FDS 5 Beta Test Update

["Kevin McGrattan" <kevin.mcgrattan@nist.gov>]

All

Three weeks ago we announced the release of a beta test version of FDS and Smokeview, version 5.  To date, the download traffic has 
been brisk, but the feedback has been very light.  The very point of a beta test is to get feedback before we release an official 
version.  Without it, we will be forced to make too many changes to the official release, which is extremely disruptive to us all.

So we are asking again to seriously consider participating in the beta testing.  Over the past several years, we have received 
requests for new features, and we have worked very hard to make improvements and fix bugs.  FDS 5 is the most extensive overhaul in 
the software since the adoption of the mixture fraction and radiative transport models in FDS version 2.  We have kicked up alot of 
dirt, and we need your help to make sure that the model is working at least as well as it was before, and that we are poised to make 
long term improvements to the combustion and solid phase routines.

As you might have already discovered, we are trying to modernize our distribution and support by using the open source software 
environment known as SourceForge.  Simply put, FDS/SV is now a "Project" hosted at the Internet site SourceForge.net 
(http://sourceforge.net/projects/fds-sv/).  This site has a tremendous amount of free resources that we could never replicate here 
at NIST without a substantial amount of funding that we do not have.  Plus, SourceForge is a very popular environment that supports 
the development of a number of programs that you probably use everyday.  So we do not want to re-invent the wheel, but we do want to 
know what you think about this new way doing things.  We're still receiving emails from users, even FDS 5 beta testers, who seem a 
bit put off by SourceForge.  Perhaps you miss that personal touch of one-on-one communication.  Fear not -- the Support features on 
SourceForge simply provide a means of "tracking" the exchange between you and us, allowing other users to search on and monitor the 
conversation.  Anyone who has ever Google-searched a cryptic error statement from any computer program can appreciate the tremendous 
advantage in archiving these developer-user exchanges.  Also, if you are concerned about privacy or confidentiality, there are 
mechanisms to protect it, including registering yourself under some alias.  SourceForge does require a name/email address/password 
for those of you who want to post support requests, simply to protect the site from a barrage of spam if it were completely open to 
anyone.  We have not heard of anyone getting unwanted spam as a result of registering with SourceForge -- even though I will get 
about 50 spam reply emails as a result of this very email I'm sending to you now as a result of all of your infected address books!

So what do we want you to do?  First, visit the new FDS/SV homepage at http://fds-sv.sourceforge.net/.  From there, you will be 
directed to the beta test download page, plus you will be provided with more information about how to use SourceForge.  (By the way, 
http://fire.nist.gov/fds/ will be maintained to service FDS/SV 4 until the official version 5 release. )  Assuming that you can 
download and install FDS/SV 5, run a few of the "Verification" cases that are bundled with the download packages.  Most of these 
Verification cases are described in the new FDS Verification Guide.  The Verification cases test various features of FDS and 
Smokeview and provide users with simple examples of how to do things.  We are constantly receiving emails that start out "How do I 
do ... in FDS?"  We want to build up these Verification cases specifically to address these questions.  As part of the beta test, we 
want you to create simple Verification cases that test features that you would commonly use, or that have been troublesome in the 
past, or that you requested.  Some of the new features have really only been programmed.  They have not been thoroughly shaken down 
yet.  In addition to Verification cases, we'd like you to take a few older FDS input files and convert them to the new format.  We 
want to know what problems you encounter along the way.  Are the results comparable to those from before?  Do the new input 
parameters make sense?  Can you find a decent description of each in the User's Guide?

Regardless of whether your experience with FDS/SV 5 is good or bad (or ugly!), we need to know.  We've set up a special "Tracker" at 
the SourceForge site just for the beta test.  Here, we are just looking for your comments.  What is your overall impression?  What 
are your concerns?  If you want to be included on the beta tester list, include your name and organization.  We want to recognize 
those who are contributing to the overall effort.  If you have found bugs, or have specific questions, report them via the "Support 
Request" tracker.  Then we can parse these out among ourselves to improve the speed of response.  Remember to follow-up on these 
postings.  If we ask for more information, or if your question has been answered, or your problem fixed, let us know so that we can 
"Close" the case.  These exchanges will be permanently archived so that the next user with the same problem has a way to solve it.

OK, details can be found at the various web sites and documents -- if anything is not clear, that is what we want you to report. 
Anything.  Let's take care of as many problems now so that we can have a smooth release.

Kevin



Kevin McGrattan
National Institute of Standards and Technology
100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 8663
Gaithersburg MD 20899
Phone: 301 975 2712
Fax:       301 975 4052