Qarb new release

Version 19.1   23rd July 2024

Improved

1.    Tools tab - Offset Canopy polyline to create RPA - Now supports right-click repeat.

 

2.    CSV Import dialog - Trailing zeros in decimal numbers had become much more apparent with the increase in the decimal number precision to 8 places, see v18.2). Superfluous trailing zeros are now supressed (making the CSV columns friendlier to read).

Fixed                                                                                                                                                                    

1.    Tools tab - Canopy style drawing/swapping

                                         i.    Didn't work properly on some polylines (usually manually drawn Canopy polylines). 

                                        ii.    Swap to Indented style - the indents were too sparse on manually drawn canopy lines (eg Tree groups). Sometimes the polyline vertexes got upset resulting in a smaller polygon than expected.

                                       iii.    Drawing/swapping canopy style to Arcs returned "DosLib error: entity not a closed polyline" on command line but still worked. More noticeable if batch plotting trees as the error would appear eg hundreds of times in command history.

 

2.    Tools tab - Offset Canopy to make RPA tool - didn't work on Continuous lines (if they were manually drawn Canopy lines).  Issue was linked to Canopy style swapping issues.

 

Version 19.0   13th May 2024

Supported CAD versions

·         BricsCAD Pro (or higher) V18 to V24

·         AutoCAD 2022 to 2025

New                                                                                                                                                                    

1.    AutoCAD 2025 supported.

 

2.    BricsCAD (V22 onwards) - Beta support for network/floating licenses.

 

Improved

1.    Draw constraints tab – Hatches -  eg for Stems, Canopies, RPA and Shadows. Qarb now overrides HPColor system variable (if set). This is the default colour for new hatches. Qarb will force use of "bylayer", so British Standard colour is used (unless changed in Layer Manager).

 

2.    Start Up - Qarb "menu" folder in app data is rebuilt at start up if not found.  This is a "failsafe" incase the folder was renamed or deleted. (The folder is still rebuilt as a matter of course with each Qarb update).

 

3.    Tools tab - Canopy style swapping - Now quicker and more reliable.

Fixed                                                                                                                                                                    

1.    KTF Network Valid License check failed (Qarb only, wrong app name given).

 

2.    AutoCAD - Tools tab - RPA Trim and Recalculate tool - failed if Express Tools haven't been previously used.

 

3.    Settings – Font style - Failed to update font for tree labels.

 

4.    AutoCAD - Draw constraints tab - Indented Canopy style failed.

 

5.    AutoCAD - Tools tab - Canopy style swapping – failed.

 

Version 18.2   17th March 2024

New                                                                                                                                                                    

1.    Qarb Import - Longitude/Latitude coordinates transformations - eg from GPS/GIS - Supported source coordinate systems are ETRS89 and WGS84. Target coordinate systems for Eastings/Northings includes British National Grid and the other main ones used in the British Isles eg Irish Transverse Mercator (ITM).  The transformations are achieved using a couple of freely available third party apps:

                                         i.    GridInquestII, freely available on the Ordnance Survey website.

                                        ii.    British Geological Survey Web App.

 

2.    Qarb Tools - "Select", "Move" and "Erase" buttons – These buttons allow you to select an entity with in a constraint a group and it will attempt to select the associated entities too, eg if you pick a canopy polyline the associated hatch, RPA, labels etc will be selected too. Useful for instance if stem positions need to be moved from GPS positions onto Topo survey stem positions.  The “Move” button will attempt to set the move source point to the stem insertion point.

 

Improved

1.    CSV Data eg coordinates, Stem sizes, canopy diameters etc - decimal precision - increased from 2 to 8 decimal places to more accurately reflect the collected CSV values. This is more for collected coordinates eg 52.17728333 and 52.17700732, as they would be the same at lower decimal precision.

 

Fixed                                                                                                                                                                    

1.    Automatic tree plotting - if using GIS/GPS collected Northing and Easting (coordinate) data and the stem has a negative coordinate eg an Easting/Longitude of -0.031834437. User would be asked to manually position the stem instead.

 

2.    EULA - registered Office address updated.

 

3.    Tree plotting - Inputing a tree with shadow with hatch option - returned a "Failed to build topology" error message on command line (but still worked), if no tree height is specified.

 

4.    Tree plotting - Tree reference xdata wasn't added to Constraint label leaders. 

 

Version 18.1   7th March 2024

Fixed                                                                                                                                                                    

1.    Fixed "false negative" license check issue on certain cloud servers.

 

Version 18.0   17th November 2023

Supported CAD versions

·         BricsCAD Pro (or higher) V18 to V24

·         AutoCAD 2021 to 2024

New                                                                                                                                                                    

1.    BricsCAD V24 supported.

 

Improved

1.    Qarb GUI - Tools/Contraints tabs - Font sizes (mostly for Text Buttons) - made larger as they were tricky to read especially on higher res screens.

 

2.    BricsCAD only - Settings - Change font height of labels - Now also does dimensions (if drawn using the Qarb dimension tool).

Fixed                                                                                                                                                                    

1.    Qarb GUI - Tools tab - bottom was getting truncated and the "Fix Draw Order" button was difficult to see/access.

 

Version 17.1   23rd July 2023

New                                                                                                                                                                    

1.    “RPA Trim and Recalculate” button - This button on the "Tools" tab allows you to draw a polyline cutting edge across an RPA (for instance along existing building lines where there would be no roots). A new (asymmetrical) RPA area is then automatically drawn for you and recalibrated to be the same area as the originally picked RPA circle. The tool attempts to work to a 0.1 m2 tolerance between the old and new areas.  (The old and new areas along with the difference are reported on the command line, so can be reviewed).

Improved                                                                                                                                                                    

1.    Automatic tree plotting using collected stem Northing and Easting data - now works if Qarb’s (ie the DWG's) working units is set for mm. This is based on the premise that Northings and Eastings positions are always collected in metres (as per the British National Grid).

 

2.    Northing Easting label tool - The tool adds a Northing/Eastings block + leader + label (using CAD's World Coordinates System) - The Northing and Eastings labels now report back solely in metres, regardless of the working units of the drawing. So if Qarb's units is set to "mm", the coordinates will be converted back to metres (as per the British National Grid) again for the label. NB The tool has a command line option to also return simple XY coordinates, these report true WCS coordinates (if working in mm).

 

3.    Constraints tab nomenclature - (as used in the Qarb dialogs) – “Include "Stem XY coordinates" changed to "Plot using Easting Northing" (and highlighted yellow for further clarity).

 

4.    Tools tab – Text  buttons – buttons have been made more verbose and clearer for users what the functions actually do eg “Polyline splice” changed to “Canopy or RPA Split”; “Polyline Union” changed to “Canopy or RPA Union” etc. The buttons’ tooltips have also been improved.

 

5.     RPA Hatches - now sent to the back of all drawing geometry (not just the Qarb tree geometry). This is so they don't block out other useful information eg kerb lines, building lines etc.

Fixed                                                                                                                                                                    

1.    Draw constraint - Tree Labels - If a field eg "Species" is ticked to be on, but no species was listed for the particular constraint - a blank line was added to the Tree label.

 

2.    AutoCAD - QTools - Background Mask Remove - Failed to remove the mask.

 

Version 17.0   16th June 2023

Supported CAD versions

·         BricsCAD Pro (or higher) V18 to V23

·         AutoCAD 2021 to 2024

New                                                                                                                                                                    

1.    AutoCAD 2024 supported.

 

 

Version 16.2   23rd March 2023

New                                                                                                                                                                    

2.    “Polyline Splice" button – Added to the Tools tab. This tool splices closed polylines eg Canopies into two closed polylines. Attempts to splice associated hatches too.  An example usage would be to draw crown reductions on a tree canopy or to indicated faced back hedge/tree groups.  You draw a splice polyline by snapping onto two points on the polyline to be spliced.

Improved                                                                                                                                                                    

2.    BricsCAD only – Startup -  If Qarb menu is loaded but BricsCAD is being run at "Lite" license level - the Brx applications not supported warning dialog at startup is now supressed.

 

3.    "Canopy->RPA" and "Anon Stems/RPA" buttons (and their user fields) now duplicated to the (Draw) Constraints tab.  This is to reduce tab swapping, for users who use these tools as part of their regular plotting constraints workflow.

 

Fixed                                                                                                                                                                    

3.    Constraints ListView - When selecting a Constraint eg T1, T2 etc. The ListView jumps, so you had to scroll back up the list again. Regression developed with Qarb V16.0. (Cause unknown).

 

4.    Startup - Qarb would launch with error if a drawing does not have an annotative scale of "1:1" defined in it. (Qarb tries reset "cannoscale" to "1:1" if in model space at start up).

 

5.    Qarb - Import CSV dialog - A couple of the comboboxes (Canopy Spread) and splitters were getting discombobulated because the whole dialog was (erronously) resizable.

 

 

Version 16.1   7th December 2022

Fixed                                                                                                                                                                    

2.    Startup – failed if Qscape not on the system (and launched).  Regression added v16.0.

 

Version 16.0   2nd December 2022

Supported CAD versions

·         BricsCAD Pro (or higher) V18 to V23

·         AutoCAD 2020 to 2023

New                                                                                                                                                                    

1.    BricsCAD V23 supported.

Fixed                                                                                                                                                                    

1.    Qarb menu and resource files - now copied from from Menu subfolder in Qarb Program Files directory into a Menu sub folder in "Qarb" folder in roaming app data.  This folder is read/writeable, so allow resource files to be generated on the fly as required by AutoCAD and/or BricsCAD. Previously start-up crashes would occur occasionally for some users.  AutoCAD only - the Menu subfolder is remapped in File Support Paths and added to AutoCAD's Trusted locations.

 

Version 15.2   12th October 2022

Fixed                                                                                                                                                                    

1.    Registering for license key – through KTF license server - Failed if various non alpha numeric characters appeared in user serial numbers or user entered text (eg apostrophes, various brackets, accents, tildes etc). Also failed if a field length was over 120 characters.  Regression added v15.0.

 

Version 15.1   19th August 2022

Fixed                                                                                                                                                                    

1.    Registering for license key - QIPCONFIG" command – for getting Network Adaptor information. Failed if list of properties of a Network adapter was too short. Some VPN's eg ExpressVPN if installed would cause the list to be shorter.

 

2.    Registering for license key - "DisableKTFEmailRelay" command (New command for v15.0 for forcing user email registration method rather than through KTF server) caused registration process to crash.

 

3.    Registering for license key - Failed when Window Log in names have a space in them eg "Joe Blogs". Regression added v15.0.

 

Version 15.0   18th July 2022

Supported CAD versions

·        BricsCAD Pro (or higher) V16 to V22.

·        AutoCAD 2018 to 2023

 

New:

1.    Support for AutoCAD 2023.

 

2.    Network Licensing – Preliminary support added - KTF NLM License Manager can be placed in a shared folder on LAN eg "\\CustomerServer\\Customer_Selected_Shared_Folder". This will allow unlimited users, but a maximum number of concurrent users. This facility is in "beta" and is turned off by default. It requires special files (available on request) for it to be enabled.

 

3.    "Tools" tab – now added to the Qarb GUI. The existing "Extra tools" at the bottom of the "Constraints" tab have been migrated to the new tab. Some new tools (feature requests) have also been added, see below.

 

4.    Add Northing/Easting button – Added to Tools tab.  Adds a Northing/Eastings block + leader + label (using World Coordinates). NB This function has command line options eg to select or insert block.

 

5.    Add Dimension button – Added to Tools tab. Adds a configured aligned dimension (in metres to two decimal places eg for setting out drawings of tree protection fencing.

 

6.    Add and Remove Background Mask buttons – Added to Tools tab.

Improved:

1.    License Key Registration - Now relayed through KTFsoftware servers with a new streamlined registration process - User fills License Key Registration Form - Then the software will try to talk to KTF Server directly, if fails will automatically switch to email method (where user will be asked to copy/paste or attach the registration details manually and email them to us).

 

2.    Tree labels - Where Retention Category option is ticked. The text has changed from eg "Retention Cat U" to "Cat U". This is to save space on the dwg and also avoids confusion if contractors/customers see the word "retention" against Cat U trees and think they are to be retained.

 

3.    Command line chatter removed from various functions - eg Draw Tree, Draw TPF, Draw RPA etc.

 

4.    CeColor setting - (Current Entity color setting) – Now resets to BYLAYER when Qarb is launched. This is to avoid drawing constraints the wrong color (if the CEColor dropdown has been changed from BYLAYER to eg RED).

 

5.    CAD Menu Files - Large (32x32) icons now included - eg for using large toolbar size mode. Also the icons are moved from Program Files to a Resource (.RESZ) file BricsCAD and CUIX file AutoCAD.

Fixed:

1.    Insert Group of trees - Reference Labels – they were brought in regardless of the "Include Label" checkbox status.

 

2.    Import Constraints Dialog box - The caption about including delimiter characters for multi-stems was truncated.

 

3.    PolyUnion - failed if current layer was locked.

 

4.    Group of trees - leaders - The "MultiLeader" style leader sometimes didn't return back to the label.

 

5.    AutoCAD - Menu file - Customisation group display name (eg if you are looking for the toolbar) changed from "CUSTOM" to "QARB".

Depreciated:

1.    AutoCAD – Qarb Poly Toolbar automatically appearing - The auto-pop up by the dialog when drawing polylines/hatch boundaries functionality is depreciated due to fatal crashes occurring for some AutoCAD users. Workaround is to now click the command line, instead of typing "l" or "a", or just have the toolbar permanently docked in the interface. (NB Crashes understood to be due to issue of an AutoCAD uninstaller wiping out the ObjectDBX entries for ALL installed versions instead of just the one it was uninstalling!").

 

Version 14.0   29th November 2021

Supported CAD versions

·        BricsCAD Pro (or higher) V16 to V22.

·        AutoCAD 2018 to 2022

 

New:

1.    Support for BricsCAD V22.

 

2.    Canopy Swap button - click the toggle tile next to the button to set the target desired style eg Straight, indents arcs etc then select a tree/canopy line (or hatch). Qarb will attempt to swap the canopy style and update the hatch accordingly.

Improved:

1.    Drawing Polylines eg Canopies or TPF lines - Can now click the "draw Line", "draw Arcs" etc command line options similar to using native "pline" command.

 

2.    Startup - Qarb only launches on  "supported" CAD versions.

Fixed:

1.    BricsCAD - "Canopy to RPA" button -  generated RPA line was arcs rather than a continuous polyline.

 

2.    Extra "Draw TPF" button removed.

 

3.    Inputting trees with 0 (or unspecified stem diameter) - failed with error instead of inputting a cross symbol. The alert notification is also now also augmented with the Tree Reference information.  Useful for when doing multi-plot trees.

 

4.    Tree Labels - When using Multi-plot trees – if adding extra information to the label, the species didn't update with each new tree and incorrect RPA distance info was displayed for Cat U trees. (Should be none).

 

Version 13.0   23rd June 2021

Supported CAD versions

·        BricsCAD Pro (or higher) V16 to V21.

·        AutoCAD 2018 to 2022

 

New:

1.    Support for AutoCAD 2022.

 

2.    Tree Labels - Checkbox to add RPA Radius.

 

3.    Tree Labels - Checkbox to add Retention Category.

 

4.    "Polyline Union" button – Unions overlapping closed polylines, regions, circles and splines into a single closed lwpolyline. Useful for merging tree canopies, RPA's, Shadows etc.

Fixed:

1.    “Draw anonymous stems/RPA's button” - Command line echoing wasn't supressed making it difficult to read the command line instructions.

 

Version 12.1   19th February 2021

New:

1.    Draw Constraints - Other tools – “Draw anon Stem/RPA” button - Draws anonymous tree stems and associated RPA’s.  An example usage is where you want stems drawn (and associated RPA's) calculated but within a single group with a shared canopy line.  The BS Category (if required) and stem diameters can be changed by controls either on the dialog or on the command line, if doing numerous stems.

Improved:

1.    Draw Constraints - RPA's - are now drawn when inputting trees even if they do not have a delegated BS5837 retention category (eg "A, B, C, U).

 

2.    App name - Respelled to "Qarb" from “QArb” to match capitalisation conventions of sister software "Qscape”.

Fixed:

1.    Edit Constraints dialog - The BS5837 cell dropdowns in the grid control were blank (rather than filled in with A,B,C etc).

 

2.    Draw Constraints - Constraints Include - Text in RPA polyline toggle - When changing to Continuous linetype – polylines wouldn’t update until  a manual "regen" was undertaken (AutoCAD).

 

Version 12.0   4th December 2020

Supported CAD versions

·       BricsCAD Pro (or higher) V16 to V21.

·       AutoCAD 2018 to 2021.

New:

1.    BricsCAD V21 supported.

Improved:

1.    Settings - Layer Prefix - Option to have delimitator symbol between prexix and layer name as an empty space added..

Fixed:

1.    AutoCAD – Constraint Canopy style – Indented style failed to be drawn.

 

2.    AutoCAD – Constraint Include Leaders - Multiple style failed.

 

3.    Other Tools - RPA Offset Tool - Textbox – Decimal point “jumped” position when editing.

 

4.    Command - "QArbLicense" – command only worked after "qarb" had been launched when it could be required prior to that.

 

5.    Startup - Relaunching with in a drawing session would take a couple of attempts.

 

Version 11.0   3rd September 2020

Supported CAD versions

·       BricsCAD Pro (or higher) V16 to V20.

·       AutoCAD 2018 to 2021.

New:

1.    AutoCAD 2021 supported.

Fixed:

1.    Debugger - Failed if the "!QLog" mother directory didn't exist.

 

Version 10.2   29th May 2020

Fixed:

1.    BricsCAD V20 only - Drawing tree canopies (Indented style) - failed with error again.

 

Version 10.1   12th November 2019

Fixed:

1.    BricsCAD V20 only - Drawing tree canopies (Indented style) - failed with error.

 

Version 10.0   7th November 2019

Supported CAD versions

·       BricsCAD Pro (or higher) V16 to V20.

·       AutoCAD 2016 to 2020.

New:

1.    BricsCAD V20 supported.

 

Version 9.1   18th July 2019

Fixed:

1.    Startup - Register for License Key - Register by Email option - Open preferred Browser option - Failed to register serial number and delete old license information on pc.  QArb license failed to activate using this method. Feature/Regression added in V9.0.

Version 9.0   7th June 2019

Supported CAD versions

·       BricsCAD Pro (or higher) V16 to V18.

·       AutoCAD 2016 to 2020.

New:

1.    AutoCAD 2020 supported.

 

Improved:

1.    Arb License Requests - Interface improved both for "online" registering and "by email" registering. Less onerous required fields with just name and email now the minimum requirement.  Third option for "Register by Email" added - launches default email client.

 

Fixed:

1.    Qscape License Requests - Online option failed due to website switch from http to https protocol.

 

2.    AutoCAD only - HTML controls/forms - several Internet Explorer Script error messages would pop up registering for license keys using online option. AutoCAD now uses Browser rather than HTML forms for registering.

 

Version 8.0   20th November 2018

Supported CAD versions

·       BricsCAD Pro (or higher) V16 to V18.

·       AutoCAD 2016 to 2019.

New:

1.    BricsCAD V19 supported.

 

Improved:

1.    Draw constraint - Canopies with indents/arcs – Command line muttering supressed.

 

Fixed:

1.    Draw Constraint - Undo actions – undo became discombobulated, included command line muttering and did not undo multiple constraints sequentially.

 

2.    Draw Constraint - Draw Polyline Canopy (manual draw) – Species information was added to the label even when the relevant checkbox was unticked.

 

 

Version 7.0   13th September 2018

Supported CAD versions

·         BricsCAD Pro (or higher) V14 to V18.

·         AutoCAD 2014 to 2019.

New:

1.    AutoCAD 2019 supported.

 

2.    Preliminary support for High Res Screens - QArb GUI's (forms, controls, fonts etc) are now scaled in accordance with the Windows Display/DPI settings eg Text, App etc Scaling Overrides. NB Graphic buttons on GUI's and CAD toolbars/ribbon, don't yet scale unfortunately - So for small, super high res screens, where the App Scaling override needs to be very large, it is still better to "stop" down the resolution in Windows' "Display settings" to something like 1920 x 1080p.  (NB After changing display settings in Windows, you should log out then in again for CAD to work properly).

Fixed:

1.    Drawing of Tree Protection Fences (---TPF---) - when units were set to mm, the linetype text of previously drawn Fence lines would get reset.

 

2.    Drawing of Tree Protection Fences (---TPF---) - Error Handler didn't reset to the previous "plinewid" (polyline width) value.

Other:

1.    License troubleshoot commands added - "qarbregistermac" command to allow registering for a license key using a specific mac address; "qipconfig" command collects a pc's Network Adapter info and writes it to a text file called qipcfg.txt on desktop. Nb "qipconfigopen" opens qipcfg.txt in Notepad.

 

2.    The DosLib loader moved to menu file, so DosLib is now installed prior to the Qscape session starting, so DosLib copywrite now appear at the start of the CAD session rather than at QArb launch.

 

3.    AutoCAD - File support Paths - "..QArb\\Menu" subfolder now added to File support Paths at start up.  (AutoCAD 2019 requires Partial Menu files to be in file support paths despite not being necessary for AutoCAD 2018 and 2017).  Blanket added this for all AutoCAD installations as a precaution.

 

Version 6.2   30th April 2018

Improved:

1.    GUI - Draw Constraints tab -  The “Constraint Include” checkboxes are now contextually enabled/disabled (ie depending on the type of constraint being drawn eg “Draw polyline – Canopy” and whether the relevant data has been imported.

Fixed:

1.    Draw constraints - Inserting a group of trees - (2nd option of “Constraint Type”) - “Species” information was added to constraint's Reference label even when relevant checkbox was unchecked.

 

2.    Draw constraints - Inserting a group of trees - (2nd option of “Constraint Type”) - Shadow failed to be added when relevant checkbox was checked.

 

3.    Draw Constraints - Inserting a group of trees - (2nd option of “Constraint Type”) - When the "All/Used/Unused" List display combobox was set to "Unused" - an error message dialogue box would display and the relevant item was not deleted from the Constraints listview.

 

4.    GUI - Draw Constraints tab - A couple of the checkbox labels on the GUI were slightly truncated.

 

5.    GUI - Draw Constraints tab - Constraints ListView - "Stem X Coordinates" and "Stem Y Coordinates" columns were erroneously displayed despite being not imported.

 

Version 6.1   18th April 2018

New:

1.    Import CSV – Stem X and Y coordinates (Easting and Northing) fields added. (See also item 2 below).

 

2.    Constraints tab – Use Stem X Y Coordinates checkbox – This allows the tree to be automatically drawn at the specified coordinates within the drawing.  See also Item 3 below.

 

3.    Draw Constraints – Do Automatic leader checkbox - Will automatically draw the leader for the tree labels, instead of waiting for manual input from the user to pick 2nd leader point.  See also item 4 below.

 

4.    Draw Constraints - Automatic leader direction graphic button - Toggles the direction of the automatic leader.  The directions go clockwise  (Top right -> Right -> Bottom Right -> Bottom -> Bottom left etc).   See also Item 5 below.

 

5.    Draw Constraints - Automatic leader length textbox – Allows the desired leader length to be entered in metres. (Defaults to 3m if not specified).

 

6.    Draw Constraints – Constraints List - Multiple Select tools – “Select” button, “Clear” button and a “Quick Select” Combobox with selection critreria populated at runtime derived from the imported References eg if a reference naming convention of “T1”, “G1" “H2” is detected – the combobox will be populated with “ALL" "T*" "G*" “H*”.  Then if for instance T* is selected for instance - all references in the Constraints List beginning with "T" will be selected (and can be inputted at once) by pressing the “Go” button.

 

7.    Draw Constraints – “RPA” Polylines – Graphic Button to include the text “RPA” within the polylines - Toggles the linetype style between "----RPA-----RPA-----" and "Continuous".   See also Item 9 below.

 

8.    Draw Constraints – “TPF” Polylines Button – Draws polylines 0.1m wide of the style  "----TPF-----TPF-----" on the layer QArb-TPF.  See also Item 9 below.

 

9.    Settings - Font Height for polylines - Sets the font height of text in polylines where applicable.

Improved:

1.    "Fix Draw Order Button" - refines the draw order of entities still further with Cat A trees placed above Cat B trees, above Cat C trees etc.

 

2.    Settings - QArb layer prefix - Text limit extended from 6 characters to 18 characters - This allows greater flexibility with the prefixes, for instance a multidisciplinary company can now have for instance a prefix such as "ABC_Arb_?????" or even "ABC_Arboriculture_?????.

 

3.    Start up - If QArb is relaunched when the GUI is already active - A dialogue box now appears to confirm the choice.  If “No” is selected QArb will be centered on the screen and rolled down.

 

4.    Draw constraints - Leader checkbox replaces graphic button - gives extra clarity whether to add leaders to reference labels.

 

5.    Draw Constraints - Leader Graphic button recommissioned – now its simply a leader style rather than an include + styles options.  Now simply toggle between multi-leader style and and single leader style.

 

6.    General drafting - "Luprec" setting - This setting (Linear Unit Precision) controls how many decimal places CAD displays. Previously QArb would configure CAD to show precision (eg measurements) to three decimal places (eg 5.123m) when working in metres and zero decimal places when working in mm (eg 5123mm).  The luprec setting also affects some settings such as the "plinewid" setting (polyline width). So you could have a legacy plinewid setting of 0.05 but it will only displays as 0 (if working in mm). Unfortunately CAD doesn't display arcs when “plinewid” is set to very small number (but not 0) eg 0.05. Due to this potential confusion, Qscape is modified to sets luprec to 3 at start up (whether working in metres or mm).

 

7.    Modeless GUI's - now re-center on the screen when launched and already active.  This mitigates issues when the GUI may accidentally end up off screen. 

 

8.    Draw constraints tab – General interface refresh.

 

9.    Code – Now fully migrated to OpenDCL 8 now new lisp symbol naming conventions.

Fixed:

1.    New document events - (ie user switches between drawings, whilst QArb is launched others without) - Modeless GUI's froze and unseemly error messages would appear on the command line.  Occasional system crashes would occur too.  OnDocEvents now defined for all new drawings when the QArb menu is loaded in the CAD interface.

 

2.    "Fix Draw Order" button was broken - This button puts labels above canopies above RPA etc.  Regression added in v6.0.  Improvements also added see item 1 under “Whats Improved” above.

 

Version 6.0   24th November 2017

Supported CAD versions

·         BricsCAD Pro (or higher) V14 to V18.

·         AutoCAD 2010 to 2018.

 

New:

1.    BricsCAD V18 supported.

 

2.    Constraints Tab - Multiple Select feature – This is for inputting multiple constraints at once. When checkbox is ticked - Windows select multiple is activated (using SHIFT key for consecutive items and CTRL key for non-consecutive).  Once selected then right-click mouse or press "Go" to input at once.

a.    Tip 1: To select a consecutive group of constraints, click the first item, hold down the SHIFT key, and then click the last item.

b.    Tip 2: To select non-consecutive group of constraints, hold down CTRL, and then click each item you want to select.

 

3.    Settings – Viewport Configurator (QArbviewport) - A tool for the easy creation and querying of viewports.

Improved:

1.    Constraints Tab - All/Used/Unused toggle – (for the ListView) changed from a Label to a Combobox to make more obvious that the user can change the displayed data.

 

2.    Layer Name conventions – These have been rationalised, so the total number of layers is reduced and layer names shorter.  For instance "QArb_Canopy_Cat B_Pline" and "QArb_Canopy_Cat B_Hatch" become "QArb_Canopy_B"; "QArb_RPA_Cat A" and "QArb_RPA_Cat B" become "QArb_RPA".

 

Fixed:

1.    “Cmdecho” setting - Qscape turned off cmdecho (Command Echo) setting at start up. This could cause confusion to advanced CAD users working interactively with lisp on the command line, due to missing prompts and messages. Code substantially rewritten to only surpress (and restore) cmdecho as and when required.

 

2.    AutoCAD (at least 2017 and 2018) - Drawing Trees with indented style canopies failed when the modelspace background colour was set to Ole rather than Aci colours.

 

 

Version 5.0   11th April 2017

Supported CAD versions

·         AutoCAD 2010 to 2018 (and verticals such as AutoCAD Architecture).

·         BricsCAD Pro/Platinum V14 to V17.

 

New:

1.    AutoCAD 2018 supported.

Fixed:

1.    Multistems - Combined stem diameter calculations (over five stems scenarios) - pp10-11 BS5837:2012.  QArb overestimated the combined stem diameter. For instance a set of 6 stems 12cm,6cm,10cm,8cm,4cm,12cm previously was calculated at 0.72m when it should have be 0.21m.  This means the RPA distances will be overestimated too.  Two to Five stem trees were correctly calculated.

 

2.    AutoCAD - Failed to start up cleanly (although would start) due to being unable to hide/show "QArb Poly" toolbar due to menu file issues (out of date ".mnr" files).

 

3.    AutoCAD 2017 - Numerous issues fixed throughout due to lack of conversion of "command" calls to "command-s" calls in code.

 

Version 4.0   18th January 2017

Supported CAD versions

·         AutoCAD 2010 to 2017 (and verticals such as AutoCAD Architecture).

·         BricsCAD Pro/Platinum V14 to V17.

 

New:

1.    AutoCAD 2017 supported.

 

2.    BricsCAD V17 supported.

 

 

Version 3.1   17th March 2016

Supported CAD versions

·         AutoCAD 2010 to 2016 (and verticals such as AutoCAD Architecture).

·         BricsCAD Pro/Platinum V14 to V16.

 

New:

1.    CSV Import Dialogue – “Quick Review” section  - This allows the user to check with a glance that their CSV header fields correctly correspond with QArb's.

 

2.    CSV Import - Bug/Typo Verification – A dialogue box will now appear after pressing the "Import" button flagging any tree references which have “suspect” data associated with them.  The criteria for a tree to be flagged is:

 

a.     Stem/Multistem diameters cannot be derived/calculated (see also Item 1 under "Improved" below).

b.     Canopy spread cannot be derived.

c.     Height cannot be derived (if applicable).

d.     Stem diameters over 1.5m queried.

e.     Canopy spreads over 12m in any one direction queried.

 

3.    CSV import dialogue - Splitters between comboboxes/listboxes - Splitters can be dragged to adjust the width of the comboboxes/listboxes to read truncated information.

 

4.    CSV Import Dialogue – Additional Information Label showing the current active combobox text – the label shows the information of the combobox underneath the mouse cursor.  This is to Improve clarity where the CSV header text gets truncated within combobox (because the combobox isn’t wide enough).  An example of where this information label is useful would be if the CSV reads “Tree Canopy Spread N” but the combobox reads  “Tree Canopy Spr..”.  The Label will still read “Tree Canopy Spread N”.

 

5.    Draw Constraints tab – Alphanumeric sorting button – This button toggles the ListView between alphanumeric and collected order.  Eg if Collected Order is T1, T2, G3, T4, G5, it will change he order to G3, G5, T1, T2 T4.

 

6.    Draw Constraints tab - Find dialogue box - "Auto Zoom" checkbox - If checked, labels will be automatically zoomed with each selection change event within the list of found references.  A Back/Close button has been added too.

 

7.    Draw Constraints tab – Use BS5837 RGB colours for labels button - Toggles Reference labels between the relevant BS5837 RGB colour and Black/white (ACI Index 7).

 

8.    Start up - Right-click repeat ("shortcutmenu" setting) configured automatically -  BricsCAD V16 and AutoCAD users automatically get the "Time-sensitive right click configured", BricsCAD v15 and lower the default mode Shortcut menu supressed.  This setting became an issue with the new Draw Constraints "Autoscroll" feature and hopefully negates the necessity of delving into CAD's settings to take full advantage.

 

Improved:

1.    CSV Import – More robust import of stem data  (multistems in particular) – There is now less scope for human error. Instead of parsing, all non-numerical data is now ignored.  If one number found, it is treated as a single stem, if multiple are found, it is treated as a multistem.  So for instance "25,45,23;12" still works, "mstem 25;12,24" still works.  A further failsafe has been added - If there is any ambiguity the reference will be recorded, the user is alerted (see Item 2, under “What’s new”).  Additionally the stem diameter will appear as "??" in the Draw constraints ListView and a stem (and by defacto RPA) cannot be drawn until the information has been edited (a cross will be drawn for the stem, RPA not drawn at all) and the user will be alerted again at drawing time.  NB Non recognised canopy spreads/height will be drawn as 0.

 

2.    CSV Import –1,000 comma separators not supported and now checked for.  For instance a Tree stem (units = mm) 1000 and 1000.00 will be read but 1,000 or 1,000.00 will not be read and QArb will alert you accordingly.  NB Because of this comma issue, it is recommended not to use commas for multistem deliminators eg 50,60,70 as an occasional false positive may occur for a 1,000 comma separator in the sting pattern matching may occur.  Not a problem as you will be alerted accordingly, but it maybe necessary to re-edit that particular mulitistem using a different delimitator such as a ";" or a " ".

 

 

3.    CSV Import - CSV Tree References – if there is no data associated, they are no longer imported.

 

4.    Draw Constraints - Multistems.  Command line output augmented to show derived stem diameter calculation.

 

5.    Draw Constraints - Rolling up the form - The background colour now only changes to the BS5837 colour for Cat A,B and U trees. The generally most common Cat C, doesn't change colour.  This is because the Cat C grey colour does not stand out well in the CAD interface.  Tooltip added also.

 

6.    Draw Constraints - Edit Constraints dialogue - For long lists when adding a row, the list automatically scrolls to the new row for editing.

 

7.    Draw Constraints - Canopy Styles - Where average canopy spread is less than 2m for indents/small arcs and 4m for large arcs, canopies are still drawn as simple polylines to avoid overly distorting the overall canopy shape.

 

 

Fixed:

1.    Draw Constraints - Shadow Checkbox - Incorrectly enabled/disabled Species Checkbox.

 

2.    Draw Constraints - Tree Labels - Labels failed to be drawn if the "Species" checkbox was ticked, but the species field is empty for the relevant Tree reference.

 

3.    Draw Constraints - ListView - when long and set to "UNUSED" items, the current selection/next selection would scroll out of view after drawing the constraint.

 

4.    Startup – Debugging – log file failed to be copied to user desktop.

 

5.    Startup - A couple of rogue unwanted linetypes were accidentally brought in.

 

6.    Drawing setup/Settings - Layer Name Prefix Setup - Failed to update existing layers when retrospectively changing the layer prefix.

 

 

Version 3.0   26th November 2016

Supported CAD versions

·         AutoCAD 2010 to 2016 (and verticals such as AutoCAD Architecture).

·         BricsCAD Pro/Platinum V14 to V16.

 

New:

1. Support for BricsCAD V16.

 

Improved:

1. Draw Constraints - Canopy generation - now more biomorphic/natural looking in shape. (More circular canopies were introduced in v2.6, now deemed a regression).

2. Draw Constraints - Canopy generation - Faster in AutoCAD and minus the command line clutter within BricsCAD.

 

Fixed:

1. Draw Constraints - All/Used/Unused toggle - When set to unused.  Error occurred when inputting the constraint.

 

Version 2.6   19th October 2015

Supported CAD versions

·         AutoCAD 2010 to 2016 (and verticals such as AutoCAD Architecture).

·         BricsCAD Pro/Platinum v14 to v15.

 

New:

 

1.    Standalone QArb – having Qscape installed is now not required to use QArb.  Software also now utilises its own licenses.  Please note it will be necessary to register for a new license key.

 

2.    Draw Constraint – Shadows – option now added.

 

3.    Draw Constraint - Listview – Selection events - right-click mouse repeat – A useful timesaver as it negates the need to continually revisit the listview when adding lots of trees if used in conjunction with the new “Autoscroll” feature, see item 7.

 

4.    Constraints CSV Import – Settings/File remembered – Once the settings (corresponding file headers, units used, file name/location etc) is configured.   They will be remembered for the next CAD session.  After the initial configuration, this will be a great time saver.   

 

5.    Draw Constraint  – Settings/tool configurations remembered - eg Canopy style, draw mode, what to include etc now remembered for the next CAD session.

 

6.    Drawing Setup - North Direction widget - Left, right and down buttons added. North direction is now automatically saved to the drawing, so “Save” button removed.

 

7.    Draw Constraint - Autoscroll checkbox – When ticked - The Listview current selection automatically moves down one after the tree is inserted into the drawing.  A useful timesaver when used in conjunction with the new “right-click” repeat feature see Item 3.

 

8.    Draw Constraints tab  - “Find" button – Zooms/Unzooms to selected tree references within the drawing.

 

9.    Command - "Qarb_baseplan" - brings in practice layout for practice, demos, training etc.

 

10. CAD interface - Menu/Ribbon – now added.

 

11. Startup – Debugging - now added to start up to aid troubleshooting should it be required.

 

12. Draw Constraint – Species - Option to select position relative to the reference label.

 

Improved:

 

1.    North Direction widget/Drawing constraints - Twisted views (“viewtwist” setting in CAD) now accommodated.  Usually not an issue, but may occasionally be required.  NB North is always derived from the widget regardless of the viewtwist / XY axis of the UCS in a drawing.

 

Fixed:

 

1.    Draw Contraints - Listview - Long lists of Arb data would cause the listview to jump/scroll back to the wrong place after adding a constraint.

 

2.    Draw Contraints - Listview - Crash caused by attempting to draw RPA's when no stem width is specified.

 

3.    Settings button – Tooltip - was incorrect.

 

 

Version 2.5   25th June 2015

Supported CAD versions

·         AutoCAD 2010 to 2016 (and verticals such as AutoCAD Architecture).

·         BricsCAD Pro/Platinum v14 to v15.

 

New:

1. Species column added to Constraints Tab (Optional). Species can be appended to Reference labels if desired.

2. Settings button and dedicated dialogue box added.  Included settings are:

         i)   Layer Prefix setting. (Migrated from the "Drawing Setup" tab on QArb).

         ii)  Font style

         iii) Font Height

         iv)  Leader style (arrow heads).

3. All settings can now be saved as defaults.

 

Improved:

1. CSV Import dialogue - Better string pattern matching for column headers.

2. CSV Import - Error occurred when attempting to import the csv file whilst open in another application eg Excel.  Warning message to close the application added.

 

Fixed:

1. Layer Prefix Save failed in AutoCAD.

2. Edit Constraints Grid - The check for comma delimitator characters was for the second row rather than the second column (stem diametres).

3. AutoCAD - Manully drawing polylines with arcs style, intermittantly faced the arcs the wrong way.

4. AutoCAD - Canopy Polyline -> RPA Polylines button. Failed intermittantly. Error message also added of offset fails.

5. Constraints Tab - Empty Tree Reference fields caused error when inputting Trees.

 

Version 2.4   29th April 2015

Supported CAD versions

·         AutoCAD 2010 to 2016 (and verticals such as AutoCAD Architecture).

·         BricsCAD Pro/Platinum v14 to v15.

 

New:

 

1. Support for AutoCAD 2010 to 2015.

 

Fixed:

 

1. Canopy->RPA button failed when clicking on some manually drawn canopy polylines.

 

2. Multistyle leaders sometimes appeared in slightly wrong place if esnap/osnap was on.

 

3. Existing Off layers weren't turned on before Qarb drew entities on them.

 

 

Version 2.3   27th April 2015

Supported CAD versions

·         BricsCAD Pro/Platinum v12 to v15.

 

New:

 

1. New "Qscape style" interface. (Still work to be done).

 

2. Constraints data editing now done on a separate dialogue.

 

3. Canopy->RPA button.  Creates RPA's from canopy polylines.  Has a textbox next to it to give user opportunity to add an offset distance (+ or -).

 

4. Draw mode - Option to draw RPA polylines manually added.

 

5. "All, Used & unused" toggle button added, to quickly see what labels have been added.

 

6. "Stems only" drawing mode now removed, as not required. (Effect can be achieved through the "Include checkboxes".

 

Improved:

 

1.  Arc (revcloud) type canopy polylines are now offset, so the outside of the arcs reflect the canopy edge rather than the inside of the arcs.

 

2.  Arcs in arc type canopy lines are now constant length.  (This is required so the offset can be calculated to truly reflect the canopy edge).  However two arc lengths are now offered (1m and 2m). 

 

3.  TrueColour RGB values now used to draw the trees and RPA's rather than AutoCAD Index values to better accord with BS and dovetail with client ctb files.

 

Fixed:

 

1. RPA Hatches were put on Canopy layers.

 

2. Canopy hatches put on stem hatch layers.

 

3. Manually drawn canopy lines.  The layer prefix was "Arb-" even if this setting had been changed on the Drawing Setup tab.

 

4. Manually drawn canopy polylines - labels weren't added.

 

 

Version 2.2   2nd April 2015

Supported CAD versions

·         Bricscad Pro/Platinum v14 to v15.

 

 

Fixed:

 

1.Ref text failed whem working in mm.

 

2. Hatching of manually drawn canapy polylines failed.

 

 

Version 2.1   31st March 2015

Supported CAD versions

·         BricsCAD Pro/Platinum v14 to v14.

 

Changed:

 

1. Open new drawings - QArb dialogue (if already open) now automatically closes. Prior to this it stayed open and would crash CAd, if an attem,pt was made to close it.

 

2. QArb split into "Drawing Setup" and "Tree Constraints" tabs and automatically resizes according to tab.

 

3. Model form added that can robustly import data from assorted CSV files.

 

4. Canopy polylines now default to "straight" style rather than "indented".

 

5. Drawing trees etc. Error trapping improved.  Don't need to press "undo" multiple times.

 

6. Drawings units - mm now supported.

 

7. Wavy canopy polyline included.

 

8. Close icon in title bar now works.

 

9. Interface restyled.

 

 

Version 2.0   7th January 2015

Supported CAD versions

·         Bricscad Pro/Platinum v14 to v15.

New:                                                                                                                                                                    

 

1.    Support for BricsCAD V15.

 

 

Version 1.0   11th March 2014

Supported CAD versions

·         BricsCAD Pro/Platinum v14.

New:        

 

1.    First release.