Version 6.00.05 - Pre-release

Removed Browse for Folder Dialog

Removed the “Browse for Folder” dialog from the program. This dialog could cause long load times when browsing folders over a network and was unable to open virtual folders. This dialog was used to import radio files, antenna files and DEM files in to their respective indexes. It was also used in a handful of other places to select folders.

The old dialog has been replaced with the standard Windows Folder Picker. The control panel of the radio and antenna indexes has been modified to accommodate this. The import button has been replaced with 2 buttons: “Import Files” and “Import Folder Subfolders”. The import files button allows you to select the individual equipment files to index. The Import Folders Subfolders button will prompt to select a folder and then import all relevant files in that folder including all folders in and under it.

A Clear Index button has also been added to the Equipment index controls. 

Child Window Keyboard Control and UI

The Escape key now works to close most pop-up windows in Pathloss. This includes the ‘worksheets’ style windows (Path Parameters and Transmission Analysis equipment windows), ‘grid control’ style windows (Site List, Equipment Indexes) and the Options Windows (Calculation, Program, and Network).

The Options windows and the worksheet style windows will prompt to keep changes if any might have occurred with ‘Yes’ to keep changes selected by default. Clicking the windows close 'x' in the upper right corner of the window operates identically. Note that clicking the red X in the options window now cancels changes without prompt.

Previously, the escape key only functioned in worksheet windows to clear a cell and begin editing.

The Delete key now functions in worksheets to delete cell contents the same as F3. The Delete key in the Grid Control style indexes (Site List, Equipment Index, etc.) now  deletes the current row; identical to the Ctrl-Y or the Delete Item menu command.

In worksheets windows, the Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V accelerator keys will now copy and paste data in the highlighted cell. When editing a cell, the Escape key now cancels the edit and leaves the cell unchanged. Here are all the keyboard commands used in the worksheets windows:

• Enter / Space – Begin editing existing cell contents or toggle checkbox or open drop-down menu
• Escape – Cancel current edit; otherwise, close window (prompting to keep changes)
• F2 – Begin editing existing cell contents
• Delete or F3 – Erase cell contents
• F4 – Copy Adjacent cell contents
• F9 – Reset cell to value on entry
• Ctrl-C – Copy highlighted cell data to clipboard. 
• Ctrl-V – Paste in to highlighted cell.

Text Import Dialogs

The text import dialog boxes (Site, Link, Base station, ODBC) have been updated. The dialogs are now resizable so you can display more of the text being imported.

If the starting import line is set to a value greater than 1, the text display will still display the line previous to the start of the data. If the line contains header information, it will be visible during the column definition phase. The line will be highlighted to show it is not being included in the import.

New Link Design Rules File Extension (.ld6)

Link design rules files are now saved as Version 6 .ld6 files. At this time, the file format has not changed, but can take on calculation values that are not valid in Pathloss 5. Pathloss 6 can load and use Version 5 .ld5 files without any extra steps. If you attempt to save an .ld5 file whether with a menu item or by saving changes on exit, you will be presented with a File Save Dialog to create the filename with the Version 6 .ld6 extension.

Multiband and Carrier Aggregation

Some radio environment data and the co-channel operation setting were being treated as common to the link and not as parameters specific to a band. This has been corrected so that each band will use its own set of these values.

The capacities of links and bands used in the carrier aggregation operation are now multiplied by the number of active channels. In addition to this, if XPIC (Co-channel) operation is enabled, the capacity is doubled. 

The Carrier Aggregation Chart Display has been given a cleaner design, removing the vertical lines separating states and displaying a clear plot line. Hovering the mouse over the display shows the capacity and availability of the cursor location. Left clicking still selects the state and shows the detailed information in the output panel.

Network Window Toolbar

Relevant toolbar buttons now toggle up-down to show the active mouse cursor mode. Cleaned up button images.

Download Update Streamlining

Main Program menu item Help – Check for Updates now automatically populates the download webpage with the active program serial number, when the user clicks the update link.

Minimum K Operation

Added a blue arrow button to the second clearance criteria cells in the Set Clearance Criteria worksheet. Clicking the blue arrow will populate the cell with the minimum K value - provided a path length is available.

Also Added “Minimum K” command to the Operations menu of the Antenna Heights module. (The same operation that is already in the diffraction module - displays the minimum K according to ITU 530-17)

Additional Changes

ITU P.530-8 calculates correctly when using Edit-Modify Links. Previously an error indication the Geoclimatic factor was missing. 

Made a change to the window drawing routine to try and correct the links and sites not drawing when Tiled map backdrop is not being displayed.

When the ITU rain source is changed from the drop-down list in the Rain worksheet, the other rain data sources are cleared so only the value in use is shown. The other rates can be shown again for comparison by clicking on the blue arrows. In general, the worksheets don’t allow a user to enter or remove a value that would invalidate a calculation.