Chesapeake Times, Vol 10 | July 2022
In the next release of SonarWiz, you’ll see a few changes to the Project Explorer. The first, is the addition to a new folder, specifically for LiDAR data files. In the past, these were listed under bathymetry, and the new folder will provide the user a better way to distinguish these two data types. Last year, an option was added to create two files when running a multibeam and Lidar sensor simultaneously. This change continues that work for keeping these files separated, allowing the user to focus on just one sensor as needed.
All project folders are shown, regardless of the SonarWiz license used.
The second change to the Project window will be more apparent for all users. When SonarWiz launches, the modules on the license are checked for operation. This is already seen when icons, such as one for Acquisition, would not be visible when using just an Office license. Others may be greyed out, as not available. In the next release, the section for the Project Explorer takes on a similar rule. Folders that are not used for the license type, will be hidden.
For instance, no bathymetry or sub bottom folders will be present when the user is just running a sidescan license. It’s a bit of house cleaning, and to allow the focus on the sonar type is use during operation.
With the release of 7.9.5, Project Explorer folders now will show these folder for licenses (see below):
There are five folders that will always be visible, regardless of the license type: Maps, Grids, Contacts, Features and Survey Lines. These file types may be used for any of the licenses, and we decided to keep them visible all the time.
If you happen to open a project that has sidescan data, but using a bathymetry only license, the sidescan folder is still hidden. We address this scenario, and added an option in the General Settings in Preference and Settings (aka the “chicken foot” menu), to show All folders, regardless of the license type enabled for SonarWiz.
As we continue to add updates to the program, we sometimes need to step back and see what is not
needed, or in this case, what can be hidden if not being used. There are other areas of improvement for
the GUI and continue to update the program to make SonarWiz easier to navigation and use for sonar
data work.