Major bugfix release 0.3.2

An error during normalization offsets calculation was making DG_GARP and DG_GARP_BS produce null models most part of the time (100% omission on projected maps). Apparently the other algorithms were not affected. This problem was fixed on version 0.3.2 of both the library and the GUI. We recommend all users to upgrade.

Released version 0.3.1

Both the library and the GUI have been "co-released" under the same version number: 0.3.1. There were many changes in the library (code cleanup, bugfixes, new features and performance optimizations).

Changes to the library include:

• Reimplemented serialization/deserialization mechanism using generic configuration objects (all available algorithms are now serializable).
• om_console accepts two new keywords "Output model" (file name to store the serialized model) and "Input model" (file name to load a serialized model instead of using "WKT format", "Species file", "Species" and "Map").
• New framework for test cases available (depends on the SWIG/Python interface).
• Moved normalization from the individual raster files to the "environment" object.
• Implemented Model and Algorithm separation (new interface called Model abstracts the portion of Algorithm used for evaluations).
• Implemented reference-counting smart pointers for all major objects.
• Fixed various problems with memory leaks and uninitialized values.
• Removed CSM Kaiser-Gutman from build.
• Removed SWIG/Java binding from build.
• Projected maps now have the mask extent and cell size of a specified "map format".
• Major restructuring of directories, file locations and file names.

Changes to the GUI include:

• Compatibility with the new library version.
• Models are automatically serialized (XML file).
• A new report is generated (and saved in HTML) after each modelling process.

BDWorld using openModeller in a GRID environment

Demonstration sessions during the BiodiversityWorld (BDWorld) GRID Workshop showed openModeller being used as a GRID component. The workshop has been held at the National e-Science Centre in Edinburgh on June 30th and July 1st, 2005.

BDWorld is developing an advanced GRID-based problem solving environment to facilitate scientific research in biodiversity informatics. Use cases may include modelling species distributions, conservation prioritization and study of evolutionary changes.

BDWorld provides a flexible workflow interface based on Triana with several pre-defined GRID components available. Components can be assembled in many different ways to build customized workflows and achieve the desired results.