DownholeExplorer_NewFeatures

What’s New Datamine Downhole Explorer v3.18  A summary of all key new features and enhancements for the latest release of Datamine Downhole Explorer 

This document is for informational purposes only, and does not constitute any sort of performance commitment on behalf of Datamine Corporate  Limited, nor does this document express or imply any warranties.

This documentation is confidential and may not be disclosed to third parties without the prior written permission of Datamine Limited. © Datamine Corporate Limited

Contents 1

Product Introduction

2

2

New Features for Release 3.18

3

Rotate Plot Items ...............................................................3 3

What was New in Previous Versions

4

Setup, Startup and Installation 4 Vista Compatability.............................................................4 Flash-driven CD Menu Launcher ...........................................4 Updated Installation Package ...............................................4 64-Bit Operating System Support .........................................5 Data Source Driver Additions ...............................................5 Help | About… Enhancements ..............................................5 Common Tutorial Data Set...................................................5 Data Transfer and Management 5 Save, Load, Refresh and Reload Control ................................6 Data Object Manager ..........................................................6 Project “Locking Facility.......................................................6  “To Excel” Loaded Data Control Bar Option ............................6 Windows and Data Presentation 7 Locatable Plot Items ...........................................................7 Scatter Plot Sheets .............................................................7 Rotate Plot Items ...............................................................7 Interactive Charting ............................................................8 Drillhole Previewer..............................................................8 Sheet Templates ................................................................8 Data Display Templates.......................................................8 3D Grids............................................................................9 OLE Plot Items ...................................................................9 Images in Log Views ...........................................................9 Extended North Arrow Support.............................................9 Distance to End-of-hole Label ..............................................10 Performance & Usability 10 Memory Management Improvements ....................................10 Documentation and Support 10 Full Context-sensitive and Conceptual Help............................11 Data Source Driver Help Updates..........................................11 Tutorials............................................................................11

1

PRODUCT INTRODUCTION

Our Language: the Datamine Solution Footprint You've got racks full of core samples, spreadsheets of borehole IDs, tables of location coordinates, and an eclectic mix of angles, depths and chemical analyses all carefully recorded. You have all the data you need and the prospect of analyzing it all is both exciting and daunting. Downhole Explorer has been designed and written by people who understand your data, the frustration of time-consuming analysis and the thrill from the revelation of what it really represents. It will take your data, analyse it according to your specification and represent it quickly, accurately and clearly in a wide variety of fully customizable formats. Downhole Explorer, with its comprehensive suite of Data Source Drivers, can use data from a huge variety of sources and bring it all together into a single model showing all the characteristics and properties you choose, and in whatever format you select to maximize the presentational impact. Not only, does Downhole Explorer enable you to produce stunning representations of your underground data in sections, plans and 3D views but it also provides peerless possibilities for pictorial core logging.

What’s New in Downhole Explorer

2

NEW FEATURES FOR R ELEASE 3.18

The following key new features and enhancements have been introduced in this version of  Datamine Downhole Explorer. Rotate Plot Items Plot item rotation was added as an editable property in the previous release. This release delivers enhanced interactive options for rotating plot items. Selected plot items can be rotated in real-time using the mouse, and additional options exist for scaling.

What’s New in Downhole Explorer

3

WHAT WAS NEW IN PREVIOUS VERSIONS Enhancements and new features for Downhole have been introduced regularly since the second major version was released in May 2005. These upgrades are numerous, and this document does not set out to outline them all. Instead, details relating to a selection of these updates are shown. This document will be updated as new Downhole Explorer features and enhancements are implemented. For information about the latest version of Downhole Explorer, please contact your local Datamine representative for details specific to your area.

Setup, Startup and Installation Downhole Explorer is a standalone application that will install all components required to run the application. This will include installation of other supporting products such as License Services and Data Source Drivers, shared by many Datamine applications, that will ensure you can license and run your Downhole Explorer package with the minimum of fuss. The following enhancements have been introduced relating to Downhole Explorer Setup and Installation process: Vista Compatability Datamine are pleased to announce that Downhole Explorer now supports the Microsoft Vista Business® operating system (Service Pack 1 minimum), following an intensive testing and development period.

Flash-driven CD Menu Launcher All Datamine products are now available on a self-running CD, complete with a Flash-driven menu launcher. It is not necessary for Flash to be installed on the machine in use as all files are provided. From the CD Menu you will be able to access “What’s New” information, access to the latest release and any available associated printable documentation. The CD also provides access to useful utilities. Updated Installation Package Once Downhole Explorer has been selected for installation, an industrystandard wizard is used to allow you full control over the components you wish to install. This simple-to-use menu provides installation options and links to useful information, including a ‘What’s New’ summary for the latest release.

What’s New in Downhole Explorer

64-Bit Operating System Support After thorough testing, Datamine are now proud to announce full support for Downhole Explorer under 64-bit Windows operating systems. Updates have been made to provide support for license key dongles, 64bit .NET support and 64-bit specific wireframing controls.

Data Source Driver Additions The acQuire and Data Provider data source drivers have now been added to the installation of all relevant Datamine products, dependent on the existence of the AcquireDirect Dynamic Link Library on destination machines.

Data filtering control is also available on import with this set of drivers, with options relevant to the data transfer route being presented to the user prior to committing to an import. Data transfer is an important aspect of using Datamine software – we don’t expect anyone to commit to a single format. As such, our awareness of the current market formats and versions is unsurpassed, ensuring you can access your most valuable corporate data within our market-leading systems. Help | About… Enhancements All Datamine products now deliver a standardized information page under the Help context menu. As well as data relating to the release in general and individual installed components, information about the DirectX specific functionality and OpenGL functionality is also provided. Two extra buttons: DX Info and GL Info have been added to give access to dialogs reporting the appropriate information. Common Tutorial Data Set To complement the range of tutorials that have been written exclusively for Downhole Explorer users, a single demo data set now exists for core Datamine projects, installed/updated with each new setup. This data is referenced throughout all of the Downhole Explorer tutorials, and is also shared by other products within the Datamine solution footprint.

Data Transfer and Management Downhole Explorer’s Data Source Drivers facility gives unparalleled connectivity options for your corporate data. A wealth of drivers and data types are supported, with all connection information stored in the Downhole Explorer project file, there is no need to permanently convert your files to the Datamine

What’s New in Downhole Explorer

format; it’s a lot more beneficial to retain your preferred format and let Downhole Explorer forge the links to your native data types. Once loaded, you can easily export in any supported format if you wish to, of course. The following enhancements have been introduced relating to project and file data management in Downhole Explorer: Save, Load, Refresh and Reload Control Downhole Explorer projects and project data can be saved using the highly-flexible project update dialogs. These dialogs are shown context-sensitively and offer you the opportunity to save all files in a project, or selected files. You can use the same interface to determine whether files are automatically reloaded the next time a project is opened, making the initial setup of projects considerably quicker. In addition, data can be saved to the project file or as standalone, portable Datamine (.dm) files. The ability to reload, refresh and unload data objects is available at any juncture in your Downhole Explorer session. You can even refresh data from non-Datamine sources, using the Data Source Drivers technology; source file edits can be passed into the Downhole Explorer framework immediately. Data Object Manager Downhole Explorer’s Data Object Manager utility contains a wealth of  functions that relate to the control and analysis of loaded object data. This “one-stop shop” allows you to focus your data table-related activities in one area. As well as providing an overview of the underlying data columns of a particular object, you can also join and extract data from objects, add object attributes and apply data filters . Import and export options are also available. The Data Object Manager’s table view has been updated to reflect the familiar color-coded setup found in Datamine’s Table Editor utility. This dialog is also available in Downhole Explorer, Present and NPV Scheduler. Project “Locking Facility To complement the range of tutorials that have been written exclusively for Downhole Explorer users, a single demo data set now exists for core Datamine projects, installed/updated with each new setup. This data is referenced throughout all of the Downhole Explorer tutorials, and is also shared by other products within the Datamine solution footprint.

“To Excel” Loaded Data Control Bar Option The Loaded Data control bar has been enhanced to support a To Excel option. This is an excellent method for quickly transferring data sets with less than 65536 rows to Excel. Any object in memory can be transferred in this manner.

What’s New in Downhole Explorer

Windows and Data Presentation Downhole Explorer provides several ways of viewing and interrogating mining and geological data. It does this through a variety of data windows, each of which concentrate on a different aspect of your data. The viewing hierarchy is closely related the way in which Downhole Explorer handles data and formats it for display; the data is loaded into memory as 3D objects which, depending upon their nature, can be viewed through one or more of the windows. This data is generally linked, and synchronized automatically, although you are given full control over this behaviour. Due to the diverse nature of the data objects being represented across the full scope of  Downhole Explorer's processes, different viewports have been provided for specific reasons. Easily accessible from tabs at the top of the data window, each area represents a different functional category. The following data display enhancements and features represent the most significant updates introduced since the first release of Downhole Explorer: Locatable Plot Items Locatable plot items allow you to associate a Plot window item (selected from the Plot Item Library) that will automatically reference itself to a particular XYZ position. Such items are useful in that they can be configured to show a 'connector' (enabled by default) that will point to a particular position (highlighting grade values in a given range at a particular sample position, for example. They can also be used to fix a plot item to a particular point in space, so that if that view is panned or rotated, the plot item position (or connector) is maintained.

Scatter Plot Sheets Studio 3's histogram charting functions, introduced in MR16, have been extended to allow scatter plot sheets to be generated in a similar manner to their histogram counterparts. Online Help for this function is currently in progress and will be completed for the public release.

Rotate Plot Items You can now specify an additional "rotation" property for selected plot items (text box, bitmap etc.). The latest version will be shipped with a simple Properties Control bar field as this function

What’s New in Downhole Explorer

will be developed throughout the following release cycle to provide more interactive control of  plot items with respect to rotation.

Interactive Charting Chart plot items are a useful way of representing any table, whether loaded in memory or on disk. As well as inserting charts as independent plot items on plot sheets, you can set up plot sheets that are entirely devoted to the display of one or more charts, thus constructing a 'chart sheet'. Chart plot items in MR16 provide a complete upgrade to the older HISTOG and HISFIT processes. Multiple histograms can be easily and rapidly created as presentation ready plot sheets. In addition, two way dynamic selection allows histogram bins to be selected and the data points are then highlighted in the design and VR windows. This allows easy analysis of the numerical variation in the data to be compared to its spatial variance. For example, the identification of whether high grade sample data is clustered in certain areas is simple and fast. A variety of chart formatting options are available; you can create a chart based on a combination of value fields. Key fields can be used, if required, to display data divided into the selected key categories. In addition to key field selection, values can be weighted using additional charting parameters. Drillhole Previewer The Drillhole panel of the Format Display dialog has been overhauled to provide a new preview panel that shows the position and size of the downhole columns that are being displayed. The previewer shows the alignment, margin, drawing order and column width as well as one-click access to the extensive Downhole Column formatting menu system. This allows for much easier control over formatting downhole columns and avoids the need for trial and error when defining drillhole formats. Sheet Templates Sheet templates are an efficient way of introducing standard content to your plot or log views. They can be used to minimize the work required in generating a framework presentation project which can be re-used in the future. Applicable to both Plot and Log views, templates are stored in a proprietary format (.dmtpl) which can be read in Downhole Explorer, Downhole Explorer or Present applications. Data Display Templates New to Downhole Explorer, but now available in several Datamine products, Data Display Templates allow you separate style and content in your Downhole Explorer projects; a template contains all the data display instructions (simple or complex), and can be stored either in memory for use within the current project, or can be transferred to an

What’s New in Downhole Explorer

external file for use in another project. A data display template can contain variety of information. In a simple form, a template could be used to, say, color an object red, and rendered in 3D. This type of display template is relatively generic and can easily be transferred to other object overlays of the same object type (it is not possible to apply, say, a wireframe display template to a block model, for example). For more information on Data Display Templates, please refer to your online Help, or contact your local Datamine Representative. 3D Grids The concept of grid overlays has been vastly extended in Downhole Explorer. Grids are no longer restricted to simple 2D planes, but are now able to display contextual dimension data in 3 dimensions, and if  required, snapped to an individual object. Grids are used to indicate the overall dimensions along any of the view axes (XYZ). One of  the limitations of a standard flat grid is that it is often difficult to sense or interpret the extent of a 3D data object in a direction that is not orthogonal to the view. In the past, this conundrum has been resolved by allowing non-orthogonal grids to be viewed in the Design and Plots windows, and this type of measure is a very useful aid for denoting a measurement that is perpendicular to the viewing direction. OLE Plot Items Downhole Explorer provides a variety of proprietary plot items that you can add to your plot views to enhance a particular presentation. These items, although not directly 'built' from the same data format as, say, a geological block model or wireframe, they can report the contents of  loaded objects of this type. Plot items can be static  (for any items that will remain 'as constructed' no matter which underlying data is present) or linked  (meaning that the information reported by the item can change according to certain aspects of the operating environment - such as a change of data object, or projection, or section and so on). Images in Log Views Introduced in Downhole Explorer, log views can be 'linked' to an external file containing a list of images. In fact, a particular hole display can be linked to any number of images. For example, hole VB3764 is supported, for a particular FROM and TO length interval, by colorenhanced imagery of a core sample, as well as a filtered view showing concentrations of a specific mineral deposit within the sample. Both of these images are useful for interpretation and presentation purposes, and both relate to a particular downhole sample. Extended North Arrow Support North Arrows are a standard plot item in Downhole Explorer, one of  many available templates available from the Plot Item Library. Arrow plot items have been enhanced in this release, and are now based on flexible TrueType® technology, allowing dynamic scaling and

What’s New in Downhole Explorer

formatting to be applied, with or without snapping or aspect ratio preservation. In addition to this upgrade, Arrow plot items can now be associated with grid overlays. Grid Arrows allow independent, local-coordinate-system indicators to be shown in either 2D or 3D. Consult your help file for more details. North Arrow support has also been extended to the Design window; this is the first instance of a “Plot Item” being available in this view, and is provided via a button shown on the Design window’s Format Grid dialog. This dynamic arrow is an excellent graphical indicator, particularly in 3D mode. Distance to End-of-hole Label A useful feature has been added to the Plots window to show the distance from the section plane to the end of the hole. This option is now available via the Format Display dialog.

Performance & Usability Clearly, there’s little point in introducing more features than your hardware can cope with. Within Datamine, it is an established business ethic to fit in with your business capabilities; it is important that your Datamine applications functional to their full potential on the designated hardware. This has driven Datamine to invest much effort in ensuring that Downhole Explorer sits comfortably within your IT environment, and continuous code optimization projects ensure that the code that sits behind your application is as efficient as it can be. The mining industry traditionally deals with high-resolution data sets, particularly in the area of geological analysis, and our developers are focussed on delivering the most effective solutions for today’s hardware. On- and off-disk technologies are used to their full potential. The following enhancements have been introduced relating to system performance and usability: Memory Management Improvements Several improvements have been made to ensure that system memory is used efficiently throughout your session; system resources are loaded as little as possible. As one example of this initiative, a change has been made which uses memory more efficiently when data contains a large number of identical alpha fields.

Documentation and Support Downhole Explorer is Datamine’s most extensively documented application to date. All areas of the system are documented thoroughly and clearly and much effort has been exuded in the creation of a dynamic information framework that evolves simultaneously with the application.

What’s New in Downhole Explorer

Detailed Help is offered at context (F1) level, with a series of detailed conceptual topics supporting your learning of the system. Step by step general procedures are shown at every appropriate place, and the entire Downhole Explorer system is complemented by a suite of  tutorials that will help you familiarize yourself with your system, and get the most out of it as quickly as possible. Documentation is not a replacement for face-to-face training, and we are keen to encourage the continued increase in uptake for our training courses. All of Downhole Explorer’s documentation has been written to complement our world-beating training, and provides an invaluable reference for any Downhole Explorer user. Help delivery is an important aspect of your application, and Datamine take it very seriously. Full Context-sensitive and Conceptual Help All Downhole Explorer dialogs now support context-sensitive Help. Pressing in any dialog will produce a Help file relevant to the dialog on display. Much effort has been invested in ensuring that information is both up-to-date and, wherever required, conceptual, supporting information is provided. Data Source Driver Help Updates Datamine's proprietary Data Source Drivers facility has long been used to facilitate data transfer between Datamine applications and a variety of industry-standard formats. Documentation for each driver has been completely rewritten and implemented to ensure you get the most out of this powerful data management system. Click , or press Help in any data import or export dialog to view these new files. Tutorials Datamine training courses offer tailored solutions for both new and current customers. Every release of Downhole Explorer is assisted by a set of tutorials that cover all aspects of your system, and have been written to be commensurate with Datamine’s seminal training methodology. Referencing demonstration data (installed automatically), these tutorials are an important part of your system.

What’s New in Downhole Explorer

www.datamine.co.uk

What’s New in Downhole Explorer