NEWS
October 2007
2DBench v2.2.10
- New tools for design with electronic detonators. These include
improved calculation for the contour method, and new methods for
chevron and radial contours.
- Modified text display around a blasthole. The user can select an
individual deck or delay, based on a selection filter, plus an expanded
list of display text. For example, the display can show details of the
second deck in each hole, such as depth to top of deck; previously,
only details of the top deck or all decks in each hole were available.
- Default currency. The currency used for cost items is now defined as a
default for each blast, so that conversions can be better controlled in
reporting. In most cases, this can be ignored where the user only
works in one currency.
JKBMS v2.0.18
- Expanded reporting. JKBMS can now produce two new export reports for
selected blasts. In both cases, the report is output as a
tab-delimited text file, suitable for direct upload to a spreadsheet
for further calculation and reporting. The reports can be filtered by
dates and blast types, and individual blasts can be selected.
- A summary report for bench blasts, as in 2DBench, but for a
multiple number of blasts in one report. The first section is an
overall summary of each blast and a total for all blasts, and the
following sections give a detailed summary of the components of
each blast: area, holes, decks, downhole and surface delays.
- A detailed report for all selected blasts, with an image of the
blast. This is similar to the Export Report in 2DBench, and
provides all of the data for the blast. Each blast is output to a
separate file, with an image of the blast as a bitmap. For ring
blasts, there is one image file per ring. At present, the output
for a single bench blast can be uploaded to the 2DBench Excel
template, but new templates for specific reports for multiple
blasts, and ring and face blasts will be provided in the near
future.
October 2007
New Agents in India and Norway
Soft-Blast is pleased to welcome two new agents: Ultra Enviro-Systems in India, and Nexco as in
Norway. See the Contacts page for their details.
June 2007
JKBMS v2.0.17 dongle correction
- A small correction has been made where the program did not recognise dongles for new users
(from June 1, 2007). This does not affect any prior users.
March 2007
2DBench v2.2.8
The new features and modifications in 2DBench include reporting, lines and polygons (strings), and
saving blast information.
- The menus have been rearranged. All items are still present, but many have been renamed
and several items have been moved to different menus. The items that have been moved are:
- all analysis functions have been placed in a new menu Analysis
- the Marking menu has been renamed to Selection and includes the Tolerances option from
the View menu
- items for selecting parameter dialogs from the Parameters menu have been moved to the
Mode menu, and options for saving parameters are now under File > Preferences
- Templates have been moved from the Edit menu to the File menu
- The View menu now only includes items that affect the position or appearance of the
Design Area
- Some hole design tools that were in the Edit menu are now in the Tools menu
- The program startup has been modified to store details of the Hardlock key in the file
2DBench.ini. In particular, this means that when the program is first started after
installation, it will record the details and these will be read from the file at every
subsequent start of the program. There is no longer any need to modify a shortcut for
rapid loading of the program.
- The output from Blast Totals (formerly Object Totals) has been extended so that the copied
information can include all of the data from all tabs in the report, with the overall blast
summary.
- The Hook tool controls the position of the cursor by attaching it to the nearest string at
a fixed distance from the string (>= 0 m). The tool can be used at any time; for example,
to control drawing another string or creating blast holes. The nearest string is selected
at the time the tool is activated - a different string can be selected by deactivating
the tool, placing the cursor near the new string, and re-activate the Hook tool.
- Edit > Modify > Nearest Line has been modified so that a new line can be selected from a
drop down list in the dialog, and the current point in the selected line is indicated by a
red dot.
- Duplicate Line is a new tool under Edit > Modify. It allows any line to be copied multiple
times, with each copy spaced at defined intervals from the original line.
- The Area Parameters dialog has been extended to include the Default Level and the default
Line Style. Both of these options are still available in their original forms, under
Edit > Modify > Default Level and View > Display Options > Colour > Area Line,
respectively. However, on the Parameters dialog, both items can also be applied as a
global change to all visible lines.
- The hole modification functions "Assign Collars To A Surface" and "Assign Toes to A Plane"
have been extended to operate on both collars and toes of blast holes. Both functions are
now under the Tools menu.
- The Explosive Energy Distribution and Holmberg-Persson PPV Contour analyses have been
extended to the same features. Both now have 10 ranges, plan and vertical sections, and a
summary of the results that can be copied to the clipboard.
- The Save As dialog has been modified to improve the entry of the blast name, to include
pre-defined scenario names, and to provide more information on the main tabs.
- The blast name entry has been improved to reduce the possibility of blast components
being incorrectly named. For a new blast, it is no longer necessary to click a button
in order apply the name to the blast components. However, to apply a new name to a
previously saved blast, simply click the [Apply to All] button.
- The scenario numbers 0 to 9 reserved for pre-defined scenario types. The descriptions
of these scenarios are defined in the blast database, and can be modified to any text
that the user may wish. A new database template has been provided with the defined
scenarios. Numbers 10 and above are available for other uses. Pre-existing databases
can be modified by opening the database in Microsoft Access and adding the scenario
details into the Properties table.
- The extra information was previously available on a secondary dialog from the
[More Info] button, but these have been moved to the main dialog. The extra fields are
not mandatory, but do assist in providing more information to describe and track
changes in blasts.
- The on-line Help for 2DBench has been transferred from the previous .chm files to html
files. This will allow for updates to the help which were not possible in the previous
format, and which also allows users to write their own versions of the help files. In
addition, the names of the help files that are called from 2DBench are pre-defined in the
file 2DBHelp.ini. This file can be modified so that the on-line help is redirected to any
file that the user wishes.
Unfortunately, at the time this update was issued, it was not possible to include the new
features described here in the on-line help; however, all users will be notified when the
help is updated and new versions will be supplied.
JKBMS v2.0.16
- The control of the position of the JKBMS window has been improved so that the status bar is not hidden behind the Windows Task Bar.
- Command line options for dongle codes are now included in JKBMS, and it also includes the new feature from 2DBench of recording the dongle code at initial start-up of the program. This means that, for most users, the program will start much quicker.
- The Blast Totals report from 2DBench is included, as a Blast Summary. It can be accessed from the pop-up menu or the Tools menu. It applies only to 2DBench blasts in the current branch. The format of the report is similar to that in 2DBench, but it includes information for each selected blast in both the summary and detail sections. The output can be saved to a tab-delimited text file or copied to the clipboard.
- The pre-defined scenario types in 2DBench are supported in JKBMS when creating a new bench blast, under the pop-up menu item Create New Blast. The scenario text is automatically added to the blast name, if it exists in the selected database. If the created blast matches a pre-existing blast in the selected database, a link to the blast is created instead.
- The items on the pop-up menu for creating and importing blasts have been renamed to Create New Blast and Add Existing Blasts.
- An extra option for sorting items in the tree has been added, under Tools > Options. Users can now sort objects on the tree branches by Name and Date, Type and Name, or Creation Date.
2DRing v 2.0.21 and 2DFace 2.0.16
Both programs now retain the selected units scheme. Previously, when a new database was selected via File > Select Databases, the units scheme reverted to the default scheme (Metric) if the user did not reset to the desired scheme.
April 2006
Language Support
New versions of 2DBench, 2DRing and 2DFace are currently under development
to provide language support. A file containing all of the text displayed in
the program can be translated into any language by the user, and then set up
as the default language for the program. A default English file will be
supplied with the software, as well as any other language files that have
been created.
A new versions of 2DBench will be the first, with the others to follow.
Notification will be sent to all Support and Maintenance users when they are
available.
If you are interested in trialling the software during development,
contact Soft-Blast.
January 2006
2DBench v2.2.6, 2DRing v2.0.19, 2DFace v2.0.15
A bug in the Tools menu has been fixed. The Tools menu has an option for the
user to define up to 20 extra menu items to run external programs. To create
a menu item, modify the relevant .INI file to include the following section:
[Other Tools]
OtherTool_1_MNU="-"
OtherTool_1_PATH=" "
OtherTool_1_CMD=" "
OtherTool_1_ASK=" "
OtherTool_2_MNU="Excel Workbook"
OtherTool_2_PATH="C:\My Documents\book1.xls"
OtherTool_2_CMD=" "
OtherTool_2_ASK=" "
OtherTool_3_MNU="Notepad"
OtherTool_3_PATH="C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe"
OtherTool_3_CMD=" "
OtherTool_3_ASK=" "
In this case, the first item creates a dividing line across the drop-down menu.
The new program versions are included on the current installation CDs in the
relevant program folders in [CD]:\JKSimBlast\... Update discs will be sent to
all Support and Maintenance users in July. If you want a copy of the new
program before then, contact Soft-Blast.
