The following is a listing of the major additions, changes and enhancements which have been made in the upgrade of Dips from version 5 to version 6.
Note: for a list of changes and bug fixes since the initial release of Dips version 6, see the Dips version 6 Update History page.
Kinematic Analysis
Comprehensive kinematic analysis toolkit
Info Viewer summary of results
Export to excel
Dip Vector Plotting
dip vector or pole vector plotting mode
integrated with kinematic analysis
contour dip vectors
symbolic plot with dip vectors or pole vectors
Intersection Plotting
comprehensive intersection plotting options
intersect all planes
intersect sets
intersect user planes
contour intersections
integrated with kinematic analysis
Sets
easier to add set windows (clockwise or counterclockwise)
graphical editing of set windows
new freehand set window option
compute sets from fuzzy cluster analysis
Save View State
complete view state of all open views saved with file
when file is opened all views restored to last saved state
multiple plot views saved
all display options and customization saved per view
Sidebar
new Sidebar control panel
context sensitive plotting and display options for each view
easily plot overlays of different data types
interactive analysis options
interactive editing options for objects and drawing tools
New program interface
great improvements to functionality and usability
new look interface with sidebar control panel
new and improved legends
new toolbar buttons
new right-click functionality
new data tips functionality
Interactive graphical editing
click on objects to select
graphical editing of stereonet tools (e.g. set windows, planes)
graphical editing of drawing tools
Undo / Redo
powerful new global undo / redo functionality
undo/redo virtually all changes to spreadsheet, view state, display options
Legend
new and improved plot legends
symbol, contour, kinematic, major planes legends
display multiple legends on one view
easily toggle legends on / off in sidebar or right-click
Symbol Editor
can now specify different symbols for different types of data (e.g. poles, dip vectors, intersections)
more customization of symbols is now possible
symbol size, scale all symbols or individual symbols
new scatter plot symbol style
Scatter Plot
Improved scatter plot
New symbol options, size of symbol indicates number of poles
easily customized
New Analysis Tools
new fold analysis option, determine best fit plane through selected poles
best fit statistics, global best fit of all data
add cone option improved, choose location with variable angle or angle with variable location
graphical editing of cones
plot lineations on planes
New Drawing Tools
ellipse, rectangle, polyline, polygon drawing tools
improved add text option with dynamic text
graphical editing of drawing tools
edit tool properties in sidebar
Report Generation
improved Info Viewer with customizable output for report generation
improved printing output – position and scale can now be adjusted directly in Print preview
customizable title blocks with company name, logo, file name, date, etc. can be added to printouts
export kinematic analysis results to excel
File Format
New version 6.0 file format
all display options and view state saved with file
version 6.0 reads and writes version 5.0 files
File now saves everything in grid, even if there are invalid rows (only plots up to last valid row)
Updated Documentation
new and improved help system
easier to navigate
new tutorials
verification example
Miscellaneous
Reporting convention now allows all four orientation formats (previously was either pole vector or plane vector)
Query allows search for blank entries (no data)
error messages for invalid file data (e.g. blank rows)
add degree labels around stereonet perimeter (stereonet options > labels)
Options removed or changed in version 6.0
Menus and menu options have been re-named and re-arranged
Compute / Autocompute is gone (auto compute is always in effect)
Auto Options is gone (all view and display options automatically saved)
Stereonet Options dialog - gone (options now in sidebar)
Plot buttons now act as pre-sets rather than plot types, sidebar allows full customization of overlays
Cannot show weighted and unweighted planes together in the same view (Terzaghi weighting option is now global)
Last row marker (asterisk) is gone