View source for What's new in Analytica 5.0?

[[Category: Analytica 5.0]]
[[category:What's new pages]]
Here are some highlights of new features in Analytica 5.0, released on October 30, 2017.  See below for a video intro and more details.

* [[#New icons and pop-up node controls|New icons and pop-up node controls]] update the look and give easier and faster access to common actions on each node:
:[[File:New icons and popup controls w labels.jpg|400px]]
* A new [[#Introduction screen|introduction screen]] appears when you start Analytica giving quick access to recent models, example models, and to search the docs
* [[#This Analytica documentation|This Analytica documentation]] uses a clearer design, better search, now with easy access and search from inside Analytica. It includes the Tutorial, User, Optimizer and Developer Guides previously distributed as PDF documents.
* Tables now offer [[#Cell-level formatting|cell-level formatting]] with number formats, borders, fonts, alignment, colors, and images by cell, row, column, slice, or rectangular area. [[#Computed cell formats|Computed cell formats]] let you change colors and other formats to highlight key results.
* A [[#Enhanced Find|more powerful Find]] function exists, with icon in toolbar, to search for a variable, a function, or any text in the model and docs.
* [[#Multithread computing|Multi-thread computing]] speeds up Analytica using multiple processors or cores for parallel computation.
* [[#User inputs and outputs|New user input and output options]]
* [[#Sobol sampling|Sobol sampling]], a quasi-Monte Carlo simulation method that often lets you generate probability distributions with greater accuracy with many fewer samples, and the new [[#Keelin Metalog distribution|Keelin Metalog distribution]] and convenient [[UncertainLMH]] distribution.
* New functions make it easy to import and export [[#CSV and JSON files|CSV and JSON]] file formats, widely used for data exchange.


<center>
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gPCJHxJ7gsA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

'''Video:''' [https://youtu.be/gPCJHxJ7gsA What's new in 5.0 tour video] (31 minutes)
</center>

__TOC__

==  This Analytica documentation ==

If you have been using this Analytica docs over the last year, you will have noticed major improvements:
* It has a cleaner and simpler design, with key menus and links across the top.
* The search box is much smarter and faster. It shows partial matches as you type.
* The manuals previously distributed as PDFs -- [[Analytica Tutorial]], [[Analytica User Guide]], [[Analytica Optimizer Guide]], and [[ADE User Guide]] -- are now online in this Analytica docs.  (Analytica 5.0 and later no longer includes PDF manuals.) So now you can  search all manuals and other docs at once using the search box, without having to worry about which document to look in.
* It's much easier to find what you need with linked contents on the new [[Analytica Docs]] home page and index pages, especially [[Functions by category]], [[Analytica User Guide]], [[Contents of User Guide]].
* We've added lots of cross-references between related pages, especially in the '''See also''' section at the bottom of each page.
* When you select '''Edit''' from '''This page''' menu at the top of the page, you get the  ''WYSIWYG'' (What You See Is What You Get) visual editor. It lets you edit pages, styles, headings, insert links, and more without needing to learn the wiki markup language. (If you like the wiki markup, or the Visual editor can't do what you need, you can still select  '''Edit Source''' from '''This page''' menu.)
* As always, let us know if there's still stuff you want and can't find.  
* And it's a wiki, which means you can improve and add stuff yourself!


=== Quick links to the Wiki ===

Analytica has lots of links that open this wiki in your web browser to find what you needi:
* In the [[Help menu]], select [[User Guide]], [[Tutorial]], or [[Optimizer]] to see each document's contents page in the wiki (in previous releases, they opened a PDF document):
*:[[File:Help menu links to wiki.jpg|400px]]
* Each dialog window has a '''?''' icon on its title bar. Click it to open the wiki page explaining that dialog:
:[[File:help for dialog box.png|400px]]
* Open the Find dialog (ctrl+F  or click the Find icon in the Toolbar), and click "on the wiki" to search it for the text you entered:<br>[[File:Search wiki from Find dialog.png|400px]]<br>
* Here are ways to open  the  page explaining a built-in function or system variable:
** Select a function name (double-click it) in a Definition, open the right-click menu, and select '''Wiki help on «function»'''.
** Use the Find dialog to search for the function, and click "Find in wiki" button
** Open a function's object window from the Definition menu and click the blue "Wiki help" link.
** Right-click the function name in the [[Outline window]] and select '''Wiki help'''

===  Finding the function you need ===

Here are some ways to find a function when you don't know its name:
* Open the [[Definition menu]]
** Browse the '''menu hierarchy''' with more meaningful groups of functions (and operators and system variables).
** Move the mouse over each function to see a '''tooltip''' explaining what it does.
** Select a function to open an '''Object window''' showing its parameters and description.
** In the Object window for a system function, click the blue "Wiki help on <function>" to open its wiki page with more details. 
* In the [[Outline window]] open the new '''System Libraries''':
::[[File:Outline with system libraries.jpg|400px]]
** Open sub-libraries to explore categories of function, 
** select a function to see its description below,  
** open the '''right-click menu''' on a function and select '''Go to object window''' or '''wiki help'''. 
** Double-click on '''Operators''' library to see a  cheat sheet on the operators +, - , <>, IF THEN ELSE, @, \ # etc.
* [[:Category:Functions|Function index]] option on '''Help''' menu takes you to wiki Function index.

== Find Dialog ==

The [[Find Dialog]] is much expanded, now accessible from the Find icon in the Toolbar as well as ctrl+F. It lets you: 
* Select which attribute(s) to search -- Identifier, Title, any, or all text attributes.
* Search the Wiki directly
* Select a tab to control if you want to search for objects in the model or a selected Table.
* Use a regular expression to define wild-card and more complex searches
* Mark matching nodes with [[image:Magnifying glass.png]] in Diagrams and Outline view.
* Show a list of matching objects as the Found set in the Outline view.
* The System Variable [[Sys_FoundSet]] let's you access results in an expression.

=== FindObjects function ===

* The new [[FindObjects]] function performs powerful searches in an  expression.  You can search for text by attribute, and specify which objects to search by class, module, dependencies,  inputs or outputs of a variable, and more. It returns the found objects as a set. You can use standard  [[SetUnion| set functions]] for compound search criteria.
* You can [[Sys_FoundSet#Assigning_to_Sys_FoundSet|assign a resulting set]] to  [[Sys_FoundSet]], for example in an [[OnClick]] expression,  to show the results to an end user. For example, you could Find all variables in the same dynamic loop as X.

== Influence diagrams and user interface ==
=== New icons and pop-up node controls ===

The most obvious changes in 5.0 are the new icons in the [[Toolbar | toolbar]] and the pop-up controls that appear when you move your mouse cursor over a node in a diagram.
:[[File:New icons and popup controls w labels.jpg|500px]]
* We've added a [[Find Dialog|Find]] icon button to open the dramatically expanded [[Find Dialog]] 
* Here's a [https://youtu.be/fLsNJpP5iPg short video] walking through the toolbar update.
* The [[Module hierarchy]] bar now shows by default across the top of each Diagram window to give you context when your model has nested modules. You can click on any module listed there to quickly jump up to a parent or higher ancestor. 
* When you move your cursor over a node, "Pop-up node controls" appear around it, using the new icons. Click these controls to open an Object, Result, or Expression view. This is much easier and faster than moving the mouse up to the toolbar -- especially with a large screen.  
* Press the arrowheads on the left and right of each node to see a list of its Inputs or Outputs. Select an input or output from the list to jump to that node in its Diagram. These arrowheads make this useful way to navigate a model much clearer -- which was previously hard-to-see and little-known.
* Drag from the arrow pop-up node control (in edit mode) to draw an influence arrow to another node. This replaces the separate arrow-drawing mode in the toolbar. You no longer have to go up to the Toolbar and change modes to draw an arrow. Here's a [https://youtu.be/K1QCBdH1VUk short video] on how to draw an influence diagram in 5.0.

=== User inputs and outputs===

* The new [[MultiChoice]] user input control lets users select multiple options, where [[Choice]] lets users select only one (or All).
* Set a user input node to accept only a literal number, a text value (without quotes), or any expression. 
::[[image:LiteralOnlyEntryMode.png]]
* For [[User Input nodes]], position the checkbox, choice menu, field, or other control button to the left of the label instead of the default right, from the [[Node Style Dialog]]: 
::[[image:ControlOnLeft.png]]
* Resize an image after pasting it into a node.
* New options for the '''Calc''', '''Result''', '''Table''' (and other) buttons in User input and output nodes: By default, they are now non-bold. You can set them to icons, blank, or back to the current default bold from the [[Diagram Style dialog]].
::[[image:DiagramStyleButtonStyle.png]]
* Choice controls now appear with options in normal (not bold) text.
* Configure a textbox input node to show [[EditBoxCueText|cue text]], as is in the "Search the Analytica Docs" text box on the intro screen. The [[EditBoxCueText]] attribute specifies the cue text to show.
::[[image:CueTextExample.png]]

=== Node styles ===

* Set node text to be left  or right justified, in addition to the default centered in the [[Node Style Dialog]].
::[[Image:NodeStyleLabelAndControl.png]]
* Modify the text color of node titles using a new button on the [[Color palette]]:
::[[image:ColorPaletteFont.png]]
* Hide or show nodes using the [[NodeInfo]] attribute and disable (gray out) [[User Input nodes]]. Use the  new [[ChangeNodeVisibility]] function from [[OnClick]] or [[OnChange]] event expressions to dynamically show or hide, enable or disable nodes. This clever [https://youtu.be/LshPSRoTl7o blackjack tutorial video] is a great showcase of changing node visibility.
* Create [[Customizing the Tabbing order on a Diagram|a custom tabbing order]] between the controls in your user interface, which controls which control a user advances to next after changing a value, or when pressing the TAB key.

=== Text nodes with Title ===

* [[Text nodes]] can now have both a title (in bold) and a description in the same node. 
::[[image:Text node with title.png]]
* Text nodes have pop-up node controls that let you to edit Title and Description text, promote Description to Title, or demote Title to Description.
* This feature is available only when you have Clear Type fonts enabled, which will be true for any model created in Analytica 4.4 or later. If you are using an old legacy model, enable Clear Type fonts from the [[Diagram Style dialog]] from your top-most model diagram.  See [[Text nodes]] for details.

=== [[Graphics and images]] ===

* After pasting an image into a diagram into a node, you can resize it by dragging its corner boxes. Here's a [https://youtu.be/1oFfcOcqIig tutorial video] on how this is done.
* A new set of [[Canvas]] functions let you write expressions to generate a graphic image, which you can show on a diagram, in a node, or in a table. This [https://youtu.be/S6dNfNwGTzM tutorial video] shows you how to crop an image with an expression.
* You can also paste an image from another application directly into a cell of an edit table.

== Formats and Tables ==

=== Cell-level formatting ===

You can now set number and cell formats for an entire table, or for a selected cell, row, column, header, slice, or range of cells in a table. Formats include:
* '''Alignment''': Horizontal,  vertical, and indention.
* '''Fonts''': Face, size, bold, italics, underline, color
* '''Borders''': Side, thickness, line style, color
* '''Colors''': Background, font, borders.
* '''Entry mode''': Specify whether an end user may enter a only a number, text, a literal, or any expression into an Edit table. 
To set a cell formats, select a cell, column, row, range, or entire table (ctrl+A) you want to change, and then select '''Number Format...''' or press "Ctrl+B). You can then select the number and cell formats from the Format dialog.
* Any formats automatically adjust with changes in table pivot, indexes,  [[Table Splicing|splicing]], etc.

=== Images in tables ===

* You can copy an image from any application and paste it into a table cell:
:[[File:Comparing cars table format with images.jpg|600px]]
* Images will resize to fit the cell when you drag the cell borders.
* You can obtain images using [[ReadImageFile]] or [[ReadFromURL]] functions.

=== Number formats ===
There are three new options in the [[Number format]] dialog:
* General: It normally shows numbers in decimal format, but reverts to scientific (exponential) notation when needed for extreme magnitudes or to show the  specified number of significant digits.
* Hexadecimal: Denotes integer values in base-16 (digits 0-9 and a-f). 
* Binary: Denotes integer values is base-2 (0s and 1s)

=== [[Computed cell formats]] ===
You can compute the formats used by a result table using a [[Cell Format Expression]] for powerful "conditional formatting" -- for example:
* Highlight negative or extreme values with a color or bold font. [https://youtu.be/LcaBofuv68U Here's a video tutorial] on how.
* Make a heat-map using the alpha channel of [[CellFill]] to map the result value of each cell as a color.
* Identify groups of related cells using the [[CellBorder]] <code>"Outer"</code> option for «side».
* Use [[CellBar]] under the text  to show magnitude as an underline.
* Use [[CellOnClick]] to install a custom action, such as a call to [[OpenURL]] for external hyperlinks or [[ShowWindow]] for internal (within-model) hyperlinks.
Please see [[Computed cell formats]] for details and examples.

=== Column widths and row heights ===
* You can now manually change the row height of an individual row in a table.
* Manual changes to column widths and row heights are now saved, so they persist when you close and reopen table, or reload the model.
* The new '''auto-adjust column width''' and '''auto-adjust row height''' options in the context menus for column and row headers let you restore the default auto-adjusting behavior after you have manually fixed the column width or row height . You can also activate these options by double-clicking  the right side column boundary in the column header, or bottom row boundary in the row headers.

=== SubTables and MultiTables ===

* You can now use [[If|If-Then-Else]] in a [[SubTable]] or [[MultiTable]] meta expression, where the Then and Else expressions identify a source table or computed result.

=== Reset to cell default ===

* A right-click menu option, '''Reset selected to default''', in edit tables allows you to reset the contents of the selected to the table cell default for the table.  The table cell default is controlled by the '''Cell Default''' attribute, which you can customize by turning on the '''Cell Default''' attribute in the [[Attributes dialog]]. This new option is particularly useful when you change the table cell default after table cells have already been populated with the previous default.

=== Unquoting cells ===
* A right-click menu option in edit tables and index list edits lets you remove quotes from cells when an extra level of quotes exist -- for example, after a copy/paste adds an extra quotes that you don't want.

== Introduction screen ==

When you start-up Analytica by double clicking the Analytica file icon, it greets you with a new [[Intro screen|introduction screen]]:
:[[image:IntroScreenIn5.0.png|550px]]
It includes
* Large icons to Start a new model, Open an existing model, the [[Analytica Tutorial]], and selected selected example models. Saves you initial clicks to bring up menus.
* Quick access to  the '''Recent file list'''.
*  A search box to search the Analytica docs for a function or phrase.

== Graphing ==
=== Sort by data spread ===
* A new graph style option, '''Sort by data spread''', makes it easier to create Tornado plots. When you check this checkbox, the categorical labels are automatically sorted from greatest data spread to least, so your Tornados come out in order, without having to sort the data yourself in the Definitions. Even better, when there are extra dimensions, the sort order adjusts as you change the values of the slicers.
* By unchecking the new graph chart style option, '''Enable bar outlines''', you can remove the fine black outline around bars in a bar chart for a cleaner appearance.

== Uncertainty ==

=== Sample size ===

Samplesize now starts out in a model with a default of 1000 instead of 100 to reflect today's larger and faster computers. You can still make it larger or smaller in the [[Uncertainty Setup dialog]].

=== Keelin Metalog distribution ===

The new [[UncertainLMH]]( xLow, xMedian, xHigh, pLow, lb, ub) distribution gives an convenient way express uncertainty, by fitting a smooth continuous distribution to the 10th, 50th, and 90th percentiles (other percentiles are possible), and optional lower and upper bounds. It is based on the [[Keelin]] or "metalog" distribution, recently published by Tom Keelin, which fits a smooth distribution to a set of percentiles. 

=== Sobol sampling ===

Sobol sampling is a kind of  "quasi-Monte Carlo" simulation that you can select in the [[Uncertainty Setup dialog]] as an alternative to Monte Carlo and Latin hypercube. Where Latin hypercube samples more evenly than simple Monte Carlo ''independently'' from each input distribution, Sobol samples more evenly over the hyperspace of all input distributions and so reduces noise from spurious correlations. It significantly improves convergence (accuracy of resulting distribution as a function of sample size) over other methods when there are multiple (but not too many) input distributions.

== International ==
* In-place entry for PinYin input (Chinese, Japanese and Korean language typing). As you type, the PinYin letters appear directly in the text field, when you hit the space bar, the candidates popup appears directly below where you are typing.
::[[image:Inplace Pinyin.png]]

* In continental Europe, South America, and other places that use the comma-as-decimal point convention, Copy/Paste between other applications now uses the comma-as-decimal convention (according to your regional setting). You can configure this using the new [[DecimalForCopyPaste]] system variable.

== Engine ==
=== Multithread computing ===

Analytica 5.0 takes advantage of multiple cores (processors) to speed up large array computations. Nowadays, the central processing unit (CPU) of most computers has multiple cores, each of which can run its own computations.  Laptops often contain 2 to 4 cores. High-end servers may have from 12 to 60 or more cores. 
* [[Multithreaded evaluation]] is used in all 64-bit Analytica editions. It is not used in [[Analytica Free 101]] or 32-bit installations, because the memory overhead mean multi-threading is rarely worthwhile in a 32-bit memory space. 
* In 64-bit editions, you can  configure multithreaded evaluation using these system variables from menu: '''Definition / System Variables / Settings''':
** [[MaxEvaluationThreads]] sets the maximum number of evaluation threads the engine can use during evaluation. Set this to less than your total number of cores to ensure some cores are available for other processes. This setting is saved for your computer, and persists across Analytica sessions, and across different models. It is not saved in the model, and has no effect on someone else if you share your models.
** [[MaxModelThreads]] sets the maximum threads that can be used for the current model. It is stored with this model only. You can set it to 1 if  you want to keep it single-threaded for some reason.

=== Evaluation ===
* You can now pass through an optional index parameter in a [[UDF]] to another function's optional index parameter. For example,
**:<code>Function Fu1( J : optional index )</code>
**:<code>Function Fu2( J : optional index ) := Fu1( J )</code>
*:If you omit the index when calling <code>Fu2( )</code>, then Fu1 is called with its index parameter omitted. This eliminates having to have two separate cases in Fu2's Definition and a test using [[IsNotSpecified]].

==== Plus applied to text ====
* The + operator should not be used to concatenate text!! Use the &amp; operator for text concatenation. For years, Analytica has issued a warning when you use + or [[Sum]] for text concatenation. It has now become more strict. [https://youtu.be/Qa3mihbA8bY Here's a video short] explaining the + concatenation error, and what to do about it.
** The standard going forward is that the result of <code>x+y</code> when <code>x</code> or <code>y</code> is text shall be [[NaN]] (rather than the textual concatenation). This change will enable performance speed-up opportunities going forward. 
** What was formerly a warning is now a non-continuable error when encountered during a multithreaded evaluation.
** A new preference setting was added: '''x+y returns NAN for text'''. This is mostly to help deal with this change in legacy models. In some models that experience the error. Turning this on will get you through it.

=== Null ===
* The null value now displays as "Null", not as "«null»". 
* Previously, the token [[Null]] in an expression identified the system variable with the name Null. That system variable has the value «null». Hence, there was a distinction between the system variable Null and the null value «null». Now, however, Null is directly interpreted by the parser as the null value, unless it appears in an identifier context. 
** For example, suppose you have an index defined as <code>[1,2,Null]</code>. The third element of the [[IndexValue]] is now the null value, whereas previously it would have been a handle to the system variable Null. 
** For this index, <code>@[I=[[Handle]](Null)]</code> is now 0, whereas would have been 3 previously. 
** Because the parameter of [[Handle]] is a object context, <code>[[Handle]](Null)</code> is still a handle to the system variable, as it was previously.
** Note: An object context occurs when a function parameter is declared using an [[Function Parameter Qualifiers#Object_Class_Qualifiers|object class qualifier]] such as [[Function Parameter Qualifiers#Object|Object]] or [[Function Parameter Qualifiers#Variable|Variable]].
* The text concatenation operator involving <code>"Text " & Null</code> now results in <code>"Text Null"</code>, whereas previously the result was [[Null]].

=== [[Function parameter qualifiers]] ===

New qualifiers for function parameters include:
* [[Function parameter qualifiers#Color|Color]] specifies a parameter that expects a color. See [[Color parameters]].
* [[Function parameter qualifiers#Module|Module]] specifies a parameter that expects a module. 
* [[Function parameter qualifiers#Class|Class]] specifies a parameter that expects an object class.
* [[Function parameter qualifiers#OrNull|OrNull]] allows a parameter to have the value [[Null]], without reporting an error about the data type being wrong.

== CSV and JSON files ==

CSV (comma-separated value) and JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) files are widely used for data interchange.   New functions  [[ParseCSV]] and [[ParseJSON]] make it much easier to import data in these formats.  [[MakeCSV]] and [[MakeJSON]] let you generate files to export data in these formats.

== New built-in functions ==
* [[BitAnd]], [[BitOr]], [[BitXOr]], [[BitNot]], [[BitShift]], [[BitCount]]
* [[Canvas]], [[CanvasContext]], [[CanvasDrawEllipse]], [[CanvasDrawImage]], [[CanvasDrawLine]], [[CanvasDrawPolygon]], [[CanvasDrawRectangle]], [[CanvasDrawText]]
* [[ChangeNodeVisibility]]
* [[CloneObjects]]
* [[CloseWindow]]
* [[ComparisonPart]]
* [[CreateNewObject]]
* [[CumBinomial]], [[CumBinomialInv]]
* [[CumPoisson]], [[CumPoissonInv]]
* [[Dawson]]
* [[Gaussian]]  { Formerly a library function }
* [[GetArrowsOnDiagram]]
* [[Faddeeva]]
* [[FindObjects]]
* [[Flatten]]
* [[ImageFromHex]]
* [[ImageInfo]]
* [[IndexLength]] - [https://youtu.be/rKR_YGitMPo this video] reviewing how this compares to other (inferior) methods to figure out the length of an index variable
* [[InvalidateResult]]
* [[Keelin]], [[CumKeelin]], [[CumKeelinInv]], [[DensKeelin]], [[KeelinCoefficients]]
* [[MakeCSV]]
* [[MakeJSON]]
* [[Move]] { as a function }
* [[MultiChoice]]
* [[OpenModelFile]]
* [[OpenURL]]
* [[ParseCSV]]
* [[ParseJSON]]
* [[ProductLog]]
* [[ReadBinaryFile]]
* [[Reverse]]
* [[ShowAskAttribute]]
* [[ShowWindow]] 
* [[Sleep]]
* [[SobolSequence]]
* [[TextDistance]]
* [[TextCharacterEncode]]
* [[UncertainLMH]], [[CumUncertainLMH]], [[CumUncertainLMHInv]], [[DensUncertainLMH]]
* [[Unflatten]]
* [[VectorCrossProduct]]
* [[WriteBinaryFile]]
* [[WriteImageFile]]

=== Enhancements to existing built-in functions ===
* [[Unique]](a):  Index parameter is now optional. If omitted, it returns the unique elements across all dimensions of «a». 
* [[Unique]]: A new optional parameter, «mapToUnique», returns a map to the first slice of «a» with the same value.
* [[CopyIndex]]: Added an «omitNulls» parameter.
* [[Gaussian]] now eliminates sampling error in the [[Covariance]] of the random [[Sample]] generated.
* [[MakeDate]]: Added an optional «valueForInvalid» parameter.
* [[Erf]], [[ErfInv]]: Parameter can now be a complex number.
* [[ReadImageFile]]: Has actually existed since [[Analytica 4.2]], but is now documented and supported.
* [[ParseDate]]: A new «dateTemplate» parameter, used to control the regional interpretation. For example, should 9/11/2016 parse as 11-Sep-2016 or 9-Nov-2016?
* [[DatePart]]: Supports part codes <code>'EEE'</code> and <code>'EEEE'</code> for English month names.
* [[SpreadsheetOpen]]: added an optional «title» parameter, allowing you to customize the caption of the open file dialog.
* [[SpreadsheetRange]] &amp; [[SpreadsheetCell]]: When the «what» parameter to these functions is 'BackColor', 'TextColor' or one of the 'Border*Color' options, the result has been changed to be an RGB integer (i.e., 0x00rrggbb in hex). Previously it was in BRG order (0x00bbggrr).
* [[Aggregate]]: Added an optional «noMapError» parameter.

=== Images ===

* You can now copy an image, or an array containing images, to a variable definition using the [[Assignment_Operator_%3A%3D|assignment operator (:=)]]. When you view the Definition, you'll see the binary image encoded in a call to [[ImageFromHex]]. When you view the result table, you'll see the image itself.

=== Optimizer ===

* You can now use a new [[Improving_Computational_Efficiency_of_NLPs#Explicit_gradients|gradient variable]] type, with a new node shape (a top-heavy trapezoid) for variables that compute gradients. The gradient-based solver algorithms can then make use of these analytic pre-supplied gradients during search.  See [[Improving_Computational_Efficiency_of_NLPs#Explicit_gradients|Explicit gradients]].
* For NLPs that are encoded in a self-contained [[UDF]] or variable, expressions that compute the gradient with respect to each decision variable can be passed to the «gradient» parameter of [[DefineOptimization]], and expressions that compute the gradients of each constraint can be passed to the «jacobian» parameter.   See [[Improving_Computational_Efficiency_of_NLPs#Gradient_parameters|Gradient Parameters]].
* A new system variable, [[Sys_ComparisonTolerance]], allows there to be some constraint violation before showing <code>{!}</code> in front of a constraint. Since solver engines allow constraints to be violated up to the <code>'Precision'</code> setting (<code>1u</code> by default), this avoids tagging these barely-violated constraints in the result view of a constraint node.

=== Changes to Libraries ===

==== Multivariate Distributions ====
* Function [[Gaussian]] is now a built-in function.
* An adjustment was added to [[Correlate_dists]] and [[Correlate_with]] so that the resulting rank correlation of the samples are more accurate.

=== New system variables ===
* [[SuppressExcelAlerts]]
* [[MaxEvaluationThreads]], [[MaxModelThreads]]
* [[Att_ColumnWidths]], [[Att_RowHeights]]
* [[Sys_ComparisonTolerance]]

=== New attributes ===
* [[CellFormatExpression]]
* [[Att_ColumnWidths]], [[Att_RowHeights]]
* [[EditBoxCueText]]
* [[NextInTabOrder]]
* [[DefaultFontColor]]

== Example models ==
These example models are new:
* '''Minimal edit distance, a 2-D dynamic''': (Dynamic models) Demonstrates the use of a 2-D [[Dynamic]], which updates across two dynamic indexes. Aside: If you need to compute edit distance, see the new [[TextDistance]] function first.
* '''Regular polygon calculator''': (Engineering) A calculator that can compute the any of the metrics of a circle, inscribed or circumscribed N-sided polygon from any of the other metrics. Illustrates [[OnChange]] events with OnChange loops.
* '''Find Words Game''': (Fun and games) See how many English words you can make out of a random tray of letters. Analytica Enterprise users get an extra treat -- click on any word (either one you enter, or one shown in the final solution) and see the definition.
* '''Fractals everywhere''': (Fun and games) Draws a Barnsley self-similar fern.
* '''Probability assessment''': (Fun and games) A trivia game of a different sort, where what counts is how well you understand your own degree of uncertainty.

== ADE ==
=== General capabilities ===
* All non-UI enhancements listed above apply equally well to ADE and are not repeated in this section.
* Callbacks now allow client code to intercept function events (like [[MsgBox]]) that require user input or interaction.
* [[CATable]] has greatly improved support for [[MultiTable]]s. 

=== New classes and interfaces ===

==== [[CAPicture]] ====
[[CAPicture]] holds an image, when an image appears in a result. 
* A [[CAPicture]] can be returned by [[CAObject::Result]], [[CAObject::Evaluate]], [[CATable::AtomicValue]], [[CATable::GetDataByElements]], [[CATable::GetDataByLabels]], and [[CATable::GetSafeArray]].
*[[CARenderingStyle::PictureAsText]], controls whether images that appear in results are returned as text (similar to <code>"«PNG Image»"</code> or as a [[CAPicture]] object.

==== [[CAGraphPivot]] ====
A class returned from [[CATable::GraphPivot]] that contains information about what the current pivot is for the graph of the result data is the [[CATable]] -- essentially the pivot that desktop Analytica would use if you were to view the result graph -- and provides a method for intelligently changing the pivot.

==== [[CAFiller]] ====
A class that describes the value or index that assigned to a particular graphing role. CAFiller objects are returned by methods of [[CAGraphPivot]].

====[[IAdeUICallbacks]]====
A interface that has callbacks when various functions that display dialogs to the end-user are called, namely:
* [[MsgBox]]()
* [[ShowProgressBar]]()
* [[AskMsgText]](), [[AskMsgNumber]]() and [[AskMsgChoice]]()
* File functions that ask for a file name: [[SpreadsheetOpen]](), [[ReadTextFile]](), [[ReadImageFile]](), [[ReadBinaryFile]](), [[SpreadsheetSave]](), [[WriteTextFile]](), [[WriteImageFile]](), [[WriteBinaryFile]](), etc.
* [[ShowPdfFile]]()
* [[OpenURL]]()

==== [[IAdeUIWindowCallbacks]] ====
An interface that contains callbacks invoked when the new [[ShowWindow]]() and  [[CloseWindow]]() functions are used, and which is called when sending older typescript "Show windowType obj" and "Close windowType obj" commands. This allows the use of these in a more general fashion, including cases where scripts appear in conditionals, in functions, etc. 

=== New properties and methods ===
New properties and methods to existing ADE classes are listed here.

==== To [[CAEngine]] ====
* [[CAEngine::MaxMemoryLimit]] property. When set, it limits the amount of total memory usage in MegaBytes, that the ADE process is allowed to use during computations. If not set, or set to 0 there is no limit. If, during an evaluation call like ResultTable, the memory usage exceeds this value, ADE aborts the call and returns an ErrorCode for "Maximum Memory Exceeded".

==== To [[CATable]] ====
* [[CATable::GraphPivot]]: Returns a [[CAGraphPivot]] object.
* [[CATable::GetCellFormats]]
* These new properties are used to extract information from a node that would be used by desktop Analytica (DTA) to determine how to view a table. This allows you to display a Table with ADE with the same axis' pivot as it would in DTA.
**[[CATable::NumRowIndexes]]
**[[CATable::NthRowIndex]]
**[[CATable::NumColumnIndexes]]
**[[CATable::NthColumnIndex]]

==== To [[CARenderingStyle]]====
* [[CARenderingStyle::PictureAsText]]
* [[CARenderingStyle::DateTimeAsReal]]

=== Enhancements to existing properties ===
* The [[CAObject::DefinitionType]] property has a  value 11=[[MultiChoice]].
* Previously, DateTime numbers were returned by ADE methods as a real number (the number of days since the date origin). They are now returned as a Date-Time type, which is thus independent of the date origin. 
** The new property [[CARenderingStyle::DateTimeAsReal]] can be set to true to return a number as before.

=== Enhancements to AdeTest ===
A few enhancements to the [[Installation_of_ADE#Installed_Manuals_and_Examples | Adetest]] program use the new Ade extensions.
** [[CAEngine::MaxMemoryLimit]]  property has been added to the object pane 
** Images that appear in results (such as in a result table) can be viewed.