Month: March 2022
Does StrataBugs run on Windows 11?
We are getting asked increasingly if StrataBugs is compatible with Windows 11. The chances are that if you’re in the market for a new PC, then it will come pre-installed with Windows 11, or be eligible for a Windows 11 upgrade. You may or may not welcome the new look and feel, but the good news is that we have found no compatibility issues with any version of StrataBugs.
We’ve only tested back as far as v2.1, but if you’re running an older version, why? Well, if you really have to, it will probably still run OK.
The new, more rounded window style, and slimmer scroll bars carries into the application and so far we’ve not spotted any functional problems. It’s up to you to decide whether to run with it, but don’t let StrataBugs stand in your way.
Bug in recalibrating sequence schemes
All types of schemes are scaled using abolute ages, which is why we tie biozone, sequence and composite standards to a chronostratigraphic scheme. The chronostrat scheme gives a reference to the age scale used in those related schemes. What happens when there is a new timescale published, like GTS2020?
Moving the boundary ages in a chronostratigraphic scheme can have basically two effects on the schemes which relate to it. Either the boundaries and events in the previous scheme move with the new boundary changes, or, zones and events find themselves in different chronostratigraphic units as a result of the change.
Recalibrating
There has long been an option in the Schemes and Interpretations module to Recalibrate schemes, and this option makes the assumption that the former of the two conditions is always true: that if a chronostratigraphic unit changes its boundary age, then all the related content in linked schemes will change accordingly, and a new scheme can be saved where the boundary ages align with the new version of the timescale.
This works pretty well as a first pass way to create new versions of your schemes. however, for sequence schemes we’ve recently been alterted to a bug whereby the surfaces of the new scheme are not created: instead, the surfaces of the original scheme are updated. This of course isn’t the desired result!
The bug has been corrected in all current releases: v2.1.1, v2.1.1-14, and the test v3.0. Until you have updated to the latest version after 24 Mar 2022, do not use the recalibration tool for sequence schemes.
If you have previously done this and not spotted the resulting erroneous surface ages, then you can correct back to the original values by re-importing an XML/SBG file containing the original scheme, and during the import process use the “Update Surfaces” button to change the surface ages back to the original values. Contact us if you need further help.
No well data are affected by this.
StrataBugs 3.0 pre-release available
We have made available a pre-release version of StrataBugs 3.0 to allow interested users to help us test the system ready for release. Many of you have have previously expressed an interest in testing the new features, but we also need to make sure the existing functionality is unaffected with all the changes we have made.
If you are a StrataBugs user and entitled to a v3.0 licence, you can download the test release. Some of you will already have a v3.0 licence, others might need to contact us to get an updated licence file.
In this phase, we want to ensure that the changes to the database (the data model) do not require further changes before the full release, so we cannot guarantee that the database structure will stay the same as the final release. We therefore ask that any data you wish to work on are copied out of, or back into your existing 2.1.1 database, so that your database can be converted again when we provide the full production release.
To get started with v3.0 go to the download page and follow the instructions. Open the Help, and the learning trail for v3.0 to see a brief description of the new features. Currently we do not have a download bundle for Mac users, this will be available shortly.
The learning trail and the rest of the documentation still require further work, most of the help still relates to v2.1.1.
During the pre-release phase we will be making incremental update releases on a regular basis. Once we have reached the point of a production release, we will fix the data model for v3.0 but the applications will continue to be updated as part of our continuous product development. This means that once released, you will be able to convert your database to v3.0 and it will not need further conversion until we release v3.1.
Thank you for your patience.