definition type. The keyword 'displtrim' for the flotation plane type allows the user to enter displacement, trim angle, TCG, VCG, and initial waterline height values. A free float calculation is performed with a fixed trim angle in this case. The vessel at its initial attitude is assumed to have zero trim. Changes have been made to the Hydrostatics dialog box to accomodate this new functionality.
Modified the behavior of the File Conversion utility (accessible from the Tools menu) as follows. Whenever the user browses for an input filename (DXF or GF) to translate, the output idf filename field is automatically filled in with the same name but with a .IDF extension. Also, for DXF to IDF file conversions, the user is now given the additional option to specify whether the up direction in the input DXF file is positive or negative. Previously the positive direction was always assumed and this often resulted in the translated DXF file geometry being imported with an improper vertical orientation. It had been possible to correct for this behavior by using negative scaling factors but this option provides a more direct and logical means for controlling this behavior.
The command, make-link, has been modified so that the user cannot apply links to control points that are part of a metapole string. Analogously, the commands create-planar-metapoles, create-linear-metapoles, create-corner-metapoles, and add-managed-poles, have all been modified so that control points which have links to other control points cannot be added to metapole strings as managed poles.
Snapping behavior during model editing operations has been modified as follows. Previously, metapole strings were not considered in any of the edit snapping. Now metapole strings are included as part of "snap to net" behavior. Additionally, when the mouse is moved to a location where a snap filter is being applied, the mouse cursor changes to indicate what type of snapping is occurring. For example, when control net snapping is turned on and the mouse is moved with the mouse selection proximity of a control net segment during an edit operation, the cursor displays the word "Net" to indicate net snapping is occurring. Thisis especially useful when multiple snap filters are turned on and the display area contains many potential types of geometry to snap to.
Changed the measurement text which appears on the main display area to use a roman font if available. If not the system default font is used and lastly a stroked font if none of the others is available.
Changed the behavior of the menu item View/Toolbars/Show All to include the metapoles toolbar. Also retain metapoles toolbar state between FastShip sessions.
Several internal changes were made to the security and licensing logic including the ability to support Rainbow Superpro network hardware locks in addition to the legacy NetSentinel locks.
Made several minor changes to the default hydrostatics HTML and text style sheets to improve correctness.
Fixed a units conversion error in the calculation of the displacement-length ratio which is output in the hydrostatics.
Modified the behavior of the Edit Section dialog box so that you cannot modify the section plane definition to be the same as another existing section in order to avoid duplicate sections.
Modified the hydrostatics calculations so that heel and trim are reported in the Excel output even for upright calculations where no CG has been specified since trim could be non-zero for the "Waterline Height and Trim" input flotation plane option.
Modified the command for creating surface/surface intersections, define-intersection, to change the default step size to be 0.1 meters expressed in the current user units instead of using 0.1 user units which could be a very small step size if the user is working in millimeters for example.
Modified the command, write-iges, to fix a problem in writing the u-v domain for NURBS surfaces (entity 128). The minimum u and v values had been assumed to be zero which is correct for default surfaces created in FastShip. However, these minima could be other than zero for surfaces imported from other systems or for surfaces that have had certain topological manipulations performed on them.
Modified the command, read-iges, to fix a problem in reading units when the IGES file units indicator is set to 3, meaning that the units are to be determined by the units label string. Previously, feet units were assumed in this case. Also corrected an issue when reading an IGES file containing multiple surfaces with the same name. The intended behavior of appending the next available integer number to the name to make it unique worked most of the time but not when the current part in FastShip was other than "/top".
Modified logic for reading non-orthogonal sections (i.e. cants, diagonals, inclines, and general planar sections) so that when adding a surface file (.srf) to an existing model, there would not be any redundant definitions of sections at the same location. Previously there had been a problem when adding a surface file that had non-orthogonal sections at the same location as the current model. Tolerance/precision issues had caused FastShip to see the sections in the surface file being added to be at a slightly different location then those in the existing model and hence created a redundant section a very small distance away from the original. This issue has now been addressed.