Main Changes in StrataBugs v3.0
StrataBugs v3.0 retains most of the features of v2.1.1 and has the following changes and new features. The v3.0 data model has also been changed to incporporate some featues still under development.
Integrated maps
Charts can contain map blocks which can show data from shape files, well positions, and well data. The blocks can be integrated with other block types in the same charts. To use this feature you must have geographical coordinates set for your well points. If you have this information in spread sheets then they can be added to the well headers via the Organiser.
Chart annotations
Charts can be annotated with blocks of text with arrows pointing to features of interest. This is a similar concept to highlighting a point on a chart using Powerpoint for example, but the "anchor" point on the chart is retained if the block is moved or the depth range or scale is changed, making it easier to edit charts that are annotated in this way.
Document storage
PDF documents can be stored in the database to link with wells and interpretations, to allow you to incorporate historic well reports alongside up to date well data. The documents can be displayed in an internal PDF viewer.
Composite Standards and Events
We have modified the definition of events and event "prefixes" to allow a higher range of prefix types to be used, e.g. FCO for Common occurrence instead of FDO for downhole occurrence. We have allowed an event to be recorded as as top, base or single event, rather than needing to specifiy the event type as "ranged" or "non-ranged".
Composite standards can "inherit" their events from a parent composite - this allows you to create local composite standards which retain the ranges of taxa from the parent scheme but overriding ranges for some taxa in a local scheme.
Expansion of data fields
Where necessary we have extended the field size of some data fields, and expanded the range of well header fields, to improve searching in large databases. There are many minor database changes which are yet to be developed fully into new features. incorporating the changes in the initial switch to v3.0 will ensure that the database format remains stable during each sucessive 3.0.x release. We have expanded the available hierachy levels in lithostratigraphy schemes and added megasequences.
Server Application
Alongside the 3.0 client software we are also releasing a new server application. This is a separate application which can optionally run on a server machine and provide some StrataBugs data "on-demand" through an API. There is also a web brwoser interface to the data, to allow easy viewing of data available in StrataBugs to anyone in your Organisation through a web brwoser. Contact us if you are interested in running this in your organisation.
Licence flexibility
We are no longer supporting the physical dongle for licensing. We are able to use a new self-assigned licensing system where as a ocal administrator your can deploy your licenses to machines of your choice. We also offer a subscription licensing model with no upfront licensing cost.
Legacy charts application and databases
We no longer support the old chart application, and it is not included in the download. The database will still retain the legacy chart layout and they can still be imported into the charting module if you need them. The Access database type is no longer supported.
A note on version numbers
Major
The version number move from 2.x to 3.x marks a significant change to the data model. This will require copying and converting data from a previous version before it can be used in the latest version. installation and use of v3.0 will not affect any previous version installed. Once the data are copied it is independent of the source database.
Minor
A version number change from 3.0 to 3.1 will require a new installation of binaries and some data model changes, but an existing database could be modified rather than extracted and loaded into a new instance. There may be internal platform changes such as new library files or a new version of the java system.
Incremental
Each new release of the binaries will increase the lowest version number from, say 3.0.5 to 3.0.6. The launcher will use the newest version of the binaries available. Binary versions in this series will all be compatible with the database, but newer versions may incoporate new features or bug fixes. If you have installed the client application using the installer, then you will need to re-install it for each minor version change.