Crystal Impact outlook to 2016
December 18, 2015
Shortly before the end of the year we would like to say 'thank you' to all customers
for your interest in our software products! Looking back at 2015, the most important
innovation (at least from our point of view) has been the introduction of the update
subscription model along with the release of Match! version 3.
We will continue on this path in 2016, with this update model becoming available
also for Endeavour in its new version 2.
As usual, we plan to release new and enhanced versions for all four software products
in 2016:
Diamond
After the update 4.1 we plan to release updates 4.2 and 4.3 in April/May 2016
and October/November 2016, rsp., offering these new or enhanced functions:
- Combination or splitting of polyhedron faces by clicking,
that means removing or inserting edges, rsp., by clicking on two atoms each.
- Copy and paste of polyhedra between atoms of same site. This allows you to build a prototype of
a polyhedron around a site with complicated environment and duplicate that on symmetry-equivalent central atoms.
- Search for molecules in the neighbourhood of an atom or molecule.
- Configurable data sheet.
- Small database of most frequent (inorganic) structure types, e.g. for "New Structure"
function.
- Start page with news channel and thumbnails of recently viewed structure pictures.
For a list of more functions to be included in subsequent minor updates 4.x of Diamond,
cf. "Diamond Version 4 New Functions".
Match!
With Match! having already received the update subscription model functionality, the software will
be continuously improved throughout the next years, just like it has been in the past.
For 2016 we currently have plans for at least three updates:
Version 3.1 will become available in January, along with an updated version of the COD
reference database. The main new feature will be the possibility to edit or delete reference
database entries marked in candidate list. In addition, several other improvements will be included as well.
For version 3.2, no release schedule has been fixed up to now. However, a preliminary list
of improvements is already available: First of all, we would like to improve the online update
functionality, so that downloading and installing updated versions will become more easy and
straight forward in the future. In addition, we would like to enhance the batch scripting,
due to corresponding requests of several customers.
Even for version 3.3 we already have some ideas what might be included: In this version
we would like to improve the calculation of raw (profile) diffraction patterns for multiple
phases. A second functionality we are aiming at is the search-match based on individual peaks.
Endeavour
As has already been mentioned, we plan to release Endeavour 2 in 2016,
most probably in November or December. The most important changes compared to version 1
will be the introduction of the update subscription model, an improved look-and-feel,
and the replacement of the outdated "Winhelp" online help by a modern HTML-based system.
Pearson's Crystal Data
For the next annual release of Pearson's Crystal Data we plan to add static plots of
e.g. unit cell parameters vs. temperature created by the editors, as well as dynamic plots
that will enable the creation of similar plots by the user. Both of them will become available
by corresponding links at the bottom of the entry data sheets.
Office closed
Our office will be closed from December 23 until January 3.
In urgent cases, please contact us by e-mail or fax.
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Klaus Brandenburg and Holger Putz
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