Bug Fixes
The latest release of SonarWave Lite includes a couple of bug fixes.
- If the XTF file only contained sub-bottom data it would load but not display the image data. This has been fixed in the new release.
- If the XTF file contained different range or sample values between pings the viewer would report an error and exit. This bug has been fixed in the new release.
Incremental File Loading
A new feature with SonarWave Lite includes the option to incrementally load an XTF file. This option has been added for computers that may have hardware limitations loading large files, and users who simply want to load XTF data in smaller sections.
The updated viewer includes an option to set the maximum number of pings that can be loaded at one time. The default setting is 10000 pings. This can be increased or decreased according to the users preferences. If a file has more pings than the above preference, a dialog box allows the user to drag and select the ping range to load in the viewer.
Choose Pings dialog box
To select a range of pings to view, simply click and drag. the start and stop pings are displayed below the selection bar. After the file is loaded a new button 
for loading additional pings is active in the toolbar.
Additional pings can also be loaded from the View menu. Selecting either the button or the View menu option will bring up the Choose Pings dialog where the user can select a new range of pings to view.
Goto the download page to obtain the latest version of SonarWave Lite 
.
A bug in the starboard range lines resulted in lines near Nadir drawing on top of each other. This bug has been fixed. Goto the download page for the latest version.
Starboard Range Lines Bug
Starboard Range Lines Fixed
Using SonarWave Lite, you can adjust the on-screen color table to enhance features and improve contrast in XTF sidescan files.
Color Tables
SonarWave Lite uses linear grey as the default color table. Other color tables available are blue and sepia. The user can change the color table at any time on an open XTF file. Any of the three color tables work with the gamma or equalization options described below.
Applying a Gamma Correction
You can use a Gamma correction to visually enhance the on-screen display of a low-contrast XTF sidescan file.
SonarWave Lite Gamma Correction dialog box
Applying a Gamma correction lets you adjust the contrast and brightness that affect the midtones of an XTF sidescan file. The Gamma slider ranges between 0.1 to 5.0, with a default of 1.0.
Equalizing the Color Table
The Equalizing feature redistributes a narrow range of amplitudes equally over the tonal range in an XTF sidescan file to improve the contrast.
Inverting the Color Table
You can invert the on-screen color table of an XTF file. This reverses the color table. The dark tones become light, and the light tones become dark.
SonarWave Lite has a toolbar located at the top of the Sidescan window. The toolbar provides buttons that let you move around, zoom in and out, and adjust the display color table of the XTF files.
Sidescan window toolbar
The button functions include (from left to right):
- Four navigation buttons to move left, down, up, and right by a screen width (10% overlap).
- Pan Image button to click and drag the image.
- Zoom Box button to click and draw a new zoom area.
- Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons to increase or reduce the selected area by the set magnification level.
- Zoom Level box to set the magnification level for the Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons.
- Fit to Window button to display the entire XTF sidescan or sub-bottom image in the Sidescan window.
- Image Color button to provide the color palette options menu.
When a file opens in SonarWave Lite, a summary of the XTF header information appears in the File Information window on the top left.
File Information Window
The XTF file information includes:
- Name — the path and file name of the open file.
- Pings — number of samples alongtrack.
- Samples — total number of samples acrosstrack.
- Max Range — maximum distance in metres from nadir.
- Start and Stop Time — start and stop times for the open file.
- Coordinates — West, East, South, and North bounds extracted from the navigation.
The SonarWave Lite software automatically scans and checks the selected XTF file for available data channels. If more than 2 channels (port and starboard sidescan) are detected, the user is prompted to select the channels to load.
XTF Channels dialog box
The options from the XTF Channels dialog are:
- Port and Starboard low frequency sidescan.
- Port and Starboard high frequency sidescan.
- Sub-Bottom.
Only the available channels are enabled in the dialog.
The user can open an XTF file from the File->Open… menu in the GUI. SonarWave Lite installs a file association for XTF files. With the file association, the user can double click on a file in the File Explorer to automatically open an XTF file.
The SonarWave Lite window consists of three areas: the File Information window on the top left, the Full Image window on the bottom left, and the Sidescan window on the right.
SonarWave Lite Workspace Layout
When you open an XTF file, the file information appears in the File Information window, and the entire image appears in the Full Image window. In the Full Image window, a selection box with the red border indicates the area displayed in the Sidescan window. The default position of the selection box, at the bottom of the Full Image window, indicates the starting position of the sidescan file.
At the top of the Sidescan window, the toolbar provides fast, easy, access to the moving, zooming, and changing color options for SonarWave Lite.
Introduction
The SonarWave Lite software, a free program developed by Tekmap Consulting, is an innovative tool designed for viewing Extended Triton Format (XTF) file. You can view XTF sidescan files with low or high frequency channels and also sub-bottom profiles.
SonarWave Lite with XTF file loaded
The SonarWave Lite software is written in C# for the .NET framework. The software is built to run on a Windows® XP or Windows® 2000 operating system. Because the software is written in .NET it may run under newer versions of Mono (untested).
The SonarWave Lite software has not been tested on The Windows® Vista platform.
SonarWave Lite Features
The features of SonarWave Lite include:
- Detecting automatically and prompting users with available XTF channels (i.e. high/low frequency sidescan and sub-bottom).
- Providing two views of the loaded XTF file, with a smaller “Full Image” view and a zoomed view in the main window.
- Displaying file information for open XTF sidescan files.
- Adding range lines to help locate features and estimate distances on XTF sidescan files.
- Drawing bottom tracking, if recorded, for port and starboard sidescan channels.
- Using Zoom features to enlarge or reduce details on XTF files.
- Viewing XTF files in grey, blue, and sepia colors.
- Inverting the colors on XTF files.
- Using the Gamma and Equalize features to enhance XTF files.
- Saving XTF sidescan files to PNG images.
- Providing embedded Help documentation.
These features are described in greater detail with the embedded Help documentation. The features are also described in future postings.
Download
The SonarWave Lite software is available for download as freeware. The software is provided as a Microsoft Installer (.msi) format. The installer file includes the main program, supporting library, and documentation. The installer will test for the correct version of .NET.
Updated July 3, 2009
Fixed bug with starboard range lines.
Updated August 30, 2010
Added Incremental File loading plus minor bug fixes.
