PSICAT 1.2.9

PSICAT 1.2.9 is now available.

This maintenance release includes minor interface improvements and bug fixes.

Updated Tutorial Videos
PSICAT has undergone many changes since the last batch of tutorial videos was produced over a decade ago! Updated tutorial videos reflecting the current state of PSICAT 1.2.9 are now available on the CSD Facility website.

These tutorials were made on a Mac, but all demonstrated functionality is equivalent in the Windows release of PSICAT.

As always, don't hesitate to contact the CSD Facility if you need assistance using PSICAT.

Mac Users: Install PSICAT in Applications Folder
A security feature of macOS known as App Translocation prevents the automatic use of default schemes in new PSICAT projects.
As of PSICAT 1.2.9, this issue can be resolved by placing the PSICAT application folder in your Mac's main Applications folder.

This is demonstrated in the Install and Launch PSICAT on macOS Sequoia and Later tutorial video.

PSICAT 1.2.8

PSICAT 1.2.8 is now available.

Changes in this release:

• User-friendly Grain Size Scale dialog: no more updating a weird string by hand!
• Export Stratigraphic Column: select an output file instead of a output directory
• Option to draw section names vertically in the Section Name column
• Audit Project: all boxes unchecked by default
• Disable diagram depth tooltips that obscured new depth feedback on create/move/resize operations

Bugfixes:

• Correctly draw lithology outlines when grain size widths are disabled
• Better, more readable highlighting of selected diagram tab on modern versions of macOS
• Restore "open last project" behavior on modern versions of macOS

Mac Users: Gatekeeper Workaround
A reminder that as of 1.2.7, PSICAT and SchemeEditor app bundles are properly signed for distribution. This will allow them to be launched on newer versions of macOS (Sequoia, Tahoe and beyond) using the steps described in this short video.

After performing these steps successfully, PSICAT and SchemeEditor should launch normally.

Please report any bugs you encounter.

PSICAT 1.2.7

PSICAT 1.2.7 is now available.

Changes in this release:

• Top/base depths are displayed when creating, resizing, or moving objects
• Legend column: category headings; heading font size option; more consistent drawing of patterns; larger default width
• Lithology column: optional varying of lithology interval width by grain size; grain size header sizing and font size options
• Scaling of textures can be adjusted in Grain Size, Bedding, and Texture columns
• A sourceSection column has been added to tabular export. This is used to indicate the section name each object in a strat column originated from.

Bugfixes:

• Tabular data exported from strat columns will start from the strat column's top depth rather than shifting up to depth 0
• Windows: Visual feedback when resizing or moving objects has been restored (#21)

Mac Users: Gatekeeper Workaround
Recently, many macOS users have encountered issues running newly-downloaded builds of PSICAT and SchemeEditor after upgrading to macOS Sequoia or Tahoe.

In earlier versions of macOS, there was a workaround: right-clicking the app bundle and choosing "Open". This no longer works on Sequoia or Tahoe. The only fix on those versions was technical and tedious.

We're happy to announce that as of 1.2.7, PSICAT and SchemeEditor app bundles are properly signed for distribution. This will allow them to be launched on newer versions of macOS (Sequoia, Tahoe and beyond) using the steps described in this short video.

After performing these steps successfully, PSICAT and SchemeEditor should launch normally.

We hope to (eventually) fully notarize PSICAT and SchemeEditor, which should obviate the need for the above step.

Please report any bugs you encounter.

PSICAT 1.2.6

PSICAT 1.2.6 is now available.

This release includes a few minor enhancements:

• Scaling of textures in the Lithology column can be adjusted (View > Diagram Options..., Column Options... button with Lithology column selected; note that this only applies to the CSD Lithology column type)
• Ability to clone a selected Feature entry by Alt-clicking (Windows) or Option-clicking (Mac) it.

It also corrects two notable bugs:

• Resolved issue #18: strat columns starting from non-zero depths now export properly
• Resolved issue causing slightly oblique lines in Lithology intervals as their widths varied to reflect parallel Grain Size intervals

Please report any bugs you encounter.

PSICAT 1.2.5

PSICAT 1.2.5 is now available.

Changes:

• Recent scheme entry buttons (brief demo video). Navigating to entries in dropdowns with many items (e.g. lithologies) is tedious, especially when the same entries are being used frequently. As entries are selected, they'll be added to the "Recent Selections" list as buttons with the entry's name and icon. Clicking a button will immediately assign that entry to the currently-selected component. Lists display the ten most-recently selected entries for each scheme type. They persist until the current project (or PSICAT itself) is closed. This is an experimental feature and we'd love your feedback!
• Custom section name delimiter in SIT-based stratigraphic column creation. When a Splice Interval Table (SIT) is selected as section metadata to create a stratigraphic column, users have the option to select a section name delimiter other than a hyphen (-), which is the default.

PSICAT 1.2.4

PSICAT 1.2.4 is now available. We recommend updating from 1.2.3 promptly, to avoid issues present in the 1.2.3 build.

Changes:

• Updated Create Stratigraphic Column dialog with help text, option to save a text log of the creation process (useful when results are unexpected), improved validation and error handling.
• Fixed a critical bug in stratigraphic column creation with Splice Interval Table (SIT) Metadata that incorrectly culled out-of-range components, potentially causing unexpected compression of intervals.
• Fixed a packaging error that included libraries for versions 1.2.2 and 1.2.3 which may result in incorrect old logic overriding new.

PSICAT 1.2.3

PSICAT 1.2.3 is now available.

Beta builds since 1.1.0 have stabilized enough to call v1.2.3 the Official Latest Release. Please report any bugs you encounter.

Changes include:

• Ability to choose which components to include in stratigraphic columns
• Overhauled Audit Project logic and UI which accounts for new (as of 1.1.0) components Features, Grain Size, Bedding, and Texture
• Export Strat Column
  -- Default format (144dpi) better-suited to accommodate diagrams with new (as of 1.1.0) columns
  -- Lists only stratigraphic column sections
  -- Reports an error (vs just freezing with no feedback) if an export goes wrong
• Project Stats gives a count of components and unique scheme entries used for each component type

PSICAT 1.2.2

PSICAT 1.2.2 is now available.

This pre-release (beta) build continues to clean up rough edges from the major changes made in 1.1.0. Changes include:

• Fixed bugs in tabular import/export
• Resizable image selection window in SchemeEditor
• Numerous quality-of-life and bug fixes in PSICAT and SchemeEditor

Please report any bugs you encounter!

PSICAT 1.2.1

PSICAT 1.2.1 is now available.

It includes many quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes.

Please report any bugs you encounter!

PSICAT 1.2.0

PSICAT 1.2.0 is now available. Because it has many new features, it is currently set as a pre-release (beta) build. Please give it a try and report any bugs you find!

This release builds upon the new columns added in PSICAT 1.1.0, which are now the default for new projects.

Column width, ordering, and properties can now be modified for diagram editing/exports, and stratigraphic column export. PSICAT maintains separate options, so changes made to the live diagram's columns will not affect strat column export, and vice versa.

To edit columns displayed for diagram editing/export, select the View > Diagram Options... menu item. If you have a diagram open, it will update to reflect your column edits.

To edit columns for stratigraphic column export, use the Edit Strat Diagram Options... button in the File > Export > Stratigraphic Column... dialog.

Composite/Stratigraphic column creation is now a two-step process:

First, use the File > Create New > Composite Section (Stratigraphic Column)... and provide a metadata file. The composite section will be added to the list of project sections, and can be opened like any other section, but can only be viewed, not edited. Note that large composite sections may be slow and unresponsive.

To export a PDF diagram of the composite section, use the File > Export > Stratigraphic Column... dialog. Select your composite section from the list, set up formatting and diagram options, and export.