Release of SasView 4.0.1

SasView is a Small Angle Scattering Analysis Software Package. A new version has been released. This work is part of the SINE2020 Data Treatment Software WP.

SASview SASview SASview 2D fitting screenshot.

SASview 2D fitting screenshot.

The SasView Development Team, 23/11/2016
Contact: , ESS
Download: here

SasView is a Small Angle Scattering Analysis Software Package useful for most small angle scatterers across neutron facilities. This work is part of the SINE2020 Data Treatment Software work-package. The SasView Development Team is pleased to announce the release of SasView 4.0.1. The program can be downloaded from http://www.sasview.org/.

The major feature of this release is a complete re-design of the way fitting models are incorporated into the program. All models in the new architecture, built-in or user-provided, are now plug-ins. This addresses the single most requested enhancement received from users by simplifying the creation of new and more complex models. It also allows user-provided plug-ins to access the SasView polydispersity routines. Alongside this enhancement we have also provided a 'Model Marketplace' where users can lodge their models for use by other users, or for consideration as built-in models in subsequent releases of the program.

Other enhancements include:

  • support for OpenCL (for utilizing GPUs if available)
  • improved numerical integration routines
  • support for the new NXCanSAS data format (as an emerging and generic standard for 2D data)
  • improvements to the data plotting interface
  • further improvements to the documentation
  • the usual bug fixes

PLEASE CHECK THESE CAREFULLY!
Important notes:

  • Users of SasView 4.0 should upgrade to SasView 4.0.1.
  • SasView versions 4.0.x may not properly read SasView projects saved from earlier versions of the program. This is being addressed.
  • SasView versions 4.0.x will be the last to support 'custom models' created in earlier versions of the program. Users that rely on such models will need to convert their custom models into the new plugin format. (Doing so will actually result in more capable models).
  • SasView versions 4.0.x will also be the last versions that will support 32-bit operating systems.

Coming soon

Work on SasView 4.1 is already well-advanced and should be released by the early Spring 2017. Among its features will be additional data file loaders (including for data in formats that write intensity and Q to separate files, and BSL/OTOKO), the inclusion of Adam Washington's Corfunc-py for correlation function analysis, and a model-fitting interface for spin-echo SANS data.

Benefits of taking part of SINE2020

Thanks to SINE2020, the SasView project has benefited from two full-time programmers based at the ESS Data Management and Software Centre (DMSC) in Copenhagen. This is the first specific funding SasView has had since the original NSF grant ended in 2012. The contribution from the DMSC team was instrumental in allowing the project to accelerate the production of this major release of SasView. In particular, the separation of GUI code from computation code, the optimisation of algorithms, and enhancements in testing and code quality were all key work done as part of SINE2020 for this release.

Beyond the technical work, being part of SINE2020 exposes the project to the European scattering community and provides contact with other, related, scientific software projects.

Enjoy the program!