2005 Release Notes

Runge Limited
XPAC 2005 and XPAC 2005 AutoScheduler Release Notes

XPAC 2005 and XPAC 2005 AutoScheduler Release Notes

1. XPAC 2005, VERSION 7.7.2 ..............................................................................................3
1. OVERVIEW OF CHANGES......................................................................................................3
2. IMPORTANT NOTES ..............................................................................................................3
3. SCHEDULING ENHANCEMENTS ............................................................................................3
4. 3D GRAPHICS ENHANCEMENTS ...........................................................................................3
5. SCRIPTING ENHANCEMENTS ................................................................................................4
Miscellaneous ...........................................................................................................................4
New Scripting Methods .............................................................................................................4
Modified Scripting Methods......................................................................................................4
Obsolete Scripting Methods ......................................................................................................5
6. MISCELLANEOUS ENHANCEMENTS ......................................................................................5
7. BUG FIXES ...........................................................................................................................5

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Runge Limited
XPAC 2005 and XPAC 2005 AutoScheduler Release Notes

1. XPAC 2005, Version 7.7.2

Public Release

1. Overview of Changes
XPAC 2005 (version 7.7.2) is contains a number of minor enhancements as well as
resolving a number of issues with previous versions of XPAC.

2. Important Notes
• Note: There is a backwards-compatible database upgrade in XPAC 7.7.2.
Databases will be upgraded when first opened in XPAC 7.7.2, but are still
able to be opened and used in all released versions of XPAC 7.7.
• For users running Windows XP with the new Service Pack 2, you will notice
that the Windows Firewall will detect a program called ‘Database Service
Manager’ (w3dbsmgr.exe) trying to access the network. This program is the
database engine XPAC uses for Large Model Support. It can be blocked by the
firewall without causing problems to XPAC.
• Additional validation is now performed by XPAC when opening databases to
ensure the consistency of the data. In some cases this may result in warnings of
inconsistencies when opening existing models in XPAC 2005, due to pre-
existing inconsistencies being detected. These inconsistencies can be repaired
by XPAC’s build-in repair tool – please contact Runge Support for assistance
with this tool.

3. Scheduling Enhancements
• There are now 2 extra objective types in the objective type combo - Expression
Objective have been renamed Both Expression, and the two new types are
Source Expression and Destination Expression. Previously the scheduler
determined when any expression objectives could be evaluated. It always
attempted to evaluate the expression objective after both the Source and
Destination were available to evaluate. This meant it was not possible to have
an expression objective affect the selection of a source block if prioritize
source was enabled and Auto Destination was enabled. Now, the different
types of expression objectives allow the user to select exactly at what phase of
the selection process the expression objective is evaluated. Existing expression
objectives will all be treated as Both Expression objectives.
• The scenario report has been enhanced to report more information for capacity
constraints, period constraints and proximity constraints, including the
destination settings for capacity and period constraints.
• Various error messages have been reviewed for clarity.
• Improvements to a number of user interface screens to detect invalid options
or combinations.

4. 3D Graphics Enhancements
• The annotation text displayed next to the resource icons during an animation
can now be customized. Options include displaying the resource name, the
record name, the activity number, and the activity name.

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Runge Limited
XPAC 2005 and XPAC 2005 AutoScheduler Release Notes

• The 3D graphics animation path view record column now honors the
display record number in structure flag.

5. Scripting Enhancements
Miscellaneous
• When running a script over a range, each record is checked to ensure it is still
present before trying to run the script over the record.

New Scripting Methods

• GetRowCodeFromNum – Returns the data field row code corresponding to
the row number in the specified database
• GetNumFields – Returns the number of fields in the specified database
• ReadValue – reads a value from a data field in the specified database; the
record is specified using names or APILs at each level
• WriteValue – writes a value to a data field in the specified database; the
record is specified using names or APILs at each level
• GetRecFromNameDB – returns the record number base on the record name
at each database level
• GetRecFromNameDBEx – returns the record number base on the record
name at each database level, including level 0
• CreateRecordDB – creates the specified record in the specified database
• ReducePolygonComplexity – eliminates duplicate or redundant points
in the specified polygon

See XCM Programming for more information on the new scripting methods.

Modified Scripting Methods

• CSum (report writer function) has been modified to accept row codes as strings
in addition to row numbers.
• ItemRemoved, the structure used by GetPSItem and GetMOQItem, has
two additional fields, RawReleasedPct and RawMinedPct, which return
the actual values that have been entered / imported, rather than the values
adjusted by ZTDF, etc.
• GetApil – added the database name as a default parameter
• GetNumChildren – added the database name as a default parameter
• GetLevelNum – added the database name as a default parameter
• IsValidRecNum – added the database name as a default parameter
• RemoveRecord – added the database name as a default parameter
• GetRecName – added the database name as a default parameter
• GetRecNumAtLevel – added the database name as a default parameter
• GetRecNameAtLevel – added the database name as a default parameter

See XCM Programming for more information on the modified scripting

methods.

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Runge Limited
XPAC 2005 and XPAC 2005 AutoScheduler Release Notes

Obsolete Scripting Methods

The following XCM methods are obsolete. They are no longer automatically
declared by XPAC for scripts to use. To continue using them, place the method
declaration listed below at the top of the script (above the Sub Main declaration).
• RenameRec
Declare Function RenameRec App (ByVal RecordNo As Long, ByVal sNewName As String) As
Boolean
• RNOEXDB
Declare Function RNOEXDB App (ByRef DbName As Variant, ByRef RepName As Variant, ByVal
sPath As String) As Long
• AtRec
Declare Function AtRec App (ByVal x As Long, ByVal y As Long) As Variant
• Add
Declare Sub Add App (ByVal RecNo As Long)
• OldCurveValue
Declare Function OldCurveValue App (ByRef xParam() As Double, ByRef yParam() As
Double, ByVal x As Double, ByVal CurveMode As Long) As Double
• QBColor
Declare Function QBColor App (ByVal iColor as integer) As Long
• ScanCircleReference
Declare Function ScanCircleReference App () As Boolean
• ScanCircleReferenceFrom
Declare Function ScanCircleReferenceFrom App (ByVal lRecord As Long) As Boolean

6. Miscellaneous Enhancements
• The level display on the bottom-right of the database window will now display
levels in blue if reverse APIL is turned on for that level
• Improvements to the repair tools to increase the cases it can handle
• The default width for the row number column in the database view is now
wide enough to accommodate up to 4 digits
• Updates to documentation
• Documentation is now stored in a separate directory under the main install
directory
• The sample data area of install has been updated with a new model and new
directory structure
• A new version of the Large Model Support database is included with XPAC
2005

7. Bug Fixes
• Minor UI fixes
• Scenario report no longer truncates the names of the dependency rule sets
• Polygons disappeared when zooming out in 3D graphics under certain
circumstances
• Fixed issue with scheduling to a stockpile using a classified field
• Fixed issue with project title not being correct in title bar under certain
circumstances
• “Last Report Writer Run” range was not updating when running a report
• Dependency rule sets sometimes appeared multiple times in the schedule setup
tree
• Fix to the report writer time scale not functioning correctly
• Fix for business graphics using an upper-level range

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Runge Limited
XPAC 2005 and XPAC 2005 AutoScheduler Release Notes

• Results database complained about PIL mismatch when generating a

report to the database
• Could not set a transparent background in a 3D graphics legend
• Period progress plot sometimes displaying incorrect shading when viewing at
an upper-level
• Viewing license file path and hitting cancel deregistered XPAC
• GetCurrentPeriod wouldn’t work in an expression objective
• Gantt chart bars were being merged incorrectly in certain cases
• Fixed < LAST EXPORT> option only saving if using fixed width
• Fixed an issue with 3D graphics animation path view not displaying correct
entries
• Expression objectives now run when destination is product and prioritize
source first is enabled (previously didn’t)
• AutoScheduler step size now always obeyed if prioritize source first is enabled
• Exporting a database to a TPL file when there are classified field values
containing commas now functions correctly
• Corrected issue where simulate, where it would sometimes incorrectly report
that there were circular references
• Errors in user processing or objectives scripts now always halt the schedule
immediately after the script has finished
• Many other minor fixes

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