Match! Version 2: Developer's Diary

January 12, 2012; 7:27 am

In the meantime, I have started to implement the User Database Manager which is the only function that is still missing in Match! version 2. All the dialog elements (like buttons, tables etc.) are already in place, but what is still missing is the code in the background that links all these dialog elements to the user database file.
Even though the User Database Manager is not ready yet (so that it is still disabled), we have decided to release a new beta version 9 today, basically because of an important issue regarding the import of the current PDF-2 Release 2011 database that needed to be fixed. Besides this, I have added two small commands "Find next" and "Find previous" in the "Search" menu that can be used after having used "Find phase/entry(s)".
I must admit that I am still not happy with the "Internal standard" function; it is not yet working as it is supposed to, and there are still a couple of bugs. I will have a closer look on Monday, even though this might cause a delay in the implementation of the User Database Manager.
I also got some new ideas regarding the manual correction of 2theta-errors yesterday while waiting at the barber's, but I am not sure yet if I should implement them before the release of version 2, because this would certainly cause another delay.

December 16, 2011; 8:29 am

It cannot be denied that the release of version 2 gets closer every day. With the new beta-version 8 that has just been released, you are now able to use ICDD PDF databases (on Windows) as well as your own user database files (*.mtu) as reference databases. All that still needs to be done is to port the user database manager from version 1 to version 2. Apart from the Christmas holidays, I do not expect this task to take too long, because I do not intend to add any new features there for the current.

November 21, 2011; 8:23 am

A new beta-version 7 has just been finished. The most important issue fixed in this version was the problem that the program stopped during the startup phase on Mac OS X "Lion". Besides this, it is now possible to use/import ICDD PDF-2 databases in the "old" format (releases before 2005) if you have a valid licence. In order to do so, please follow the corresponding instructions in the preliminary manual (which can be opened from the "Help" menu).
According to user reports, it was sometimes difficult to enter the "tracking" mode in the diffraction pattern graphics by pressing the center mouse button/wheel. Hence, we have implemented an additional way: The "tracking" mode can now also be activated by pressing the "Shift" button (if you have previously zoomed into the pattern). You can shift the pattern simply by moving the mouse around while keeping the "Shift" button pressed.
And finally, the expiration date of the beta-version was extended to January 31, 2012.
I will now step-by-step add the remaining missing reference database features: Using Match! user database files (*.mtu), using the ICDD PDF-4+ database (which will of course only be possible on Windows operating systems), and last but not least the user database manager.

September 29, 2011; 3:15 pm

We have just released a new beta-version 6. In this new version, a lot of bugs have been fixed. Besides this, the peak searching and matching algorithms have been improved. Finally, we took the chance to extend the expiration date of the beta-version to November 30, 2011.

September 27, 2011; 1:35 pm

Yes, I know... It has been quite some time since I last updated this blog. In the meantime, the first and even the second beta version of Match! 2 have become available for download. Because of some earlier internal tests and beta-releases, the first and the second beta versions are called "versions 4" and "5" though...
I had just started working on the PDF import facility (which is still missing) when I received a lot of feedback from beta-testers, so that I had to stop working on the PDF import again. Currently, I am still fixing bugs. Unfortunately, there are still quite a lot of them, some of which being really hard to detect.
Nevertheless, I hope to have fixed the most important ones in short, so that I can release a new beta-version "6" within the next few weeks. From the users point of view, there will be no large visible changes at first glance, but a lot of issues will have been fixed internally, and, most important, the validity of the beta-licence will be extended to the end of November.

July 20, 2011; 2:55 pm

We have finally fixed the date: The first beta version of Match! 2 will become available for public download on August 05, 2011!

July 11, 2011; 1:05 pm

A first preliminary beta version has just been test-run by three selected customers. I will now start to fix as many reported bugs as possible until the end of July.

June 20, 2011; 1:25 pm

Last week, I have finally finished working on the installation program. To be honest, it was not as easy as I originally expected it to be, mostly because of platform dependent issues that I had to sort out one by one for each of the three supported platforms.
This morning, I have now started to work on a preliminary version of the Tutorial Handbook, with one extremely simple example being already present up to now. Tomorrow I will add the important table of keyboard shortcuts and mouse operations to the appendix, then start working on more complex examples. At the same time, I will try to fix every bug that I detect while doing so.
In spite of the various problems that had to be solved in context with the distribution/installation program, I am still in my schedule, so I still expect the beta-version to become available to the public by the beginning of August.

June 9, 2011; 3:15 pm

In fact, it has been quite some time (nearly two months!) since I last reported my development progress. Well, to be honest, the design and implementation of all kinds of issues related to the distribution kept me quite busy. Fortunately, this work is nearly finished by now (I expect work for only two to three days still to be done).
When the distribution has been settled, I will start working on two important issues for the first beta-version:

• A tutorial document will be created in which the usage and the most important features of the software will be described.
• I will try to fix as many bugs as possible.

April 19, 2011; 4:05 pm

In the meantime, I have finished implementing the "About Match!" dialog, as well as a first version of the online update functionality.
I will now start to create the documentation that will be included in the beta-version package, namely a (more or less) short tutorial (pdf document) that will guide the users through the most important and prominent features of the software. Unfortunately, for the very first beta-version I most probably will not have enough time to cover all features, but will restrict myself to the most important ones.
Next week I will start to work on the distribution issues, i.e. installation programs for all three platforms, installation media (DVD-R) etc. To be honest, I do not expect to finish this important part within just a few days...

April 14, 2011; 3:45 pm

After having worked on a new maintenance release 1.10d for a couple of days, I am now right back in the development of version 2. Currently, I am way beyond my schedule for finishing the first beta-version that will become available to the public at the beginning of August. However, you never know, of course... ;-))
I have just finished a preliminary implementation of the licence checking code, which basically means that the beta-versions will have a built-in expiration date that must be checked.
I am now working on the "Help/About Match!"-dialog for which I do not expect any serious problems. However, afterwards I will have to cope with the online update (which will become very important during the beta-testing phase) as well as especially the various aspects of distribution, e.g. the installation program. Since we only have experiences for Windows but not for Linux or Mac OS X in this context, I expect one or the other problem that will need to be solved before we can actually release the first beta-version. Well, let's hope for the best!

March 28, 2011; 2:45 pm

We have just decided to make the first beta-version of Match! 2 available to the public at the beginning of August. More information can be found here.

March 17, 2011; 10:00 am

I am currently quite happy with the progress: The "1/d" abscissa scaling for the diffraction pattern is working by now, and I will now move on to finishing the loading/import of Match! document files (*.mtd). Once this has been accomplished, I can use the corresponding code to implement the "Undo/Redo" functionality. Afterwards, I plan to create the licensing module.

March 14, 2011; 3:05 pm

In the meantime, I have finished additional options for the Report: Some users asked for the possibility to include entry data (like unit cell parameters, space group etc.) for matching phases/entries in the Report. Besides this, I have added an optional table providing a quick overview over the matching phases as well as their amounts (if available).
I will now start to implement an additional option for the abscissa (x-axis) of the diffraction pattern: Several users asked for an option to display 1/d instead of d, in order to avoid the "compression" of a lot of peaks at low d values.

March 9, 2011; 7:45 pm

Although I am extremely eager to finish version 2 as soon as possible, I cannot avoid to interrupt the development process every now and then, basically in order to fix remaining bugs in the current version 1 of the software. Maybe it's not the optimum from the efficiency point of view, but I really don't like to know about unfixed bugs in the software and not to address these issues right away...
Today, we will release a new maintenance update 1.10c (providing several bug fixes), so hopefully I can proceed with the development of version 2 tomorrow.

March 3, 2011; 1:00 pm

Having worked on the new version 2 of Match! for such a long time, I am now glad to see that only few features still need to be implemented before the first version 2.0 of the program can be released. Hence, I have decided to let you watch the remaining steps in this blog.

In order to give you a short impression on what still needs to be done, here is an extract of my current 'To do' list:

• Add new scaling option '1/d' for x-axis of diffraction pattern
• Finish the import of version 1 document files (*.mtd)
• Import diffraction patterns from document files (*.mtd) as 'experimental patterns'
• Implement 'Undo/Redo', based on the existing document saving code
• Licensing and demo version
• 'About Match!'-dialog
• Installation/distribution procedure for all supported platforms
• Beta-test (not public)
• Reference database library (porting of version 1 code)
• User Database Manager (porting of version 1 code)
• Fixing of known bugs
• Online update functionality
• Documentation (online help, tutorial/manual)

Some of these tasks can be accomplished rather quickly, while others still may take a little bit of time (e.g. User Database Manager, documentation). Hence, it is still a little bit early to fix the release date, although I am extremely eager to finish the software as soon as possible.

I will keep you informed about the progress on this page!