APSIM 7.0 release notes

24th April 2009

Directory restructure

The installed APSIM directory structure has changed. Under c:\program files\apsim70, there are directories called Model (for all binaries), Documentation, Examples and User Interface (for all user interface files). This change has resulted in a much smaller installation as the full testing suite no longer needs to be installed on users computers.

New module names

Several APSIM modules have been renamed.

SoilWat2 becomes SoilWat
SoilN2 becomes SoilN
Fertiliz becomes Fertiliser
PigeonP becomes PigeonPea
Irrigate becomes Irrigation
Operatns becomes Operations
APSwim becomes SWIM2
SoilT becomes SurfaceTemp

These changes will have no impact on those using the APSIM user interface. For those users who use CON/PAR files, their files will be automatically upgraded to use the new names.

APSIM runtime speed

APSIM 6.1 was somewhat slower at running simulations than APSIM 6.0. This has now been fixed so that APSIM 7 runtime speed is similar to APSIM 6.0.

PLANT2

Migration of the existing generic PLANT model to C#.net has begun. Currently two experimental crops (vine and broccoli) are now operating in PLANT2.

PLANT

The ongoing development of PLANT has now moved to maintenance only. All new development efforts now focus on PLANT2.

User Interface

An APSIM.info Google web search capability has been added to the user interface under the help menu.
The link to ApsimOutlook has been removed from the user interface and replaced with a new "Insert New Graph" button.
Many new examples have been added to the user interface eg. upland and paddy rice simulations.
The Memo component in the user interface is now plain text so that the search capability can search for the text within the component.
In ApsimUI the predicted LL values for vertosols are now used if necessary when running APSIM.
In ApsimUI, multiple reporting frequencies are now supported and work correctly.
The graphics capability of the user interface has been reworked making it more flexible.

Charts can now be printed and exported to bitmap files.
Predicted / Observed charts are now supported.
Cumulative plots are now supported.
Depth plots have been fixed
Multiple plots are now supported on a single chart
Multiple charts can now be inserted on a report

New Graph option in Windows Explorer

A new graph option is now available in Windows Explorer when right clicking on .out files. This will load a new "ApsimGraph" package that allows you to build charts in a similar manner to APSVis. This package uses the same technology as the APSIM user interface. Graphs can be copied and pasted to simulation files if nedded.

SoilWat

A new runoff event has been added to SoilWat

Oryza

SWIM capability has been added to Oryza.
Fix for cold temperature and grain sterility bugs.
Fix for spikelet sterility.

Graz

Dead stems are now eaten properly.
Supplements can be set from manager.

AusFarm STOCK and PASTURE

The APSIM user interface examples that use the STOCK and PASTURE models from AusFarm have been simplified making it easier to use these components. NB: AusFarm will need to be licensed and installed before running these models.

Incorp FOM event

The IncorpFOM (fresh organic matter) event has been redesigned and made more protocol friendly. Earlier versions of APSIM used the difficult ApsimVariant class for this event. Now a standard structure is used, making it easier to pick up in .NET and other models.

.NET component support

Considerable work has gone into simplifying the development of .NET components in APSIM. A document has been developed that describes the process of writing a .NET module for APSIM.

Infrastructure

There have been several fixes for multi-paddock gets and sets.

MAKE files

All MAKE files in the build are now much simpler and directly support LINUX and WINDOWS build from a single MAKE file.

APSIM Outlook

APSIM Outlook is now longer released in APSIM and is not supported the the Software Engineering Group. All graph types can now be reproduced within the APSIM User Interface.