ANY-maze Multifunction Remote Control: Added support for the ANY-maze Multifunction Remote Control. This can be used to start or stop tests across multiple apparatuses and measure ambient conditions with its built-in light meter, thermometer, and audible and ultrasonic sound meters.

•

Tracking engine: Upgraded the tracking system to version 5, which slightly adjusts how ANY-maze calculates the animal’s distance travelled. This change only affects new experiments, which will default to the updated tracking system.

Bug fixes:

•

Path efficiency to a zone: Corrected an issue where Path Efficiency was not reported for zones configured to score entries based on the animal’s head position.

Version 7.54

Version 7.54 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze which includes several improvements and addresses a number of reported issues. We recommend all users to update.

New features:

•

Barnes Maze strategy analysis: Updated to align this with the most commonly-used techniques. The Barnes Maze example experiment has been revised accordingly.

•

Distance travelled: Now available as a procedure variable during test execution.

•

ANY-maze camera drivers: Updated to the latest version.

•

Procedure array variable randomization: Improved to ensure faster performance and guarantee successful randomization when using a large array with a small repeat count.

Bug fixes:

•

Video recording: Fixed an issue which could drop video frames under heavy hard disk load. If these dropped frames are at the start of the test, this can cause re-tracking failures - for this reason we recommend all users to update.

•

Test continuation: Resolved a problem which prevented the 'End the test, but allow continuation' feature from operating correctly.

•

Remote session installation: Added an installer warning about running installations from a remote session, as this can cause problems. We strongly recommend installation directly on the computer and not remotely.

•

Zone entry scoring using key presses: Fixed a potential crash triggered by using a key press to score a zone entry.

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Installer reliability: Improved handling of restricted-permission environments, to reduce installation issues.

•

Network paths: Fixed a problem which could prevent loading of files from UNC network paths.

•

Operant interfaces: Improved performance with multiple operant interfaces connected.

•

Missing test results: Fixed an issue that could incorrectly report some test results (such as immobility) as unavailable.

•

Startup speed: Reduced the time taken to start the software.

•

Camera connection: Improved connection speed and reliability.

Version 7.53

Version 7.53 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze which fixes some reported problems.

Bug fixes:

•

Windows update: Following an update to Windows 11 version 25H2, ANY-maze can sometimes fail to run, reporting that the computer's clock is incorrect. Version 7.53 of ANY-maze fixes this issue and we therefore strongly recommend all users to update.

•

Setting up procedures for testing: Fixed a problem which could occasionally occur when setting up procedures before a test, causing ANY-maze to crash.

•

Zone highlighting: Resolved a drawing issue when highlighting an area that was part of both an investigation zone and a standard zone.

Version 7.52

Version 7.52 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze which fixes some reported problems.

Bug fixes:

•

Improvements with multiple apparatus: Improved screen refresh performance when displaying multiple apparatus simultaneously.

•

Sending reports: Resolved a problem that could occur when sending reports with images via e-mail in web archive format.

•

Parallels on Mac: The installer now detects this environment and prevents installation or updates. Although ANY-maze has previously run under Parallels, this was never officially supported and had some known problems, so running in this environment is now prevented.

•

Track plots: Fixed an issue that could occur when plotting tests with no tracked points.

•

Legacy Policy: Updated to include additional unsupported devices and correct broken links.

•

Other reported issues: Resolved a number of other minor issues reported by users.

Version 7.51

Version 7.51 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze which fixes some reported problems.

Bug fixes:

•

Re-tracking from video: Re-tracking now always uses the start and stop times of the original test, rather than those of the most recent re-tracking. This ensures the re-tracked test length is consistent with that of the original test.

•

Recording a movie: Fixed an issue where recording a video for presentation could fail if the video images were too large.

•

ANY-maze Analogue interface: Fixed a crash at startup that could occur when an analogue interface was connected to the computer.

•

Optogenetic pulse train files: Corrected an issue where specifying a 'pulse off' time of 0 could sometimes be reported as invalid.

•

Loading video files: Fixed a crash that could occur when loading a video file by double-clicking it while ANY-maze was displaying a message or 'Load/Save file' window.

Version 7.50

Version 7.50 includes a number of new features, and fixes a range of reported problems.

New features:

•

Introduction video: Added an 'Introduction to ANY-maze' video to the Getting Started help topic, offering new users a simple way to familiarize themselves with the software.

•

Barnes maze strategy analysis: Introduced a preliminary implementation of strategy analysis for Barnes maze experiments.

•

New measures: Added measures for 'Average X/Y position in the apparatus', 'Average X/Y position in the zone' and 'Latency to last bout of mobility/immobility'. Additionally, a 'Zone list' column has been added to the Test Data report.

•

Export zone maps: Zone maps can now be exported in multiple standard graphics formats.

•

Support for long file paths: ANY-maze now supports file paths (the combination of the folder and file name) exceeding the standard Windows limit of 260 characters.

•

'Empty apparatus' images: In ANY-maze format videos, the initial 5 seconds of video showing the empty apparatus are now stored as metadata, rather than being played as part of the actual video.

•

Improved test pausing behaviour: Pausing/unpausing a test now adds a label to the recorded video. Tests cannot be paused during re-tracking, and tests that were paused cannot be re-tracked - you will be advised to re-perform the test instead.

•

New procedure variables: 'Immobility timeout', 'Freezing timeout' and 'Filter delay for derived signals' are now available as procedure variables.

•

New procedure actions: Added actions to generate custom errors or warnings during a test.

•

Updated device drivers: The ANY-maze USB driver and Imaging Source USB 3 camera drivers have been updated to the latest versions. This now supports Windows 'memory integrity' checking.

•

64-bit installer: The installation program is now 64-bit. Please note: this means that it will not run at all on 32-bit operating systems.

•

Enhanced USB port information: The USB viewer on the Support page now displays only external ports, including port type (A or C), speed (USB 2.0 or 3.0), and whether connected devices are USB 2.0 or 3.0.

•

Automatic video capture recovery: If video capture is interrupted (i.e. no frames are received for a couple of seconds), ANY-maze will attempt to automatically restart the video stream, so as to avoid ending the test if possible.

•

Automatic recovery of unsaved experiment files: If a user chooses not to save an experiment file when closing it, ANY-maze will now store a copy named '... [Save declined]'. These files allow recovery from accidental clicks, and will be automatically deleted after 30 days.

•

Additional test re-performance data: When a test is re-performed, the date/time and user are now recorded.

Bug fixes:

•

Distortion correction crash: Fixed a crash that occurred when using distortion correction on a video source with a defined Region of Interest (ROI).

•

High disk usage during video recording: Improved video recording to prevent tracking delays caused by brief spikes in disk usage.

•

Faster shutdown time: Greatly reduced the time required to close ANY-maze.

•

Startup reliability: Addressed issues at startup related to missing system information from Windows.

•

Procedure test clock accuracy: Fixed an issue where the Test clock procedure variable reported only whole seconds.

•

Overwriting of test videos: Resolved a problem where non-unique video file names could result in test videos of unrelated tests being overwritten when a test was re-performed.

•

Other reported issues: Fixed several other bugs reported by users.

Version 7.49

Version 7.49 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze which includes some minor improvements and fixes some reported problems, including:

New features:

•

Pellet Dispensers: Improved feedback functionality when dispensing pellets, especially in relation to the Med Associates 'VeriFEED' pellet dispenser.

Bug fixes:

•

Distortion correction: Resolved an issue where distortion correction was not properly applied when the video source was part of a montage.

•

Charts: Fixed a bug that could occur when multiple chart panels were set up using the same chart across different panels.

Version 7.48

Version 7.48 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze which fixes a reported problem.

Bug fixes:

•

Video sources: Resolved an issue where adding a new video source could mistakenly overwrite the camera's Exposure setting.

Version 7.47

Version 7.47 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze which includes some minor improvements and fixes some reported problems.

New features:

•

Scaling and rotating video files: Added the ability to scale standard format videos, in the same way that camera images can be scaled. Added automatic rotation of standard format video files, where the video's metadata indicates that the video is rotated.

•

Shocker cable: Introduced support for a new shocker cable with enhanced linear response.

Bug fixes:

•

Session log crash: Resolved a potential crash when more than 65,500 lines were written to the session log during a test.

•

Procedure events: Fixed timing issue in procedures (introduced in version 7.46) where the first time the procedure waited was for something other than an event or a 'time elapsed'.

•

CIPL analysis: Corrected an issue with CIPL calculation when the animal moved into the target zone by a very short distance immediately after test start.

Version 7.46

Version 7.46 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze which fixes some reported problems.

Bug fixes:

•

Switch outputs: Fixed a bug in version 7.45 where switch outputs (particularly when used as Test Synchronization) could default to pulsing at 10Hz when activated instead of simply turning on.

•

Procedure events: Made the timing of events in a procedure more accurate, so a procedure repeatedly waiting for 'time elapsed' events will no longer gradually 'drift' throughout the procedure.

•

Programming Operant interfaces: Fixed a crash when reporting a failure to program multiple ANY-maze Operant interfaces at the same time.

•

Time marker analysis: Fixed an analysis issue when using a time period ending at a Time Marker, where the last event in the time period could be excluded from the results (when the results were analysed just for that time period).

•

Background picture capture: Fixed a crash when capturing a background picture, if the 'Background picture all' button was used but no video images were visible.

•

Path efficiency analysis: Resolved an issue which was failing to report path efficiency for zones whose entries are scored with key presses.

Version 7.45

Version 7.45 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze which includes some minor improvements and fixes some reported problems.

New features:

•

Export Zone Area Maps: A new option has been added to export zone area maps.

•

Additional Scoring: You can now add additional scoring to a test using any licensed copy of ANY-maze, regardless of the license type.

•

Video Recording Quality: Video files recorded during a test are now always saved in 'best' quality. This ensures that freezing detection is accurate, as re-analyzing tests from lower quality videos could lead to discrepancies in freezing results.

Bug fixes:

•

Freezing Results Consistency: Resolved an issue present in versions 7.20 and later that could cause inconsistencies in freezing results.

•

Temporary Folder Issue: Fixed a problem where third-party 'cleanup' software could inadvertently remove the ANY-maze temporary folder, preventing tests from starting.

•

Report Filtering: Corrected a minor issue with filtering reports by time periods. Previously, selecting all defined time periods would incorrectly display a message stating that ANY-maze wouldn't filter out any tests.

•

Zone Area Display: Fixed an issue that could prevent zone areas from being displayed when a zone was selected in the protocol.

•

Switch Output Signal Error: Addressed a bug where setting an output switch to pulse at 10Hz with a 50% duty cycle would generate an incorrect signal.

•

Zone Label Display: Resolved a problem where zone labels could be duplicated or displayed in the wrong location.

•

Video Rewind Issue: Fixed an issue where a video would not correctly rewind to the start of the test, if set to do so.

•

Data Page Crash: Fixed a crash that occurred when the Data page contained more than 32K (32,768) columns. ANY-maze will now also warn you if the number of columns exceeds 16K (16,384), which is the maximum supported by Microsoft Excel.

Version 7.44

Version 7.44 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze which fixes some reported problems.

•

Added information to the drawing of an apparatus map to show the width, height and centre point of ellipse and rectangle shapes. This is to help with exporting of arena data to Rtrack.

•

Updated an issue with the path efficiency measure which was failing to report a value if the animal had been hidden at any point in the test. Now the value will not be reported only if the path is actually broken by entry into a hidden zone.

•

Updated animal and test import to ignore tab characters in the imported file.

•

Made some changes to prevent an occasional issue on startup where ANY-maze could display a message about the serial number being invalid.

•

Fixed problem which meant that switching on head tracking during a test didn't immediately show the head marker.

•

Fixed issue with re-tracking of tests which could occasionally show a message about there being insufficient memory to save the re-tracked results.

•

Fixed a potential issue with the display of trial numbers for re-performed tests, if other tests had since been performed for the same animal.

•

Fixed a bug when loading a protocol, which did not correctly load Time Periods that used Calculations.

•

Fixed occasional crash when copying and pasting a procedure.

Version 7.43

Version 7.43 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze which fixes a problem with installation of version 7.42 on computers without any previous ANY-maze installation.

Version 7.42

Version 7.42 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze which fixes some reported problems.

•

Fixed a problem where an apparatus could show a status of 'No video signal' and prevent a test from being started, even though the video signal was present.

•

Fixed a bug where ANY-maze could sometimes shut down unexpectedly if a report grouped by test segments was displayed, and was then switched to show track plots or heat maps.

Version 7.41

Version 7.41 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze which fixes some reported problems.

•

Fixed an issue where ANY-maze could exit unexpectedly when capturing the background image of an apparatus if the video image was exceptionally small.

•

Fixed a potential crash when editing a Procedure.

•

Fixed a bug where the 'Test clock' procedure variable was always reported as a whole number of seconds.

•

Added new measures for 'Latency to last mobile episode' and 'Latency to last immobile episode'.

•

Fixed a bug where test result analysis could fail if the protocol contained a filtered signal with a processing delay of more than 1 second.

•

Fixed a problem in 'Forced Swim Test' protocol mode, where some items were missing from the list available to be viewed on the Test Data report.

•

Fixed a bug in graph labelling, which was failing if the X-axis grouping was 'Animal number' and an animal had a very long ID.

•

If a camera fails to provide video images for more than 2 seconds, ANY-maze will now attempt to automatically resolve the problem, potentially preventing a test from ending.

Version 7.40

Version 7.40 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze which fixes some reported problems.

•

Fixed a problem specific to version 7.37 when loading experiment and protocol files saved in some earlier versions of ANY-maze. Converting the file could fail, with the file being reported as corrupted.

•

Changed the way that 'frame' synchronisation pulses are generated for montage video sources. Previously, a pulse was generated when a new video picture was captured from either of the constituent video sources. Now, a pulse is only generated when a new picture has been received from both constituent video sources.

•

Fixed a problem which prevented a test from being retracked or rescored if there was a prior stage that had been skipped.

•

Fixed an issue which was incorrectly generating an error report under certain conditions.

Version 7.37

Version 7.37 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze which includes some minor improvements and fixes a range of reported problems.

•

Added support for entering distances and lengths in metres, centimetres or millimetres.

•

Improved the formatting of results in the Test Details report.

•

Improved the way that ANY-maze handles entry of default minimum and maximum Y axis values for Charts.

•

Improved the entry of Virtual Switch thresholds, and the Help topics outlining the measures available.

•

Fixed bug at startup, where detection of an already-running copy of ANY-maze running could incorrectly display a message saying that the software might already be running on the computer using a remote connection.

•

Fixed bug in Protocol Report which could cause the text 'String ID not found' to appear.

•

Fixed bug where switching the video for an apparatus to a smaller video, when the apparatus was waiting for the position of a movable zone to be selected, could crash.

Version 7.36

Version 7.36 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze which includes some minor improvements and fixes a range of reported problems.

•

The units used to report distances can now be specified as part of the protocol.

•

The apparatus ruler length and grid measurements can now be specified to 1/10th of a mm.

•

The sensitivity setting for an AMi-2 Touch Switch has been changed to use both an on and an off threshold rather than a single value.

•

Reinstated JPG as an option for saving bitmaps - this had been inadvertently removed in the previous version.

•

Added support for the Med Associates ENV-204 Verifeed pellet dispenser.

•

Added an option for a short delay after a test control switch is activated before the test will start. This is to give time to close the doors of an enclosure that the apparatus is inside, for example in an operant cage.

•

Added a new Zebrafish example experiment.

•

Fixed a bug where videos recorded during a previous test could fail to load if the file was in use on the Tests page.

•

Fixed an issue which prevented results on the Data page from displaying correctly when showing repeated trials in different columns and also showing data for time periods.

•

Fixed a bug which was preventing ANY-maze from being run on Windows 10 Enterprise.

•

Fixed a problem in procedures where using the equality operator for comparison of numeric zone names did not work correctly.

•

Made changes to some potentially long-running operations to prevent Windows reporting ANY-maze as not responding.

•

Fixed a problem where messages about low disk space could display the drive letter incorrectly for a network drive.

•

Fixed a problem on Windows 7 where results analysis could fail to start.

•

Fixed the way that ANY-maze detects whether it is being run on a Mac under Parallels, to avoid false positives.

•

Fixed a problem which meant that an MHT file sent via email did not render images correctly in Chrome or Edge.

•

Fixed a problem with saving of Retracking results, which could cause ANY-maze to stop responding.

•

Fixed some other minor reported issues.

Version 7.35

Version 7.35 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze which fixes a number of reported problems.

•

Fixed a problem with new installations of ANY-maze, where the installer did not always complete properly.

•

Fixed a problem that could arise in tests if the computer had been running continuously for more than seven weeks.

•

Removed the option to specify a folder for temporary files; ANY-maze now always uses the Windows temporary folder.

•

Improved the way that ANY-maze handles unwritable folders when saving a file.

•

Fixed some other minor reported issues.

Version 7.34

Version 7.34 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze which includes some minor improvements and fixes a range of reported problems.

•

ANY-maze now automatically selects some tracking markers based on the settings in the Protocol. For example, selecting head tracking will automatically turn on the Head marker by default.

•

Added a 'Frame number' column to the Test data report. This reports a sequential number given to each frame (i.e. pictures from the video source) that caused an entry to be stored in the test's results.

•

Improved detection of the availability of an Internet connection.

•

Fixed a problem which could prevent some ANY-maze format videos from being converted to standard format videos.

•

Fixed a problem which could prevent ANY-maze from running after it had just been updated.

•

Fixed an issue which made ANY-maze unresponsive while it was exporting Test data on the File page.

•

Fixed a problem which meant that a Key in the protocol could have the same key stroke set for multiple apparatus.

•

Fixed a problem which could arise when defining Stage End Rules.

•

This version also includes fixes for a number of other minor issues.

Version 7.33

Version 7.33 is a maintenance release which fixes a number of reported problems.

•

Fixed a problem which could cause times reported in the Activity panel during a test to be incorrect if the test was being run from a standard format video and video playback was paused during the test.

•

Fixed a problem which meant that distortion correction was not applied correctly to the constituents of a montage video source.

•

Fixed an issue which could make it impossible to record videos of a montage video source if the constituent video sources used different technologies.

Version 7.32

Version 7.32 fixes a couple of reported problems.

•

Fixed a bug in analysis that caused issues with measures involving latency to an event.

•

Fixed an issue where occasional ".mov" video files were loaded with the image skewed.

Version 7.31

Version 7.31 includes a number of minor new features, and fixes a range of reported problems.

•

It is now possible to run an experiment using a mix of Operant cages from different manufacturers.

•

Taking a background picture now provides visual feedback and allows you to view the picture by holding down the 'Take background image' button.

•

Updated the 'Start test' button to clarify its function when tests are set to auto-start.

•

Made improvements to ANY-maze error reporting.

•

Added details of the ANY-maze support policy to About ANY-maze.

•

Fixed problems that could arise when a computer running ANY-maze was put into Sleep or Hibernate mode.

•

Fixed a bug that could prevent zone settings being altered when an existing zone was changed to be a hidden zone.

•

Fixed an issue that could cause some video files to be duplicated when an ANY-maze experiment was 'Saved as'.

Version 7.30

Version 7.30 includes a number of new features, and fixes a wide range of reported problems, including, but not limited to:

•

Added a specific protocol mode for automating the Forced Swim and Tail Suspension tests. This mode utilizes an innovative technique to detect the animal's struggle behaviour.

•

Added support for the new ANY-maze Operant C and Operant L interfaces. These, together with the existing Operant M interface, allow ANY-maze to seamlessly integrate with operant equipment from Coulbourn Instruments, Lafayette Instrument, and Med Associates.

•

Added support for the new ANY-maze activity wheel.

•

Track plots can now be saved as SVG vector files.

•

Introduced a new Dark Grey theme.

•

Added an option to allow animals to move on to the next stage of an experiment, without waiting for all the animals to complete the current stage.

•

Included a feature to correct barrel (fish-eye) distortion, a common issue encountered with wide-angle lenses.

•

Tests now offer a specific option to allow re-tracking from the video recorded during the test. This feature not only simplifies the process of re-tracking, but also preserves any results from input and output devices.

•

Made various incremental improvements to tracking, including speeding up the initial detection of the animal in certain situations.

•

Added comprehensive documentation for all data items included in the Test Data Report. Right-clicking on an item in the 'Protocol > Test Data Report > Data Items list' now displays an option to view 'Details about this item.'

•

Updated Stage end rules to allow for a minimum number of trials before the rule is evaluated. Additionally, for rules requiring a certain number of consecutive tests to meet criteria, it is now possible to specify the acceptable variability of the criteria.

•

Updated the Path Efficiency to Zone measure to report data over time.

•

Added a procedure action to clear all text from the display, across all procedures.

•

Introduced an option to dynamically show or hide chart state channels.

•

Improved the way in which the Protocol mode is specified by making the available modes clearer.

•

Improved the options for sorting the Data page spreadsheet.

•

The 'Load File' and 'Save File' windows now incorporate shortcuts to 'Places' defined in ANY-maze, such as your 'Personal ANY-maze Files.'

•

Fixed an issue which could, under rare circumstances, cause ANY-maze to exit immediately, without recording any error information.

•

Fixed some problems which could occur when a video recording was started by a procedure.

•

Fixed a problem which was preventing zone labelling from working.

•

Fixed a problem which could cause conversion of older ANY-maze experiment files to fail when the experiment included any deleted apparatus.

Version 7.20

Version 7.20 includes a number of new features, and fixes a range of reported problems.

•

Improved tracking performance, especially head/tail tracking, and improved freezing detection.

•

Increased the maximum duration of a test to 14 days.

•

Added support for scoring partial exits from hidden zones, such as nose-pokes or stretch-attends.

•

Added an entry percentage for hidden zones, such that the animal is deemed to be hidden when this much of the animal has become hidden.

•

Spreadsheets that are saved or copied in CSV or SYLK formats now include units in their column titles.

•

Added an option to automatically set the position of a Point based on the hottest value of a heatmap. Also added measures to report where such points are located and what their hottest 'time' is.

•

Added two new informational measures: 'Percentage of frames tracked' and 'Percentage of tracked frames head tracked'.

•

Added the ability to record an ANY-maze format video (szv) when tracking from a standard format video (such as mp4 or wmv). This is useful if a standard format video contains several tests, as it will record individual videos for each test.

•

Changed what happens if ANY-maze is already recording a video when a test starts and auto-recording of video files is currently enabled: The video recording no longer stops, instead the video being recorded is noted as the video file for the test.

•

The 'Test video' report now contains an option to update ANY-maze's note of the test video file if the original file has been moved or renamed.

•

The 'What to record while testing' protocol settings now have the ability to rename all existing video files to match a specific file-name format.

•

Text written to the display by multiple Procedures is now displayed on separate lines - one per procedure. Removing display text simply removes that specific procedure's text.

•

ANY-maze now reports if USB bandwidth is being exceeded because too many cameras are attached to a single USB root controller.

•

Changed the name of the 'Electrophysiology synchronisation' protocol element to 'Synchronisation with other systems', to reflect the fact that it can also be used with other things, like fiber photometry systems.

•

Changed AMi-2 firmware updates so that multiple devices can be updated together.

•

Renamed 'Output switches' to 'On/Off outputs', to be consistent with other names in ANY-maze. Also changed the option to 'Pulse output on for xxx' to 'Turn output on for xxx', to clarify its purpose.

•

The 'Operant device Configuration' window now contains a 'Save this as the default' check box which can be used to select whether or not the configuration being edited should become the default configuration for that interface (or interfaces).

•

Improved the explanation of errors that occur when trying to connect to a shared camera.

•

Fixed a problem which could make it impossible to select the position of a movable zone by clicking on it, if one position was fully inside another.

•

Fixed a bug where menus might not open correctly when working with multiple monitors.

•

Fixed an error that meant that recording frequency couldn't be changed in an experiment once a test had been run.

•

Corrected the Options page so as to make 'Auto-update' available to all users who can actually perform an update.

•

Fixed bug where a sensor's 'Read continuously during the test' option could inadvertently get reset.

•

Fixed a bug which meant that under rare circumstances tests could be renumbered when they shouldn't have been.

Version 7.16

Version 7.16 includes a number of minor new features, and fixes a range of reported problems.

•

Increased the maximum number of apparatus from 40 to 48.

•

Added the driver for the ANY-maze USB 3 camera.

•

Changed Copy and Paste of the apparatus map to include the grid and ruler if all elements are selected.

•

Added an option to not reset a light-controller at the end of tests, so the light remains on.

•

Added options to the Animals protocol element to explicitly specify whether you are tracking, mice, rats, hooded rats or other animals and used this information to improve auto-start and tracking.

•

Fixed a problem which could prevent ANY-maze from correctly connecting to all USB cameras when many cameras were connected to the computer.

•

Fixed a bug which could prevent updates to a camera's properties from being processed correctly when the camera was used by more than one video source.

•

Fixed an issue which meant that when manually scheduling a test on an apparatus, all the apparatus were updated, rather than just the affected one.

•

Fixed a bug which could sometimes prevent protocols from being loaded successfully.

•

Fixed a bug which was preventing some options form being listed in a speaker's 'What to play' list.

•

Fixed a bug which could cause the animal orientation area to be drawn incorrectly.

Version 7.15

Version 7.15 is a maintenance release which fixes a number of issues reported in previous versions.

•

Speeded up auto-update checking.

•

Fixed a problem which meant ANY-maze could mute sound cards at inappropriate times.

Version 7.14

Version 7.14 includes a number of minor new features, and fixes a range of reported problems.

•

Added support for the upcoming ANY-maze Operant 'L' interface, which can be used to control Lafayette Instrument operant conditioning equipment.

•

Added an option for the start and end of Time periods to be based on the results of calculations.

•

Added an option to Ignore lighting changes that occur during a test

•

Added a new tracking option for the specific situation of tracking a white animal on a pale grey background in a standard format video.

•

Added reporting of the 'freezing score' generated by the new version-7 freezing detection.

•

Added a note of the 'Test start video time' to the Test Data report when the test was run from a video. This makes it simpler to tie up the video frames to test events such as tracking position, I/O, etc.

•

Updated default settings so that in new experiments, ANY-maze will now automatically record videos of all tests.

•

Improved the load time of the Procedure editor, particularly with large numbers of protocol items such as Zones.

•

Changed the way that ANY-maze deals with signing out or hibernating while the software is running, to prevent problems when another user tries to run the software.

•

Fixed bug which could mean that the Test Data report did not list all available result measures for selection.

•

Fixed bug which was preventing the 'Number of exits from a zone' measure from being displayed for selection in results.

•

Fixed some problems with incorrectly applying the region of interest when re-tracking from video.

•

Fixed problem where detection of the animal entering a Barnes maze escape hole could result in a short delay before the test was actually ended automatically.

•

Fixed bug which could mean that video files recorded during a test could be given incorrect names if the tests were manually scheduled.

•

Fixed a problem where Windows could mute sound cards used by ANY-maze.

•

Fixed problems with sound cards which could cause ANY-maze to hang after sleeping or hibernating.

•

Fixed a problem when printing if the default printer had a name longer than thirty-two characters.

Version 7.13

Version 7.13 includes a fix to an issue found in V7.12.

•

Fixed a potential problem when deleting items from the protocol.

Version 7.12

Version 7.12 includes a number of minor new features, and fixes a range of reported problems.

•

Added new 'Default Settings' section to the Options page. This can be used to specify some default settings to be used in all new protocols.

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Updated how the physical source of video images is specified for a Video Source in the protocol, making it simpler to select a video file.

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Added an option to the Support page to send the ANY-maze log file directly to ANY-maze Support.

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Added a beta feature to the Animal colour section of the protocol for 'White animal on sawdust'.

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Added a mechanism to reset the ANY-maze Administrator password.

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Added a mechanism to detect glitches in a video file. When detected tracking continues but a warning is recorded in the test's data.

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Clarified the purpose, and improved the functioning, of the 'Retain background images between tests' tracking option.

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Improved how ANY-maze responds when an Ugo Basile Fear Conditioning system is plugged in.

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Improved how ANY-maze processes the knock-on effects on the apparatus map of changes to a video source's region of interest.

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Fixed an issue which could prevent a laser controller from automatically switching off at the end of a test.

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Fixed a bug which meant that RGB8 format video images where shown upside down.

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Fixed a bug which meant that all cameras were reported as supporting frame sizes of 640x480 and 320x240 even if they didn't.

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Fixed a problem which was preventing videos in Help topics from playing correctly.

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Fixed some issues with how the Number of rotations, RPM and Distance travelled for running wheels were being reported during a test.

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Fixed some issues which arose when 'Switching video' to a video which was not the same dimension as the default video source.

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Fixed some problems related to printing help topics which include videos.

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Fixed a problem which prevented a test from having additional scoring added when manually scheduling tests.

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Fixed a bug where pausing a video recording could incorrectly alter the overall duration of the video.

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Fixed a problem which was sometimes not correctly displaying all the video files in a folder.

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Fixed an issue passing multiple parameters to the 'Run program' procedure action.

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Added a warning about potential issues when running ANY-maze using Parallels on a Mac.

Version 7.11

Version 7.11 includes a number of minor new features, and fixes a range of reported problems.

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Improved head-tracking of hooded rat strains, such as Long Evans. The protocol's Animal colour element now includes a specific option for Hooded rats. (This feature is still in beta).

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Added options to the protocol to fine-tune how ANY-maze analyses rotations of the animal's body. (This feature is still in beta).

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Improved the timing of frames in ANY-maze format (.szv) videos so they exactly align with the times of the result events stored by ANY-maze.

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Improved the quality of the standard format videos that ANY-maze records (such as mp4 and wmv). Also updated how frames in these videos are timestamped so they match the time the frame was captured within ANY-maze.

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Changed the Initial distance from the zone measure so that it can be analysed across time.

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Updated the Data page so that when data is being analysed across time, any columns which show measures that cannot be analysed across time, are shown as

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Fixed reports exported in .mhtlm format, so they open correctly in Chrome and Edge.

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Added an option to show tracking markers using 'large markers'.

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Added the ability to alter the playback speed of videos in the Test video report.

Version 7.10

Version 7.10 includes a number of minor new features, and fixes a range of reported problems.

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Zone entry settings can now optionally include a Minimum visit duration - until the animal spends at least this long in a zone, an entry is not scored.

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The names given to automatically recorded video files can now include various fields. For example, using 'Test [TestNum] - [StageName] trial [Trial] of animal [AnimalNum]' would a create file name such as Test 31 - Training stage trial 2 of animal 7.szd

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Freezing detection has been tweaked to better cope with very noisy images.

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Automatic detection of animal colour has been improved.

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The Path efficiency measure can now be analysed across time.

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When in touch screen mode, the internal layout of the Keys panel (on the Tests page) can now be adjusted, making it easier to place the touch-keys in comfortable positions.

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The Minimize pops configuration option for soundcards is now significantly more effective.

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The menu shown when you right-click over an item in the lists of Statements, Events, Actions or Variables in the procedure editor now includes an option to Show Help on this item.

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The Procedure actions for sending SMS messages, sending e-mails and displaying messages on screen have been improved - all these actions can now include data from within the procedure in the message text.

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The Join function in Procedures has been updated so that any number of pieces of text can be joined together.

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An option has been added to automatically reset the volume a syringe pump has dispensed once the target volume has been reached - so restarting the pump then dispenses the target volume again.

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When exporting test data, you can now use various fields to create the file names to which the data should be exported. For example, using 'Test [TestNum] on animal [AnimalNum]' would a create file name such as Test 3 on animal 7.csv

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The system that the Help page uses to display web sites has been updated. This significantly improves the way most pages are displayed, and resolves script errors reported on some sites.

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Made some improvements to setup of multiple apparatus windows, especially when using high resolution video files.

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Fixed an issue which could cause a black rectangle to briefly appear when switching between items on the Protocol page.

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Fixed a bug which meant a change to a Stage's apparatus assignment method did not cause the Test Schedule Report to update.

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Fixed a problem with heat maps which could occasionally cause parts of the inside of the apparatus to be drawn without the heat map showing.

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Fixed a problem where editing the apparatus Grid settings could occasionally cause ANY-maze to stop responding.

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Fixed a bug which meant that latency to first entry to a zone was not reported if the animal had been hidden at any point prior to the first entry.

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Fixed an issue where switching to the "Tracking the animal's head & tail" Protocol page could cause ANY-maze to stop responding, if the ANY-maze window was small and some of the controls on the page were not visible.

Version 7.09

Version 7.09 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze which fully supports Windows 11 and fixes a number of issues reported in previous versions.

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Fixed a bug where setting tests to start at a given time of day was generating an incorrect start time. This occurred if the start time was tomorrow, but the current date was the last day of the month.

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Fixed a bug in Charts where the count of 'Activations' was not updating for Keys and On/Off inputs.

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Improved performance when working with multiple apparatus.

Version 7.08

Version 7.08 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze that contains fixes to issues found in V7.07

Version 7.07

Version 7.07 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze which fixes a range of issues reported in previous versions, including:

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Fixed a problem in the version 7 tracking engine which could cause it to erroneously consider the animal to be in a hidden zone.

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Fixed a problem with how Investigation Zone areas were drawn on track plots.

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Fixed some discrepancies between the values reported in the Test page panels and the values reported in the Test results.

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Fixed a potential crash if a network error occurred while recording a video to a network drive.

Version 7.06

Version 7.06 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze.

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Added an option to report the Correct Integrated Path Length (CIPL) measure for zones that the animal does not enter by basing the calculation on the animal's average speed throughout the test, rather than the average speed until it entered the zone.

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Fixed a problem which meant that Results page reports could be repeatedly updated.

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Fixed a problem with the option to remove jumps from tracks which could in rare circumstances result in the animal's distance travelled being reported as zero.

Version 7.05

Version 7.05 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze.

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Fixed a problem which could cause tests to be numbered starting at 16385 rather than 1.

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Fixed a problem which could cause ANY-maze to 'hang' while loading the list of recently-used protocols during start up.

Version 7.04

Version 7.04 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze that includes a fix to an issue found in V7.03

Version 7.03

Version 7.03 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze that contains fixes to issues found in V7.02

Version 7.02

Version 7.02 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze.

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Fixed a problem with saving track plot reports which meant the reports were very large.

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Fixed a problem with the reporting of 'Path efficiency' in apparatus which includes a hidden zone.

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Fixed an issue which caused result variables to always be shown to three decimal places.

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Fixed a problem which could cause ANY-maze to crash if an Animal ID included Chinese characters.

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Fixed a problem where ANY-maze could leave a camera always showing black and white images in other applications.

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Improved ANY-maze error reporting, so it now provides more details about errors.

Version 7.01

Version 7.01 is a maintenance release of ANY-maze that contains fixes to issues found in V7.00

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Fixed an issue which could occasionally claim to have detected corruption in a file, even when the file was fine.

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Fixed an issue where a menu of apparatus measures, if taller than the screen, did not correctly show scroll bars.

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Fixed an issue on non-English versions of Windows, where password control could sometimes show the password as plain text.

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Fixed a problem which could cause ANY-maze to exit unexpectedly when running a test, if an animal's ID contained a % sign.

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Fixed a problem which could stop ANY-maze running when uninstalling ANY-maze USB device driver, if TTL cable was still plugged in to the computer.

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Fixed an issue where Record controls could fail to appear correctly on the Test Window's toolbar, if there was not enough space for the entire group.

Version 7.00

Version 7.00 is a major update to ANY-maze and includes a wide range of new features and improvements:

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New panels on the Tests page show real-time information while a test is running

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The new ANY-maze Operant interface makes it easy to control operant equipment using ANY-maze

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New Investigation zones make it much easier to automate the Novel object Recognition test

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We've completely redesigned track plots and heat maps

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Improvements to tracking

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Freezing detection has been simplified and improved

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ANY-maze now highlights errors and warnings in your protocol

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Performance has been improved across the board

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We've included a host of other minor new features and improvements

Test page panels

On the Tests page, real-time information about tests is now displayed in a series of panels - see figure 1, below.

Figure 1. Here the Video panel is 'promoted' (so it is always visible), with the other panels selectable through the tabs at the bottom of the page.

A wide range of panels are available, including panels to show:

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The video picture of the apparatus

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Details of zones and sequences

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The state of inputs and outputs

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Behaviours (such as freezing)

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Charts

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A keys panel is also included, which not only shows the state of any keys you are using to score behaviours, but also allows you to layout your own virtual keys for use with a touch screen - see figure 2.

Figure 2. The keys panel in touch screen mode - great for using a tablet to observe behaviour.

Other panels include a Session log, which can show a wealth of information about the tests you're performing, and an Errors and warnings panel which reports issues that could affect the tests, for example, a pellet dispenser running out of pellets, or a disk getting full while recording a video.

All the panels provide real-time information during tests. So, for example, the I/O panel shows you live information about all inputs and outputs, such as what sound a speaker is playing and how much longer it will play for, whether a shocker is on or off, how many pellets a pellet dispenser has dispensed so far, etc.

Figure 3. The I/O status panel shows the real-time state of inputs and outputs during a test.

Panels can be shown and hidden, and reorganised to suit your own preferences and requirements.

You'll find lots more information about the new Test page panels here.

ANY-maze Operant interface

ANY-maze version 7 adds support for the new ANY-maze Operant interface, pictured below. This device provides a simple way to control the broad range of operant equipment available from Med Associates, Inc.

Figure 4. The ANY-maze Operant interface M

Standard operant components, such as levers, lights, pellet dispensers, etc. plug straight into the interface, which connects directly to the PC via USB. You can tell ANY-maze about the components you have connected using a user-friendly configuration window (see figure 5), and it then automatically adds all the components into your protocol ready to use.

Figure 5. Specifying the components connected to the Operant interface is as simple as picking them from a list.

ANY-maze's easy-to-use but powerful procedures can then be used to define how you'd like the components to work in your tests. Figure 6 shows an example, which will either deliver a shock or a pellet, depending on the state of the stimulus light.

Figure 6. A simple procedure to process a lever press

ANY-maze seamlessly supports multiple Operant interfaces. For example, if you have 20 operant cages, then you can easily configure all the interfaces for all the cages simultaneously and then add them all to your protocol in one go.

Investigation zones

In version 7 we have introduced Investigation zones. These are zones which the animal is deemed to be investigating if: it is within a certain distance of the zone, and (optionally) is oriented towards the zone, and (again optionally) is not actually inside the zone.

ANY-maze will report lots of measures, such as how often the animal investigated the zone, for how long, what the latency to investigation was, etc.

This new feature is especially useful in the Novel Object Recognition Test - see figure 7 - but it can be used in any situation where you want to know how much time the animal spends investigating a part of the apparatus.

Figure 7. The animal is 'investigating' the object because: its head is within 25mm of it (the dotted line shows the investigation area), it is oriented towards the object (the flashlight-like beam shows the orientation) and it is not on top of the object.

As part of the work on investigation zones, we also improved how ANY-maze shows the animal's orientation. As can be seen in the figure above, orientation is now indicated by something like a flashlight beam; ANY-maze considers the animal to be oriented towards anything this beam touches. You can specify the width of the beam, thus controlling how loose or tight the definition of orientation is.

Track plots and heat maps have been completely redesigned

In version 7 we have redesigned heat maps and track plots and incorporated many customer requests and suggestions - see figure 8.

Figure 8. An example of a Track plot.

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Track plots and heat maps can now be resized simply by dragging the corner.

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Track plots and heat maps can include markers showing where specific events, such as rearing, occurred.

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Track plots and heat maps can be created for an entire test or any time segments (aka time bins), or time periods.

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Tracks can be colour coded, for example, to show when the animal was moving quickly.

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Heat maps can be created for a wide range of things, such as where specific behaviours such as freezing, immobility, rearing, etc. occurred.

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Track plots can include a still image of the apparatus as their background, or can use a heat map as a background, creating a hybrid track plot and heat map.

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Track plots and heat maps are much faster - it's entirely viable to plot them for any duration, even for tests that last a week or more.

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You now have much more control over the format of plots; for example, the colours of lines, markers, the apparatus map, etc. can all be altered, as can track thickness, transparency, etc.

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Plots can be edited dynamically using a simple pop-up window.

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You can define any number of different track plots and heat maps within the protocol.

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It is now possible to specify geometric transforms that should be applied to track plots and heat maps so that they align with one another - this is especially useful when plotting group average heat maps as in figure 9.

Figure 9. Heat maps can now be adjusted so they align making it possible to create average heat maps, like those shown here, in more situations.

Improved tracking

We're always working on the tracking in ANY-maze and in version 7 we have made a number of improvements especially to head tracking which now works well even in low contrast or poor quality images (although it is still limited to tracking the heads of rodents).

Figure 10. In this video ANY-maze version 7 robustly tracks the animal's head, despite the chequered background and the low image quality.

Of course we appreciate that you won't want to change the tracking system in the middle of an experiment, or even between experiments, if you're running a series of experiments and plan to compare their results, so you can choose whether ANY-maze should use the old version 6 tracking engine or the new one from version 7.

Improved and simplified freezing detection

In V7 freezing detection has been simplified by removal of the old freezing threshold values. ANY-maze now determines the freezing threshold automatically, although you can adjust the sensitivity (i.e. how much movement is acceptable while still considering the animal to be freezing) to suit your experiment.

Again, we've included an option to use the old version 6 freezing detection method if you wish.

ANY-maze now highlights errors and warnings in your protocol

In version 7 the protocol list now shows error and warning markers to highlight parts of the protocol that might need your attention. Pointing at a marked item will pop-up a message explaining what the issue is - see figure 11.

Figure 11. Here the 'Animal colour' element has an error, while the Apparatus has a warning.

A great thing about the error markers is that when you first create a protocol all the compulsory elements are marked (because they're missing data), so you can easily see the minimum that you need to do to make your protocol usable.

Performance improvements

We've done lots of work under-the-hood in version 7 to make it run faster and smarter. It now takes full advantage of the latest microprocessors and also uses the graphics processor where it can. The upshot of this is that you will find that ANY-maze starts-up more quickly, results are analysed faster and reports open more quickly - even if you have lots of apparatus and long duration tests.

Other new features and improvements

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We've made it easier to switch between videos from the Tests page. For example, if you have an experiment in which all the tests were recorded to individual video files, then you can simply open a menu of all the videos and pick the one to track.

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We've reorganised the protocol list (on the left side of the protocol page) into a more logical structure.

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ANY-maze now detects and reports more errors and warnings about things that happen during a test. These are displayed in the new Errors and warnings panel while a test is running and are available in the Test details report after the test has been performed.

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We've improved the Test page thumbnails, which are really useful when you're working with lots of apparatus at the same time.

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When setting up a zone, you can now see the real-world area of the zone as well as what percentage of the total apparatus area it represents.

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You can now search your recent experiments on the File page.

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Version 7 supports high resolution monitors up to and beyond 4K. It also copes seamlessly with being moved between multiple monitors even if they have different resolutions and scaling.

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We've updated and expanded the range of example experiments. These can be a great place to try new features as no matter what you do to them, examples can't be permanently changed. For example, if you want to see the new track plots and heat maps in action, then just try them in the example water-maze experiment. You can alter the settings as much as you like they'll just revert when you close the example.

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There are lots of other minor improvements and adjustments throughout version 7.

Previous versions of ANY-maze

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What's new in ANY-maze version 6

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What's new in ANY-maze version 5

ANY-maze help topic T0001