Q: How can I plot multiple spectra on a single plot?

A: You simply store the values of each spectra and then use &BUILDG to combine them. Click here for an example that does what you ask.

Q: How can I print the Moses manual?

A: Look at

file:///ultra/hdesk/ref_man.htm

Q: What is a .ppo file?

A: The .ppo file name stands for Post Processing Output, and is a general purpose file for data that MOSES can emit, that than can be used later by a separate MOSES run, or as input to other software. Here are some examples of the type of data that can be stored in a .ppo file, and the associated MOSES command to place the data in the file:

Q: How can I plot the joint and member checks ratios of selected range and at the same time show all of the plots?

A: Try the following:

PIC SIDE -PLANE NOD1 NOD2 NOD3 -RATIO 0.85 999 -COLOR SELECT \
-ANO RATIO

Q: In looking through Ultramarine supplies macros I can across the command: &M_ACT XXXXX NULL. What does this do?

A: This specifies that the menus for which "XXXXX" will be valid are those in which "NULL" is a valid command. In addition, MOSES has no valid commands when "reading a model", and all macros are valid during this phase. Now, since "NULL" is never a valid command, the above says that "XXXXX" is valid only when reading a model.

Q: The attached file aborts on WINDOWS XP with REV 7.00 but run fine on REV 6.02. On some machines, it will run once but fail if it is run a second time. Why?

A: You are plotting pictures to the screen while running MOSES from a .cif file. You should never do this as MOSES will become confused. By the way this has been a problem since at least REV 5.07.

Q: Why I am getting the message "*** ERROR: XXX is not a valid option for this command"?

A: This can result from many different sources, but here it is because you wanted to continue the input record but did it incorrectly. The continuation character \ must be the last thing on the input line. In your case you followed it with a tab character or two.

Q: After I changed the font in with the preferences menu, my log file looked bad. Why did the columns did not line up?

A: You chose a proportional font. For the log to look good, you should select a fix pitch font.

Q: I expected the red crosses on graphics tabs to let me close those tabs but they did not. What do they do?

A: They do close the tab, but you must be focused on a tab to delete it.

Q: When starting up a job displays initializing and command line is blank but why not display a dialogue box with wait/progress bar or something animated to give the user a better clue to when he can begin?

A: There is a box in the lower right hand corner which displays Ready when you can input a command, and Busy when you cannot.

Q: Why does the function &BEFORE(string delim) always return the first value of my string?

A: Your problem (and really ours for doing this backward) is that the delimiter is the last token and you did not use '. In particular, you had

&SET FILE = A B C D E F
&TYPE &BEFORE(%FILE% D)

&SET FILE = A B C D E F
&TYPE &BEFORE('%FILE%' D)

Q: When we define text styles in MOSES, the changes show up in the graphs in the MOSES window but don't have any effect on gdv files. Why not?

A: Text in graphics is treated differently for different formats. Most formats use drawn fonts. So that text can be properly rotated. For these formats, you will not see a difference. If you use postscript for gdv you will see a difference.

Q: Could you add a command, &BOOK for example, that would allow us to write some text that would appear on the first page of the output files?

A: There are actually two ways to accomplish most of what you want in MOSES. The first is to, in the com file put

&device -OECHO yes
INMODEL

&type this is what I want to say
&type this too,
&device -OECHO no

&report head -option
command
.
.
end

Q: Why can I run MOSES but a person in a different building cannot?

A: Click here and read the discussion.

Q: I used to run MOSES Ver 6.00 in DOS batch file and and it worked nicely. MOSES run one by one in sequence. Why does this not work in Rev 6.01 or 6.02?

A: The little MOSES that starts the big MOSES was changed. Instead of your batch file being:

\dummy\moses   path1\root1
\dummy\moses   path2\root2
\dummy\moses   path3\root3
Use
\dummy\bin\win32\moses   path1\root1
\dummy\bin\win32\moses   path2\root2
\dummy\bin\win32\moses   path3\root3

Q: Is Ultramarine's software approved by the American Bureau of shipping?

A: Coast Guard and DNV do not approve software. They approve calculations and designs that use a variety of software, but not the software itself. The only organization we are aware of that does this is the Norwegian Maritime Directorate, MD, and they approve mooring and stability only. We do know that our software has been used on numerous projects throughout the years, with the designs and calculations approved by various certification authorities. If you have a specific need for software approved by ABS, please let us know.

Q: Why are there so many revisions to Ultramarine's software?

A: We are responsive to our clients and try to accommodate user input and suggestions wherever possible. Very often, a client will need a particular change urgently. When this happens for several clients, the result is several software releases over the course of a year.