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The following is a list of changes that have been made to TOP VIEW ME Version 9.8 (whose predecessor was Version 9.71).
General Improvements:
•The new Connect Multiple Sections option enables you to connect multiple regular roof sections.
•Header size and angle (for Printer Plot and Export DXF only) as well as font (for Printer Plot only) can now be specified (see Header Information for further details).
•The Import Plan Image option now supports JPEG (24-bit RGB) images.
•The Print/Plot/Export option now enables Export DXF layer names to be specified via the Export Layers button.
•The Print/Plot/Export option now enables slope texts and slope arrows to be plotted explicitly.
Miscellaneous:
•The Dutch Gable Wizard option now adds a gable dormer with a triangular roof outline so that it is less likely to undesirably interact with the parent roof section.
•When specifying the detail material to be used for a non-automatic detail (via the Add Detail Between Points, Add Detail on Edge and Change Detail Material options) you can now indicate to use the detail material associated with the automatic detail specified in the current section's Section Defaults.
•When moving connected roof sections via the Move Roof Section option you are now able to select any roof section corner on the group of associated roof sections as the Locator Point.
•The Copy Roof Section and Copy Detail options now warn you if the object you have copied remains in the same place as the original after it has been repositioned.
•The Copy Roof Section and Mirror Roof Section options now copy/mirror all roof sections connected to the current roof section.
•Generation of automatic sidewall details has now been improved.
•Generation of automatic headwall details has now been improved.
•Help Lines can now be selected as the reference edge when using the Mirror Roof Section and Edge Adjust Low Area options.
•You can now specify the number of previously executed commands to appear on the Quick Menu via Quick Menu Settings.
•The Import DXF Image option now imports CIRCLE objects.
•Imported DXF image arc tips are now attachable.
•Non-obvious imported DXF image attachable points are now drawn on the screen.
•The metal panels report now displays the surface area per roof section (or per panel if doing a summary report).
•The Setup Quote Template option now defaults the font information to that of the last object added when opening an existing template.
Bug Fixes:
•The Import DXF Image option now correctly handles ARC objects.
•The Setup Quote Template option no longer crashes when canceling the addition of an object within a multi object.
•The Setup Quote Template option now correctly handles font sizes.
•New fixed text objects added via the Setup Quote Template option are now initialized to blank text.
The following is a list of changes that have been made to TOPVIEW ME Version 9.71 (whose predecessor was Version 9.7).
General Improvements:
•The new Check For Updates option displays a web page which contains the latest updates for TOPVIEW ME.
New Settings:
•You can now specify the interface units of measure (i.e. Imperial versus Metric) via Interface Settings.
Miscellaneous:
•The Renew Subscription option now displays the current subscription expiry date for your convenience.
Bug Fixes:
•The Section Summary option now allows a metal panel overlap up to half the metal panel length.
•The Inspect Details option no longer displays distance from previous detail point on first point of first detail.
•The Measure Distance option now only displays the rounded headings if necessary (i.e. when units are feet and inches).
•The unit of measure dialog box available in metal panel itemization (via the Setup Metal Panels option) is now correctly initialized when strip is specified.
•Various Roof Calculator option bugs regarding computing sloped distance information were fixed.
•Minor spelling and formatting mistakes were corrected in the Header Information help topic.
The following is a list of changes that have been made to TOPVIEW ME Version 9.7 (whose predecessor was Version 9.6).
General Improvements:
•Sentinel Pro™ security keys are no longer supported (i.e. a Sentinel Super Pro™ security key is now required).
•The Add Roof Section option now allows arcs (as a series of line segments that estimate the arc) to be added to regular roof sections (as well as dormers, cutouts and interior low areas).
•The Dutch Gable Wizard option now allows you to specify the width of the dutch gable by indicating the width on slope.
•The Add Detail Between Points and Add Detail on Edge options now enable you to quickly add multiple details using the specified properties (which may be quicker than having to specify properties for each individual detail).
•The Draw option now allows you to specify which layers on the currently imported DXF image are visible.
•The new Measure Scale option enables you to compute a desired scale by specifying the desired distance between two points. You may find this useful when trying to compute the scale of a drawing that you are digitizing or have entered at an incorrect scale.
•The Plan Image Properties option now allows you to specify a rotation angle so that you are able to rotate the imported plan image to an exact angle.
•The Print / Plot / Export option now allows you plot edge lengths.
•The Setup Materials Database option now allows you to copy materials.
•The Setup Project Templates option now allows you to copy project templates.
•TopView ME Files help topic (which describes all of the TOPVIEW ME files and folders) has been added.
New Settings:
•You can now specify the font size of printer plot edge lengths via Panel Length Sizing Settings.
Miscellaneous:
•Sentinel Super Pro™ security keys attached to remotely accessed computers are now supported.
•The maximum number of roof sections that can exist over the lifetime of a project has been increased to 1000. Note that the program will become more sluggish as the maximum number of roof sections is approached and some commands (especially those which need to estimate the project) may begin to take upwards of a couple of minutes or more to execute.
•The maximum number of details that can be added to a roof section has been increased to 1000.
•The Ortho and Attach modes are no longer reset between sessions.
•The Import DXF Image option now uses an initial default import scale of 12 inches per foot.
•When encountering an unrecognized huffman code, the Import Plan Image option will now import the plan image up until that point (instead of aborting altogether).
•The Import Plan Image option now imports CALS files which have an invalid rdensity.
•The Print/Plot/Export option now centers metal panel lengths better when doing an Export DXF.
•The Export Materials Database and Import Materials Database options now export/import all materials database information (now also including extras) because it is not useful to only import/export parts of the materials database. As well, the Import Materials Database option now allows you to append the imported information to the materials database (instead of always overwriting the materials database with the imported information).
•The abbreviation displayed for meters is now m (instead of M).
•Note that the Windows Vista operating system considers help files using the Windows Help Format (which is the format of this help file) obsolete and thus does not ship with WinHlp32.exe (which is required to view these help files). Therefore, to view this help file in Windows Vista you will need to download and install WinHlp32.exe from the Microsoft Download Center.
Bug Fixes:
•Roof section names ending in a period are now handled correctly.
•The Dormer Wizard, Dutch Gable Wizard and Eave Extension Wizard options now make sure that the maximum number of roof sections is not exceeded.
•The Copy Roof Section and Mirror Roof Section options now always copy/mirror all details.
•The Adjust Panel Offset and Adjust Tile Offset options now draw the panels and tiles using the correct color.
•The Adjust Tile Offset option now places the initial tile adjustment in the correct location plus no longer saves changes when aborted.
•Large arcs are now drawn using a different method which prevents bugs (such as a crashing when doing a Printer Plot and using the Outline plotting option).
•Zooming done via the Zoom In/Out Button and middle mouse button/wheel is now always done at a consistent rate regardless of the project scale.
•A minimum window size is now ensured which prevents potential drawing errors.
•The Message Bar is now always properly redrawn when the window is resized.
•The 3D View window is now always properly updated when the project is modified.
•The Add Help Line option now always allows help lines to be selected (whereas before they couldn't be selected if help lines hadn't intersected with anything).
•The reported plane areas are now computed based solely on the area of the roof planes; they no longer take into account the metal panel offsets and they are no longer affected by the size of the metal panel being used. These plane areas are now used when computing the quantity of substrate material as well as the total surface area.
The following is a list of changes that have been made to TOPVIEW ME Version 9.6 (whose predecessor was Version 9.5).
General Improvements:
•A valid subscription must now be purchased in order to use a Sentinel Super Pro™ security key with the TOPVIEW ME program (see Security and Renew Subscription for further details).
•The Dormer Wizard option now allows you to specify the dormer width by indicating either the horizontal width or the width on slope.
•The Dutch Gable Wizard option now allows you to specify a front overhang (the result being equivalent to adding an under hang regular roof section via the Add Roof Section option and then connecting it to the parent roof section via the Connect Section option). The appropriate overriding headwall detail can also be automatically added. Due to the front overhang now being able to be specified, the up on slope distance is now the on slope distance in feet from the lowest plane point to the headwall (instead of to the front of the dutch gable).
•The Point Adjust Roof Section, Add Point to Roof Section, Remove Point from Roof Section, Point Adjust Low Area, Add Point to Low Area and Remove Point from Low Area options now allow points on both the roof section and the low area to be modified at the same time (by pressing <Shift> during selection).
•The middle mouse button/wheel can now be used to pan/zoom (see Using the Mouse for further details).
•The Measure Distance option now allows you to measure the distance between non-existing points (such as between points on an imported plan image).
•The Plan Image Properties option now has an Invert Colors property which allows you to indicate whether the imported plan image colors should be inverted.
•The Print / Plot / Export option now has an Auto Scale feature which allows you to automatically set the plotting scale so that sections fit nicely within the plotting area.
•More digitizer button options have been added (see Setup Digitizer and Plotter for further details).
New Settings:
•The maximum number of Previous Projects that appear at the bottom of the File Menu (now defaulting to nine) can now be specified via Interface Settings.
•You can now specify the position of the section label via Interface Settings.
•You can now indicate whether the Print / Plot / Export option should auto center the plot preview via Interface Settings.
•When opening projects the previously imported plan image is now automatically imported. You can disable this feature via Interface Settings.
•You can now indicate whether the Import Plan Image option should initially invert colors via Interface Settings.
•Metal panel lengths can now have their fractional part of inches displayed in decimal or fractional form via Panel Length Units Settings.
•The Dormer Wizard, Dutch Gable Wizard and Eave Extension Wizard options can now be specified as repeatable commands via Repeatable Commands Settings.
Miscellaneous:
•The report and plot printers (which can be specified via Printer Setup) are now automatically reset to the Windows® default printer if the respective printer can't be found.
•Metric measurements of centimeters and millimeters can now be entered via the keyboard (see Entering Numerical Values for further details).
•The Add Roof Section option no longer redundantly prompts to select parent section when entering a cutout, interior low area, dormer or barrel dormer if only one parent section exists.
•The dimension lines drawn on the preview window of the Dormer Wizard, Dutch Gable Wizard and Eave Extension Wizard options now indicate whether an on slope distance is required.
•The parent roof section is now re-selected after using the Dormer Wizard, Dutch Gable Wizard and Eave Extension Wizard options.
•You are now prompted for information via a dialog box when using the Dormer Wizard option to adjust the overhangs of an existing dormer.
•The Match Edge option now initially prompts for other section's edge or point based on what was selected for current section.
•You are now prompted for information via a dialog box when using the Adjust Slope and Adjust All Slope options to adjust the slope.
•The Zoom, Zoom Current and Un-zoom options no longer prompt for drawing options (which can be specified via Draw).
•The printed 3D View no longer displays header information (project name, company name, time and date).
•The Import Plan Image option now also supports TIFF (LZW Bi-level compression) images.
•The Import Plan Image option can now import TIFF files which contain unnecessary fields using unsupported data types.
•The Reports option dialog box is now automatically sized to give a larger viewing window.
•The Print/Plot/Export option now displays the plot preview right away.
•The fixed detail type can now be specified for individual detail types via Setup Materials Database. Note that the fixed detail type is used to limit the details that are displayed in the Add Detail Between Points, Add Detail on Edge, Change Detail Material, Section Defaults, Section Summary and Setup Project Templates options. Note that the fixed detail type is used when computing the angle of appropriate non-automatic details. Due to this change it is recommended that the appropriate fixed detail type should be specified for each detail type and in turn the appropriate detail type should be specified for each detail.
•The confirmation prompts in the Import Materials Database option are now more descriptive (i.e. they now warn how current material data will be destroyed and replaced with imported information).
•Program web site addresses are now hyper linked (i.e. can be clicked on to bring up specified web site).
•Current and future settings local to individual projects are stored in the new SETTINGS.G80 file which resides in the TOPVIEW ME project .DIR directories.
Bug Fixes:
•The Dormer Wizard option now always correctly places the dormer when specifying the position via the keyboard.
•Parent roof sections are now more likely to correctly take into account dormer overhangs.
•The Rotate Roof Section option no longer rounds rotation angles specified via keyboard input.
•The Adjust Panel Offset and Adjust Tile Offset options no longer inappropriately modify the roof section when panning/zooming during the selection of the low area edge.
•Shed roofs now generate automatic rake details.
•Incorrect automatic details are now less likely to be applied to edges between connected roof sections.
•The Draw and Print / Plot / Export options no longer display the plane square footage.
•The Dormer Wizard, Dutch Gable Wizard and Eave Extension Wizard options no longer produce undesired error messages when adjusting the roof elevations while the 3D View window is visible.
•The Import Plan Image option now imports TIFF files which use the default RowsPerStrip.
•Reports now properly display panels for all combinations of minimum length, minimum length actions and panel length units of measure.
•Reports now no longer show metal panel subtotals when generating a totals only metal panel summary report.
•The Reports option now always initially displays the most recent report generated for the current project.
•The Setup Quote Template option now loads the complete Quote Template even when a zero length Quote Fixed Text object has been encountered.
The following is a list of changes that have been made to TOPVIEW ME Version 9.5 (whose predecessor was Version 9.4).
Note that the file structure for *.TVI files (which are used to store the defaults information for projects and templates) has changed. These files will be automatically updated as needed. We do not recommend attempting to open a project created with Version 9.5 with a prior version of TOPVIEW ME.
General Improvements:
•The Add Roof Section option now displays the lengths of the edges as they are added as well as the horizontal and vertical offsets.
•The Add Roof Section option now does automatic zooming when points are added outside of the drawing area.
•The Dormer Wizard option now enables you to specify the horizontal length of shed dormers.
•Dutch Gables can now be easily added to roofs by using dormers via the new Dutch Gable Wizard option.
•Connected roof sections can now be easily added to the current roof section in order to extend an eave via the new Eave Extension Wizard option.
•Flat sheets (i.e. the material which details are cut from) can now be estimated. Flat sheets can be added to the materials database via the Setup Materials Database option. Flat sheets can be specified for a roof section via the Section Defaults option. The flat sheet information will then be output on reports along with the detail information (see Generate Reports for further information).
New Settings:
•Interface Settings now enables you to specify how the screen should be redrawn after a roof section has been added via the Add Roof Section option. You are able to indicate if the Zoom Current option should be done afterwards as well as specify what Draw option drawing template should be used.
•You can now indicate whether or not the previous command should appear on the Quick Menu via Quick Menu Settings.
Miscellaneous:
•The Dormer Wizard option now allows the locator point to also be positioned on the front inside corners of the dormer (which take into account the side and front overhangs).
•Selecting roof sections by double clicking on them with the left mouse button (or by using the Section icon on the status bar) has been improved such that roof sections that lie on top of each other will each eventually be selected.
Bug Fixes:
•The Add Roof Section option now always correctly creates barrel roofs when specifying their width via the keyboard.
•The Rotate Roof Section option now always correctly rotates the roof section outline.
•Automatic headwall details are now properly added in Dutch Gable situations.
•The Import Materials Database option no longer imports materials if the Cancel button was pressed.
The following is a list of changes that have been made to TOPVIEW ME Version 9.4 (whose predecessor was Version 9.3).
General Improvements:
•SafeNet Sentinel Super Pro™ security keys are now supported (both parallel port and USB models). See Security for further details.
•When indicating the partial panel placement (via Section Defaults, Section Summary and Adjust Panel Offset) the At Both Ends option has been split into Single and Dual cases. The current At Both Ends option now indicates the At Both Ends (Single) option which means a single full panel is placed in the middle. The At Both Ends (Dual) option means two full panels are placed around the middle. In both cases the partial panels will be placed at the ends.
•The Attach and Ortho modes can now be toggled via <F10> and <F12>, respectively.
•The Print/Plot/Export option now exports tile lines on the TILE layer when doing an Export DXF.
•The Print/Plot/Export option now allows you to toggle thru various locator points when moving objects by pressing <J>.
•The %FILENAME special header (which displays the project filename on plots) can now specify whether or not the path name should be included (see Header Information for further details).
•The How Do I? help topic has been added which contains video answers to some common user questions.
Miscellaneous:
•An End-User License Agreement must now be accepted before running a new version of the program for the first time.
•Commands that adjust roof section elevation now ensure that no negative elevations are produced (by adjusting all roof sections appropriately).
•The Adjust Panel Offset and Adjust Tile Offset options now draw the currently imported DXF image as well as help lines (if desired).
•The Import DXF Image option now ignores TEXT objects which only contain white space.
•The Import Plan Image option now supports reversed bit ordering for TIFF (Uncompressed, Group 3 and Group 4) file types.
•Tab delimited report files now output the cost per unit of measure and price using four decimal places.
•The CPU time required for the program has been significantly reduced in cases when a digitizer is not being used. Therefore it is recommended that the Use Digitizer option be unchecked via Setup Digitizer and Plotter when a digitizer is not being used.
•Help topics now mention unit of measure where appropriate.
Bug Fixes:
•The Match Edge option now correctly adjusts only the current roof section as well as its appropriate child/dormer and connected roof sections.
•The Match Edge option now allows proper selection of edges as well as lists more appropriate roof sections to select second edge from.
•The Adjust Roof Elevation option now correctly adjusts the elevation of dormer and connected roof sections.
•The Import DXF Image option now correctly imports POLYLINE objects that contain arcs.
•Reports now handle panels correctly when specifying a minimum panel length exactly to the inch.
•Crashes caused by overriding printer properties has been eliminated.
The following is a list of changes that have been made to TOPVIEW ME Version 9.3 (whose predecessor was Version 9.2).
General Improvements:
•The Add Roof Section option now has a Multi Hip & Low Area feature which can be used to easily enter a regular section (with an optional cutout section) that consists of symmetrical equal length edges.
•The Add Roof Section option now allows the roof section to be closed using a mansard.
•When entering Barrel roof sections via the Add Roof Section option you now have the choice of specifying either the height of the barrel or the elevation angles (see Entering Barrel Sections for further details).
•The Dormer Wizard option now allows symmetrical barrel dormers to be added.
•The Add Detail on Edge option now attempts to add details to planar polygon edges first before attempting to add to roof section outline edges.
•The Match Edge option now also allows you to select individual points as well as edges.
•All roof sections can now be quickly connected and disconnected via the new Connect All Sections and Disconnect All Sections options.
•The Section Defaults option now allows fasteners to be measured per 100 square feet.
•The Add Help Line option now enables you to bisect two low area edges which will enter a help line where the two associated planes would meet.
•The Add Help Line option now enables you to place parallel, perpendicular and angled help lines by specifying the on slope distance.
•The Import DXF Image option now specifies the scale in inches per foot.
•The Import Plan Image and Plan Image Properties options now specify the scale in inches per foot.
•Same material details can now be combined on reports (thus ignoring their individual angles) using the new Combine Details option via Generate Reports.
•The colors specified in the Setup Colors option are now used when exporting a DXF file via the Print/Plot/Export option. Note that you may now have to update your CAD program if you are mapping specific colors to desired plotter pens.
•The Print/Plot/Export option now enables you to specify the monochrome attribute when doing an Export DXF.
•The 3D View option now defaults the polygon backside color to light gray (which can be changed via the Setup Colors option).
New Settings:
•Panel Length Units Settings now enables inches to be specified as the units.
Miscellaneous:
•The Dormer Wizard option now adds the roof section and low area in the recommended clockwise direction.
•The List Roof Sections option used for plotting now works independently of the one used for screen drawing.
•The VIEW3D.INI file information is now stored in the TOPVIEW.INI file which has been moved to the TOPVIEW ME directory. Note that the TOPVIEW.INI file is used to store program settings.
•The 3D View window can now be fully rotated so that it is easier to see underneath roof sections (which is useful when attempting to confirm that all planes have been generated correctly).
•Detail panels are now simply known as details.
•The per panel unit of measure is now known as the per piece unit of measure when dealing with details as well as items associated with details.
•A digitizer size of 44 x 60 can now be selected via Setup Digitizer and Plotter.
•Dialog boxes have been extended in order to display long project template and material names.
•Listboxes which contain both an ID# and a description are now formatted so that distinguishing between the two is easier.
Bug Fixes:
•The Connect Section option now correctly prevents the connecting of the current roof section to itself.
•The Map window is now always properly enabled after the Change Section Hierarchy option.
•The Adjust Panel Offset option has been improved in that now it is much more likely to properly adjust the panel offset for the desired roof plane.
•The Section Defaults and Section Summary options now always correctly set the metal panel width and length.
•The Section Defaults and Section Summary options no longer warn about having to reset bad cone/dome panel widths when dealing with non-cone/dome roof sections.
•The 3D View option no longer has odd drawing problems that were usually associated with barrel dormers.
•The 3D View option now properly displays the panel lines on barrel and barrel dormer roof sections.
•Panel Length Units Settings now take effect right away.
•All planes which are generated totally outside of roof outline are now properly ignored.
•The panels summary (for reports and plots) now correctly breaks apart information based on material, width and length.
•The plotted cutlist now properly displays the total minimum length panels required when using the accumulate option.
•The Setup Materials Database option now properly handles costs and markups that contain up to four decimal places.
•The Setup Metal Panels option now uses the specified effective width when calculating the square footage of panels.
•Border reference dots are no longer displayed if the resulting grid is too dense.
•2D Views on Quote Templates now always use the specified drawing option.
•The Setup Project Templates option now correctly allows project templates to be deleted.
The following is a list of changes that have been made to TOPVIEW ME Version 9.2 (whose predecessor was TOPVIEW Version 9.1).
Note that the program is now known as TOPVIEW ME (Metal Estimating).
Note that the file structure for *.TVI files (which are used to store the defaults information for projects and templates) has changed. These files will be automatically updated as needed. However, the cone/dome wedge angle is now specified in terms of a cone/dome panel width so you'll have to manually update previous projects containing cones/domes. We do not recommend attempting to open a project created with Version 9.2 with a prior version of TOPVIEW ME.
General Improvements:
•The Add Roof Section option now allows on slope distances to be specified by combining the <Shift> key with the normal <U> (up), <D> (down), <R> (right) and <L> (left) keys.
•The Section Defaults option now allows you to specify sidewall and headwall materials for automatic detailing purposes.
•Cone/Dome roof sections now have their panel size defined by panel width (rather than wedge angle) and the placement of the partial panel can now be specified (both done via the Section Defaults option).
•The Plan Image Properties option now enables you to specify the scale factor of the currently imported plan image by entering two points and indicating the distance between them.
•The project filename can now be plotted on drawings (see Header Information for further details).
•The Map Window now contains Zoom and Pan buttons which indicate what feature is currently executed by the mouse thus panning is no longer initiated via the <Shift> key (see Screen Description for further details).
New Settings:
•You can now specify how many decimal places of accuracy should be output when doing an Export DXF via Settings.
•You can now specify whether TEXT objects should be imported when using the Import DXF Image option via Interface Settings.
Miscellaneous:
•Automatic details are now overridden (if desired) by details added via the Add Detail Between Points and Add Detail on Edge options if their endpoints are encompassed by the overriding detail endpoints (instead of before when an exact matching of endpoints was required).
•The Erase Multiple Roof Sections option now only prompts once for confirmation that roof sections are about to be erased (instead of one for each individual roof section).
•The maximum number of headers allowed in a project has been increased to 1000.
•The Section Defaults option now arranges the various parameters in a more ordered fashion. As well, modifying the PROJECT section parameters enables you to update all roof sections at once (thus the Update All Sections button has been eliminated).
•The Import Plan Image option now also supports CALS (Raster Type 1 Untiled) images.
•The Import Plan Image option now also allows files of type .TIFF (TIFF Document), .CAL (CALS Document) and .OSP (On-Screen Takeoff) to be listed. Please let us know if there are any other file extensions you would like listed.
•The Import Plan Image help topic now describes how to convert a ratio scale (ex. 1:96) into a scale of inches per foot (ex. 0.125).
Bug Fixes:
•The Auto Backup feature, which is used when restoring projects that weren't saved properly, now works correctly.
•Panels in flat roof sections are now always correctly aligned with the first toggled on low area edge.
•Automatic details are now more correctly mapped to dormer edges.
•The Dormer overhangs now remain intact when using the Section Defaults option on the PROJECT section to update the parameters for all roof sections.
•The List Roof Sections option now only lists parent roof sections thus preventing drawing/plotting problems which occurred if children sections were selected.
•The 3D View option no longer enters an endless loop when displaying error messages.
•The Import Plan Image option now no longer incorrectly lists files with similar extensions.
•Cone roof sections are now reported on correctly with regards to total surface area as well as items and fasteners measured by area (square feet and 100 square feet).
•The View Reports option will no longer occasionally default to a tab delimited text report file.
•The total square feet of the plotted roof sections is now calculated correctly.
•Drawings at small scales are now done more accurately when doing an Export DXF via the Plot option.
•Arcs that have been moved on the plot preview are now drawn in the correct position when doing an Export DXF or DMPL plot via the Plot option.
•Crashing that occurs in some projects while drawing them has been eliminated.
The following is a list of changes that have been made to TOPVIEW Version 9.1 (whose predecessor was Version 9.01).
General Improvements:
•Miscellaneous information can now be added to a project via the Extras option and can then be output to reports via the Generate Reports option. The Setup Materials Database option also allows extras to be set up so that they can then be selected from when adding extras to a project.
•The planar polygon points of the currently selected roof section can now be Attached to when using the Add Roof Section option.
Bug Fixes:
•The Backup Project option now saves changes to the current project before backing it up.
•The planar polygon points of all roof sections can now be Attached to when PROJECT is the currently selected roof section.
•Memory leak during reporting of minimum panel lengths has been fixed.
•Roof sections with only two planes are more likely to generate correctly.
The following is a list of changes that have been made to TOPVIEW Version 9.01 (whose predecessor was Version 9.0).
Note that projects created with Version 9.0 are not compatible with Version 9.01. However, when you open a project created prior to Version 9.01 it will be automatically converted so that it is compatible with Version 9.01. Before the automatic converting is done you will be prompted on whether or not you want to create a backup copy of the project; you may want to do this if you want to keep a version of the project that will still be compatible with prior versions of TOP VIEW. We do not recommend attempting to open a project created with Version 9.01 with a prior version of TOP VIEW. Also note that the project template files (which have been stored in *.IFO files) are now stored in *.TVI files and they too will be automatically converted.
General Improvements:
•The Dormer Wizard option now enables you to specify either the elevation, edge length, ridge length or length on slope of the dormer.
•The Dormer Wizard option now enables you to position the dormer by specifying the on slope distance to the front of the dormer.
Miscellaneous:
•The Dormer Wizard option no longer requires you to specify the dormer length because it is now automatically calculated.
•The Dormer Wizard option now initializes the slope to the slope last used by this option.
•The Dormer Wizard option now has an improved dormer diagram which highlights the current feature you are specifying.
•The About option now displays information on both Automated Systems Research and Specwise.
TOPVIEW Version 9.0 is the first official release of TOPVIEW.
The following is a list of changes that have been made to TOPVIEW LE Version 9.71 (whose predecessor was Version 9.7).
General Improvements:
•The new Check For Updates option displays a web page which contains the latest updates for TOPVIEW LE.
Miscellaneous:
•The Renew Subscription option now displays the current subscription expiry date for your convenience.
Bug Fixes:
•The Inspect Details option no longer displays distance from previous detail point on first point of first detail.
•The Measure Distance option now only displays the rounded headings if necessary (i.e. when units are feet and inches).
•Various Roof Calculator option bugs regarding computing sloped distance information were fixed.
•Minor spelling and formatting mistakes were corrected in the Header Information help topic.
The following is a list of changes that have been made to TOPVIEW LE Version 9.7 (whose predecessor was Version 9.6).
General Improvements:
•Sentinel Pro™ security keys are no longer supported (i.e. a Sentinel Super Pro™ security key is now required).
•The Add Roof Section option now allows arcs (as a series of line segments that estimate the arc) to be added to regular roof sections (as well as dormers, cutouts and interior low areas).
•The Dutch Gable Wizard option now allows you to specify the width of the dutch gable by indicating the width on slope.
•The Add Detail Between Points and Add Detail on Edge options now enable you to quickly add multiple details using the specified properties (which may be quicker than having to specify properties for each individual detail).
•The Draw option now allows you to specify which layers on the currently imported DXF image are visible.
•The new Measure Scale option enables you to compute a desired scale by specifying the desired distance between two points. You may find this useful when trying to compute the scale of a drawing that you are digitizing or have entered at an incorrect scale.
•The Plan Image Properties option now allows you to specify a rotation angle so that you are able to rotate the imported plan image to an exact angle.
•The Setup Materials Database option now allows you to copy materials.
•The Setup Project Templates option now allows you to copy project templates.
Miscellaneous:
•Sentinel Super Pro™ security keys attached to remotely accessed computers are now supported.
•The maximum number of roof sections that can exist over the lifetime of a project has been increased to 1000. Note that the program will become more sluggish as the maximum number of roof sections is approached and some commands (especially those which need to estimate the project) may begin to take upwards of a couple of minutes or more to execute.
•The maximum number of details that can be added to a roof section has been increased to 1000.
•The Ortho and Attach modes are no longer reset between sessions.
•The Import DXF Image option now uses an initial default import scale of 12 inches per foot.
•When encountering an unrecognized huffman code, the Import Plan Image option will now import the plan image up until that point (instead of aborting altogether).
•The Import Plan Image option now imports CALS files which have an invalid rdensity.
•Note that the Windows Vista operating system considers help files using the Windows Help Format (which is the format of this help file) obsolete and thus does not ship with WinHlp32.exe (which is required to view these help files). Therefore, to view this help file in Windows Vista you will need to download and install WinHlp32.exe from the Microsoft Download Center.
Bug Fixes:
•Roof section names ending in a period are now handled correctly.
•The Dormer Wizard, Dutch Gable Wizard and Eave Extension Wizard options now make sure that the maximum number of roof sections is not exceeded.
•The Copy Roof Section and Mirror Roof Section options now always copy/mirror all details.
•Large arcs are now drawn using a different method which prevents bugs (such as a crashing when doing a Printer Plot and using the Outline plotting option).
•Zooming done via the Zoom In/Out Button and middle mouse button/wheel is now always done at a consistent rate regardless of the project scale.
•A minimum window size is now ensured which prevents potential drawing errors.
•The Message Bar is now always properly redrawn when the window is resized.
•The 3D View window is now always properly updated when the project is modified.
•The Add Help Line option now always allows help lines to be selected (whereas before they couldn't be selected if help lines hadn't intersected with anything).
The following is a list of changes that have been made to TOPVIEW LE Version 9.6 (whose predecessor was Version 9.4).
General Improvements:
•A valid subscription must now be purchased in order to use a Sentinel Super Pro™ security key with the TOPVIEW LE program (see Security and Renew Subscription for further details).
•The Add Roof Section option now displays the lengths of the edges as they are added as well as the horizontal and vertical offsets.
•The Add Roof Section option now does automatic zooming when points are added outside of the drawing area.
•The Dormer Wizard option now enables you to specify the horizontal length of shed dormers.
•The Dormer Wizard option now allows you to specify the dormer width by indicating either the horizontal width or the width on slope.
•Dutch Gables can now be easily added to roofs by using dormers via the new Dutch Gable Wizard option.
•Connected roof sections can now be easily added to the current roof section in order to extend an eave via the new Eave Extension Wizard option.
•The Point Adjust Roof Section, Add Point to Roof Section, Remove Point from Roof Section, Point Adjust Low Area, Add Point to Low Area and Remove Point from Low Area options now allow points on both the roof section and the low area to be modified at the same time (by pressing <Shift> during selection).
•The middle mouse button/wheel can now be used to pan/zoom (see Using the Mouse for further details).
•The Measure Distance option now allows you to measure the distance between non-existing points (such as between points on an imported plan image).
•The Plan Image Properties option now has an Invert Colors property which allows you to indicate whether the imported plan image colors should be inverted.
•The Print / Plot / Export option now has an Auto Scale feature which allows you to automatically set the plotting scale so that sections fit nicely within the plotting area.
•More digitizer button options have been added (see Setup Digitizer and Plotter for further details).
•TopView LE Files help topic (which describes all of the TOPVIEW LE files and folders) has been added.
New Settings:
•You can now indicate whether the Print / Plot / Export option should auto center the plot preview via Interface Settings.
•The maximum number of Previous Projects that appear at the bottom of the File Menu (now defaulting to nine) can now be specified via Interface Settings.
•You can now specify the position of the section label via Interface Settings.
•Interface Settings now enables you to specify how the screen should be redrawn after a roof section has been added via the Add Roof Section option. You are able to indicate if the Zoom Current option should be done afterwards as well as specify what Draw option drawing template should be used.
•When opening projects the previously imported plan image is now automatically imported. You can disable this feature via Interface Settings.
•You can now indicate whether the Import Plan Image option should initially invert colors via Interface Settings.
•You can now indicate whether or not the previous command should appear on the Quick Menu via Quick Menu Settings.
•The Dormer Wizard, Dutch Gable Wizard and Eave Extension Wizard options can now be specified as repeatable commands via Repeatable Commands Settings.
Miscellaneous:
•Selecting roof sections by double clicking on them with the left mouse button (or by using the Section icon on the status bar) has been improved such that roof sections that lie on top of each other will each eventually be selected.
•The report and plot printers (which can be specified via Printer Setup) are now automatically reset to the Windows® default printer if the respective printer can't be found.
•Metric measurements of centimeters and millimeters can now be entered via the keyboard (see Entering Numerical Values for further details).
•The Add Roof Section option no longer redundantly prompts to select parent section when entering a cutout, interior low area, dormer or barrel dormer if only one parent section exists.
•The Dormer Wizard option now allows the locator point to also be positioned on the front inside corners of the dormer (which take into account the side and front overhangs).
•You are now prompted for information via a dialog box when using the Dormer Wizard option to adjust the overhangs of an existing dormer.
•The dimension lines drawn on the preview window of the Dormer Wizard, Dutch Gable Wizard and Eave Extension Wizard options now indicate whether an on slope distance is required.
•The parent roof section is now re-selected after using the Dormer Wizard, Dutch Gable Wizard and Eave Extension Wizard options.
•The Match Edge option now initially prompts for other section's edge or point based on what was selected for current section.
•You are now prompted for information via a dialog box when using the Adjust Slope and Adjust All Slope options to adjust the slope.
•The Zoom Selection, Zoom Current and Un-zoom options no longer prompt for drawing options (which can be specified via Draw).
•The printed 3D View no longer displays header information (project name, company name, time and date).
•The Import Plan Image option now also supports TIFF (LZW Bi level compression) images.
•The Import Plan Image option can now import TIFF files which contain unnecessary fields using unsupported data types.
•The Reports option dialog box is now automatically sized to give a larger viewing window.
•The Print/Plot/Export option now displays the plot preview right away.
•Listboxes which contain both an ID# and a description are now formatted so that distinguishing between the two is easier.
•The fixed detail type can now be specified for individual detail types via Setup Materials Database. Note that the fixed detail type is used to limit the details that are displayed in the Add Detail Between Points, Add Detail on Edge, Change Detail Material, Section Defaults, Section Summary and Setup Project Templates options. Note that the fixed detail type is used when computing the angle of appropriate non-automatic details. Due to this change it is recommended that the appropriate fixed detail type should be specified for each detail type and in turn the appropriate detail type should be specified for each detail.
•The confirmation prompts in the Import Material Text File option are now more descriptive (i.e. they now warn how current material data will be destroyed and replaced with imported information).
•Program web site addresses are now hyper linked (i.e. can be clicked on to bring up specified web site).
•Current and future settings local to individual projects are stored in the new SETTINGS.G80 file which resides in the TOPVIEW LE project .DIR directories.
Bug Fixes:
•The Add Roof Section option now always correctly creates barrel roofs when specifying their width via the keyboard.
•The Dormer Wizard option now always correctly places the dormer when specifying the position via the keyboard.
•Parent roof sections are now more likely to correctly take into account dormer overhangs.
•The Rotate Roof Section option no longer rounds rotation angles specified via keyboard input.
•The Rotate Roof Section option now always correctly rotates the roof section outline.
•Shed roofs now generate automatic rake details.
•Automatic headwall details are now properly added in Dutch Gable situations.
•Incorrect automatic details are now less likely to be applied to edges between connected roof sections.
•The Dormer Wizard, Dutch Gable Wizard and Eave Extension Wizard options no longer produce undesired error messages when adjusting the roof elevations while the 3D View window is visible.
•The Import Plan Image option now imports TIFF files which use the default RowsPerStrip.
•The Import Material Text File option no longer imports materials if the Cancel button was pressed.
•The Reports option now always initially displays the most recent report generated for the current project.
•The Setup Quote Template option now loads the complete Quote Template even when a zero length Quote Fixed Text object has been encountered.
The following is a list of changes that have been made to TOPVIEW LE Version 9.4 (whose predecessor was Version 9.3).
General Improvements:
•SafeNet Sentinel Super Pro™ security keys are now supported (both parallel port and USB models). See Security for further details.
•The Attach and Ortho modes can now be toggled via <F10> and <F12>, respectively.
•The Print/Plot/Export option now allows you to toggle thru various locator points when moving objects by pressing <J>.
•The %FILENAME special header (which displays the project filename on plots) can now specify whether or not the path name should be included (see Header Information for further details).
Miscellaneous:
•An End-User License Agreement must now be accepted before running a new version of the program for the first time.
•Commands that adjust roof section elevation now ensure that no negative elevations are produced (by adjusting all roof sections appropriately).
•The Import DXF Image option now ignores TEXT objects which only contain white space.
•The Import Plan Image option now supports reversed bit ordering for TIFF (Uncompressed, Group 3 and Group 4) file types.
•Tab delimited report files now output the price using four decimal places.
•The CPU time required for the program has been significantly reduced in cases when a digitizer is not being used. Therefore it is recommended that the Use Digitizer option be unchecked via Setup Digitizer and Plotter when a digitizer is not being used.
•Help topics now mention unit of measure where appropriate.
Bug Fixes:
•The Match Edge option now correctly adjusts only the current roof section as well as its appropriate child/dormer and connected roof sections.
•The Match Edge option now allows proper selection of edges as well as lists more appropriate roof sections to select second edge from.
•The Adjust Roof Elevation option now correctly adjusts the elevation of dormer and connected roof sections.
•The Import DXF Image option now correctly imports POLYLINE objects that contain arcs.
•Crashes caused by overriding printer properties has been eliminated.
The following is a list of changes that have been made to TOPVIEW LE Version 9.3 (whose predecessor was Version 9.2).
General Improvements:
•The Add Roof Section option now has a Multi Hip & Low Area feature which can be used to easily enter a regular section (with an optional cutout section) that consists of symmetrical equal length edges.
•The Add Roof Section option now allows the roof section to be closed using a mansard.
•When entering Barrel roof sections via the Add Roof Section option you now have the choice of specifying either the height of the barrel or the elevation angles (see Entering Barrel Sections for further details).
•The Dormer Wizard option now allows symmetrical barrel dormers to be added.
•The Add Detail on Edge option now attempts to add details to planar polygon edges first before attempting to add to roof section outline edges.
•The Match Edge option now also allows you to select individual points as well as edges.
•All roof sections can now be quickly connected and disconnected via the new Connect All Sections and Disconnect All Sections options.
•The Add Help Line option now enables you to bisect two low area edges which will enter a help line where the two associated planes would meet.
•The Add Help Line option now enables you to place parallel, perpendicular and angled help lines by specifying the on slope distance.
•The Import DXF Image option now specifies the scale in inches per foot.
•The Import Plan Image and Plan Image Properties options now specify the scale in inches per foot.
•The reported roofing material can now be summarized by slope using the new By Slope and Slope Summary options via Generate Reports.
•Same material details can now be combined on reports (thus ignoring their individual angles) using the new Combine Details option via Generate Reports.
•The colors specified in the Setup Colors option are now used when exporting a DXF file via the Print/Plot/Export option. Note that you may now have to update your CAD program if you are mapping specific colors to desired plotter pens.
•The Print/Plot/Export option now enables you to specify the monochrome attribute when doing an Export DXF.
•The 3D View option now defaults the polygon backside color to light gray (which can be changed via the Setup Colors option).
New Settings:
•Measure Parameters Settings now enables inches to be specified as the units.
Miscellaneous:
•The Dormer Wizard option now adds the roof section and low area in the recommended clockwise direction.
•The List Roof Sections option used for plotting now works independently of the one used for screen drawing.
•The VIEW3D.INI file information is now stored in the TOPLIGHT.INI file which has been moved to the TOPVIEW LE directory. – Note that the TOPLIGHT.INI file is used to store program settings.
•The 3D View window can now be fully rotated so that it is easier to see underneath roof sections (which is useful when attempting to confirm that all planes have been generated correctly).
•Detail panels are now simply known as details.
•The per panel unit of measure is now known as the per piece unit of measure when dealing with details as well as items associated with details.
•A digitizer size of 44 x 60 can now be selected via Setup Digitizer and Plotter.
Bug Fixes:
•The Connect Section option now correctly prevents the connecting of the current roof section to itself.
•The Map window is now always properly enabled after the Change Section Hierarchy option.
•The 3D View option no longer has odd drawing problems that were usually associated with barrel dormers.
•Measure Parameters Settings now take effect right away.
•All planes which are generated totally outside of roof outline are now properly ignored.
•The Setup Materials Database option now properly handles costs and markups that contain up to four decimal places.
•Border reference dots are no longer displayed if the resulting grid is too dense.
•The Setup Project Templates option now correctly allows project templates to be deleted.
The following is a list of changes that have been made to TOPVIEW LE Version 9.2 (whose predecessor was Version 9.1).
Note that the file structure for *.MPI files (which are used to store the defaults information for projects and templates) has changed. These files will be automatically updated as needed. However, the cone/dome wedge angle is now specified in terms of a cone/dome panel width so you'll have to manually update previous projects containing cones/domes. We do not recommend attempting to open a project created with Version 9.2 with a prior version of TOPVIEW LE.
General Improvements:
•The Add Roof Section option now allows on slope distances to be specified by combining the <Shift> key with the normal <U> (up), <D> (down), <R> (right) and <L> (left) keys.
•The Section Defaults option now allows you to specify sidewall and headwall materials for automatic detailing purposes.
•Cone/Dome roof sections now have their panel size defined by panel width (rather than wedge angle) and the placement of the partial panel can now be specified (both done via the Section Defaults option).
•The project filename can now be plotted on drawings (see Header Information for further details).
•The Map Window now contains Zoom and Pan buttons which indicate what feature is currently executed by the mouse thus panning is no longer initiated via the <Shift> key (see Screen Description for further details).
New Settings:
•You can now specify how many decimal places of accuracy should be output when doing an Export DXF via Interface Settings.
•You can now specify whether TEXT objects should be imported when using the Import DXF Image option via Interface Settings.
Miscellaneous:
•Automatic details are now overridden (if desired) by details added via the Add Detail Between Points and Add Detail on Edge options if their endpoints are encompassed by the overriding detail endpoints (instead of before when an exact matching of endpoints was required).
•The Erase Multiple Roof Sections option now only prompts once for confirmation that roof sections are about to be erased (instead of one for each individual roof section).
•The maximum number of headers allowed in a project has been increased to 1000.
•The Import Plan Image option now also supports CALS (Raster Type 1 Untiled) images.
•The Import Plan Image option now also allows files of type .TIFF (TIFF Document), .CAL (CALS Document) and .OSP (On-Screen Takeoff) to be listed. – Please let us know if there are any other file extensions you would like listed.
•The Import Plan Image help topic now describes how to convert a ratio scale (ex. 1:96) into a scale of inches per foot (ex. 0.125).
Bug Fixes:
•Automatic details are now more correctly mapped to dormer edges.
•The Dormer overhangs now remain intact when using the Update All Sections button on the Section Defaults option to update the parameters for all roof sections.
•Different roofing materials are now properly separated when they are summarized on reports.
•The View Reports option will no longer occasionally default to a tab delimited text report file.
•Crashing that occurs in some projects while drawing them has been eliminated.
TOPVIEW LE Version 9.1 is the first official release of TOPVIEW LE.
The following is a list of changes that have been made to TOPVIEW SE Version 1.1 (whose predecessor was Version 1.0).
Note that all Version 1.0 projects and auxiliary files are totally compatible with Version 1.1.
General Improvements:
•A valid subscription must now be purchased in order to use the TOPVIEW SE program (see Security and Renew Subscription for further details).
Miscellaneous:
•The Add Help Line option now allows you to add the desired bisecting help line by selecting the edges in the general location you want to bisect between.
•The Import Plan Image option now also allows files of type .IVS (Builders Exchange) to be listed. Please let us know if there are any other file extensions you would like listed.
•The Save New Positions to Header Layout option (via Plot) now also saves the position of the roof sections (including dimensions, notes and arrows) by updating the Drawing Area header appropriately (see Header Information for further details).
Bug Fixes:
•The lower coordinate box now always correctly displays the offset from the previous point item when adding a point item.
•The Add Help Line option is now more likely to be successful when bisecting the angle between two parallel edges.
•Line intersection computation has been improved (especially at smaller scales involving horizontal and vertical lines).
TOPVIEW SE Version 1.0 is the first official release of TOPVIEW SE.
