Development History

1. new commands: movement.pathmetrics, graph.createfrompoints, graph.createfrompolygons
2. added a weight option to the r.sample command
3. improved the genregionsampleplots command: the tool now iteratively merges polygons until the specified minimum threshold has been reached - previously it would stop after just one merge
4. listintersectingfeatures: fixed a problem caused when the input were points (resulting in an error because point geometries cannot be simplified)
5. the command interpreter is now insensitive to variations in double and single quote mark characters (e.g. Word automatically changes simple quote marks to fancy quote marks)
6. updated documentation

[Oct 2011]

1. movement.ssfsim1: added a SUM option
2. kde: fixed problem with SCV bandwidth estimator, fixed problem with weights
3. genshapes: multiple dimensions can now be specified as fields
4. new commands: movement.ssfsamples, geom.polygonfetch
5. Fixed geodatabase file locking problem
6. Numerous small improvements to documentation
7. Compiled against ArcGIS 10 Service Pack 2 (compatability fix)

[Sept 2011]

1. genshapes: corrected mistakes in syntax help examples.
2. kde: added option to specify weights, added 5 bandwidth estimation options
3. isopleth: performs some additional checks on polygon features to fix geometry errors
4. new commands: isectpntpoly, genregularpntsinpolys, r, r.loaddata, r.writedatatofield, r.writedatatoraster, convert.tabletolines, genregionsampleplots, mergesampleplots, lineofsight2d
5. add a new Sampling Tools command category to the GUI and removed some items from the Vector Tools list (unfortunately it is still too long so I am going to have to rethink this)

I have also introduced more geometry checking and repair into several of the tools that write polygons.

[Feb 2011]

Resolved further issues on 64-bit systems. Other improvements:

1. New commands: import.asciigrid, export.asciigrid, reproject.raster, convert.pointstopolygons
2. isectpolypoly: added an area weighted sum metric and provided options for enabling and disabling the summary fields that are reported for continuous summary statistics
3. gencondrandompnts: allow the user to optionally specify the lower bounds to the BVUNIFORM distribution so that points can be generated within a 'donut' shape
4. pointdistances: this command now handles string and integer unique ID's
5. buffer: a donut option has been added to the buffer command
6. isopleth: the algorithm for identifying the isopleth values has been improved
7. GUI: license handling for the command builder tools has been fixed

[Dec 2010]

Resolved further issues on 64-bit systems. Added three new commands simplify, sampleperppointsalonglines, geom.extractpolygoncomponents. Also added a command line switch that makes it easier to use GME from batch files or Python, and improved the documentation on using GME with Python to resolve certain aspects that were not obvious.

[Sept 2010]

Version 0.5.0 is very similar to 0.4.0 in terms of functionality, but with a few important changes. First, 0.5.0 is compiled against ArcGIS 10 (this involves quite a few behind the scenes changes that are odious for me, but invisible to you). Second, I have improved ArcGIS license management: 0.5.0 will acquire whatever license is available (ArcView, ArcEditor, ArcInfo) even though it only needs an ArcView license to run. This resolves the problem some people were having getting GME to run with an ArcInfo license. Third, I have made it 64-bit compatible.

There have also been some other functional improvements. I have added support for the uniform distribution in the kernel density tool (thus allowing the calculation of what is sometimes called 'simple density') and have added an edgeinflation parameter that makes it easier to control the extent at which the kernel is calculated.

I have also added two new commands: isopleth, and neighbourhoodstatistics (which is a raster based tool along the lines of zonal statistics).

[Sept 2010]

This is a major update. GME is now a standalone application that consumes an ESRI license only when it needs to, is multithreaded, and has no registry footprint.

New commands:

1. generalizeregions
2. geom.clip
3. geom.difference
4. geom.splitpolysbylines
5. contour

I have also fixed a number of interface issues, and a bug with the cliprasterbypolys command.

[August 2010]

Fixes:

1. gencondrandompnts: BVNORMAL requires a standard deviation but was treating it as a variance. Fixed so that now it treats it as a standard deviation [thanks CS]
2. copyfeaturedataset: fixed a bug that was forcing the output to be polygon geometries regardless of the input

[May 2010]

This update is identical to 0.3.4, but is compiled against ArcGIS 9.3.1 Service Pack 1.

[May 2010]

This update includes support for R 2.11, the addition of 9 new commands, and a suite of smaller improvements. The new commands are:

1. copyfeaturedataset: copies a vector dataset (useful for loading data into geodatabases, or creating backups of datasets for instance)
2. deletefeatures: deletes features using a selection statement
3. geom.clip: clips vector features
4. geom.difference: the opposite of clip, this command adds "holes" into a vector dataset
5. geom.splitpolysbylines: splits polgons into fragments based on a line layer
6. generalizeregions: simplifies a thematic raster dataset based on the regiongroup command
7. reclassifyrecords: applies a series of user defined selection statements to classify records
8. field.rename: renames a field
9. field.find: searches a set of fields to find the one with the min/max value

See the help documentation on each command for further details.

[May 2010]

Bugs fixed:

1. isectpolyrst: a bug that occassionally resulted in one cell at the end of each row covered by the polygon being omitted
2. pointdistances: the nearest neighbour output table column headings were reversed, and the 1D output format resulted in the incorrect identification of nearest neighbours
3. documentation: several minor grammatical errors resolved
4. Installer: major revisions to the installer to allow for silent installs, 64-bit OS support, Control Panel removal support, etc.

[March 2010]

Bugs fixed:

1. snappoints: a bug with the spatial filter that caused the tool to fail, and some problems with specifying the output dataset as an existing dataset (although this is not recommended). Also improved the documentation for that tool.
2. extractedge: fixed documentation for this tool
3. isectpntrst: was failing to process more than the first band in multiband images (fixed)
4. pointdistances: the tool was failing when null geometries were encountered - it now ignores null geometries and warns the user when they are detected
5. setparameter(interpretonly): the only way to switch this back to false was to close ArcMap. Now the setparameter command is except from the interpretonly setting.
6. command syntax: GME was failing to interpret commands that did not have a space between parameters. Now it is insensitive to spacing.
7. Interface: there were some issues with quote marks not being added when using the Command Builder tools. Fixed.
8. Interface: add a Get File option to the Command Builder menu
9. isectpolyrst: fixed a problem with polygons that are small relative to the cell size (if the polygon only crossed one cell it could fail to process it correctly). This is now resolved.
10. Installer: have made revisions to the installer for 64-bit installs

[January 2010]

Revised a number of issues based on some detailed feedback from a colleague. Improved several minor issues related to interface operation. Fixed several bugs with tools (primarily arguments to commands that were not being recognized). Further improved the documentation.

[December 2009]

This version constitutes a major improvement over previous beta versions. The changes are focused on the 5 Strategic Commands (see the link near the top of the Commands page) that are now fully enabled. These include: nested for loops, the ability to use R to construct command text (r.eval()), the paste() function, variable assignment, and the which clause. The command interpreter has also been rewritten. One consequence of these changes is that you must now put all text arguments in double quotes - the same syntax as R.

Several commands have also been added, and the installer has been improved to work with 64-bit machines, and to handle updates to GME better.

[December 2009]

This software is still under development. I am currently using this page to document the development of the beta version but upon release this page will only contain information pertaining to the full releases.

Version 0.2 Beta is much closer to a full working release than GME 0.1 Beta was. Many commands have been added, the interface improved, support for the most recent versions of R and StatConn DCOM added, and a lot of testing has occurred. Most of what has been added so far are still the key, simple analytical building blocks that will be used to develop the more sophisticated tools.

My previous comments on the development plan still apply. First, there is still a fair bit of basic functionality to add. This will be the basis of version 0.3 Beta. Next there is a lot of R functionality to add. I have added a few examples of R tools in 0.2 as a proof of concept. But the real power of this software is going to be the link to R. This will form the basis of version 0.3 Beta, which after suitable testing will become version 1.0. Then begins the much longer incremental process of adding more sophisticated functionality and some very powerful new tools which I won't say too much about just yet.

[August 2009]

This software is still under development. I am currently using this page to document the development of the beta version but upon release this page will only contain information pertaining to the full releases.

Version 0.1 Beta contains only a fraction of the commands that the final version will contain. Most of what has been added so far are the key, simple analytical building blocks that will be used to develop the more sophisticated tools.

I intend to develop the project as follows. First, there is still a fair bit of basic functionality to add. This will be the basis of version 0.2 Beta. Next there is a lot of R functionality to add. I have added a couple examples of R tools in 0.1 as a proof of concept. But the real power of this software is going to be the link to R. This will form the basis of version 0.3 Beta, which after suitable testing will become version 1.0.

Then begins the much longer incremental process of adding more sophisticated functionality and some very powerful new tools which I won't say too much about just yet.

[December 2008]