Alph 1.4.1 Update

The VMGThermo property package was updated to the same version as in the new VMGSim 6 version.

Alph 1.4 Update

The main focus of the latest release is on reusable calculation models, but also includes some nice convenience and documentation features. The changes include:

• Context Menu with Copy & Paste
• Model Tool (i.e. sub-flowsheets)
• Diagram Shortcuts
• Notes
• Miscellaneous Goodies
• Miscellaneous Fixes

Context Menu with Copy & Paste

You can now call up a "context menu" by pressing and holding on the information flow diagram window. If your finger is over an object (fluid, variable or tool), you will get a menu with the following items in a popover on the iPad or a new page on the iPhone/iPod:

• Edit: Opens the object for editing - the same as a single tap
• Copy: Copies the object to the pasteboard
• Cut: Copies the object to the pasteboard and then deletes it
• Delete: Deletes the object - same as triple tap
• Notes: Opens a window where you can add or read notes about the object
• Rename: Allows you to rename the object without opening the edit window (useful for Model Tools)

If your finger was on the background, then the menu items are:

• Add Fluid: Creates a new fluid at the touch location
• Add Variable: Creates a new variable at the touch location
• Add Tool: Creates a new tool at the touch location. A picker wheel will appear so you can select the type of tool to create.
• Paste: If the pasteboard contains previously copied object, a copy of it will be created at the touch position.
• Notes: Opens a window where you can add or read notes about the session or if viewing a model, the model.
• Rename: Only appears when viewing a model and allows you to rename it

Model Tool

The new Model tool can be thought of as separate Information Flow Diagram that can be included in either the root diagram or another Model tool. This not only allows calculations to be compartmentalized for clarity, but when combined with the new copy and paste feature, it is now easy to create libraries of commonly used calculations that can be added to new problems. Possibilites include calculations for common equipment types or entire processing units. Please see the Examples page on the Alph web site for some, well, examples.

Diagram Shortcuts

You will have already seen that it is now possible to use the context menu to have a newly created objects icon appear at a designated spot on the IFD, rather than just appearing at the lower left. The same effect can be obtained without the context menu by tapping on a location on the diagram background before tapping one of the Add Fluid, Add Var or Add Tool buttons.

If you are using an iPad, you can also save a lot of typing by tapping on a object's icon while in a formula or other object input field. The name of the object, including its type symbol (i.e. @, $, or #) will be added to the end of the existing input. Input fields that don't normally required the type symbol will now accept them if provided. As always, you can pan or resize the diagram while a window is open over top of it, to get to the object of interest.

On the iPad, windows that might require user input from the keyboard, no longer allows the system to use the top of the window for the arrow pointing at the object being referenced. This helps prevent the windows being too squashed vertically when the keyboard appears.

Notes

Every object as well as the case itself can have a potentially lengthy note associated with it. These are accessed by means of entries on the context menu described above. These are handy for describing the calculations being performed by the object and particularly valuable for documenting Model tools which might be frequently copied and reused.

Miscellaneous Goodies

• Reference Variable Type - variables can now simply be aliases for other objects, by selecting "Reference" as its type. This is particularly useful with the new Model tool, but could have other uses as well.
• Compound Name Indexes - you can now used quoted compound names in array references, rather than having to figure the index of the compound in the compound list. This might look something like @lts.x:"propane". This is particularly useful in Models such as a combustion reactor that might be used in different cases, where the compound indexes might not be the same.

Fixes

• Alph Store Problem - fixed a problem that could occur if you quit Alph with the store window open and before the server had replied with the list of options. This was a nasty one that could result in Alph crashing on subsequent runs.
• Fixed an issue where the composition (X) for fluids would give the unnormalized values for fluids that had had their compositions specified.
• Added some checks to the function solver math (in QR Decompostion) to report a singular matrix in situations that would otherwise result in NANs (Not A Number) values turning up in the solver output.

Craig Morris 2010-09-03
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