ARIES 5000.

0 Release Notes
ARIESTM 5000.0 is the name of the new release for 2008. It delivers improvements in
three main areas:
Landmark R5000 synchronization and compatibility
Top-rated User Group enhancements
Defect repairs

The release includes all the modules for ARIES System (Project Manager, Graphics, and
Economics), plus the optional modules for International, Reserve Management System,
DecisionSuiteTM , and the new Resource SchedulerTM /ARIES Link.

This ARIES release is available for Electronic Software Distribution, or on a dedicated

GeoGraphix distribution DVD, to all customers current on M&S. This is explained in
detail below. It provides a simple installation process which is described in the Setup
Instructions help document included with the release.

All customers must obtain new license files (at no cost) to use the ARIES 5000.0.0
release. This is described in more detail below. Those customers who use a license server
(local or network), as opposed to a standalone license, must also install the new version
of the License Application Manager.

ARIES 5000.0.0 supports both the Classic Data Model and the Landmark Engineers
Data Model. Note that the EDM environment is a separately licensed feature, and
installing it is described in the Landmark EDM installation guide.

This release also contains the changes previously provided in the Economic updates for
version 2007.1. These changes were:
1. Added ARIES International multi-well and stochastic capabilities
2. Fixed curtailment and LOAD for multi-segment hyperbolic forecasts
3. Incorporated the new Alberta Crown Royalty that starts in 2009, plus several
other Canadian tax improvements.

R5000 Compatibility
R5000 is a major Landmark synchronous release designed to increase the compatibility
and stability of all the applications, platforms, and third-party tools. It is being
implemented in several stages, with ARIES joining with this mid-2008 release.

OS, Hardware, and Platforms

ARIES 5000.0 remains a 32-bit multi-threaded application capable of supporting multiple
processors. It was tested with MS Windows XP SP3, XP 64, and Vista 32. The basic
hardware requirements have not changed, except that a DVD reader is needed for local
installations if the electronic software distribution is not used. Of course, hardware must
be appropriate to run the chosen operating system.
Oracle 10g and MS SQL Server 2005 and Express databases are supported, as are MS
Access databases in the .mdb format. While ARIES 5000.0 was not tested on Oracle 9i or
SQL Server 2000, it is unlikely that any problems will arise with these databases.

Distribution
For the first time ARIES is available for you to download electronically, subject to
authorization by your company. You will be able to download your software as soon as it
is available instead of waiting for media to be manufactured and shipped.

The customer interface for downloading products electronically is called Landmark

Software Manager (LSM). You can schedule your downloads, or you can download one
or more applications immediately. If you cannot download the applications through LSM
due to bandwidth limitations, or if you prefer media, you may request a DVD by using
features within LSM.

Licensing
As part of R5000, ARIES has upgraded to the Macrovision FlexLM 11.3 licensing
application. This increases compatibility among all the Landmark applications and third-
party applications that use FlexLM. This version of FlexLM also provides many license
management functions to your company, which you access through their applications.

To use ARIES 5000.0:

1. All customers must obtain new application licenses from us, at no cost, in the form of
updated license files.
2. Customers that use a license server, either on a network or locally, must install the
new version of the License Application Manager. This LAM installation is available
from the Utilities button on the initial ARIES installation setup screen.

To simplify your license file management, all the ARIES license feature names have been
made more descriptive and understandable. These names now begin with GGX_ARIES_,
followed by the name of the module. In addition, Landmark will provide a license
borrowing utility named Mobile Checkout which enables authorized users to check out a
license from their network for a specified period to use on a laptop.

Enhancements
1 New Tax Depreciation Method: ACR4
The Economic Stimulus Act introduced an additional first year depreciation writeoff of
50 percent for new tangible investments placed in service in calendar year 2008. This is
similar to the ACR3 (Accelerated Cost Recovery) method which provided a 30 percent
additional writeoff for investments made in past years.

To use this method, enter ACR4 as the depreciation method on the Capital Recovery
line(s) in the Economic Settings for the investment names you wish to treat this way.
Also enter 7 (or 5, or possibly other class years) for the depreciation factor. Then enter
your investment amount(s) on the regular, named investment line(s) in your case.

The ACR4 method provides the proper additional first-year depreciation for all
investment dates back to 1987. Note that the ACR4 method and the additional 50% first
period depreciation also now apply to investments with dates from May, 2003 through
December, 2004. To not use this method, enter the ACR2 or ACR3 method on the
Capital Recovery lines instead.

2 Group Rollup From Multiple Tables

A new checkbox on the Table Properties Tab provides a way to individually enable the
group rollup rules for specific tables. The Group rollup rules, such as SUM, for each
column in the table are specified on the Column tab (and stored in the ARSYSCOL
table).

For example: open the Oneline table, right click, and select Properties:

Properties dialog for Oneline table showing new checkbox

Check the box to enable the rollup rules for production and pool groups for this table.
Repeat the process for other tables.

3 Usability Items
We addressed several usability areas based on User Group ratings and other
considerations.

a Reduced Mouse Clicks and Scrolling

We have rearranged and widened data entry fields, and lengthened dropdown lists
throughout the program to make entering and selecting data items more direct. We
have also added sort-by-column heading capability when editing the Economic Input
and Output stream definitions.
b Toolbar Buttons and Hot Keys
We have added toolbar buttons and associated hot keys to provide immediate access
to common tasks in all the modules, as described below. Notice that you can now
directly access the current Scenario editor from all the modules.

Product Manager Toolbar

Relocated the Edit Current Scenario button adjacent to the Scenario dropdown.
Added Edit Master Table button to provide direct table access.
Updated the Picklist toolbar button icons.

MultiGraph Toolbar

Relocated the Edit Current Scenario button adjacent to the Scenario dropdown.
Added buttons for direct access to Curve Annual Average, Curve Cull Outside,
Forecast Exp Fit, Forecast Hyp Fit, Forecast Manual Line, Forecast Manual
Anchor, Forecast Put All, Edit Master Table, and Edit Monthly Production Table.
Updated the Notes icon.

Economics Toolbar

Relocated the Edit Current Scenario button adjacent to the Scenario dropdown.
Relocated the Edit Run Settings button adjacent to the Run Settings dropdown.
Added Edit Master Table button to provide direct access.
Updated the Notes icon.

c Default File Locations

We added the capability for you to specify the default locations for program log files,
input data files, instruction files, and output files. This tab dialog is located under the
Project Manager menu, Definitions, Preferences.
 The default User Data Directories locations tab

You enter here your preferred default directories for these various types of files. At
run time these locations will appear in the appropriate dialogs. You can either accept
them, or enter different file locations for that run.

d Overhauled Economic Editor Headings

Over a hundred economic Expert Editor header information lines were added or
rewritten to clarify the entries for various keywords.

4 Preview Economics Data Page

We have added an option on the Economic Run Settings, Output tab to specify that when
previewing a case, you always want both the tabular results page and the input data page,
regardless of the settings for the regular Evaluate, Report Page settings.

Selecting the Results+Input option for Previews

There is now a clear separation between the Report Pages row, which applies to
Evaluate-type runs, and the Preview row, which applies to Previews.

5 Flag Properties In Picklist Having Notes

We have added a feature that makes it easy to flag those properties listed in the Picklist
that have entries in the Notes table. We combined the flexibility of the Master table, the
display capabilities of the ShowID, and a new update search routine to let you view your
Projects as shown below. Groups do not have a ShowID, so no flag is available for them.
Notice the > flags on front of ShowID, and the Update tool menu

The first step is for you to add the item HASNOTE to your Master table as Text type
with size 1. The second step is to include it as part of your ShowID, in whatever position
you want.

To initially populate these items you next access the new search routine under Tools,
Update Property Note Flags. The following dialog appears:

Choose the character you wish to use from the dropdown list and select OK. ARIES will
search for all the properties that have at least one Note entry and place the chosen
character into the HASNOTE fields. After you have run this update routine you either
Refresh or Requery the Project to display the flag characters in your ShowID as you
specified. Later, after you have added or deleted notes from your properties, you update
the flags in your database by using the Update Property Note Flags function again.

6 Plot and Graph Appearance Items

Plots no longer show the X-axis rescale handle or the beginning and ending autofit range
lines.

In addition to the new toolbar buttons described above, the appearance and functionality
of numerous graph items, the layout of several dialogs, and the wording on the Graph
menus were improved.

You can now select an option to draw the historical and forecast points for monthly
curves at mid-month on rate-time graphs. This lets the values and connecting lines match
the way many people visualize them. Selecting this option does not affect the way you set
the range lines, which are still at month boundaries, or the way the auto regression
routines fit the data points.

This option checkbox is located on the second row of the General section of the Graph
Preferences dialog, which is redesigned to place items into logical groupings.

The redesigned Graph Preferences dialog

Selecting the mid-month option produces the results below for monthly curves on rate-
time graphs (shown zoomed):

Zoomed graph showing mid-month display and Results Box

Note also that, whether you select the mid-point display or not, the Results Box items
have been realigned for greater clarity, and several of the text labels have been updated.
For the monthly curve shown above:
The Ref period is shown as month/year, without a day. For daily curves, or P/Z
values, the day is added to the Ref display.
Vact is the actual volume for the reference period
 Vest is the estimated volume for the period based on forecast calculations
Qbeg is the rate at the beginning of the period based on forecast calculations
Qab is the abandonment rate for the forecast based on forecast calculations
Yrs, Rem, and Cum are relative to the beginning of the Ref period

These changes make the result box values consistent and easy to interpret for any
particular Ref period.

7 Duplicate Forecast Data Lines

You can now easily duplicate an entire set of economic forecast data lines from one
qualifier to another qualifier for a selected data section. Go to the Data menu within
Economics, and select Global Editor. The expanded dialog appears, as shown below.

Duplicating Production section forecast lines

Select the operation Search and Duplicate from the dropdown list, then select the data
section of interest, such as Production. On the bottom row enter your source qualifier
name and the new target qualifier name for the lines to be duplicated. Neither of these
qualifiers can be blank. Click OK to begin the process. If the requested target qualifier
already exists for a particular property, you will be prompted whether to replace it.

NOTE: As with all Global Editor processing, if a property is currently open in the
economics editor when you perform the edit, a message will appear informing you that
the case is locked and will be skipped.

8 Expanded Monthly Table Columns

The number of columns permitted in the Economic Monthly results table has been
expanded to 118 ARIES output streams (either 3-digit or 4-digit), which is over twice the
former limit.

9 Convert Sigma Into Group

It is easy to use the Select, Sort, Total query feature to assemble a group thanks to a new
function. After you have gotten the properties of interest under a sigma, either
automatically using a query or manually by drag and drop, you highlight the sigma. Then
from the DBS menu or the right-click menu select Convert Sigma To Group.
Selecting the Convert option for the highlighted sigma

NOTE: This option will not be available if: (1) there is a group within this sigma, or (2)
there is another sigma within this sigma.

The Create Group dialog next appears, on which you select the type of group and fill out
the normal ShowID information for the new group.

Specifying information for the new group

NOTE: You cannot have the same property listed more than once unless the specified
group type is Econ.

If the group type is Production or Pool, you will be prompted about calculating the values
for the new group.

If the sigma contains titles, you will be prompted whether to retain this information for
the new group.

10 Investment Data List Wizard

You can easily enter multiple investments at various time intervals or copy/paste multiple
investment dates and values from spreadsheet columns using the investment List Mode
Editor wizard.

You start by entering a regular investment line in the case data for the type of investment
you want. This will be used both for the first investment in the series and as a template
by the wizard for building your additional case lines. This line contains the investment
name, the investment amounts, the Net or Gross code, the investment point, any
procedure wanted, and the qualifier name:

DRILL 450 675 G 7/2009 AD ESC INV4 Qualifier

You must fill out this line at least through the investment timing units value, such as AD
or MOS or YRS. Default data that appears on the line (in red here and in the editor) will
satisfy this requirement, and will be used by the wizard.

While on this line (or any case investment line) you request the List Mode Editor from
the Data menu or the right click menu. The wizard appears with the template data line
shown at the top and the first row of the entry spreadsheet filled out with its values
(timing, tangible and intangible amounts).

The fourth row is seeded with the next date

You first enter the timing increment, in months (0, 1, 2, etc.), that you want between the
investments you will enter. You then type or paste values into the Date or Tangible or
Intangible columns. As you do, the next row will open up and be seeded with the
calculated timing value. You can paste a long column of investment values and the
spreadsheet will open the rows and seed the timings. Or you can paste the timing column
and investment column values as a block, for example from an outside spreadsheet.

When you click OK, the wizard inserts all the (non-zero) rows into your case below the
template line, completing them as investment lines with the other values from the
template. If you need to make changes, you can do this manually on the case lines, or
delete these lines and use the wizard again.

11 Name Transported Data Source and DBS

You can now specify the name of the data source and the name of the DBS when you
create and transport to a new database. You specify these names on the redesigned first
screen of the transporter wizard.
Opening dialog of transporter wizard

The first option under Type of Transport is to transport to an existing data source and
DBS. This option has not changed.

The second option is to create and transport to a new data source.

1. For MS Access databases the selection is either version 2000 or 2007, depending on
which drivers you have available.
2. For SQL databases you can create a SQL Server, MSDE, or Express database
depending on what is installed on your local computer.
3. For Oracle you can create an Access database.
4. You can enter here the name you want for the new data source. The default remains
Transported ARIES Database. Note that if a data source by this name exists, it will
be overwritten.
5. The path defaults to what you set for Output files on the User Data Directories tab of
Project Manager Preferences.
6. You can enter here the name you want for the new DBS. The default remains the
sources DBS name.

12 Improved Economic Preview Setup

The Economic preview setup dialog has been redesigned to contain a Delete button to
remove the current column from the preview and a check box option to use the stream
designation as the first column heading. Note that if you use a formula to calculate the
current column from several streams, this heading option does not apply.
Redesigned Economic Preview Setup Dialog

13 Enable Qualifiers In Case Editor

The easy Case Editor within economics now honors one set of qualifiers, as determined
by the first name entered in each data section in the Scenario hierarchy list. Unqualified
data lines are not accepted.

14 Yield Entries In Volumetrics

You now enter yield ratios for gas well products in Bbl/MMcf on the Entities,
Volumetrics dialog. The values are still stored in standard database units, such as Bbl per
Mcf, but are now converted back and forth for display and editing.

15 Faster Projects From Groups

The time needed to build a project using the All Groups option has been greatly reduced,
especially for databases that have large numbers of properties.

16 Run Idle Time Setting

Normally ARIES economic cases run in a tiny fraction of a second. If an economics case
seems to be taking an unusually long time, ARIES will display a message on the screen.
This condition could be due to network or database problems, or extensive ARIES
International calculations. This alert does not stop the run, and the message remains until
you dismiss it. You can now change the wait period for this on the Economic Preferences
dialog, Econ User Options tab from the standard value of 30 seconds to any value up to
3600 seconds.

17 Online Help Improvements

Over 50 help topics were added or updated.

Database Changes
No database schema changes were made for ARIES 5000.0. If you wish to use the new
optional feature for flagging properties in the Picklist that have Notes you need to add the
item HASNOTE to your Master table. We did make several corrections to the contents of
the sample databases provided with the installation.
Defects Repaired
The significant defects that are repaired in ARIES 5000 are listed in the first section
below. The second section lists those defects repaired and released previously in the
patches since version 2007.1.

ARIES 5000 Repairs

Defect ID Section Description

Project
175375 Note editor now retains window width to show more note text.
Manager
Project Table editor now provides improved date entry and does not
786922
Manager retain decimal entry mode when user moves to next cell.
Project
777618 The Cancel button now works correctly in flat file imports
Manager
Project The report 'Reserves and Economic Detail' can now be edited in
768891
Manager the report writer
Project
776942 ARIES can now transport group data to a prior database version
Manager
Project
762399 Remove Property button is now disabled when on break points
Manager
Copying and Pasting into Lookup tables now works from outside
723873 Economics
source files into Aries
A miscellaneous data entry of SHRINK 0 now results in full gas
782772 Economics
shrinkage, meaning that no gas is sold.
A blank name can no longer be saved for a parameter set in
761371 Economics
Input Settings.
781394 Economics The hot key Ctrl+P has been corrected to activate Print
When request to use all forecast qualifiers from scenario the
750303 MultiGraph
multiple GOR forecasts now appear
On Trend graph the High Month Align now works correctly for all
770214 MultiGraph
properties in Picklist
Reduced likelihood of graph printing or window sizing problems
768291 MultiGraph
occurring due to large number of data points
In Trend graph, dragging the Y-axis to shift the scale no longer
780778 MultiGraph causes the average curve to lose focus, so the forecast menu
options remain active.
Limited the message Too much data for LOAD line to
770230 MultiGraph
applicable situations
The reporting wizard Title line dropdown lists now contain a
779038 Reporting
blank item, which allows removing an existing unwanted item
When deleting an item in one of the tree lists (such as Graph
780223 System Schemes, Plot Layouts, DBS names, etc.) the focus will now
move to the next entry below the one deleted
 The supplied sample SQL database now contains the updated
782768 System
Group table for all the group types
The supplied sample SQL database now contains the proper
784550 System
Trend graph table
The DBCreate utility no longer requires that the database owner
781984 DBCreate
be dbo when creating a new database containing RMS tables
ARIES now ignores OWNER name from RS when using MS
780625 RS Link
Access databases.
The Edit menu no longer grays out when opening several script
760605 International
editor tabs at the same time
The script editor no longer adds duplicated lines to the bottom of
780923 International
the file when user selects Replace-All

Prior Repairs
Fixed in updates to 2007.1
Defect ID Section Description
Curtailment of a multi-segment hyperbolic forecast for the
767210 Economics
secondary phase now works properly
Using a three-segment forecast combined with LOAD lines now
767471 Economics
calculates the proper cumulative production
Alberta - Crown royalty deducted from taxable income is now
100387 Economics
correct when RESCAA YES
160229 Economics Federal Lands Payment and Mineral Tax Calculation corrected
Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery depreciation methods now
722317 Economics
us the IRS table values instead of formulas
769140 International Added error message if script line length exceeds 132 chars.
Added script support for all exponential decline parameter
774378 International
combinations

Known Problems
The following differences or problems are known to exist in 5000.0
Defect ID Section Description
Data Transporter will fail if user activates table filter and
Project
764640 attempts to match items having different data types in source
Manager
and target databases
Project When converting a Sigma to a Group, titles will not be
782770
Manager transferred if <No Scenario> is specified
Project An invalid date entry, such as 07/1/348, for filtering or starting
786168
Manager criteria will cause most operations to fail
In Trend graphs, Auto-Full and Auto-Half scale settings provide
770082 MultiGraph
half and third scaling instead
 Edited reports are always placed into the Main report folder on
785451 Reporting
the report tree, even if it originated in another folder
The newer version of Crystal Reports displays values that are
785768 Reporting too long for the column width specified as ###. Previously, it
truncated these too long values from the left.
Decision If Scenario and Input Settings are blank or incorrect, a
761141
Suite simulation run will fail with no warning message
Decision If Output Version file is not selected or are incorrect a simulation
761840
Suite run will fail with no warning message

ARIES International Modeler

In addition to the bug fixes and new features listed below, the
"International_Samples.zip" file which is included with the ARIES 5000.0 install in the
...\ARIES\DB directory now contains the following additions:

1. The script modeling functions quick reference file "AriesModeler_functions.txt".

2. The ARIES built in variable quick reference file "Arieskeywords.txt".
3. An ARIES International multi-well and multi-well IRR goal seek sample database,
"multi_well_demo.mdb" and information file "multi_well_demo.doc".

Defects Fixed In 2007.1 Update 2

1. Report array values E(11) and E(12) are not mapped to Intl script variables, only E(1)
and E(2) are. E(11) and E(12) now map to script variables
BFIT_ROR_INTERPOLATE and AFIT_ROR_INTERPOLATE respectively.
2. Script function decode_rary(char) gives incorrect error message if used in a well
model, works in setup. Fixed.
3. Output stream 1268 in script should be named N_ST_PROV_TAX not S1268. Fixed.
4. Crash if script function "where" used with an array for true and scalar for false.
Fixed.
5. Three or more character concatenations in a single script line does not work. Fixed.
6. A well with EL ending rate causes script mdata records to be ignored. Fixed.
7. If script execution fails on a well, modeling should not be disabled for subsequent
wells. Implemented.

Defects Fixed in 5000.0 (after 2007.1 Update 2)

1. No error message for unsupported parameter combinations for script subroutine
tmsys_hypdecline. Fixed.
2. Using Replace-All in script editor corrupts data by adding lines to bottom of file.
Fixed.
3. If on a field in the International tab, hitting tab key to move to next field like on
expert editor, makes the focus disappear. Fixed.
4. Transport all AI public scripts when going to a new Access db. Implemented.
5. Widen visible size of view script list selection dialog. Implemented.
Enhancements In 2007.1 Update 2
1. Added support for all exponential decline parameter combinations to script.

2. New built in script routines (see AriesModeler_functions.txt for usage):

iary(:) = decode_iaryc(...)
rary(:) = decode_raryc(...)
dary(:) = decode_daryc(...)
call get_environment_variable(...)
call ctokespacesonly(...)
call getCalcExcel(...)
call setCalcExcel(...)
call tmsys_hypdecline(...)
call parseidata
call getidata(...)
call slash_split(...)
call getversion(...)

3. New built in variables (see Arieskeywords.txt for complete list):

real BFIT_ROR_INTERPOLATE ! mapped to E11

real AFIT_ROR_INTERPOLATE ! mapped to E12

real special_streams(mxframes,30)

int mxidata=200 ! max no of Aries eco editor input lines per case
int nidata ! captures expert editor lines
char*64 cidata(mxidata)
int lidata(mxidata)

int ibrklev_as
int isumk_as
int isumpop_as

Enhancments In 5000.0 (after 2007.1 Update 2)

1. A script line may exceed 132 charaters in length if the portion past column 132 is part
of a comment.

2. New built in script routines (see AriesModeler_functions.txt for usage)

dval = cpu_time()

call NameRangeExcel(...)
call NameRangeExceladr(...)
call NameRangeExcelrect(...)
 call tmsys_ratio(...)

call curtail_prod_wells(...)
call curtail_prod(...)
call curtail_prod_adjust(...)

3. New Built in variables (see Arieskeywords.txt for complete list)

char*4 CPROPTYPE_AS
may be one of:
"PROP" = normal case (property),
"NONE" = unknown,
"BRK"=break point,
"EGRP"=summary or eco group
"PGRP" = production or pool group,
"ESUM" = eco sum,
"PROJ" = project node

char*128 CPROPSHOWID_AS ! same as on Project Mgr (may be truncated)