MicroSurvey STAR*NET 8.1

MicroSurvey Software Inc. is pleased to announce STAR*NET 8.1, the latest and highly anticipated version of the industry-leading STAR*NET least squares network adjustment suite. 

According to Brian Sloman, Desktop Products Manager at MicroSurvey, "We worked really hard to create several powerful new productivity tools that all STAR*NET users can take immediate advantage of.  The flexible and independent control of conventional, GPS, and leveling data in the network plot, including the new directional arrows which indicate both the direction and number of observations for each network connection, can help you visually identify regions with lower redundancy without having to analyze the listing file. The new .PRISM inline command lets you correct distances without having to make potentially thousands of tedious calculations and manual edits, and the level loop tolerance check lets you immediately confirm whether or not your level loops or traverses fall within the maximum allowable tolerances for a desired standard of accuracy.  Toss in the ability to view your data in Google Earth and Google Maps, and it all adds up to a faster and easier least squares analysis."

STAR*NET 8.1 is a FREE upgrade for any STAR*NET users who have a valid (non-expired) Maintenance Subscription and Support Plan.

What's New in STAR*NET 8.1

New Features

Network Plot

Use the new Network Plot Manager to control your view. All display options are presented together in one intuitive grid view, similar to a CAD Layer Manager.

Specify the color for each network plot element (like Stations, Connections, and Ellipses).

Specify the linetype for each network connection type (like conventional observations, leveling observations, GNSS vectors, and sideshots) as Continuous, Directional, Dashed, Dotted, DashDot, or DashDotDot.

Use your mouse to zoom and pan - zoom in by scrolling up, zoom out by scrolling down, zoom extents by double-clicking the middle mouse button, and pan by dragging with your middle mouse button.

Prism Offset Correction

A new ".PRISM" inline option lets you apply a correction for measurements that were collected with an incorrect prism offset setting.

Google Maps™ Support

View your network stations in Google Maps by clicking the Map button located in the Find Point dialog. (Compatible with Grid projects only.)

Google Earth™ Support

Export your network stations and connections to a .kml or .kmz file and view them in Google Earth. (Compatible with Grid projects only.)

Level Loop Tolerance Check

Perform a tolerance check on level loops to validate that they meet required tolerances based on the loop length, and generate a Warning message if the tolerance is exceeded.

Level Loop Check also now reports the total loop length for each loop in the Listing report, as well as their individual segment lengths.

Online Updater

STAR*NET now includes a "Check for Updates" feature, and is also configured to silently check for updates according to your customizable preferences. When an update is available, you will be notified and given the option to download and install it.

Enhanced Features

Quick File References

[F1500] An index column has been added to the Data Input Files Panel, corresponding to the File:Line references in the Listing file, and double-clicking on a : character in the Listing file will now take you directly to the corresponding data file and line number in the Editor.

Data File Monitor

[D4440] Data Editor now monitors for any changes that are made by an external program to a loaded data file, and will prompt to reload it from disk.

[D4654] Data Editor now immediately updates when a loaded data file is changed by Overwriting or Appending to it with the GPS Importer.

Conversion Utilities

[F2486] Direct access to all conversion utilities has been added within STAR*NET via the Import menu.

[F1315] Help buttons have been added to all conversion utilities for direct access to the relevant help topic.

MicroSurvey FieldGenius Support

[D6245] STAR*FieldGenius and FieldGenius GPS importer - will now convert OB records from the raw file, which contain COGO measurements, and create BM (Bearing Measurement) records.

[D6244] FieldGenius GPS importer - will now handle GPS Offset measurements from the raw file, and create new G4 (GPS Offset) records to define the offset from the rover's measured position to the actual point.

[D6859] FieldGenius GPS importer - will now handle scenarios where the base receiver was changed midway through the raw file without connecting to it to define the base point ID.

[D6859] FieldGenius GPS importer - is now more tolerant of corrupt data such that latitude/longitude values of zero will be ignored.

[D6964] FieldGenius GPS importer - when importing vectors without a defined base point ID, the assumed point ID (like RefID0000_1) is now constructed using the Next Vector number to avoid using the same Point ID for different base positions when importing multiple raw files.

Carlson SurvCE Support

[F2072] STAR*Carlson - will now convert Resection observations.

[F2305] STAR*Carlson - can again "Average Shots in Multiple Sets" (this option was available prior to 2009 but had been removed).

[D5839] Carlson GPS importer - can now import point descriptions with each vector.

Leica DBX Support

[F2506] STAR*Leica DBX - the option to Use All Set Observations now applies for any Sets collected with both the Sets of Angles or Traverse applications.

[D6909] STAR*Leica DBX - The Angular Precision setting for DMS angles was not intuitive; it now controls the number of decimal places for the seconds value (like 2 for DDD-MM-SS.ss) instead of the degrees value (like 6 for DDD-MM-SS.ss).

[F1934] STAR*Leica DBX - can now export Staking observations as measurement records.

[F2541] STAR*Leica DBX - will now export Checkshot deltas as comment records.

Defects Fixed

• [D6880] Custom Coordinate Systems - When defining a custom coordinate system or when viewing coordinate system details, degrees-minutes-seconds format is now used instead of decimal degrees.
• [D6882] Custom Coordinate Systems - When selecting a custom coordinate system, the Projection, Datum and Ellipsoid descriptions may show illegible characters.
• [D6884] Custom Coordinate Systems - After defining a custom coordinate system, it could not be edited or deleted; Edit and Delete buttons have been added to the Coordinate System Details dialog.
• [D6885] Custom Coordinate Systems - When using a custom coordinate system, transformations may occasionally fail resulting in coordinates at 0,0,0.
• [D6897] Custom Coordinate Systems - A crash can occur when adding Global Mapper imagery to the network plot if an unsupported coordinate system is in use.
• [D6898] Custom Coordinate Systems - When defining a custom coordinate system, editable fields now activate on a single-click instead of a double-click, and read-only fields are displayed with a grey background.
• [D6893] Custom Coordinate Systems - A crash may occur or a solution may not converge, when running an adjustment in a project that references a custom system that does not exist.
• [D6942] Custom Coordinate Systems - When defining a custom coordinate system, the specified delta Z value (if applicable) was not saved.
• [D6918] Coordinate Systems - Tab order on the Select Project Coordinate System dialog was improved.
• [D5508] DXF Export - network connections are always exported as 2D, never 3D, regardless of whether the "Export as a 2D DXF File" option is on or off.
• [D6949] Error Log - The Output panel would not automatically switch to the Error Log when only Warnings are reported - it now opens for any Warnings or Errors.
• [D5905] Error Log - A typo in one of the error messages in STAR*DNA conversion utility has been corrected.
• [D6821] Exit - Exiting from STAR*NET while an adjustment is in progress can cause the program to crash.
• [D6889] Help Files - The Microsoft Translator widget used in the Help files started generating script errors and has therefore been removed.
• [D4440] Input Data - The Internal Editor now recognizes if any changes are made externally to the loaded data files and will prompt to reload the file from disk.
• [D4938] Input Data - The .INCLUDE inline option was not reliable.
• [D6883] Input Data - Pressing Ctrl-A to Select All does not do anything.
• [D4472] Input Data - The Input Data Files panel did not support selecting multiple files to enable, disable, or delete at once.
• [D6878] Listing File - Clicking on a section heading in the Listing Index Tree may cause that section to be displayed at the bottom of the Listing view.
• [D5817] Listing File - All section headings may appear inside the "Summary of Files Used and Option Settings" section in the Listing Index Tree.
• [D6973] Listing File - Error Propagation section headers missing the percent characters, like "Confidence Region = 95%".
• [D6895] Modeling - Geoid heights are not applied to sideshots when using a .bin or .byn file.
• [D6917] Modeling - Vertical Deflection Modeling causes an error message.
• [D4849] Network Plot - Text Size and Symbol Size options could default to inappropriate sizes (1.5 and 1.0 points, respectively) that were too small to see.
• [D6967] Output Files – In rare situations it was possible for the editor heuristics to mistake an ANSI file as Unicode, resulting in it being displayed illegibly.
• [D4502] Project Manager - Tooltips showing the complete path and filename of each file shown on the Project Manager may not display.
• [F2207] Project Manager - An option is now available to enable or disable the template data file functionality that was added in STAR*NET 7 when created.
• [D6971] Project Options - Changes made on the Modeling tab would not update the relevant display on the Adjustment tab until closing and reopening the Project Options dialog.
• [D4521] Screen Layout - the default screen layout has been improved such that all panels are now visible by default. Note that the layout is still completely customizable.

Download Link

MicroSurvey STAR*NET 8.1 Install (includes all conversion utilities): click here

Existing MicroSurvey STAR*NET users with a current maintenance plan may need to use the USB License Manager application to update their USB License Key(s) before this version can be run. If your maintenance plan has expired, please call MicroSurvey Software Inc. at 1-800-668-3312 or 1-250-707-0000 or contact your local MicroSurvey dealer to renew it.

For demonstration purposes, MicroSurvey STAR*NET 8 can be run for 10-days as the fully-featured STAR*NET-PRO edition, and beyond that as the limited 10-station STAR*NET-DEMO edition. All of the conversion utilities are also unlocked during this 10-day demo period.

Additional Online Resources

MicroSurvey STAR*NET Product Website: click here

MicroSurvey STAR*NET Online Training Movies: click here

MicroSurvey STAR*NET 8 Release Notes: click here

MicroSurvey STAR*NET 8 Upgrade Notes: click here

MicroSurvey STAR*NET 8 Known Issues: click here

Additional Supporting Applications

MicroSurvey USB License Manager (included in the STAR*NET install): click here

MicroSurvey USB Network License Server (must be purchased separately): click here