Changes in WinKFZ 7.1

Documentation

• The PDF-version of the user manual has been replaced with a help file in the Windows Help format (CHM), thus allowing cross-references, a hierarchical table of contents, etc.

Map display / editor

• Massive optimisation of all graphics routines, resulting in up to 60% less redrawing of the map, thus reducing on-screen flickering and reducing the reaction times to mouse events.
• Addition of a secondary grid as a set of points within the primary grid.
• New mouse actions in the map display, including single-click panning and zooming.

Extended traffic data

• Data for traffic is now entered separately for single, weighted and time-series scenarios. This allows the user to set up a scenario including both weighted and time-series data, without having to maintain a separate project for each.
• Traffic data for time series can now be entered in more detail, e.g. absolute vehicle count data for separate vehicle categories.

Emission point elements

• New element class for inserting point- or circle-shaped emitters into a scenario.
• Emission levels are highly customisable, thus enabling the user to recreate virtually any real-life scenario that requires simulation.

Editing elements in the map viewport

• Moving element nodes (e.g. street nodes, or meteorological stations) can now be done in-viewport, and no longer requires the user to open the node editor.
• A tool is provided for cutting a multi-node element into two new elements.
• A tool to highlight the selected element in the viewport makes it easier to find smaller, hard-to-see elements (e.g. receptor points) in complex scenarios.
• In addition to splines representing a street, an extended outline can be added to represent the width of the street, or the traffic volume.
• In addition to splines representing a sound barrier, an extended outline can be added to represent the base and crest width of a mound.

Element layers

• User can add, edit and delete element layers.
• Elements can be assigned to these layers, either seperately, or using mass operations.
• In the viewport, separate layers can be displayed / hidden, to make working with very complex scenarios less daunting.

Windfield plot

• Meteorology data can be plotted as a set of windfield vectors.
• User can set up the height above ground and the resolution of the vector matrix to be displayed.

Simulation model

• Maximum size of the scenario has been increased from 500x500 to 1000x1000 cells.
• Minimum size of each cell has been lowered from 2.5m to 1m, thus allowing simulations at much higher resolutions.

Display of simulation results

• When displaying a time series, the single episodes of a simulation can be displayed separately. These images can also be compressed into a movie (AVI) file.
• A new colour palette replaces the outdated palette. This new set of colours is sorted with ascending "warmth", from blue to red. As an additional advantage, this colour scale remains interpretable when printed in greyscale. For compatibility reasons, the old colour palette is still available.
• When displaying a vertical profile, the topography under the profile is included. This makes hillside profiles clearer, and easier to interpret.
• Various extended display options (including receptor points in the plot, showing/hiding deactivated elements, etc.)

Macros

• WinKFZ 7.1 provides a fully developed and documented API for accessing a scenario's elements.
• Code editor is incorporated into the main window.
• Templates and examples are included.

User interface design

• Menus in the main window have been partially re-structured.
• Navigation bars in the main window can be set up to only appear when the mouse hovers over them. This increases the size of the viewport on screens with small resolutions.
• The contents of the new help file are available in the main window. Choosing a topic automatically opens the help file.

File format

• The file format has been adapted to increase speed and reliability when accessing files. Particularily large project files load noticably faster with the new format.
• Project files in the old (WinKFZ 7.0) format can still be opened, and are automatically converted to the new format when they are re-saved.

Miscellaneous

• Various bugs were removed.
• Numeous optimisations were implemented to increase reliability and speed of the software.