We are pleased to announce that we have recently released Terrain Analysis Package (TAP™) 7.6.7 with several new features and improvements in computational speed. Click here for a short video describing the new features.  Highlights of TAP™ 7.6.7 include:

• AutoPath Network Filtering and Pruning:  Many customers use our popular AutoPath Module to analyze point-to-point and point-to-multipoint networks.  The new Filtering and Pruning features allow users to visualize and save only paths that meet specific performance criteria.
• Study Import and Export Utility:  TAP™ users often want to share studies with colleagues and collaborators, archive completed projects, or move TAP™ work product to a new computer.   The new Import and Export utility makes it easier than ever to create a zip archive of selected studies to facilitate sharing, moving, and storing studies.  The zip archives contain everything necessary for the selected studies, including facilities, antennas, transmission lines, surface feature files, etc., to maximize portability.
• Expanded Parallel Processing for Coverage Studies:  Parallel, multi-core processing  introduced in TAP™ in recent years has reduced the computation time for large Tile studies.  With TAP™ 7.6.7, parallel multi-core processing is now also available for Radial, Contour, and Target Study types.  In addition, the parallel computations for coverage studies utilizing surface features, such as building files from Open Street Maps (OSM), have been further optimized thereby providing drastic speed improvements for studies using large surface feature files.

AUTOPATH FILTERING AND PRUNING

Users with maintenance expiration dates later than May 1, 2023, will have access to the new AutoPath filtering and pruning functionality.  This allows users to simplify complex point-to-point and point-to-multipoint networks based on various path quality measures.

TAP™ will show the “Path Selection” pane (see below) when the study has been executed and the results computed. This pane allows users to filter path results, including/excluding results that meet your selected criteria. When a result meets the filter criteria selected by the user, it is included in the grid and the map visualization.  It will be retained if/when the network is pruned. When a result does not meet the filter criteria, it is excluded from the results grid and the map visualization.  It will be deleted if the network is pruned.  The user also now has the ability to manually include/exclude paths in the map visualization.

Click “Prune Network” to delete all excluded paths and results. This operation will modify the current study and cannot be undone. SoftWright advises users to duplicate the study prior to pruning the network. Alternatively, the user could export the study to an archive for importing later to recover the results.

STUDY IMPORT-EXPORT UTILITY

Porting studies between computers is challenging because each computer has its own databases for Fixed Facilities, Mobile Facilities, and other settings. This problem is addressed using the TAP study export / import feature, which is accessible from the main ribbon bar as shown below.

The Export Studies feature allows you to create a zip archive containing all study information necessary to import the study into a project on another machine or even on the same machine. This archive is also suitable for backing up studies in a compressed form. The dialog contains the project tree showing all studies. Each study is individually selectable so you can choose which studies to export. The “lock” icon shows which studies have been run and have results. The “Include study results” option allows you to specify whether you want study results to be exported into the zip archive. Importing the study results is optional.

The Import Studies feature allows you to import studies from a zip archive into a new project or existing project, whether on another machine or the same machine.  The Import operation assesses whether antenna and transmission line models used in the studies are present in the local databases.  If so, they are linked; if not, they are automatically added to the local databases. The Import also assesses and links the most appropriate local topo and land cover portfolios.  This new functionality will facilitate storage and portability of valuable TAP™ work product.