open TELEMAC-MASCARET The mathematically superior suite of solvers

30 May 2024
Version 3.12.17 - alpha (#548)

Reference Manual changes:
- none

CHyMS Blue Kenue community tickets:
- none

Open Telemac forum posts:
1. Kenue Software Survey (Dec 2023) (#538)
- www.opentelemac.org/index.php/kunena/blu...-an-official-release

Improvements:
1. Re-implemented:
- 2D Line Set SaveToASCIIFile(.)
- 3D Line Set SaveToASCIIFile(.)
- Parcel Set SaveToASCIIFile(.) and LoadFromASCIIFile(.)
- Point Set SaveToFile(.)
- XYZ Point Set CreateXYZPointSetFromLine2DSet(.)

Bug fixes:
1. Extra point in triangulation due to incorrectly implemented extraction of 3D points from a 3D Line Set
2. Now correctly writing and reading non-removable attributes to BINARY files as floats
3. Now correctly reading BINARY Parcel Set Files
4. A 2D Point Set does not have an explicit Z value, so use the current attribute instead
5. Stop crash on drawing Point Sets that have an attribute type that is not currently supported

Internal changes:
- none

EnSim Development Statistics:
- 1 code commit (14 changed paths) to CHyMS from 27 May to 30 May (3.12.17-alpha)
- 343 unit tests pass (no change)

ahaa - 17 is here. Thank you Alan.

Hi Alan,

Is there any chance this version can be officially released? I'm aware of the existing survey and reticence to release an alpha as an official version, but in my view:

1. Several questions are still being asked in this forum with regards to 3.3.4, mostly because end users are only made aware of the alpha releases if they come here. As someone who's used Blue Kenue in an undergraduate course, I can guarantee that no one in my cohort would have thought to check the forums to see if a new version was available. That's not throwing shade on my colleagues, that's simply a product of people expecting the provided software to work properly at what is, in my opinion, a fairly basic level of mesh generation. Releasing the current version would reduce the amount of confusion with regards to the single/double precision issue, for instance.
2. On a related note, the systems administrators at my institution refuse to install alpha versions. Thus, they stick with the official release, which is years out of date, and I have to go through other channels to use the alpha releases. This is especially challenging as otherwise, I avoid Windows.

I understand that the current release is not perfect, but I suspect for many end users, it's good enough. Further bug fixes can always happen later. In my opinion, if you wait for a perfect release, it will never happen... such is the sordid nature of software developement!

Kind regards,
André Renault

Hello André (and Everyone),

Industry standard software development best practice is to transition from alpha to beta and then to release candidate before an official release. That being said, my available time is short and so I rely on the good will of the people in this community to report faults and help out when they can.

To your point, the survey results are showing to me that there are:

1. People who expect (with good reason) that an official release be as fault free as possible AND, when a fault is found, will immediately jump up and down and demand that it be fixed immediately. These people feel that because software is official this behaviour is acceptable.
2. People who will use an official release and never report faults. They will just silently think that the software is not good and then move on to other software... or write their own scripts to perform the actions that they want. These people never take the time to contact anyone and never consider testing alpha and/or beta versions to help improve the situation for everyone. These people may be under time pressure or, as you put it, think that it is good enough.
3. People who are trying to bypass some kind of policy or policies in order to be able to use an alpha version and pretend that it is an official release.
4. People who are OK using an alpha or a release and are very helpful, patient, kind and considerate. These people understand that software development can become quite complex at times.
5. People who pay for us to add something under contract.
6. etc.

This is, quite naturally, a balancing act. On the one hand, it is nice to be first to market (possibly giving up quality) and on the other hand, being second to market can lead to loss of revenue or consideration. Each project manager decides for themselves how they balance these things given their environmental context.

That being said, within the last month, I have made significant strides in my 10 year long effort to improve Blue Kenue' internals. And yes, I am much more comfortable making an official release now. I wasn't so comfortable just one month ago.

Once I have recovered from my surgery, I will do as you request. In the mean time, please continue to report any faults that you find in BK 3.12.17 - alpha. The next release will likely be an official BK 4.0.0...

Kindly... Alan

BK 3.12.18 - alpha is now available; please upgrade

Kindly... Alan