During the testing process, ten coding irregularities were noted. A brief description of each item is provided below.
1. When residual saturations are manually entered, values are re-computed without notifying
the user (the user must re-open the data input screen to determine if residual saturation values are different than the ones entered). During the testing of this method, attempts were made to force the residual saturation values into the LDRM; these attempts were unsuccessful. Modifying the "F-factor" under the "Help" pull-down menu is the only way that was found to alter the residual saturation values.
2. The graphs (for example, "total volume recovered") only use six digits on the Y- scale
labels; therefore 1,800,000 appears as 800,000 on the display. In other instances, large numbers print as "******", and the Y-axis text is not always legible.
new graph windows are opened, the older windows are empty and cannot be closed manually.
4. The Sn, Sw, and Krn graph is color-coded incorrectly. Sn and Snr are red in the legend and brown on the graph, and it may be difficult to differentiate the output.
5. When the program is closed by the "X" in the upper right hand corner (or alt+F4), the
program is still listed in the "Running Programs" section of the Windows Task Manager. Every time the program is open and closed in this manner, another copy is entered into the Task Manager. Eventually, this affects Windows memory and the computer must be re-booted (or the user can open the Task Manager and terminate each copy manually). 6. When entering field data, the instructions read, "open the spreadsheet file (*.csv) and ...".
The associated file is named "field_data.csv". Providing the current path to the file and additional instructions on the same screen would be helpful.
7. The text in the main window becomes illegible if the window is re-sized. This problem is
more prominent in Windows 98 than in Windows XP, although it occurs in both operating systems. Scroll bars and fixed text-size would be one method to correct this problem.
8. The "Tab" order on the Data Input Screen is not sequential. For example, the conductivity
value is skipped while tabbing through inputs. It would be helpful if the user could tab through the input screen in a logical and sequential manor.
9. Many of the inputs lack error trapping. For example, porosity and residual saturations values
can be entered as 35 or 0.35. When values greater then 1 are entered (i.e., 35) the program calculates erroneous values. Error trapping the inputs with easy to understand error messages may help users successfully navigate the program.
10. On a similar note to #9, positive vacuum on recovery wells are ignored. No warnings are
provided to indicate that the user has made an error. 2.2 CODE FUNCTIONALITY
As previously noted, the program is fairly easy to navigate and understand. However, a few components of the program do not behave as a typical Windows user might expect. These items are listed below, and again, have predominantly been addressed in the current release version of the LDRM (Version 3.7).
1. It is not immediately clear to the user that the LDRM works in two distinct, sequential steps:
1) LNAPL distribution and 2) LNAPL recovery. This may be confusing to some users.
2. Upon startup, most programs open to a "start screen" where the user can either open an
existing file or begin a new file. When the LDRM program opens, the user is not presented with a start screen. As a result, there is no clear starting point for calculations. Including basic directions or a "file new" or "file open" option on the initial screen may help the first-time user to begin.
3. The first three options under the "Help" menu ("LNAPL residual F-factor," "LNAPL residual sat model," and "break points") are not really "Help" functions. The current location for these items is confusing and they could be moved to a separate pull-down menu. They might fit better under menus such as "Options," "Features," or "Program Settings."
4. The graphing component of the program is an excellent method for the user to quickly view
the results of the calculations. However, when the user selects "graphs," all graphs (up to six) are simultaneously displayed on the screen. This large amount of information is often unnecessary and potentially confusing. Allowing the user to choose which graph(s) to display could simplify the process. Similarly, a option to display tabular output may also be useful to some users.
5. Some of the pull-down menus do not function as a typical user would expect. The pull-down
menu for "well," "trench," "graphs," and "exit" do not display menu options. When these menus are selected, the application is instantly launched, which may be confusing to some users. As an alternative, the "well" and "trench" menus could be replaced with a "recovery options" menu that contains "well" and "trench" options. The "graphs" menu could be modified to provide a list of the available graphs, as well as allow the user to select a single graph, multiple graphs, or all graphs. The "exit" menu can be removed, as the exit feature is already available under the file menu (the location where most Windows users will first look).