Elite Software Fire Version 6 Readme

If you have any questions about the program, technical support is available free of charge for licensed
users:

E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 979-690-9420

Version 6.02.30 10/13/2017

1. Fixed a bug where double clicking on a project file to open it in Fire would cause an error saying that
the filename did not exist, due to the trailing double quote character after the filename not being removed.

Version 6.02.28 3/29/2017

1. Fixed a bug that could cause an error 13, "Type mismatch," upon trying to generate reports for some
projects.

Version 6.02.27 9/6/2016

1. Made additional changes to fix more places in the code where if you selected a pipe size while in IP
units that had been entered in SI units it was possible under some circumstances for the calculations to
improperly use the nominal diameter instead of the inner diameter for that pipe.

Version 6.02.26 9/1/2016

1. Fixed a bug where if you selected a pipe size while in IP units that had been entered in SI units it was
possible under some circumstances for the calculations to improperly use the nominal diameter instead of
the inner diameter for that pipe.

Version 6.02.25 8/16/2016

1. Fixed a bug on the Background tab of the Options window, where the preview rectangle of the
background color was not positioned correctly.

2. Fixed a bug on the Enter/Edit Pipe Data window where if you were working in English units and
selected a material type that had been entered in metric units, and then selected a size from the dropdown
help of the Diameter input, the size would cause an error saying that the selected size does not match the
sizes in the database.

3. Fixed a bug where if you were working in English units and entered "0" (zero) for the size of a pipe on
theEnter/Edit Pipe Data window, and the material for the current pipe had been entered in metric units,
the size inserted with Autosize could include more than 3 numbers to the right of the decimal place, which
would cause difficulties in editing the number.

Version 6.02.24 1/25/2016

1. Fixed a problem that also developed in version 6.02.22, where upon clicking Quick Print Reports and
then clicking OK on the Print Setup dialog an About window for a component named VSView6 would
open.

Version 6.02.23 12/16/2015

1. Fixed a bug that developed in the previous update, which caused an error due to a missing file, named
Esdscrl6.ocx.

Version 6.02.22 12/15/2015

1. Fixed a problem on the Calculation window where the Project menu would display whenever you
pressed any key while one of the tabs on that window had the focus.

2. Fixed a bug that could happen when using a large screen resolution and more than one monitor, where
if the Project Explorer window was maximized while you clicked New the program would encounter a
fatal error 6 (overflow).

3. Fixed another bug where an Overflow could happen under certain circumstances.

4. Changed the maximum pipe diameter from 32 to 64 in some places.

5. Fixed a bug where an error 6, Overflow, could occur with a large project under some circumstances.

6. Fixed a bug on the General Project Data window where it would sometimes always show the
horizontal and/or vertical scrollbar even if the window was sized as large as possible.

7. Corrected the position of the progress indicator window, and made it so the window is centered over
the main window whenever it appears, and made it no longer a child of the main window.

8. Made it so the filename footer on the reports is abbreviated if necessary so it does not overlap the other
text in the footer.

9. Fixed a bug on some of the child windows where some units labels that should have been invisible
would appear off to the side when the window was maximized.

Version 6.02.12 8/15/2013

1. Removed the "Input Pipe Fitting Data" checkbox from the Report Options window, since it was only
there as a provision for a possible future report.

2. Fixed a bug on the Enter/Edit Pipe Data window where a fatal error 343, "Object not an array" could
occur under various circumstances while that window was open.

Version 6.02.11 10/1/2012

1. Fixed a problem that developed in the previous update, where the new pipe database had some bad
records in it. If you happened to install version 6.02.8 and it was either your first installation of Fire, or
you chose to overwrite your existing pipe database during setup, then you should install this version and
check the box to overwrite your pipe database.

2. Removed the F1 shortcut key from the "Help | Contents" menu item, since F1 is not specifically for the
contents topic of the help file, but is used to open the help file to the topic for whichever window is
active.

3. Added a "Help on Current Window (F1)" menu item to the Help menu in order to make it clear that
press F1 gives you help on the current window.

4. Corrected the help context numbers on parts of the General Project Data window so when you press
F1 the help window opens to the correct topic.

5. Fixed a bug where the help window would not open by pressing F1 unless you first opened the help
window by clicking one of the items that opens it in the Help menu (such as "Contents").

Version 6.02.8 9/5/2012

1. Fixed a bug where filenames containing a dot (in addition to the one before the extension) were not
handled properly in several places, such as on the Project Explorer window, which would not include such
files in the project list.

2. Changed the print preview component to a newer version.

3. Fixed a bug on the Print Preview window where the preview part of the window was sized larger than
the available space, making it so the scrollbars on the right and/or bottom were not fully visible.

4. Fixed a bug where changes you made to the main window's toolbar were not being saved.

5. Fixed a bug on the Print Preview window where the toolbar could be docked or made to float, but your
changes were never saved. Now that toolbar's docking cannot be changed. The same correction was
made to the toolbars on the Project Explorer and Report Options windows.

6. Corrected the appearance of many of the toolbar icons, and the Project Explorer tree icons, as well as
the icons for many of the program's windows, including that of the main window and the desktop and
Start menu shortcuts.

7. Reformatted the Fire Readme.doc file to be easier to read, and removed some unnecessary information
from it.

8. Corrected the name of the program in several places from "FIRE" to "Fire."

9. Made it so the position of the vertical splitter bar on the Project Explorer window is remembered the
next time that window is opened.

10. Made several corrections to the position and size of things on several windows, including Project
Explorer, General Project Data, Options and others.

11. Removed the minimize and maximize buttons from the Report Options window.

12. Made the "AutoCAD MEP Drawing Import Options" dialog not resizable, removed its minimize
button, and corrected its size to accommodate large window border widths.

13. Fixed a bug that could cause a fatal error 364, "Object was unloaded" when you clicked the menu
"Help | Tip of the Day."

14. Removed the menu "Help | Search for Help On," which did not do what it said; it would only open
the Fire Help window.

15. Removed several items from the Tip of the Day file that did not apply, and corrected some others.

16. Made it so the Fire Help window does not float over the main program window.

17. Fixed a bug where if you tried to close the program while the Fire Pump Database window was open
it would show you a "Pump curve not valid" message box saying that your pump curve data is not
complete and asking whether you wanted to stay and enter a pump curve. If you clicked No, you would
then be shown the same message box, and if you clicked No again it would happen again, etc.. If you
clicked Yes the program would close.
18. Fixed a fatal "Object variable or with block variable not set" error that could occur when the General
Project Data window was open and you switched from one open window to another or clicked OK on the
"Select Data Units" dialog.

19. Fixed a bug where if you had entered a pipe library material record on the Enter/Edit Pipe Library
Data window while in metric units, if you later selected that material on the Enter/Edit Pipe Data window
the equivalent lengths of the fittings used might not be added to the pipe's equivalent length in the "Eq
Len" column.

20. Fixed a problem where there were several non-functioning buttons available in the Customize
Toolbar window (such as "Reset Window to Full Size"). If you had placed one of those buttons in the
toolbar and later clicked that button nothing would happen.

21. Fixed a problem where several of the toolbar buttons were placed in the wrong categories on the
Customize Toolbar window.

22. Fixed a problem where two items in the Project menu were not for windows that belong to the current
project, but were for database windows that have data for all projects ("Edit Pipe Database" and "Edit Fire
Pump Database").

23. Made several modifications to the help file.

24. Fixed an inconsistency where although almost all program settings were being saved in the INI file
for the current user, a few random settings were being saved in the registry instead.

25. Fixed a bug where the lines on the left side of the report headers would not include your company
name and address unless you had first run calculations.

26. Changed the starting zoom on the Print Preview window from 75% to 100%.

27. Fixed a bug where the vertical splitter bar on the Project Explorer window would get shifted far to the
left if you ever minimized that window.

28. Removed the option on the Options window about what to do when a project node is double clicked
on the Project Explorer window, since the "Expand the project..." option was meaningless because there is
nothing to expand.

29. Fixed a problem in the option on the Options window for the number of recent files to show in the
File menu, where the maximum number allowed was greater than the actual maximum number of files
that would be shown. The maximum in the option was shown to be 20, but the actual maximum number
of recent files shown was only 10.

30. Added 4 records to the pipe library.

Version 6.0.256 2/13/2012

1. Fixed a problem that was introduced in the previous update. One of the auxiliary files that is installed
with Fire was the wrong version.

Version 6.0.255 12/22/2011

1. Made it so Fire links with AutoCAD MEP 2012.
Version 6.0.254 11/3/2011
1. Fixed another problem that resulted in node numbers not being saved. This problem happened when
the arrow keys were used to navigate between pipes on the Edit Pipe Data window.

Version 6.0.253 9/29/2011

1. Fixed a problem with the Global Editor.

Version 6.0.252 8/30/2011

1. Fixed a problem that caused the residual pressure drop due to a meter, backflow preventer, or check
valve to be incorrect on the reports in some projects.

Version 6.0.249 8/11/2011

1. Fixed a problem in metric projects that caused the Edit Pipe Data window to automatically scroll to the
first pipe whenever Save Project was clicked.

2. In the Fire Pump Database window made it so a warning appears when the pump's pressure increases
as the flow increases.

Version 6.0.248 7/13/2011

1. Fixed a problem that resulted in node numbers not being saved in some circumstances. This problem
was accidentally introduced in a recent update.

Version 6.0.247 5/19/2011

1. Made the program fully Windows Vista and Windows 7 compatible.

2. Fixed a problem that happened when the Exterior Hose Flow box was checked and the units were
metric.

Version 6.0.246 3/29/2011

1. Made it so Fire can read a fractional pipe diameter when importing a drawing from AutoCAD MEP
2011. Previously pipe diameters had to be decimal numbers.

2. Made it so the comment on the Project Data tab of the General Project Data window can be printed on
the title page.

Version 6.0.245 3/8/2011

1. Made it so Fire links with AutoCAD MEP 2011.

2. Made it so automatic copying of node data when you enter a node number more than once in the Edit
Pipe Data window happens only after you click away from the node number entry.

Version 6.0.244 12/22/2010

1. Fixed an error on the General Project Data report that occurred with metric projects.

Version 6.0.243 11/17/2010

1. Added an option to print a fitting legend on the Pipe Input and Pipe Output reports.

Version 6.0.242 10/21/2010

1. Modified the file handling features (such as opening or closing or saving a project) so that they
conform with new company standards.
Version 6.0.241 9/21/2010
1. Made pipe sorting faster on the Edit Pipe Data window.

2. Made scrolling and data modification faster on the Edit Node Data window.

3. Fixed a problem with the Overall Pipe Output Data report. The water velocity and a few other pipe
characteristics were not being printed on this report for some projects.

Version 6.0.239 7/22/2010

1. Changed the way the program handles some calculations. If the initial damping factor is less than 99
and divergence occurs during calculations, the calculations will be restarted automatically using an initial
damping factor of 99.

Version 6.0.238 6/21/2010

1. Fixed a problem that prevented calculations from finishing when a large number of inactive pipes was
present in a valid pipe network.

2. Clarified the warning message that appears when divergence occurs during calculations.

3. Changed the way the program handles some calculations. If residual pressure estimates are used and
divergence occurs during calculations, the calculations will be restarted automatically without using
residual pressure estimates.

Version 6.0.237 4/26/2010

1. Made it so if Supply mode is selected, the automatic peaking check box is unchecked and grayed out.

2. Fixed a problem that made the program crash when a new metric project was started and the Edit Pipe
Data window was opened.

Version 6.0.236 4/8/2010

1. Fixed a problem with the metric conversion of the pipe friction loss per foot.

2. Made it so the supply pressure at the inflow node can have two decimal places.

Version 6.0.235 3/18/2010

1. In the Node Input Data report added information used in combined K-factor calculations for sprinklers
on branch lines.

2. In the Overall Pipe Output Data report added the q value (added flow) of each pipe and replaced
velocity pressure with total pressure.

Version 6.0.234 2/3/2010

1. Made it so Fire links with AutoCAD MEP 2010.

Version 6.0.233 1/22/2010

1. Fixed a problem with the Auto Save feature.

2. Made it so a warning appears if you enter hydrant test data and the static pressure is equal to the
residual pressure.

3. Fixed a problem with tree and grid creation. If you indicate that you want to delete existing pipes
before creating a tree or grid, all of the existing pipes will now be deleted.

4. Made it so you can use the arrow keys to navigate in the Enter/Edit Node Data window.

Version 6.0.232 7/10/2009

1. Fixed a metric conversion problem. When a project's units were changed from English to metric, the
values on the General Project Data window were not converted.

2. Fixed a problem that made the K-Factor Calculators unusable when the program units were metric.

Version 6.0.231 6/18/2009

1. Fixed an error on the Overall Pipe Output Data report. The displayed pressure loss or gain was the
same for all constant pressure loss devices and pumps.

Version 6.0.229 6/8/2009

1. Made it so the user can choose whether or not the pump curve will be shown on the hydraulic graph.
This choice will affect the calculated demand pressure as well.

2. Corrected the pipe system water volume. This result was sometimes wrong for projects with autosized
pipes.

3. Corrected the calculated excess available pressure at demand flow when the pump boost is 0 at demand
flow.

Version 6.0.228 5/8/2009

1. Fixed a problem with the demand curve on the hydraulic graph that happened when the Calculate
button was clicked in the Print Preview window.

Version 6.0.227 5/4/2009

1. On the hydraulic graph, made it so the pressure required for the first sprinkler to flow accounts for the
pump boost, if any.

Version 6.0.226 4/16/2009

1. Fixed a problem that made the program crash when printing reports. The problem had to do with
reading pump curve input data incorrectly.

2. Fixed a problem with the demand pressure and demand flow calculations. The program botched the
calculations when a fire pump was present.

Version 6.0.225 4/8/2009

1. Fixed a problem with the demand curve on the hydraulic graph.

Version 6.0.224 4/7/2009

1. Made it so the static pressure, test residual pressure, and test flow rate that you enter in the General
Project Data window must be measured without an exterior hose flowing.

2. Added the exterior hose flow to the demand curve on the hydraulic supply/demand graph.

3. Added the fire pump curve and the combined fire pump/public water supply curve to the hydraulic
supply/demand graph.
4. Eliminated the Pump Curve Input Data report and moved the pump curve input data below the
hydraulic supply/demand graph.

5. When "New Projects Copy AUTOLOAD.FIW" is checked in the Options window, Fire will look for
AUTOLOAD.FIW in the current project folder and the original (default) project folder.

6. Converted the program's help file to HTML Help.

Version 6.0.223 2/13/2009

1. Fixed a problem that caused the pipe lengths and elevations to be incorrect when an AutoCAD MEP
drawing with drawing units set to millimeters was imported into Fire.

Version 6.0.222 12/19/2008

1. Fixed a data loss problem. When you click the Open Selected Project button in the Exploring window
while a modified project is open, you will now be asked if you want to save the open project.

2. Fixed a problem that caused a certain pipe section to be printed multiple times on the Pipe Input Data
report.

3. Made it so Fire will not calculate results when all K-Factors are zero and the project is in Demand
mode.

4. Made it so high water velocity warnings for non-autosized pipes can be turned off without erasing any
autosizing constraints.

5. Made it so a warning will be displayed when multiple pipes are connected to the fire pump inlet or
when multiple pipes are connected to the fire pump outlet.

Version 6.0.221 10/31/2008

1. Fixed a problem that prevented reports from being printed if there was a percent sign (%) in the project
name.

2. Made it so the adjusted hydrant data and excess available pressure are not printed under the hydraulic
graph if there is no hydrant test data.

3. Fixed an error that caused the program to print incorrect data on the reports under certain
circumstances.

Version 6.0.219 6/27/2008

1. Added a new pipe material, Aquatherm PP-R, to the Pipe Database.

Version 6.0.218 5/28/2008

1. Made it so Fire can import data from an AutoCAD MEP 2009 drawing and export data back to the
drawing.

Version 6.0.217 4/24/2008

1. Made it so the Select AutoCAD MEP Version window does not require you to click a version name that
is already highlighted.

Version 6.0.216 3/10/2008

1. Made it so dynamic link library files that don't need to be registered are not registered during
installation.

Version 6.0.215 3/7/2008

1. Made it so each of the system files installed by Fire is compatible with the Windows systems that the
program is designed to run on. If you installed Fire version 6.0.214 and you don't use Windows Vista, you
should uninstall Fire before installing version 6.0.215.

Version 6.0.214 3/3/2008

1. Added a report that displays pump curve data. If you entered a pump and it has a pump curve, the flow
and pressure at each point on the curve will be displayed on the report.

2. Fixed a problem that caused the program to lock up when pipe 1 was inactive or blank.

Version 6.0.213 2/15/2008

1. Made it so each of the system files installed by Fire has the correct version number.

Version 6.0.212 1/11/2008

1. Added "Start a new project upon opening program" to the Options window.

2. Fixed the "Show Project Explorer at Startup" option and the "Show Tips at Startup" option.

3. Made it so all of Fire's dynamic link library files will be registered during the installation.

Version 6.0.211 12/4/2007

1. Added a note to the Hydraulic Supply/Demand Graph that displays the pressure at the bottom of the
demand curve.

Version 6.0.209 11/16/2007

1. Fixed a problem that caused error 9 to appear after Quick Preview Reports was clicked.

Version 6.0.208 11/9/2007

1. Fixed a problem with the AutoCAD MEP drawing import. If you have both ABS 2007 and AutoCAD
MEP 2008 on your computer and you import a drawing saved in one of those programs, Fire will always
open the program you selected (ABS 2007 or AutoCAD MEP 2008).

2. Made changes that should enable Fire to run on a computer with a high resolution monitor.

Version 6.0.207 10/29/2007

1. Fixed a problem that prevented an AutoCAD MEP drawing from being imported when the drawing had
more than one possible inflow pipe.

Version 6.0.206 10/29/2007

1. Made the description of standpipe analysis more specific on the FAQ page.

Version 6.0.205 10/4/2007

1. Fixed a division by zero error that happened when the program printed reports.

Version 6.0.204 9/28/2007

1. Fixed a problem that caused the program to crash when the Sprinkler K-Factor icon in the toolbar was
clicked.
2. Fixed a problem that made the K-Factor Calculators unusable when the program units were metric.

3. Added an option to remove the filename from the footer on the reports.

Version 6.0.203 8/6/2007

1. Fixed a problem that sometimes caused Fire to open the wrong version of ABS or AutoCAD MEP
during a drawing import.

Version 6.0.199 7/24/2007

1. Corrected some invalid results that appeared on the reports after the last update.

Version 6.0.198 7/20/2007

1. Made it so Fire will calculate results when a pump is present and the demand pressure is negative.

2. Made it so a sprinkler or hose can be assigned to multiple area groups.

Version 6.0.197 7/10/2007

1. Made it so Fire can import data from an AutoCAD MEP 2008 drawing and export data back to the
drawing.

2. Made it so the Sprinkler K-Factor Calculator will calculate the K-Factor, residual pressure, or flow rate
of a sprinkler.

3. Added a Duplicate button to the Global Editor tab of the Enter/Edit Pipe Data window that will
duplicate multiple pipes or nodes.

4. Made it so the Overall Pipe Output Data report will show all the data for a pipe on one page rather than
two pages.

Version 6.0.196 6/28/2007

1. Added buttons on the main toolbar that open each K-Factor Calculator.

2. Made Fire compatible with Windows Vista.

Version 6.0.195 6/26/2007

1. Added a Branch Line K-Factor Calculator that calculates the K-Factor for a branch line with a sprinkler
at the end.

2. Fixed a problem with the Hydraulic Graph report. The program chose the wrong graph limits for the
report in some cases.

3. Fixed another problem with the Global Editor. The program was still not changing all the values it was
supposed to change.

Version 6.0.194 4/19/2007

1. Proprietary changes.

Version 6.0.193 3/27/2007

1. Made it so the Minimum Desired Density has no effect on the results when calculating in Supply mode.

2. Fixed a problem with the Global Editor because it was not changing all the values that were supposed
to change.

3. Added a button to the Global Editor tab of the Enter/Edit Pipe Data window that will delete multiple
pipes or nodes.

Version 6.0.192 2/12/2007

1. Modified the link with Autodesk Building Systems so that it works with version 2006 and version
2007. During the import process the program asks you which version you want to link with for the
drawing you are importing.

2. Fixed an error that prevented the results from being calculated in some projects.

3. Fixed an error that caused some results on the Overall Sprinkler Output Data report to be in English
units when they were supposed to be in metric units.

4. Fixed an error that changed the density in the Calculation window when the units were switched from
metric to English and back to metric.

5. Made it so the default projects folder at startup will be the folder containing the last project that was
opened.

6. Added a Browse for Projects Folder button to the Project Explorer.

7. Made it so the items in the Edit menu and the Window menu are enabled and disabled at the right
times.

8. Added a list of all the open windows to the Windows menu.

9. Made it so the Print Setup dialog will appear after Quick Print Reports is clicked.

10. Improved the appearance of the report headers.

Version 6.0.189 9/7/2006

1. Added interface with Autodesk Building Systems (ABS) 2007, which supercedes ABS 2006. Note that
Fire version 6.0.188 or earlier must be used if ABS 2006 is still being run on your computer; version
6.0.189 and later will not work with ABS 2006. A link will remain on the Elite Software website for a
reasonable amount of time to download an update patch for the last version of Fire to work with ABS
2006.

2. Fixed rare problem that caused calculations to stop for a project using a density requirement and
Automatic Peaking.

Version 6.0.188 8/30/2006

1. Fixed problem with reading some ABS drawings, with grids or loops that have more than one fitting
(e.g. transitions, reducers etc.) at the closing loop junction. Previously a closing loop junction was only
recognized with a single fitting, e.g. tee, cross or Y fitting.

2. Made top caption of the Enter/Edit Pipe Data window update the number of active pipes as they are
entered. Previously the total number of pipes would only be updated if you clicked away from this
window. Now an accurate pipe count is always shown.
3. Fixed problem introduced by item 4 in the previous update to set pipes to Autosizing. Some pipes were
set to Autosize even with non-zero manually entered diameters, but now this problem no longer occurs.

4. Fixed problem that occured with some ABS drawings that did not number certain pipe nodes correctly.
Now unique node numbers are assigned as intended.

Version 6.0.187 7/24/2006

1. Fixed problem that was fairly recently introduced which caused the text cursor to move to the
beginning of a number when typing elevation, non-sprinkler flow, etc. in the Enter/Edit Pipe Data window
using Metric units. Now all these numbers can be typed normally.

2. Fixed bug which did not check for all isolated pipes with a project with multiple Inactive pipes near the
top of the pipe list in the Enter/Edit Pipe Data window.

3. Made the Hydraulic Graph display supply curve test data entered in the Hose Flow column if that was
the only test data entered, and no data was entered in the right column (for no hose flow). Previously if
only one set of test data was entered, it had to be the no hose flow test to calculate available pressure in
this report. Now either test is allowable.

4. Fixed rare problem where a project was saved with one or more 0 diameter values but Autosizing was
not indicated. Now even if a project is saved like this, the program automatically sets it to Autosize these
pipes.

5. Made it so the two calculated values in the General Project Data window, System Data tab display two
significant digits after calculations. Previously more digits were shown until the GPD window was
refreshed, so now these numbers are shown with limited digits, more consistently with corresponding
numbers in other windows.

6. Fixed problem that in some cases would resize pipe diameters incorrectly when trying to prevent
increasing sizes in downstream pipes.

7. Made a correction to pipe water volume calculation.

8. Technical updates.

Version 6.0.186 3/31/2006

1. Fixed recently introduced bug that would cause pipes to be read incorrectly if running calculations
without first opening the Enter/Edit Pipe Data window. Now this is no longer a problem, although note
that this Pipe Data window opens automatically during calculations if not already open.

2. Fixed problem that in some projects would show an incorrect value for average and maximum flow
imbalance in the Fire Sprinkler Output Summary page of the reports.

3. Technical updates.

Version 6.0.185 3/17/2006

1. Made it so the Copy feature in the Pipe Database is active for all pipes. This allows you to copy pipe
data from one pipe to another existing pipe. Previously, pipe data could only be copied to a blank pipe
entry.

2. Fixed bug that incorrectly positioned the cursor in the Enter/Edit Pipe Data window, Pipe Data tab
when global units are changed.

3. Fixed bug that caused pipe and node data to be read incorrectly if the first or last pipes in the Pipe Data
were set to Inactive.

4. Fixed problem that would sometimes cause a position error in the Enter/Edit Pipe Data window if a
helptext window is opened, then another row of pipe data is clicked. Now this problem no longer occurs.

5. Technical updates.

Version 6.0.184 2/23/2006

1. Fixed problems with using the Tree and Grid Builder to create pipes with metric units.

2. Added check for pipes with same beginning and end node number before calculations are run.
Normally the Fire program prevents this input, but if a project is imported from a CAD drawing file or
other method, this additional check is needed.

3. Technical updates, mainly with the ABS import and other Tree and Grid Builder issues.

Version 6.0.183 2/6/2006

1. Fixed bug which had reset a few items to 0 that are saved with the reports. Now once again, if reports
are printed or previewed and the project is saved, you can open the project later, go directly to print or
preview, and you will see the same numbers in all of the reports.

2. Added check that data row has not changed after K-Factor Calculator or Additional Fitting Length
Calculator is opened. This prevents a K-Factor or pipe equivalent length to be copied to a different pipe
than originally selected.

3. Made it so when the Clear Pipe button is selected, all pipes currently shown in the Enter/Edit Pipe
Data window are immediately cleared from view.

4. Added button to the Options window that resets all calculated Autosized diameters to fixed sizes. This
is useful if calculations are running but not converging using Autosizing. Resetting diameters to fixed
sizes makes calculations run and converge faster.

5. Technical updates.

Previous updates:
Added feature to allow importing of Pipe Type Group from an ABS 2006 drawing. This data is entered
similarly to other optional data like the Area Group letter or non-sprinkler flow, except that unlike those
options, no selection is made in the ABS Import dialog box to activate this import. Instead, simply enter
the letters "PT" followed by the group number in the ABS pipe object General field. Note that this entry
can be made to the General field in addition to the pipe non-standard fitting length.

Added Check for Update utility. This utility, used by all Elite Software programs, can automatically
check for updates and prompt you with the option to download an update from the Elite Software website
before proceeding.

Added FireDemoABS.dwg to the install files for Fire. Users who install the Fire demo version on a
computer with ABS 2006 already installed can import this sample drawing with the demo version of Fire
to try out the ABS interface.
Made it so the program will run properly on foreign versions of Windows that use the Double Byte
Character Set, such as Korean, Chinese and Japanese versions.

Added interface with Autodesk Building Systems 2005 [now 2007]. This interface is significantly
improved from the ABS 2004 interface. First, all features are accessed from the File menu, rather than
using manual methods and macros in ABS. The two items in the File menu are File|Read Data From ABS
Autodesk Drawing (used to import the sprinkler system .dwg file) and File|Assign Calculated Data to
ABS Drawing. Once you import and run calculations in Fire, select the latter option to assign the results
to the drawing. The calculated results appear in the Properties list for piping and sprinkler objects in the
drawing. You can also resize the pipes in the drawing based on Autosizing at this point by selecting
System Resize from the Mechanical|Engineering Analysis palette in ABS. NOTE: Node numbers are
placed on the drawing automatically during an Fire import, but ONLY if the drawing has been saved with
the EliteFireTagsTemplate.dwt template included in this installation.

Added Demand Curve to Hydraulic Graph. The Demand Curve connects the Demand Point to a point on
the y-axis at the elevation pressure of the first sprinkler in the system.

Added a "Copy License File" button to the About Fire box. Clicking this button displays a Browse for
Folder dialog that lets you select the floppy drive or any other location from which you want to copy the
program's license file.

Added pipe material type PEX to pipe material database. Note that you have to manually select to
overwrite your existing pipe material database when installing Fire. Otherwise this new data will not be
installed.

Added ability for Autodesk ABS interface with Fire to recognize pipe material from an ABS piping
drawing if the name is similar. Previously unless the material name matched the Fire pipe material name
exactly, a default material was assigned.

Added Node Editor window to the Fire program. This window shows the same data that is shown in the
Enter/Edit Pipe Data window, arranged by node number instead of pipes. The node data can be edited
like in the Enter/Edit Pipe Data window. Editing the data by node may be easier or more intuitive than by
pipes in some cases. For example it is easy to see which nodes are sprinklers in the Node Editor window
based on which rows have numbers in the K-Factor column. Note that the node numbers themselves
cannot be edited here; node numbers must be entered in the Enter/Edit Pipe Data window first.

Added feature to print node numbers on an AutoCAD/Autodesk piping drawing corresponding to the
node numbers used in Fire based on that imported drawing. For tags to be added automatically, you must
save the drawing with the new EliteFireTagsTemplate.dwt template included in the installation for Fire.

Compiled Fire with Autodesk Building Systems 2005 (ABS 2005), the latest Autodesk product.

Added Ending Page No. to the Report Options window that can be used in conjunction with the Starting
Page No. to print a range of pages in the reports. If the Ending Page No. is left blank or 0 it will be
ignored.

Compiled Fire with Autodesk Building Systems, so that pipe drawings made with ABS can be read in by
the Fire program. Drawings made in previous versions of AutoCAD or ABS can still be read by Fire, but
it is better to save them in the current ABS first. Otherwise an extra message may appear during the
import to Fire that mentions converting the file format, but which is not relevant to the import itself.
Added K-Factor Calculator to allow an estimate of K-Factor based on pressure and flow through a
sprinkler or hose nozzle. This calculator is accessed through the pop-up help window for the inputs for
K-Factor in the General Project Data and Enter/Edit Pipe Data windows.

Added calculation of the volume of water in the pipe system. This is shown in the Fire Sprinkler Output
Summary report, Overall Network Summary section as Pipe System Water Volume.

Added non-sprinkler flow to sprinkler flow in the Overall Pipe Output Data report. This better represents
all the discharge flows in a project in that part of the reports.

Added "Primary Type of Discharge" input in the General Project Data window, System Data tab. This
allows the terminology in the program to refer to sprinklers as "hoses" since certain fire suppression
systems primarily use hose outlets instead of sprinklers.

Added warning indicating if maximum friction loss or maximum velocity criteria have been exceeded in
any pipe sections. The warning is not printed if these criteria are set to 0.

Added EliteFireInterface.dvb file to the program installation. This file can be copied to your AutoCAD
directory where macros are stored, and this macro can be run with a drawing created using AutoCAD
2002 (or later) with the Building Systems 2 (or later) add-on. This macro creates an .fra file based on the
sprinkler piping drawing, and the .fra file is read in the same way as with the original AutoCAD link in
the Fire program.

Added "Read Data From AutoCAD Drawing" menu item to File menu. This allows you to read
information from a sprinkler drawing .dwg file saved in AutoCAD directly into Fire. This feature only
works with AutoCAD 2002 (or later) with the Building Systems 2 (or later) add-on installed on the same
computer running Fire.

Added second column of flow test data to allow input of a second set of hydrant test/supply curve data. If
entered, this second curve will be printed on the Hydraulic Graph, and the data in the General Project
Data report. This data corresponds to a test with an external hose flowing, and this hose flow is entered
above the new test data column. The column to the right is for a test with no external hose flowing, and
corresponds to the default test data in previously saved projects.

Added feature which informs you that if you have made any changes to inputs after running calculations,
the reports may not reflect those changes in the inputs and their effect, if any, on the calculated results.
Messages to this effect appear on screen when you try to preview or print and are printed in the reports.

Updated check for negative pressures upstream of a pump. Now an error only occurs if negative pressure
occurs at the inflow node. This allows for more pumps to be used, but in some cases negative pressure
will be calculated and shown in pipes upstream of the pump.

Added CPLD menu item to Enter/Edit Pipe Data window. CPLD stands for Constant Pressure Loss
Device. This item opens a window where you can change the names indicated for item "A" in the pipe
material list, which is the Alternative CPLD. The default name is an Alarm Check Valve. Whatever
names and abbreviations are specified here are shown in the reports and program output for this project.

Added an option to the Additional Fitting Length Calculator to input roughness in inches or with a pipe
C-Value.
The "Stringer" device has been replaced by an "Alarm Check Valve" or ACV device. This was requested
since stringer devices are not as commonly used anymore. Any projects previously saved with a Stringer
will now display that device as an ACV with the same pressure loss.

Made Dry system results more clear. For a Dry system, you should multiply your total sprinkler area by
1.3 and adjust your sprinkler areas so they add up to the adjusted total. But the program should not adjust
individual sprinkler areas, since they can be different from each other and should be adjusted manually.
So the Dry results show Adjusted values for total area and density, which you can compare against the
total of your actual sprinkler areas and densities.

Added Sprinkler Area to the Global Editor, as well as a "Total Sprk Area" label to this window. This
duplicates the primary functions of the Sprinkler Area Assignments screen in Fire for DOS.

Major improvement made to matrix solution method. Now projects should converge much faster than
before.

Added Clear Pipe button to Enter/Edit Pipe Data window. This allows you to clear all existing pipes from
the current project.

Added note to inform the you if you are trying to import a DOS Fire project file version 4 or earlier. You
can only import DOS version 5 files. Contact us if you would like to import DOS version 4 or earlier
files.

Added tree and grid network layout diagram. This is a separate form that has been added as an option to
view after the user chooses the Display Network button of the Tree or Grid Builder. This new diagram
should be more legible than the diagram used until now, especially when the tree or grid diagram contains
many nodes. This new diagram can be printed directly to the default printer. Note that this tree and grid
print feature is separate from all other print options in the Fire program. It is meant to be a quick
reference tool, not a primary output of the program. Note that the tree diagram is limited to 20 sprinklers
per branch and 15 branches total, while the grid diagram is limited to 15 branches and 40 sprinklers per
branch. The Display Network window closes when this diagram is closed.

Now a pump curve is allowed to be run in Supply mode. In this case, the calculations are run iteratively.
First pressures and flows are determined, and the flow at the pump is used with the pump curve to obtain
a corresponding pressure boost. Then calculations are run again with this equivalent pressure boost. The
system flows and pressures will adjust after the second run with the pressure boost included (this can be
confirmed with a Supply run with and without a constant pump boost). Calculations are then run again to
see if the adjustment is small enough. This process will repeat until the adjustment is fairly small. This
should indicate fairly well how the pump will behave according to the pump curve in Supply mode.

Made update to allow printing or previewing to show input pipe and node data even if calculations have
not yet been run for a project.

Added a checkbox to the Imbalances section of the Calculation window. This checkbox instructs the
program to continue if calculated flow imbalance is greater than 0.01 gpm. This will converge a project
to sufficient accuracy in most cases. Previously the user needed to check their printout imbalances after
every run to make sure flow imbalance was small enough, but using this checkbox will make the program
perform this check automatically and continue calculations until this condition is met. Note that some
jobs may take a long time to run using this check, so it should not always be used, especially for large
systems.
Added calculation alert message that blank pipe rows are not allowed. Previously calculations could stop
without clarification if a project contained blank pipe rows.

Made significant updates to the Displaying window, accessible via the Display button in the Calculation
window. Calculations run a bit faster if the Displaying window is closed, but the Displaying window
allows almost real-time monitoring of calculation progress. Also useful is the addition of inputs for Initial
Damping Factor, Minimum Damping Factor, and Maximum Iterations to the Displaying window. These
are the currently used values in the calculations. You can type in new values here at any time, and the
calculations will immediately start using the new values. This feature can sometimes be useful if the
calculations are not converging; sometimes a smaller or larger minimum damping factor may improve
progress.

Added feature to generate a DXF graph file of the hydraulic curve. A DXF file can be viewed and used
within Autocad. The Save DXF Graph feature has been added to the Reports menu.

Added feature to show percent completion of calculations in meeting imbalance criteria. On large or
complex jobs which take a long time to converge, having a percentage monitor can be helpful.

Added more automatic increments to the Hydraulic Graph, so that the x-axis maximum will be the closest
multiple of 1000 up to 10000. For example if the water supply curve intersects the x-axis between 2000
and 3000 gpm, the x-axis maximum will be 3000. Now the only reason that you will not see your data on
the graph with reasonable clarity (i.e. without the point or curve pushed up against an axis) is if there is a
data input problem such as incomplete test data or test data flowrate off by a factor of 10 or more from the
calculated flowrate.

Enabled the zoom level or page number to be typed directly into the preview window entry if the user
wants to see a certain zoom level or page. Also Pg Up/Dn can be used to scroll one page at a time
through the preview reports.

Added Metric conversion feature. Now calculations can be entered and run using metric (SI) units. Also
by clicking on the unit shown for a given entry, individual inputs can be adjusted to the desired unit. So
for instance pressure can be entered in psi or bars or Pa, regardless of whether the main calculations are in
US or SI units. However, the printouts will show units in either all US or all SI units.

Added a panel in the bottom Status Bar to display the Units of a given field in addition to the allowable
Range of inputs.

Added additional fitting length calculator. The user has to enter equivalent length of any non-standard
fittings in the Enter/Edit Pipe Data window, but manufacturer data may only provide pressure drop
information, not equivalent length. This calculator allows the equivalent length of a fitting to be
calculated based on pressure drop, flow, and fluid characteristics.

Fixed bug which sometimes stopped calculations if there was a blank row in the pipe data. Now blank
pipe data rows are sometimes allowed, but not recommended. They are deleted automatically if pipes are
sorted.

Modified program to allow use with any system Regional Settings other than English (American). Many
European and similar settings use a comma in place of a period in numbers, and such settings can now be
used with Fire.

Added feature to make better initial guesses on residual pressures in the system if Use Residual Pressure
Estimates is _not_ checked. This decreases the likelihood of a project getting stuck oscillating between
nodes. In addition, if oscillation is detected, the residual pressures are boosted again. Once these initial
guesses become large enough, the system will stop oscillating. This should eliminate the oscillation
problem (when Use Residual Pressure Estimates is unchecked), and in many jobs it eliminates the need to
use the Use Residual Pressure Estimates button unless fine tuning of imbalances in an additional run is
desired. The method of running in Supply mode and then running in Demand mode using those pressure
estimates is still valid, but in many cases is no longer necessary. Convergence is now possible with a
single run in many jobs.

Updated install script to accommodate installation on Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

By popular demand, now the table captions are included across the top of every page of the printout
reports.

In fire pump database, added an additional check to distinguish between blank pump data points and a
point deliberately entered as (0,0). You may want to delete the last (0,0) row of the "Taco" sample pump
data, since it was not deliberately entered, and save it to take advantage of this new feature.

Made Nodal Pressure Imbalance more sensitive to user inputs. Now the Nodal Pressure Imbalance is the
determining factor for calculations to converge. When calculations finish, it is at the discretion of the user
to check the pressure AND flow imbalances to determine whether another more stringent calculation
should be made. The imbalance information is summarized on the last page of the report before the
Hydraulic Graph. NOTE: JUST BECAUSE CALCULATIONS FINISH DOES NOT MEAN THE
SYSTEM WILL BEHAVE AS SPECIFIED. THE IMBALANCES MUST BE REASONABLY LOW AS
WELL. A REASONABLE FLOW IMBALANCE IS 0.01 GPM OR LOWER.

Made an adjustment to place the blinking cursor in Enter/Edit Pipe Data into a field after the help drop
down box is selected for it. Not only is this convenient and gives a more intuitive feel for the user, but it
also avoids a bug where the program could lose its place if a help drop down box is selected in another
row.

Added feature to allow users to type in the pipe material type or number directly in Enter/Edit Pipe Data.
The user can type in a number from 1 to 50, or M, S, B, or P for constant pressure loss devices or a pump.
Note that if "P" is typed, a window immediately opens giving the option to use a pump curve.

Fixed Enter/Edit Pipe Data screen code to allow users to specify Dflt, Inact, None, or Value for the K-
Factor of a node. Now this specification at each node is saved with the project file. The most obvious
benefit is that now users can select "Dflt" either by choosing it in the help drop down help box or by
placing their cursor in the K-Factor box and pressing "D". The K-Factor for each node selected as default
will now be set by the Default K-Factor in the System Data tab of the General Project Data window. A
single change there will affect all the default K-factors in the Enter/Edit Pipe Data screen, as could be
done in Fire for DOS.

Fixed bug which caused program to crash if user specified in the Fire program installation that the Fire
projects directory was not a subdirectory of the Fire program directory. Now these two directories can be
specified independent of each other. They can even be located on different drives on your computer.

Updated pipe data for Sch. 10 Wet Steel. This data had been virtually identical to Sch. 40 Wet Steel in
previous versions. Note that if you have manually changed your own pipe database, installing version
6.0.32 or higher and choosing to install the latest pipe database will overwrite your pipe database file. If
you want to use our updated pipe data and your manually changed data too, you must save your Pipe.dat
file separately for use when needed or reenter your manual changes into the new pipe database after
installation of this program version.

Added the capability to include a fire pump in the system. Currently a fire pump may only be added at or
near the inflow node, upstream of any sprinkler heads. A fire pump can be selected as a pipe material
type, in the same fashion that a meter can be selected. Like with a meter, a constant pressure value can be
entered for a pump. This is the pressure boost to the system given by the fire pump. This constant
pressure rise is independent of flow. Alternatively, pump curve data can be entered, which gives a
pressure rise as a function of water flow rate at the pump inflow node. Currently a pump curve can be
used for a Demand mode calculation, and in a limited capacity in Supply mode. A constant pump boost
can be used in virtually all projects in both Supply and Demand modes. Pump information can be saved
in the pump database (via the Project menu or the toolbar) as well as to your individual project file.

Added feature to export data to a Fire for DOS file.

Added feature to allow user to update their copy of Fire by inserting their license diskette in the A: drive,
going to the Help menu in the program, choosing About Fire, and pressing [Shift]+[Ctrl]+L. This will
bring up a dialog instruction box allowing you to copy the license file from the diskette and update your
copy of Fire. This is a simple way to update the program from the Demo to the Active version.