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RILSIM Bugs, Procedural Errors, and Feature Changes

Bug Report: To report a problem with RILSIM, please read these instructions.
Contents
Bug List (see the table below)
Procedural Errors
Feature Changes

 

Please note: All fixes described below are cumulative. This means, for example, that any problem fixed in version 1.06 remains fixed in later versions.

 

Bug List
Description Versions Affected Resolution Date Fixed

Display Problem—Data forms do not display at full width if the computer's display has been set to use Large Fonts (120 dpi resolution) rather than the default setting of Small Fonts (96 dpi resolution). For a detailed description, see this page.

1.05

Fixed in version 1.06.

Aug 2003

Improperly Formatted Numeric Display—In the Personnel and Equipment Assignment data forms associated with an Activity data record, piece rate costs are displayed using the number of digits to the right of the decimal place specified for time-based costs, rather than the number of digits to the right of the decimal place specified for piece rates.

1.05
1.06

Fixed in version 1.07.

Jan 2004

Difficulty Index Worksheet Error—In the Difficulty Index worksheet, if the OK button is pressed while the cursor remains over a newly entered quantity in the Difficulty Index column, the worksheet row corresponding to that entry is lost and the weighted-average difficulty index is incorrectly calculated.

1.05
1.06

Fixed in version 1.07.

Jan 2004

Activity Sorting Error —The list of activity names is sorted immediately before each simulation run in order to ensure that calculations are carried out in the order in which the activities would be implemented. Under certain circumstances it is possible for an item within this list to receive an out-of-bounds index number. This causes a runtime error within the sorting routine and shuts down RILSIM. The indexing problem can occur when the user reorders activities, either on the Activity Data Form or within the Activity Chart. Specifically, the error occurs when the user redefines (moves) an activity without subsidiaries in such a way that it then becomes the parent of Activity 1 (i.e., Activity 1 becomes its subsidiary). This causes the index mentioned above to receive an out-of-bounds value, and when the user attempts to run the scenario a runtime error occurs, shutting down RILSIM.

1.05
1.06

Fixed in version 1.07.

Jan 2004

Activity Renaming Error—In some situations a programming error in the routine that supports renaming of activities within the Activity Chart could potentially cause a runtime error and shut down RILSIM when the user attempts to rename an activity. This only occurs within the Activity Chart, not on the main Activity data form.

1.05
1.06

Fixed in version 1.07.

Jan 2004

Decimal-Point Symbol Error—Under certain circumstances it is possible to inadvertently change the decimal-point symbol for an analysis. This can happen as follows:

  1. A RILSIM database is opened or created.

    2.  

  2. While the first database remains in memory, a second RILSIM database is opened or created within the same instance of RILSIM, and the second database uses a different symbol for the decimal-point character. For example, the first RILSIM database might use a comma as the decimal-point symbol and the second database might use a full stop (dot, or period).
This sequence of events causes the decimal-point symbol for the first database to change so that it matches the symbol used in the second database. In versions 1.05, 1.06, and 1.07 of RILSIM this would not cause an error but it could certainly be disconcerting to the user. In RILSIM 2.00 and later versions, however, such a change might actually cause numerical errors. This is because these later versions permit users to select not only the decimal-point symbol but also the digit-grouping symbol for each analysis. An unintended change in the decimal-point symbol could then cause both the decimal-point symbol and the digit-grouping symbol for a RILSIM database to be represented by the same character (for instance, a comma). RILSIM would then interpret the first comma encountered in a numeric data field as the decimal-point symbol, whereas it might possibly be intended to represent a digit-grouping character instead. More information about the digit-grouping symbol is available here.

1.05
1.06
1.07

Fixed in version 2.00; for earlier versions, see the “Workaround” suggested below.

This error results from the way decimal-point symbols are recognized by the Microsoft Windows operating systems. When multiple documents are open simultaneously within a single instance of an application, they must all use the same decimal-point symbol.

Fix—In RILSIM 2.00, a check is made whenever a database is opened to ensure that its decimal-point symbol matches that of any database already open within that instance of RILSIM. If the decimal-point symbols do not match, RILSIM displays an error message and refuses to load the new document within the same instance of RILSIM.

Workaround—If you need to open multiple RILSIM databases simultaneously and there is a chance that they may have been created with different decimal-point symbols, use multiple instances of RILSIM to do this rather than opening them within a single instance of RILSIM.

Sep 2004