What's new

InfoEx (v3.64.?) will be released soon - expected in late October or November.

This release features many enhancements and bug fixes including:

• Workflows can now include more than one snowpack and hazard assessment module (which are optionally private). For instance this allows a ski hill (or any operation) to monitor snowpack and hazard for both compacted and uncompacted snowpacks; or a roving operation to have assessments for different sub-locations within a single workflow for a larger zone:
  • A skip option has been added
  • PWL assessments should now work independently and bug free for different locations for a PWL i.e. the same weak layer can be assessed differently for different locations
  • PWL assessments have additional information available - a second Grain Form and the Aspect/Elevation rose
  • NOTE: Community PWL functionality still remains to be fully implemented

• ACTION REQUIRED: To take advantage of this new functionality you will need to update your workflow definitions in Manage Workflow Definitions.
  • NOTE: Different locations have to be used for the second hazard and snowpack workflow modules

• Photo Overlay Drawing tool improvements
  • Different colours are now available for recording half sizes
  • Different shading is now available for visualizing depth

• New fields and labelling in the Start Zone Details section of Avalanche Observation entry
  • Fields are SZ Elev Min, SZ Elev Max, SZ Elev Avg
  • This clarifies these fields should be used for Start Zone information (and not to describe the start zone elevation (in Elev Max) and deposit elevation (in Elev Min) - Terminus and Length are available)
  • SZ Elev Min and Max can be used for a single occurence to indicate vertical displacement of the fracture line
  • For reporting more than one occurence in a single observation SZ Elev Min, Max and Avg can describe the range of start zones
  • NOTE: You may want to update your operation's Observation Template(s) to take these changes into account

• The InfoEx abbreviations wiki (OGRS) is accessible via the cogwheel menu
• PWL status definitions - a help pop-up has been added beside the New PWL button in the snowpack workflow module

• Run list email title is now more specific
• Run list status rating dropdowns no longer disappear
• Run list statuses can now all be included (or excluded) from the PDF print, including Not Considered. This is configured in Operation Settings under the cogwheel menu (in the Extension Settings tab)

InfoEx (v3.62.3) was released on 17th April 2019.

This release features many enhancements and bug fixes including:

• Workflow summaries (and historic workflows) can now be generated in PDF format:
  • The entire workflow can be generated as a single PDF or each individual step as a separate PDF
  • These PDFs can be emailed to an email distribution list associated with the workflow

• ACTION REQUIRED FOR RUN LIST EXTENSION USERS: If you email your run list pdf you must take action for this to continue. Go to Manage Workflow Definitions for each workflow that has a run list step, and set up your email distribution list.

• ACTION REQUIRED TO SET UP EMAILING OF WORKFLOW SUMMARIES IN PDF FORMAT: Go to Manage Workflow Definitions for each workflow you wish to email to a distribution list and set this list up. Then click on the Email PDF button after you have submitted your workflow.

• Printed Shot Sheets - Photo overlay viewer now has a print friendly view to allow printing of Shot Sheets
• All columns in the tabular report view are now left justified
• PDF report headings now appear at the top of every page
• A blank run list can be generated from its workflow step
• Run list email title is now more specific
• Run list status rating dropdowns no longer disappear
• Run list statuses can now all be included (or excluded) from the PDF print, including Not Considered. This is configured in Operation Settings under the cogwheel menu (in the Extension Settings tab)

InfoEx (v3.60.4) was released on 4th Feb 2019.

This release features many enhancements and bug fixes including:

• Metric or imperial options now available for all SWAG weather, field summary and avalanche observations and for Wind Speed Unit in OGRS weather observations:
  • Operations can choose metric or imperial for all the field groups (and m/s or km/h for OGRS wind speed). This sets a default unit for observation entry and the unit for report viewing
  • In observation entry the default unit can be overwritten for any field at any time by changing the unit. Each field now has a unit associated with it
  • In reports concatenated columns have units included. Simple columns can be displayed with or without units. Standard reports have units in the concatenated columns and no units in simple columns. Operations can change this by saving a new report view in a custom report. See Documentation Overview - scroll down to customizing reports section
  • In PWL Assessments in the Snowpack workflow step, the burial depth is hard coded to cm and cannot be changed
  • T8 label changed to '20cm Snow Temp'

• • ACTION REQUIRED: These have been substantial changes for SWAG users and are hopefully positive steps forward as they have been implemented in response to subscriber feedback. However action is required by Operation Administrators to ensure a smooth transition
  • 1 - In Operation Settings you must choose your default units
  • 2 - Load your Operation Templates and adjust the formatting to take account of the new unit fields. Overwrite the existing template.
  • 3 - Instruct all your users to reload the template
  • 4 - For Control Extension users, units are now included so your Quick Entry screen may need to be re-formatted too

• • NOTE: As these have been substantial changes with some complexity it is likely there will have been bugs introduced and unforseen consequences. Please get in touch with CAA Support staff if you experience any problems.

• Avalanche Summary comments can now be wrapped (included in standard reports)
• A new Operation Setting to open multiple attachments each in a new tab - ACTION REQUIRED TO SWITCH ON IN OPERATION SETTINGS
• User Management Find Existing Search now works for email address
• A Precip field has been added to Weather Observations. This allows entry of total precip i.e. rainfall + snow water equivalent
• Confirmation added before deleting an observation during Observation Entry
• Message and comments fields have almost all been made bigger (now allow up to 4096 characters) - and improved enforcement of this limit has been added
• In Avalanche Summary observation entry the constraint of explosives charges greater than or equal to triggered avalanches has been removed
• An HS Comment field has been added to Field Summary observations
• Improvements to how the photo overlay drawing tool handles different size base images
• Improvements to error messages when submitting workflows when an observation is rejected by the database, and bugs fixed to make this scenario less likely
• A maximum limit of 10 photos per location is now being enforced
• Zooming added to the photo overlay viewer
• SWAG avalanche observation reports can now be filtered by size which allows custom reports to be made for avalanches of specific sizes
• Information has been added to email report bodies

InfoEx (v3.59.7) was released on 4th Dec 2018.

This release features many enhancements and bug fixes including:

• Upgrades to photo overlay functionality and the run list and avalanche control extensions:
  • An InfoEx-specific photo overlay drawing tool (available to all subscribers who wish to draw on photos for avalanche observations and snow profiles)
  • Improved display of photos and zoom functionality in photo overlay drawing tool and run list
  • Run list comments box size can be set for each workflow step
  • Run list photos can optionally be displayed to the right of the status rating dialogue
  • An attachment can be uploaded with a status rating and is available in report view
  • Photos can now be viewed from the location catalog via the right click menu for the location
  • The photo overlay viewer now includes observation details
  • NOTE: These have been substantial changes and are hopefully positive steps forward as they have been implemented in response to subscriber feedback. However there are many more suggestions still in the queue and further feedback from subscribers is encouraged on what future improvements you would like to see in this area
• A link to a professional level open-source and free to use snow profiling tool (that has been built with funding from an international consortium including Canadian avalanche stakeholder groups) has been added to the Extensions menu. The tool is called NiViz and snow profiles generated from it can be added as an attachment to a Snow Profile observation
• Updates to reflect the latest version of the conceptual model
• Upgrades to ensure InfoEx's complex infrastructure and server technologies were maintained or upgraded. Whilst this work is invisible to subscribers, it was essential to ensuring a stable and functional service
• Improvements to database performance and speeding up slower transactions like loading reports
• Improvements to map layers, including operation customization and support for third party WMS map layers
• Improved InfoEx observation validation, including full server side validation to increase reliability
• Changes to our mail provider to improve delivery of InfoEx reports
• Improvements to workflow management functionality
• Encrypting all data at rest - part of a number of redundant controls to keep your data safe
• Numerous bug fixes and UI improvements

InfoEx (v3.53.2) was released on 8th Nov 2017.

This release features many enhancements and bug fixes including:

• Significant improvements to offline functionality and stability/reliability, particularly concerning Workflows:
  • Almost all workflow modules now work offline, including prefilling with previous data whilst offline, even when working offline for multiple days
  • Menus that don’t work when offline have been disabled
  • New Offline Landing Page, showing the status of the application when offline
  • Improved notifications when something goes wrong selecting an operation or starting a workflow
  • The online/offline toggle (see the Working offline in InfoEx section for details) has been improved
  • NOTE: whilst many improvements have been made and many bugs resolved there remains significant work still to be undertaken e.g. PWLs cannot be created whilst offline; the run list extension does not work offline; improvements to the uploading functionality when coming back online
  • A help page Advice for using InfoEx with weak internet connectivity is available. It is recommended season start reading for operations who face challenges with their internet service
• Updates to Terrain Management: the aspect/elevation rose becomes NON mandatory and changes to the Terrain Features and Wind Exposures pick lists
• A “Reset Chart” button has been added to the Hazard Chart in Hazard workflow module 1
• A help icon and placeholder text with the following wording have been added to the Snowpack Summary in the Snowpack workflow module: Describe the snowpack from top to bottom in plain English and simple sentences. Give an overview rather than including specific test results and technical data, which should be submitted as Snow Profiles
• The “New PWL” and “Add Inactive” buttons in the Snowpack workflow module have been moved to the left side of the screen so they don’t get missed, and the PWL assessments now have an improved display
• Avalanche Control extension observation entry and workflow module now work offline

InfoEx (v3.52.3) was released on 12th Aug 2017.

This release features many enhancements and bug fixes including:

• Introducing system, operation and personal observation entry favourite templates that are not computer specific. PLEASE NOTE that all previous observation entry favourite templates have been reset.
• Implementing the Aspect/Elevation Rose for Snow Profiles (renamed from Snowpack Observation)
• Run list pdf can now be emailed
• Adding explosive shots and results fields to Avalanche Summary observation entry
• Adding Forecast/Nowcast to Avalanche Hazard tab in reports
• Adding a rimed checkbox to grain form entries
• PWLs entered in Snow Profiles now appear in reports
• Updated standard reports. If you have custom reports set-up you will need to update them to add any of the new fields you are interested in.
• Enabling a glide avalanche observation to be reported
• Add “unknown” to number and size of avalanches