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Punt Release Notes

Version: 1.4.0 Beta 1

 

Contents

1.1 About

Punt is a Open Source multi-language Windows desktop application that allows the user to view the terrain of any world in 3D. Using open standards Punt can make use of data from the Internet combined with local data in common GIS-compatible formats.

Punt is compatible with NASA World Wind data servers, cached data, and Addons. Plugins written for World Wind need some (minor) modifications to work with Punt.

 

1.2 License

Punt is subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.1 You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/

Portions are subject to the NASA OPEN SOURCE AGREEMENT VERSION 1.3 Those portions are Copyright (C) 2001 United States Government as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. All Rights Reserved. You may obtain a copy of the Agreement at http://opensource.arc.nasa.gov/license.jsp

GNU gettext for C# is subject to the GNU Lesser General Public License You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lesser.html

 

1.3 Credits

IRC nicknames are shown in parentheses.

Lead Developers:

  • Bjørn Reppen (mashi)

  • Dave Patton (dpatton)

Developers:

People in the Open Source community who have contributed to the Punt or World Wind code:

  • Adam Hill (adamhill)

  • Adam Nowacki (Nowak)

  • Anthony Taylor (Llynix)

  • Chad Zimmerman (T_Servo)

  • Daniel Baker (Bull_[UK])

  • David Humpohl (fool)

  • David Mays

  • Dominic Taylor (TheBean)

  • Gilles Kohl (gillesk)

  • Jason Ellison (nosilleg)

  • Martin Zoepfl (mazop)

  • Matt Mills (f0urtyfive)

  • Mike Ellery

  • Norman Vine (nhv)

  • Patrick Murris (patmurris)

  • Tim van den Hamer (ShockFire)

  • Thomas Risan (trisan)

Special Thanks:

People who have made significant contributions to Punt:

  • Martin Zoepfl (mazop) for all his help with testing of Punt, reporting problems, icon creation, and other help

  • The staff at NASA Learning Technologies for developing NASA World Wind

  • All the members of the Open Source community who helped develop NASA World Wind, and who helped with things such as the WorldWindCentral Wiki, Forum management, etc.

  • SourceForge for hosting the Punt project

Translations:

  • French(fr): Pierre Joliveau(piotr)

  • German(de): Martin Zoepfl(mazop)

  • Norwegian(no): Bjørn Reppen(mashi)

1.4 Support

Support for Punt is provided via the Punt developers and members of the Punt community, via the Punt mailing lists and IRC channels. Please see the Punt Support/Community page for more information.

 

2.1 Download

Punt can be downloaded from Punt's SourceForge project Files page

 

2.2 Files and Directories

 

Punt Program Directory

Punt's Program Directory is the directory that contains Punt.exe and it's associated DLLs. When Punt is executing, it does not create any files in the Punt Program Directory, or it's subdirectories.

 

Punt Program Directory subdirectories:

  • \languages contains one subdirectory for each language file.

  • \System contains the 7-Zip program file 7za.exe, which is used to unzip downloaded terrain tile files.

Punt Directory

The Punt Directory is the directory for Punt's "Application Data". This directory is named "Punt", and is a subdirectory of the "Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData" directory. For example, on a system where the Windows username is "FRED", it might be C:\Documents and Settings\FRED\Application Data\Punt

 

Punt Directory subdirectories:

  • \1.4.0 is automatically created when Punt 1.4.0 is first run.

    • \1.4.0\Punt.log the Punt log file is automatically created by Punt

    • \1.4.0\Punt.xml stores Punt program settings

    • \1.4.0\World.xml stores settings releated to the current world

    • \1.4.0\Favorites.xml stores Placefinder favourites

    • \1.4.0\History.xml stores Placefinder history

    • \1.4.0\DEBUG_YYYY-MM-DD-hh-mm-ss.txt for some cases where there errors in Punt, a debug file will be created, named according to the date/time

  • The default location for other directories that Punt uses, such as for it's Cache, for Addons and Plugins, etc. is as a subdirectory of the Punt Directory.

3.1 Requirements

3.2 Limitations

  • Punt's internationalization doesn't currently support right-to-left languages.

  • Some error messages that are shown by Punt may appear in English, even if another language has been selected.

  • There is currently no mechanism in Punt for Plugins to take advantage of Punt's multiple language support.

4.0 Revision History

 

Punt 1.4.0 beta1 (released April 9, 2006)
----------------------------------------------------------------

- <PermanantDirectory> tag works
- Change default setting to not convert downloaded images to DDS
- Support for Blue Marble Next Generation
- Fixes exception/missing data when using WMS 1.1.1
- Remove dependency on Altova.
- Fix for culture-related problem when trying to write DEBUG file.
- Add new choice to View menu - "Create Shortcut".
- Fixes problem loading certain layers in SVS due to to rounded coordinates.
- Add support for non-ASCII placenames.
- Add logic to support the Cache expiration time layer setting
- Removed conflicting property "Application" because it causes problems for plugin developers.
- Move WorldInfo.cs from the Punt VS project to the PluginSDK VS project.
- Add support for multiple worlds
- Split the huge QuadTile.cs into 1 file per class.
- Drag-and-drop reordering of layers in "Active Layer" dialog.
- Adjust references for February 2006 Managed DirectX
- Fix: existing World.Xml would always be ignored and overwritten.
- CVS - file system added (Placenames, Boundaries, Icons, Image.XML, Languages)
- Added TerrainMapped layer option.
- Added: 5of0's double click to zoom
 
- Removed unused code.
- Improved code quality
- Fixed FxCop warnings
- Fixed some nDpeneds warnings


----------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
Punt 1.4.0 alpha2 (released November 17, 2005)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Enhancements:
- Removed dependency on Altova/LayerSet for layer.xml loading
- Allow both punt:// and worldwind:// URI's as commandline parameters
- Added support for <TransparentColor> xml tag for both ImageLayer and QuadTileLayer
- Make Punt start location be Garoowe, capital city of Puntland, Somalia
- Display plugin's Name and Version on Plugin Load/Unload screen
- provide option at end of Configuration Wizard at Punt startup to determine
  whether or not to associate punt:// and/or worldwind:// URIs with Punt

Fixes:
- save options now works with sky color (noiv)
- "Normal" camera is now the default setting (rather than "Free Look) (Bull_[UK])
- Tilt is now limited to 0 to 360 degrees [1355377]
- Plugin Compiler will now load multiple plugins
- clarify Punt license information
- Alpha blending defaults to off (enable only when needed)
- Removed old Punt icon from first and last Configuration Wizard screens
- Changed title of Configuration Wizard screens from Punt welcome screen to Punt Configuration Wizard
- Changed title of screen from Options to Punt Options
- Allow clicking on icons with punt:// and worldwind:// URIs
- Create Windows Registry entry for punt:// URI protocol, if it doesn't exist
----------------------------------------------------------------


Punt 1.4.0 alpha1 (released November 8, 2005)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Punt started as a fork from the NASA World Wind project.
- Started with World Wind CVS HEAD as of August 26, 2005 at 12:51PDT
- Removed WW-417
- Added Mozilla licence
- Replaced 'generic' NASA licence with specific one from NASA website
- Replaced NASA icon with Punt icon
- Renamed Nant build files, .bat build file, and Visual Studio solution
- Changed Config Wizard so it is no longer an "on top" window at Punt startup,
  and now appears in the taskbar
- Created a new image for Splash and Help>About
- Removed link to NASA Credits webpage
- Removed WorldWind-related Help Menu items
- Removed unused code for "toolBarButtonKeyChart" and "toolBarButtonWebsite"
- Removed Configuration Wizard option to play World Wind introduction movie
- Made numerous changes related to replacing various variations of
  "NASA" and "World Wind" with "Punt"
- Renamed Utilities project to Utility
- Renamed Configuration Wizard project to Configuration
- Changed default Settings path to not use 'Company Name'
- Changed code so that the Paths for Add-ons, Config, Data, Plugins,
  and Scripts directories are not hardcoded
- Changed Configuration Wizard to allow user to change Paths for Add-ons, Plugins,
  and Scripts directories(in addition to Cache, Config, and Data directories)
- Changed default location for Settings(i.e. 0.0.1), Add-ons, Cache, Config, Data, Plugins,
  and Scripts directories is C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\Punt
- Added option to change distance units
- Added option to specify coordinate format(e.g. for lat/lon, D, DM, or DMS)
- Changed instances of the US "meter" to use the SI term "metre"
- Added more distance units options. List of available options is:
  Metric, Metre, Kilometre, USinternational, Inch, Foot, Yard,
  InternationalMile, LandSurvey, Link, Rod, Chain, Furlong,
  USSurveyMile, NauticalMile, SumarianCubit, AstronomicalUnit
- Removed obsolete toolbar code
- Changed "Twist lock" and "Motion Momentum" to be mutually exclusive
- Fixed bugs related to the 'checked' state of items in the View menu,
  Edit menu, and Tools menu
- Added tabbed "Options" dialog
- Changed property browser names to be more readable
- Improved CLS compliance
- Improved FxCop compliance
- Merged the Altova and AltovaXML projects
- Moved code for renderable layers into "Renderable" directory
- Moved placename-related code into "Toponym" directory
- Changed to write only "Degrees" value to Xml(i.e. not "Radians" too)
- Added runtime statistics to settings
- Changed crosshair(F9) position to follow terrain
- Removed various obsolete/redundant code
- Added new Punt Icon from mazop
- Fixed bug where Punt wouldn't appear to run when any window named
  "Punt" existed(e.g. Explorer window for a directory named "Punt")
- Added "Free Look" camera
- Changed encoding for Placenames to UTF8
- Added code so that attempt to start second Punt instance will make the
  first Punt instance active, even if there are no commandline arguments
- Add "Memory Used" to statistics
- Fixed bug so that selected icon is on top of all layers
- If terrain tile file is empty, don't try and read it
- Add Terrain Tile Retry Interval config option(World > Terrain) rather than having thevalue hardcoded
- Fix default world setting Issue (WW-435)
- Make errors shown on Splash screen more visible, and make timeout 60 seconds
- Make WorldWindow properties browsable in options->Advanced->Debug
- Move menu namespace items into Menu subdirectory
- Cleaned up toolbar/layer manager code, split code into separate files
- Add UriActivated event to allow overriding uri behaviour (WW-437)
- Improve compliance with coding standard
- Separate available layer tree from the list of active (/rendered) layers
- In PropertyBrowser, allow browsing of member fields in addition to properties
- Add prototype version of View->Active layers dialog
- Add more browsable objects to Options->Advanced->Debug
- Allow use of Direct3D Pure device
- Fixed bug where a "red X" would sometimes occur if an exception was thrown in the render loop
- Remove old unused shape file classes
- Fix: Don't add individual (100s and 1000s of TerrainPaths with .wwb names) as separate layers
- Removed WorldXmlDescriptor project
- Removed wms_server_list project
- Renamed WMSBrowser -> WmsBrowser
- Fixed bug causing slow rendering of icon layers
- Added display of child element count in layer manager i.e. "Images (5)"
- Added Save and Close buttons to options dialog
- Removed old "path" code
- Made toolbar buttons more generic (allow button to control a boolean property on any object)
- Fix: Lat/Lon grid would sometimes not be possible to enable
- Added experimental "compatability layer" for supporting plugins written for World Wind
- Fix: Reload plugin list only if user installs new plugin
- Fix: Dispose WMS browser on close
- Fix: Dispose dialog windows on close
- Added support for worldwind:// URI's
- Allow custom format url (does not even have to be WMS) to be specified in layer configuration file
- Fixed IndexOutOfRangeException sometimes occurring in terrain code
- Added options to Punt Settings and Cache wizard page for:
  Cache Cleanup Enabled
  Cache Cleanup Stop Percentage
  Cache Cleanup Prompt
- Fix: Use Cache Cleanup Stop Percentage to calculate Cache Lower Limit
- Display a dialog box if Cache Cleanup Prompt is true and Cache Cleanup is ready to run
- Added code from GNU gettext to support Internationalization
- Marked all translatable strings for use with xgettext
- Fix: Don't force Internet Explorer as browser
- Fix: Allow pugins to use XML serialization
- Added settings value for color for optional rendering of rectangles over queued downloads
- Render optional (bitmapped) download rectangles onto image tiles
- Fix: Restore Z-Buffer state per render, not per layer
- Sort layer manager layers by name
- Added code to calculate bounding sphere of a quad tile
- Optimize device texture stage changes
- Removed unused and unfinished Timeline scripting WMS code
- Dynamic FPS limiter(adjust FPS to values the computer can handle, for smoother animation)
- Don't use CPU while in background(might need to be changed for motion momentum = on)
- Fix: remove vulnerability in add-on links(ClickableActionUrl) to prevent loading executables
- Fixed System.NullReferenceException in Punt.WorldWindow.BackgroundUpdateLoop()
- Removed unused MODIS Icon Size setting
- Changed size of various GUI elements to allow for more space for translated text
- Changed Rapid Fire Modis to get rid of the huge first time download
- Fix: If there is an error in the WMS Browser, show it to the user
- Added License and Credits info to Help > About
- Set Punt version to 1.4.0 alpha1
----------------------------------------------------------------

5.0 Installation

Create the Punt Program Directory. Download the punt_1.4.0beta1.zip file, and unzip it into the Punt Program Directory, maintaining the directory structure in the ZIP file.
If you want to use Punt with existing directories and files from an already installed version of NASA World Wind (i.e. Cache, config files, Addons, etc.), then you can now start Punt, and the Configuration Wizard will lead you through configuring Punt.


If you want to setup Punt to use it's own set of config/data directories and files, download the punt_1.4.0beta1_config.zip file, and unzip it into the Punt Directory, maintaining the directory structure in the ZIP file.
You can now start Punt, and the Configuration Wizard will lead you through configuring Punt.


Since Punt 1.4.0 Beta 1 you can simply download and install the "Punt 1.4.0 Beta 1 Package". It comes with the Program AND a working Filesystem (placenames, boundaries, icons, imagery-accessors) and the language-files (de, fr, no) as well. Download the package, run the installer and read the provided readme. You can now start Punt, and the Configuration Wizard will lead you through configuring Punt.

 

 

6.0 Un-Install

To uninstall Punt, delete the Punt Program Directory and subdirectories and the Punt Directory and it's subdirectories.

 

7.0 Punt commandline options

Punt is a "single instance program". If Punt is already running, and you try and start another instance of Punt, the second instance will not run. There is no error message from the second instance, however, the first instance of Punt will be made the active program (i.e. have the focus).

Punt supports various commandline options, which are listed below. If a second instance of Punt is attempted to be started, and that instance was invoked using commandline options, then, subject to any limitations noted below, those commandline options are passed to the first instance of Punt, which will act on them. For example, you could have your 'regular' shortcut that starts Punt at it's default location/altitude and have additional shortcuts that include commandline options that specify various locations/altitudes. You could start Punt, then use those shortcuts as "bookmarks" to cause Punt to go to the specified location/altitude.

  • Punt or World Wind URI: you can have a Punt (starts with punt://) or World Wind (starts with worldwind://) URI on the commandline. The easiest way to construct the URI you want is to use Punt to get to the location/altitude you are interested in, then use "Copy Coordinates" on the Edit menu, which places a Punt URI onto the Windows Clipboard.

  • /F: a commandline option of /F will cause Punt to switch to fullscreen mode.

  • /S: a commandline option that starts with /S specifies the full path to a directory that Punt will use for the Punt settings XML files, Punt logfile, etc. See section 2.2 Files and Directories for more information. For example, a commandline option of /S=E:\My Stuff\Punt means that Punt will look for (and create if not there) E:\My Stuff\Punt\Punt.xml, E:\My Stuff\Punt\World.xml, E:\My Stuff\Punt\Punt.log, etc. Note that this commandline option will not be passed to the first instance of Punt from a commandline used to try and start a second instance of Punt, as it would make no sense to tell a running program where to look for files that it is already using.

 

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