All commands are reformulated in UDEC 7 (GUI and GIIC) to follow a syntactical pattern of NOUN - VERB - OPTION - MODIFIERS - RANGE. Commands are more explicit and more intuitive. They are easier to learn and apply, and are consistent in usage with other Itasca numerical modeling codes.
NOUN - VERB - OPTION - MODIFIERS - RANGE
For example,
UDEC 6.0 Syntax: block 0,0 0,10 10,10 10,0
block 0,0 0,10 10,10 10,0
UDEC 7.0 Syntax: block create polygon 0,0 0,10 10,10 10,0
block create polygon 0,0 0,10 10,10 10,0
As always, commands can be truncated, so the UDEC 7 command b cr p 0,0 0,10 10,10 10,0 also works. A comparison is shown below for a complete model using both UDEC 6 (top) and UDEC 7 (bottom) syntax.
b cr p 0,0 0,10 10,10 10,0
In recognition that this major change will require relearning commands and rewriting older data files for compatibility with version 7, additional HELP support has been added and a built-in conversion tool is available. The tool automatically converts a specified UDEC 6 data file to the new UDEC 7 command syntax. In the event that something is unclear and cannot be automatically converted, it is highlighted for user review. However, the conversion success rate is high and most data files are converted with no flagging whatsoever. When an older data file is updated with the conversion tool, a backup copy of the original data file is automatically retained.