What's new

Mobile app phase 2 was released on Wednesday 23rd February 2022.

InfoEx (v3.67.1) was released on Wednesday 24th November. Note phase 1 mobile app has previously been released.

This release features enhancements and bug fixes including:

• Additional Precip hourly data for BCMOTI auto weather stations
• Help pop-ups added for Rainfall, Precipitation and Precipitation Int fields in Weather Observations
• Standard reports have Rainfall column replaced by Precip Int
• Temp Max/Min prefills for standard observations from auto stations fallback to using hourly Temp Pres data if hourly Temp Max/Mins are not recorded

A new version of InfoEx was released on Monday 21st September (v3.65.1). Note phase 1 mobile app has also been released.

This release adds BCMOTI automated weather stations to the Canadian InfoEx service:

• BCMOTI automated weather station hourly data is available in the InfoEx report map view. Operations can link one of their weather sites with one of these auto stations to pre-fill standard weather observations. Note that the min/max temps are reported at 6am and 6pm for the previous 12 hour period. The Implementation Guide has some info and screenshots on slides 4 & 14 regarding setting this up.

InfoEx (v3.65.0) was released on Tuesday 31st March. Note phase 1 mobile app has also been released.

This release features many enhancements and bug fixes including:

• Automated weather station linkage to InfoEx is now available. Once an hourly feed is established the data can pre-fill standard weather observations and is available as raw data in the InfoEx map report view:
  • Click here for Implementation Guide which will be updated as required as more feedback is given. Contact CAA InfoEx staff to report any errors or with suggestions to improve the Implementation Guide.

• New weather observation fields added:
  • HIT fields, HSB2 fields, HS & HST Settlement, H2D Density, Comment
• These are in addition to new weather fields previously added for automated weather stations
  • Precipitation Int, Wind Gust Spd & Dir, Wind Run fields, Dew Point
• A help pop-up for Wind Spd Cat has been added

• ACTION REQUIRED: You may need to customize the weather fields visible in tabular reports to view the fields you are interested in.

• No Result (NR) avalanche observations are now displayed in the report map view:
  • If an attempted trigger type was entered this is displayed

• PWL assessments in the workflow pdf now display graphically
• All columns with large text fields should now have a text wrap option in tabular reports

InfoEx (v3.63.3) was released on Thursday 21st November.

This release features many enhancements and bug fixes including:

• Workflows can now include more than one snowpack and hazard assessment module (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 (including set as inactive for one location, but still being assessed for another)
  • PWL assessments have additional information available - a second Grain Form and the Aspect/Elevation rose

• ACTION REQUIRED: To take advantage of this new functionality you will need to update your workflow definitions in Manage Workflow Definitions.
  • NOTE: Each additional snowpack and hazard workflow module must have a unique location (or group of locations) associated with it.
  • NOTE: Use the Include Proprietary Data checkbox to include private snowpack and hazard assessments as well as AM forecasts in reports.
  • NOTE: Community PWL functionality is still not fully implemented

• Typical depth fields have been added to Avalanche Problems in the Hazard Assessment 1 workflow module
• Avalanche problems in workflow Hazard Assessment 1 should now be consistently ordered (this ordering is not currently reflected in report views)
• In the tabular report, PWLs displayed in the Snowpack Description section are now ordered the same as they appear in the workflow Snowpack module

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

• More configuration for workflow and run list summary pdf emailing
  • A different email distribution group can now be set for each workflow module (including the runlist)
  • When a workflow module has its own distribution group it takes precedence over the email distribution group set for the whole workflow

• 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 [rather than entering the start zone elevation (in Elev Max) and deposit elevation (in Elev Min) - Terminus and Length are available]
  • SZ Elev Min, Avg and Max can be used for a single occurence to record 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

• Reports can be now be generated for Last 2 Days (Today and Yesterday) and Last 3 Days
• 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
• The InfoEx Avalanche Hazard Rating Scale has been updated to reflect the conceptual model update - the heading "Likelihood of Triggering" has been changed to "Likelihood of Avalanches". This may effect ratings in lower elevation bands.

• Mammut logos added to recognize them as a CAA Principal Partner which provides financial support for InfoEx.

• 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

COMING SOON (once v3.63.3 is released and stable the following will be released ASAP):

• Phase 1 of a mobile app. This will initially offer extremely limited functionality (some observation entry initially). Timing of the release is uncertain. It is hoped to add more functionality to the initial release during the winter.

• Automated weather stations - hourly feed to InfoEx will now be possible. Full instructions will be made available for subscribers to set-up their feed. The data will be used to pre-populate standard weather observations (for review, addition of any manual data, and then submission). The raw data will also be available as a layer on the map view. Timing of the release is uncertain.

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