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Version 6.0 Build History
Since its release as 'Build 1' in November 2003, Version 6.0 of the software has been updated with the following enhancements and code fixes. These are listed in descending order, with the latest update at the top.
- Build 30 - 4th March 2013:
- Corrected a problem relating to the printing of entry numbers when generating reports in portrait orientation. In some circumstances these numbers were not being printed vertically as intended, but instead two digits were being output per line. This problem also affected the export of such reports to Microsoft® Word. Whereas the output in Word appeared exactly as intended, the program's internal pagination calculations were being based upon incorrect data. This occasionally resulted in the corruption of the formatting within the document when using certain fonts and font sizes.
- Build 29 - 14th August 2012:
- Corrected two problems that were introduced in Build 28 with the incorporation of a new dynamic link library for the export/import of data to/from Microsoft® Word. When importing a completed Action Response document, an error message stating "Failed to obtain address of DLL function" was being displayed. In addition, with Word 2007 and Word 2010 only, specifying a starting page number for reports other than the default '1' was not being implemented. Both of those problems have now been eliminated.
- Build 28 - 9th July 2012:
- Added a new facility to allow the assessment of Risk for more than the current three Hazard Categories. Such assessments can now be conducted for all the categories that are defined in the Keywords section of the data file, up to the maximum of nine.
- Incorporated a completely re-programmed dynamic link library for the export of data to Microsoft® Word. Some users, primarily in Germany, were experiencing problems when exporting to Word 2010 (whereas users in other countries reported no difficulties with that version of Word). The new DLL will function in all countries and with all versions of Word, from Word 97 to Word 2010. Testing has verified that it eliminates the problems that were being reported.
- Build 27 - 19th October 2011:
- Corrected a problem relating to the alteration of Node numbers for Nodes in which entries had already been recorded. Such a change requires that those entries be automatically amended as well. Previously, if a Node number was altered by prefixing it with a zero or zeros (for example, 8 changed to 08 or 008) or by removing zero prefixes (0015 to 015 or to 15), the program would appear to hang whilst processing the changes for the associated entries. This was occurring because in the database index, Node Numbers such as 8, 08 and 008 are equal (treated as being the same), so an endless loop would be created by updating the same entry continuously. The strategy for automatic entry modification has now been changed to cater for the addition or removal of such zero prefixes in Node Numbers.
- Build 26 - 23rd August 2011:
- Modified the program to improve the way in which Windows 7 handles the Brainstorm Causes and Severity Matrix facilities. Previously, the first time the tab key or mouse was used to move to another input box, a significant pause would occur whilst the program performed various internal calculations. If the user attempted to speed up the process by clicking or tabbing again, this could result in the dialog disappearing temporarily, or text being misaligned. These potential problems have been overcome, and no pause will now occur. Note that this behaviour does not arise when running the program under earlier Windows operating systems.
- Build 25 - 27th May 2011:
- Amended the program to generate a warning message if certain fonts, notably Arial Unicode MS, are chosen when exporting Reports or Action Sheets to Microsoft® Word. The fonts concerned would almost certainly cause the resultant Word document to be corrupted or very badly formatted. Microsoft's technical support web site, for example, states that the Arial Unicode MS font is intended for use when opening a document or web page containing non-Latin characters, and should only be used in very exceptional circumstances to create a new document.
- Added a new menu option to insert symbols or special characters in a data file's text input. Examples of such symbols are ² (squared), ³ (cubed), ° (degrees), etc. Previously an external facility such as Windows Character Map had to be used for this purpose.
- Build 24 - 20th July 2010:
- Modified the program to permit the automatic input of responses from Action Documents saved in the Microsoft® Word 2007 / 2010 *.docx format (all previous versions of Word generated files in the *.doc format).
- Build 23 - 26th April 2010:
- Amended the program to deal with a potential problem that could affect the DESkey program key. Inspection of keys that have been returned to us for exchange reveals that in a few cases their internal run counter had commenced decrementing, even though the HAZOP Manager software does not implement any run count limitations. This spurious malfunction might eventually result in such keys failing to permit the running of the software when the internal count had reached zero. With this in mind, the program has been modified to cater for such an eventuality. The modification will also prevent any further decrementing if this has already started.
- Build 22 - 26th May 2009:
- Amended the program to better facilitate its installation and deployment on a Citrix server.
- Amended the program to allow a spell-check to be conducted before any entries were input into a data file. Previously, users who had created a series of Node Headings could not automatically spell-check the data in those headings prior to the commencement of the study meeting. Instead, such data could only be checked by manually selecting it and clicking on the appropriate toolbar button.
- Amended the export to Microsoft® Word facility to cater for situations where a user's standard template (Normal.dot or Normal.dotm) has been modified to automatically insert predefined text or formatting in the header, body or footer of all documents created on that Word installation. Whereas such predefined text might save time in producing day-to-day correspondence, it could well be inappropriate for reports and analysis tabulations generated by the HAZOP Manager software.
- Build 21 - 3rd December 2008:
- Corrected a problem relating to the generation of Action Files or Microsoft® Word Action Documents. The list of recipients was being built using a case-independent search and comparison of action assignee names in the data file, whereas the subsequent file or document creation utilised a case-dependent search. For example, J Smith and J SMith would be considered the same person in the former operation, but different persons in the latter. This could result in one or more actions not being output to that person's file. However, opening the Action File dialog again would reveal that actions for the other case variant of that name were still to be distributed. The program has now been modified so that all case variations of a name are included in the action recipients' list.
- In response to user feedback, a two-stage confirmation will now be required for the deletion of any type of entry. Previously, if an entry had only just been created, and had not yet been written to the data file, if the decision was then made to delete it the usual two message boxes asking for permission to proceed were not being displayed.
- Build 20 - 17th May 2008:
- Corrected a problem in the HTML Help system that was first introduced in Build 17. If the Help window was moved to the bottom right of the computer screen, and whilst that window was still open another call to display a topic was generated by the HAZOP Manager program, then the Help window would be unnecessarily resized.
- Build 19 - 14th April 2008:
- Corrected a problem that related to the export of Risk Matrix data to Microsoft® Word. If Severity Code 0 was not defined (i.e. not used), and the resulting matrix was colour-coded, then during the export of either an Agenda or the meeting Minutes to Word an error message would be displayed and the procedure would be prematurely terminated. This problem did not occur during the normal printing (to a printer) of a colour-coded matrix configured in this manner.
- Build 18 - 11th December 2007:
- Modified the program to cater for the automatic line-wrapping on hyphenated words in Windows Vista. This behaviour, which does not apply to all previous versions of Windows, was causing problems in the printing of keywords.
- Amended the export to Microsoft® Word procedure to automatically bring to the front of the screen display the newly created Word document window. In Windows Vista this was not occurring, with only a flashing icon on the taskbar alerting users to the fact that the procedure had actually commenced. This could cause confusion, with the potential for error messages to be generated if the user subsequently clicked on other windows in an effort to ascertain what was occurring.
- Build 17 - 14th May 2007:
- Modified the program so that it is compatible with Windows Vista. Primarily this involved changing the Help system from WinHelp to HTML Help, although other minor modifications were incorporated. Note that HTML Help will now be the default for Windows 2000 and XP as well as Vista. Windows 95, 98 and ME will continue to use WinHelp.
- Build 16 - 16th October 2006:
- Incorporated a very minor cosmetic change. The copyright notice on the program's start-up 'splash' screen now shows the year 2006 (rather than 2005).
- Build 15 - 11th July 2006:
- Corrected a minor problem that related to the export of data to Microsoft® Excel. If the Node Heading field 'Drawings and Documents' was selected for export, and that field contained multiple drawings, then the fact that the text contained paragraph (new line) characters caused Excel to split the entry concerned over multiple rows in the resultant spreadsheet.
- Build 14 - 7th June 2006:
- Amended the facilities concerning the input and display of dates that contain alphabetic month abbreviations. These will now, in almost all circumstances, be shown with text appropriate for the country in which the software is being operated, and the corresponding alphabetic input will be treated as valid. For flexibility, a new option is also included to temporarily override this functionality in order to switch if necessary to English abbreviations (JAN, FEB, MAR, etc.) for studies to be recorded in that language. For a few countries whose standard month abbreviations consist of more than three letters, the software will automatically default to the input and display of English months. However, to cater for such circumstances a new facility has been provided to allow users to define their own three-letter month abbreviations.
- Corrected a problem with regard to the export of reports to Microsoft® Word. If Word's measurement unit was set to anything other than centimetres (perhaps inches or millimetres), then the short section at the front of the report containing the lists of keywords used would in certain circumstances either be poorly formatted or would generate an error message.
- Build 13
- There was no Build 13. As for previous versions of the software, superstition has once more triumphed over reason and logic.
- Build 12 - 30th December 2005:
- Corrected a problem that was inadvertently introduced in Build 6. This arose only if, having completed both the colour-coding of a Risk Matrix and the setting up of a Severity Matrix, a user then defined an additional Severity Code. In such circumstances the program might fail to automatically extend the Risk Matrix to include that additional Severity Code.
- Corrected a problem with regard to the printing of Action Sheets. If any data column for an Action entry (e.g. the Consequence) contained only space characters (i.e. no visible text), then the Action Sheet would be needlessly output over two pages instead of only one.
- Build 11 - 16th November 2005:
- Added a facility to optionally print colour-coded Risk Matrices and Risk Factors in reports.
- Altered the printing of entry numbers in the meeting minutes. If landscape orientation is selected, then entry numbers will now be printed horizontally. The printing of these numbers vertically will be retained for reports output in portrait orientation in order to ensure that a reasonable amount of space across the page will be available for the printing of other data.
- Build 10 - 11th July 2005:
- Extended the facility to export analysis data to Microsoft® Word, or alternatively to a delimited text file for import into other software (e.g. Excel). Where appropriate, Frequency, Hazard Category, Severity and Risk Codes may now be optionally output as separate fields. Within the target application this will allow analysis tabulations to be automatically sorted into an order based upon the value of one or more of those fields.
- Corrected a problem that could arise when a partially completed Microsoft® Word Action/Response document was returned for automatic update of the study data file. The situation would only occur if, after reviewing that person's responses, it was deemed necessary in some cases to immediately generate and distribute further actions, rather than waiting for his/her remaining responses to be received. For those 'further action' entries only, the subsequent automatic reading of response data from Word documents resulted in some response text being duplicated in the study data file.
- Build 9 - 19th May 2005:
- Improved the facility to append (concatenate) data files. If the operation would result in a duplicate Action or Entry number being created, the program will now report the number concerned, allowing for easier identification and rectification of the situation.
- Corrected a problem that occurred when reading a Microsoft® Word 2002 Response File. Because that version of Word handles document properties differently to other versions of Word, the program was incorrectly reporting that the Response File was invalid.
- Build 8 - 15th March 2005:
- Added a new facility to create customized SIL Risk Graphs. Modified the SIL Risk Graph Analysis procedure to allow for the selection of the graph to be used.
- Added a new facility to conduct SIL Safety Layer Matrix Analysis. As with the above item, customized matrices may be created and used within these analysis reviews.
- Improved the facility to customize toolbars. These may now be modified whilst they are either floating, or alternatively docked at the side of the program window.
- Added new toolbar buttons for marking references to Actions and Entries, as well as to display the Causes and Failure Rates Databases.
- Build 7 - 6th December 2004:
- Corrected a minor problem in the exporting of reports to Microsoft® Word. This only occurred when the data file contained a Node in which no entries had been recorded. Previously, when the heading for that empty Node was exported, in the Word document two of the table cell borders for the first entry in the following Node were displayed incorrectly. This affected only that one entry... the borders for all subsequent entries were set correctly.
- Build 6 - 12th September 2004:
- Added a new facility to colour-code Risk Factors. This will make it easier to visually identify the risk level associated with each entry when quickly paging through a data file. Note that this update includes some of the sample data files (e.g. Example1.hdf) to which colour coding has been added. Keywords files, which can be used to automatically import information into newly created data files, and which will now store colour coding information, will not be updated. This is because users may have modified the sample keywords files without saving them under a new name, and if they were overwritten then such modifications would be lost. These files may, however, be easily amended after this update has been installed.
- Added a new facility to customize toolbars. Individual buttons may now be removed, added or moved to a different position.
- Corrected a problem associated with the 'scroll entries' facility introduced in Build 5. On the scrolling dialog only (i.e. not in the data file), the deviation for the first entry in the Node was in certain circumstances being incorrectly displayed (e.g. it might show 'Flow Also' instead of 'Flow No'). The remaining data for that entry was being displayed accurately, as was all the data for other entries.
- Build 5 - 17th August 2004:
- Added a new facility to display and vertically scroll entries within a Node, such that multiple entries are simultaneously visible. This will enable a Study Team to quickly review what has already been recorded within that Node. It may be used to ensure that all potential Causes for a particular Deviation had been adequately addressed, or to speedily check whether a particular problem had already been dealt with under a different keyword combination, etc.
- Added a new facility to automatically update the Study data file with action responses returned in Microsoft® Word Action Documents.
- Corrected a problem concerning the conversion of Version 4.0 data files. All data was being accurately transferred to the newly created Version 6.0 format file. If, however, this new file was then closed without any editing changes being made, the keywords and category codes section was not being saved, necessitating a repeat of the conversion process.
- Build 4 - 10th May 2004:
- Completely revised the coding by which text macros are invoked, from the use of system wide 'hot keys' to program specific 'accelerator keys'. Although the requirement is most unlikely, this will permit the defined key combinations to be used within other software that may be running at the same time as the HAZOP Manager program.
- Build 3 - 9th April 2004:
- Enhanced the facility that allows the user to 'jump' directly to a different Node. The destination Node may now be selected from a tree list containing item descriptions, rather than having to input its number. In addition, by expanding the list the user may now 'jump' directly to a particular keyword or keyword combination within that Node.
- Added a new facility to select, rather than manually re-type, the relevant drawings and documents when creating a new Node heading. The selections are now automatically transferred to the relevant section within that heading.
- Added a new menu option to change the 'hot key' combinations for the auto-typing of text macros. This will make it easier for users with French and some other European keyboard layouts to overcome the conflict between the Ctrl+Alt combination and the Alt-Gr key. On those keyboards the latter key is used to type certain characters, notably the square brackets needed for multiple action entries.
- Corrected a problem within the ActRsp.exe utility program. If the menu option that is used to change the Action File screen display font was selected before such a file was opened, an error message was being generated.
- Build 2 - 23rd December 2003:
- Corrected a problem that caused an 'invalid tab position' error message to be generated when exporting data to Microsoft ® Word 97. This problem did not apply to other versions of Word.
- Corrected a problem that related to the export of data to Microsoft ® Word from a study data file in which no Frequency Codes, Severity Codes or Hazard Categories had been defined. An error message was being generated, and the export procedure would abruptly terminate. This applied to all versions of Word.
- Corrected a problem that related to the scrolling of large amounts of text in Worksheet data entry columns.
- Note that an updated program installation CD-ROM was despatched to all users in early January 2004... no one should still be running Build 1 of the software.
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