A new whatIf? release is ready for download!  This release includes client software 4.6.0, an improved SAMM server 4.1.0, and a new set of TOOL tools 3.3.0.  It has some great new features to improve the model building experience and efficiency, as well many bug fixes and minor enhancements.

Here are some of the new features:

Significantly reduced need for the reorder tool binary tools.  The multiply, add, subtract, divide and all bool tools do not require specific ordering of the indices within the inputs objects anymore.  These tools match up the indices based on name.  This significantly simplifies the tool code and makes it more readable.  One re-order, however, may still be needed to get the output into the required shape.

norm and sum tools support multiple dimensions. Using the new parameters dim1, dim2, etc causes these tools to act over multiple dimensions.  This serves to simplify the tool code and make it more readable.

More error reporting from TOOL for missing, unused or erroneous parameters.  Tool will now stop and report an error when the parameters are not understood which will help create more accurate code and reduce obscure model coding errors.

SAMM Input Sets have been introduced to keep collections of conceptually related instances together.  This feature will allow for mixing and matching parts of scenarios to create new scenarios and is especially useful for analyzing the interaction between policies.

Automatic procedure editing when linked variable properties are changed.  When the modelbase name or indices change on a variable all the procedure boxes that are linked to this variable throughout the model will have their code updated to reflect the change.  Any locals will still have to be adjusted manually.

Improved search and replace from the diagram view.  The features of the search and replace dialog which is launched from the hierarchy or diagram view have been improved.   The replace code in procedures is now available and when searching for an index you can specify input and/or outputs.

Quick access to preferences is now available in all windows through the right click popup menu.

Automatic saving of view results for creview and fbviews after they complete is now available and can be turned on through the “Views” preferences.  This feature will ask you for instance names and scenario name you want to use if the view completes successfully.  The main advantage to this is you can start a view and do not have to be there when it completes to save it.

Diagram caching in SAMM.  When accessing the diagram from SAMM it will now cache the diagram on your client machine.  When the SAMM server is on a remote machine this will improve the time it takes to open the diagram for subsequent access to that diagram.  This will be most noticeable for those who have their models hosted at whatIf?

Run from here down (history too) for dimensional analysis is now available in the popup menu over the hierarchy tree in Documenter.  When running dimensional analysis, this feature allows you to continue from any point after fixing a problem in the middle.  In a large model this can be a significant time safer because the top part of the model will not be re-run each time.

Please see the release notes when you download the new software for a complete list of bug fixes.