PRA 12.0.0 Out Now

[Steven Sesselmann]

Hi Guys,

Marek has made PRA 12.0.0 available once again with a few improvements that make the file format incompatible with previous versions. This is typical of Marek's version protocol, when the main version number changes i.e. 10 to 11 or 11 to 12 from it generally means the file format has changed, while the incremental updates and bug fixes are noted by the following numbers i.e. 10.1.0 and 10.1.1

As PRA is a small program file I recommend keeping all older versions together with the recorded .pls files in the same folder in case you need to open the files later.

Changes in Version 12.0

• Added: Some space after last bin displayed in histograms to improve visual experience.
• Changed: Changed nomenclature to more generalised (energy to quantity) and less ambiguous (frequency to counts). This change makes version 12 not fully compatible with previous versions (slightly changed settings format) but you can still open documents produced in versions 10 and 11 by loading data from the file rather then open the file. Then you can adjust the settings and save the file in a version 12 format.
• Fixed: All known bugs.

And from what I can see we have some nice new colours..

Stevens Wishlist

• Sound on/off visual indicator
• Display pulse height resolution in percent within ROI

If anyone has a software improvement request, post it below and I will ask Marek if he would consider it for future versions.

PRA 12.0 Screen Shot

PRA-12.png (89.18 KiB) Viewed 3472 times

[Vit Ladanyi]

Hello Steven,

I think it is good idea to include display of the pulse height resolution in percent within ROI!

Vit

[MartinM]

I'm a software guy and I just started using PRA, so my first wish is a bit different ;)
It would be nice if PRA would remember all window positions and sizes from previous session. It's not difficult to implement, just take care of a situation when the previous position was on a monitor that might no longer be active, which would render the window invisible. This is easy to workaround - prior to restoring the positions check using MonitorFromRect( &rectWnd, MONITOR_DEFAULTTONULL ) (where rectWnd is the target position) whether it falls inside an active monitor. If yes, the position can be set using MoveWindow( &rectWnd, TRUE ).

[Steven Sesselmann]

Martin,

I could dig that, so I will pass it on to Marek, I guess it would save in the .ini file

Steven

[MartinM]

Thanks Steven.
Perhaps it would also be nice if the INI file would be in text form. Windows has support functions for reading/writing such entries (GetPrivateProfileString/WritePrivateProfileString), though it's recommended to use registry instead.
Since settings like window positions should not be portable, it might be better to store them in the registry (HKLM or HKCU).
I can provide some code for Windows, or any kind of assistance regarding software development if needed.

[Steven Sesselmann]

Martin,

Marek is usually pleased to hear from people using his software and positive towards enhancement suggestions as long as they are of a general nature.

Since you have programming knowledge I suggest you email him directly, his email is at the bottom of the download page.

Maybe best to explore the software a bit more and make a sort list of suggestions.

http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~marek/pra/index.html

Steven

[MartinM]

PRA14 is out.
It can save/restore window sizes/positions (though you need to open them again) plus some additional minor updates.

[Steven Sesselmann]

Some useful changes here, thanks Martin for the suggestions.

Changes in version 14.0.0
1. Added: Windows positions are saved in PRA documents (.ini and .pls files).
2. Moved: “Load”, “Save”, and “Save As...” commands from “Data Acquisition and Analysis” dialogue box to “Load Settings ...”, “Save Settings”, and “Save Settings As ...” in “Settings” menu.
3. Changed: The “Cancel” button from “Pulse Shape” dialogue box renamed to “Reset”.
4. Fixed: All known bugs.

[MartinM]

Marek's response to my suggestions was great and he did the changes very fast. Great support !
I'm still discussing some additions, i.e. I'd like PRA upon startup to automatically open all windows which were opened in the last session.

[Steven Sesselmann]

Wow Marek is on fire, version 15 is now out.

Changes in version 15.0.0
1. Added: Additionally to Windows positions also their states are saved in PRA documents (.ini and .pls files).

2. Added: When current position in PulseHeightHistogram window is in ROI, additional parameter “Res%” value is displayed. It is ratio of FWHM (full width at half maximum) and Mean value of the peak in percent. If the peak is produced by 662 keV gammas (from 137Cs) this value is frequently called resolution of the gamma detector.

3. Fixed: All known bugs.