What's new in Nexus: v1.3.0

A number of new features and improvements are now available with Micromine Nexus 1.3.0:

• Application
  • Collapse Menus
  • Performance Improvement
  • File Info Panel Tabs
  • Spanish System Language
  • Text Search
• Admin
  • Delete Permission
• Project Integration
  • Micromine Origin & Beyond
    • Nexus Wireframes
    • Annotation
    • Grid Layer
    • Nexus Options
    • Update Nexus Capabilities
  • 3D Visualisation
    • Viewer
    • Viewer Lighting
    • Object Attributes
    • Apply Random Colour
    • Layer Selection
    • Version Selection
  • 3D Viewing Tools
    • Rotate Tool
    • Seek Tool
    • Show All Objects
    • Measurement Tool
    • Plan View Tool
• File Management
  • File Version Information
  • File Locations
  • Delete File Options
  • Object Preview
  • Share Folders
• Task Management
  • Improved Notifications
  • Workspace Selection
  • Task Recurrence
• Workspaces
  • User Role Display
  • Attribute Type Display

Application

Collapse Menus

The Collapse option has been added to the Navigation menu. The option collapses the left-hand menu to provide more space at the right.

Performance Improvement

The Admin | Users screen has been modified to improve the overall performance of the feature.

Previously, users outside of Australia were experiencing slight delays in loading last activities. This was due to the location of the server and the sequential loading of all page components.

Nexus now utilises Azure to retrieve the information, making for a faster experience, as no additional index is required to keep the information available.

Additionally, components of the tab have been refactored so that they load asynchronously and do not block the loading of the entire tab.

File Info Panel Tabs

The tabs in the File Info panel have been re-factored from horizontal to vertical. The new layout provides more room for additional tabs, such as the new Locations.

Spanish System Language

¡Hola! Nexus ahora tiene una opción de idioma español.

Nexus now includes a Spanish system language option to display the User Interface in Spanish.

When Español is selected from the System Language drop down, all Nexus pages and menu options will be displayed in Spanish:

Text Search

Text Search has been added to Projects and the Library explorer to enable filtering of the Project or Library to specific folders and files by Filename and Type.

Admin 

Delete Permission

The Delete permission has been added to Admin | Users | Permissions. Users with Delete permission will be able to remove / delete files on the workspace. The Write permission no longer allows the deleting of files.

Project Integration

Micromine Origin & Beyond

Nexus Wireframes

A new Nexus wireframe file type was implemented to allow users to preview their wireframes loaded from Micromine Origin & Beyond (MMO&B) 23.5 or later version. MMO&B 23.5 now has an Options button in the Nexus backstage menu which opens the Nexus Options dialog.

This dialog allows a user to publish all the wireframes from a MMO&B 23.5 project to standard .TRIDB file format or the new Nexus wireframe format. Nexus wrieframes can be viewed in the Nexus Viewer.

With the option selected, the wireframes you create in Micromine Origin & Beyond will be uploaded to Nexus storage and stored as a .tridb file, and every existing wireframe (a .tridb file already living in Nexus) will be directed to Nexus Wireframe storage when the user uploads a new version to Nexus. These files are not viewable in the Nexus Viewer.

This option is off by default, so every new wireframe (.tridb) will be uploaded to Nexus as a Nexus wireframe and viewable in the Nexus Viewer.

Annotation

A default file type has been added to support Micromine Origin & Beyond annotation files (.mmaxl). An annotation file is a text, number and arrow labels showing dimensions, names or any other information for an object. Annotations are mostly used for graphical reports.

Micromine Annotation files are now included in the default File Types for Nexus. An icon for the new file type has also been added.

Grid Layer

A default file type has been added to support Micromine Origin & Beyond Grid Layer files (.grd). A grid is a surface built using any mathematical algorithm (interpolation) for the input points (any numerical value).

Micromine Grid Layer files are now included in the default File Types for Nexus. An icon for the new file type has also been added.

Nexus Options

The Options button has been added to Micromine Origin & Beyond to allow the configuration of system wide options for Nexus.

On the File tab, in the Nexus group: Select Options to configure the system wide options for Nexus.

The Nexus Options form contains the option to Publish wireframes as Micromine .TRIDB files.

With the option selected, the wireframes you create in Micromine Origin & Beyond will be uploaded to Nexus storage and stored as a .TRIDB file, and every existing wireframe (a .tridb file already living in Nexus) will be directed to Nexus Wireframe storage when the user uploads a new version to Nexus. These files are not viewable in the Nexus viewer.

This option is off by default, so every new wireframe (.TRIDB) will be uploaded to Nexus as Nexus object wireframes and will be viewable in the Nexus Viewer.

Update Nexus Capabilities

A method to enable or disable new Nexus capabilities within Micromine Origin & Beyond has been added.

When a project linked by a previous Micromine Origin & Beyond version is opened (or Nexus deployment changes to offer new known connection capabilities), the application will prompt you to make use of the new functionality.

Select an option from the prompt to proceed to Origin & Beyond with Nexus updated or not. These settings may be changed later on Nexus Options dialog.

Please be aware that new connection capability settings only apply to a newly published objects. The settings for existing objects will not change.

3D Visualisation

Viewer

The Viewer has been added to Nexus to allow the visualisation of Micromine Origin & Beyond objects in a Vizex-like viewer. Objects that can be visualised include Micromine Origin & Beyond Wireframe objects and 3D Object Models.

Tools in the viewer allow you to:

• Select, Move and Rotate the representation in 3D space
• Change the rotation centre
• View multiple objects at once and compare
• Zoom in and out
• Switch orthogonal views
• Display a Coordinate grid
• Select Object versions and colours
• View Object attributes
• Show or hide some objects

For information on the tools available in the Viewer, see Viewer Tools.

Viewer Lighting

The lighting settings for the Viewer have been enhanced to provide a brighter display of the object. The new lighting configuration is similar to the default settings in Vizex from Micromine Origin & Beyond, with the rendered object lit from both sides.

Object Attributes

The Objects Attributes panel has been added to the Viewer. The panel is opened from the object layer in the Layers panel.

The Object Attributes panel displays any existing attributes for the object, such as Volume, Surface Area Sum and Plan Silhouette Area Sum.

Apply Random Colour

The Apply Random Colour button has been added to the Layers panel for the Viewer.

The Apply Random Colour button applies a random colour to all bodies inside a Wireframe object version. This makes it easier to see the difference in closely located geometery in Layer element.

Layer Selection

Selection of layers from the Layers panel is now supported in the Viewer. If you select a layer in the Layers panel, the corresponding layer in the object model will be selected - indicated by a grey colour.

Version Selection

Selection of versions from the Layers panel is now supported in the Viewer. The Select version option is available from the More menu for the object layer and will open the Version Selection dialog.

From the dialog you can select the version/s to be displayed and click Add selected versions.

3D Viewer Tools

Rotate Tool

The Rotate tool has been added to the Viewer.

The Rotate tool will rotate the Viewer grid in 3D space when the mouse button is held down. This is similar to the way in which Vizex operates within Micromine Origin & Beyond.

Seek Tool

The Seek tool has been added to the Viewer.

The Seek tool is used to select the centralised rotation point for the Rotate tool. If you select the tool and then click a coordinate point, rotation for the object will occur at that fixed point.

Show All Objects

The Show All Objects tool has been added to the Viewer to scale the screen to show all objects in one frame. This feature is similar to View All in Micromine Origin & Beyond.

Measurement Tool

The Measure tool has been added to the Viewer.

The Measure tool, when active, allows you to draw a line or multiple lines on the Viewer grid to measure the distance between points according to the object coordinates. This process is outlined in Measure Distance.

Plan View Tool

The Plan View tool has been added to the Viewer.

The Plan View tool provides a menu of various perspectives which can be applied to the Viewer grid.

File Management

File Version Information

Tool tips for file versions in the File Info pane version tree have been expanded to include information on the file version, name, size and author.

File Locations

The Locations tab has been added to the File Info panel. The new tab displays a list of the directories in which the selected file is represented, as well as any tasks to which it is attached.

Clicking a location or task from the list will open the location or the task with the file displayed.

Delete File Options

The Delete from here and Delete from everywhere options have been added to the More | Delete submenu. The new options allow users with permission to delete a selected file from only the current location (Delete from here) or ALL directories in which it exists (Delete from everywhere).

Object Preview

The Object Preview button has been added to the File Info panel for wireframe object files. With a wireframe object file selected, clicking the Object Preview button will open the file in the Viewer.

Share Folders

Support has been added for the sharing of folders in the Nexus similar to sharing files.

A URL is created which can be provided to external people without access to Micromine Nexus, in order to share data and allow the download of the file or folder. You will be prompted to select a lifetime for the link to be valid - 1 day, 1 week or 1 month. After the lifetime has expired, the file / folder will not be accessible through the generated link.

Task Management

Improved Notifications

Improvements have been made to the Task Manager notification process so that only one notification is sent per User assigned. Notifications are sent for user role assignment, task attachment and task creation. The notifications for these events are now combined where relevant.

For example, if a user creates a task and attaches a file, and is assigned to the Responsible and Informed roles, they will receive a single notification, not four as previously.

Workspace Selection

Workspace selection has been added for Existing files when attaching to a task using the Create Task or Edit Task dialog. You can select the workspace that contains the file you want to attach using the drop down provided.

Task Recurrence

The ability to Set Recurrence for a task has been added to the Create Task page.

When the Set Recurrence check box is selected, the task repeating options are enabled. Tasks can be repeated multiple times (each week, each month, or each year).

Workspaces

User Role Display

The role of each user is now displayed in the tool tip for Users throughout the application. The information displays the applicable user role - Guest, User or Admin.

Attribute Type Display

The Attribute Type for each listed attribute is now displayed in the Edit File Type dialog when adding attributes to a file.