Automatic Update
iDynoMiCS is under constant development by several different teams working in the realm of microbial ecology, and we encourage collaborators to get involved in the simulator's future development. We feel it is vital that when new features are added to iDynoMiCS, we release these to the field as soon as is appropriate. With this in mind, iDynoMiCS 1.2 includes a new automatic update feature that will check for updates and inform you if a new version has been released. The simulator then provides the user with the option of updating iDynoMiCS to the latest version. If the user wishes to do this, the latest version is downloaded and replaces your current iDynoMiCS code on your file system.
To enable update checking, change the 'checkForReleaseUpdate' parameter in the Simulator section of the protocol file to true. Now, when iDynoMiCS starts, it will check whether the version number in the code matches that of the online repository. If not, a panel will be displayed similar to the one below, informing you that a new version is available, and the changes that have been made in the new version.
You have two choices - to either run the simulation with the current installed version, or to install the latest version. Note that if you do select to install the latest version, the installer will overwrite the version of iDynoMiCS that you are currently running. If this concerns you, it may be good to back-up your current version first.
If you are running iDynoMiCS with multiple protocol files, it is better to have this check turned off. However, by default the simulation only checks the first protocol file for the update tag, saving the potential for you to be asked about the update for each file in the batch.