Contents
Contact Quintessa
Important Information
Trying out TESLA
Notes for Existing TESLA
Licence Holders
New Features
Known Issues
Introducing TESLA v2.1.1
Version 2.1.1 represents a major update to Quintessa’s TESLA decision support software tool. Over
the past few years, we have been developing and enhancing TESLA behind the scenes, with a focus
on making it the ideal support tool for applying an approach founded on Evidence Support Logic
(ESL) to the structured analysis of complex decisions. Examples of the areas where an ESL approach
supported by TESLA has helped streamline decision processes and focus resources are:
examination of alternative approaches to mitigation of leaks associated with Magnox Swarf
Storage Silos for Jacobs Engineering (UK) and assessment of the confidence with which they
can be expected to achieve defined goals;
comparing potential sites for the storage of CO2 while taking into account the uncertainties
and risks involved in each site in a consistent fashion (James et al., 2010. What does it take
to evaluate a potential CO2 storage site: the ZeroGen example. Society of Petroleum
Engineers, SPE137447, and also for the EU CO2ReMoVe project);
investigating particular issues relevant to performance assessment of single shell radioactive
waste tanks at Hanford, Washington State, U.S.A (Egan et al., 2009 Assessing confidence in
performance assessments using an Evidence Support Logic methodology: An Application of
TESLA – 9484. Proceedings of the WM2009 Conference, March 1-5, 2009, Phoenix, AZ); and
consistently evaluating the quality of geochemical data obtained from groundwater samples
(Mizuno et al., 2007. Proposal for a quality assessment method of groundwater chemistry
for hydrochemical investigation. Journal of the Japanese Association of Groundwater
Hydrology, 49, 139-152 (in Japanese with English abstract)).
This new version of TESLA incorporates a host of new features designed to help make it easier to
analyse, present and audit decisions, a summary of which is given below.
Contact Quintessa
If you are interested in learning more about how an approach involving Evidence Support Logic could
be applied to your business, please contact Quintessa’s decision support team at
[email protected].
www.quintessa-online.com
Important Information
From v2.1, TESLA uses a new, more secure, binary file format.
Older versions of TESLA will not be able to open the files generated by TESLA v2.1 and newer. For
that reason, if users wish to share trees generated by TESLA v2.1 or newer with their colleagues then
they should ensure that their colleagues have, at a minimum, a demonstration version of TESLA v2.1
(that can be obtained from our Quintessa Online website as described below). Colleagues with a
fully licenced version of TESLA will be able to alter the tree in addition to viewing it.
TESLA v2.1 and newer can read files generated by older versions of TESLA. Please be aware however,
that if such trees are saved then they will be converted to the latest format and will no longer be
accessible with older versions of TESLA. For that reason, you may wish to back up files generated by
older versions of TESLA before opening them.
We recommend that anyone upgrading an existing TESLA installation first uninstall the old copy.
Trying out TESLA
A demonstration version of TESLA v2.1.1 can be downloaded from:
http://www.quintessa-online.com/TESLA/
If you do not hold a current licence for the software, it will run in a restricted demonstration mode.
The restrictions are as follows:
new trees can only contain a maximum of 10 nodes;
no new nodes can be added to trees opened from pre-existing files;
the save functionality is disabled.
You may use TESLA in demonstration mode to view and investigate trees created by other users.
Notes for Existing TESLA Licence Holders
If you are an existing licence holder but that licence has expired (which will occur if it has been more
than one year since the licence was activated) you may install TESLA v2.1.1, but it will drop into
demonstration mode, as described above. You can then test it out. If you decide that you would like
to upgrade to the new version, please contact us at
[email protected] to enquire about upgrading
your licence. Otherwise, you may uninstall the new version and reinstall your old version of TESLA.
Your existing licence will be preserved in such a scenario. Please contact us if you require an installer
for a previous version of TESLA.
If you are an existing licence holder and it has been less than a year since your licence was activated
then you will be able to install the new version of TESLA and enjoy its full unrestricted capabilities at
no extra cost.
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New Features
Simplification. TESLA now has a single propagation method, previously known as Advanced
Evidence Support Logic (AESL). Any old trees created using standard ESL will be converted to
the new format. We have taken the decision to concentrate on developing ESL within
TESLA; therefore multi-attribute decision analysis (MADA) trees are no longer supported.
Updates to terminology and documentation. The User Guide and the terminology used
within the main application have been updated in accordance with Quintessa’s expert
understanding of best practice in the application of ESL.
Improved tree view
o A new sub-tree feature makes it
easier to focus attention on complex
trees. A branch can be broken off the
main tree, values and tree
parameters can be altered without
affecting the main tree, and then the
changes can be discarded or
subsumed back into the main tree as
required.
o Using the option under the “View”
menu, hypothesis summaries can be shown or hidden. This means that hypothesis
titles can now be much shorter.
o Wrapping of long hypothesis titles has been improved to reduce the amount of
scrolling required. This is particularly useful when working with deeply nested trees.
o Graduated zooming can be performed using the slider in the status bar.
o It is now possible to reorder sibling hypotheses (hypotheses with a common
parent).
Better change control management. It is now possible to label versions of the tree in the
change log, so they are easily identifiable.
Improved file management. Supporting documentation added to a tree is now handled
more effectively using a local library. File sizes can be reduced by archiving supporting
documents in a separate file rather than embedding them in the tree itself.
Fully formatted PDF/Word reports. The entire contents of the tree can now be output as a
fully formatted PDF or Word report, in a choice of styles with a choice of elements.
Portfolio Tool
o The portfolio tool can be used to compare different versions of the same tree –
showing how the decision has evolved with time, or to compare multiple
applications of the same tree structure (e.g. when a single tree structure is used to
evaluate different CO2 storage sites) – which is useful when assessing a range of
options on the same basis.
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o The portfolio tool can also be used to compare trees with different
parameterisations. Users are notified about differences in the parameterisation of
the trees within the portfolio.
Improved support for template designers. The process of creating a template tree is now
clearer and more straightforward. A “Template Guidance” tab allows guideline confidence
values and text to be entered; supporting documents can be attached and delivered to the
template users. Guideline information entered by the template designer can be viewed
easily whilst users go through the process of inputting confidence values.
More Secure File Format. The information associated with the decision making process and
the conclusions drawn from that process can sometimes be sensitive. An encrypted file
format is used to help ensure that all stored information is inaccessible without the use of
TESLA.
Improved Usability
o Standard keyboard shortcuts can now be used to control rich text fields. See Table
1.
o Keyboard shortcuts for the main application have been standardised. See Table 2.
o More tooltips have been added to dialogs, providing guidance in the application of
ESL using TESLA.
o New user input fields have been added to each node to allow users to separate out
the information they record, e.g. reasons for choosing tree parameter values, a
detailed description of the hypothesis, reasons for choosing confidence values.
Support for 64bit Windows. TESLA now
supports both 32 and 64 bit Windows.
Single-branch Uniform Confidence plots.
Uniform confidence plots can now be
drawn for a single branch as well as the
entire tree; confidence can be applied to
any level in the tree, not just the leaf
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nodes.
Much more... This release also includes many updates designed to improve stability and
memory footprint.
Known Issues
At the time of release there are no known issues with TESLA v2.1.1.
Between TESLA v2.0 and TESLA v2.1 the action of copying and pasting a hypothesis or branch of
hypotheses, or of working on a sub-tree and subsequently subsuming it back into the main tree,
could provoke the following information associated with those hypotheses to be lost:
Text entered into the ‘rationale’ or ‘notes’ field;
Actions or reasons listed against values of confidence for or confidence against a hypothesis.
Also, at version 2.1, the print dialog would fail to appear on 64 bit Windows.
From v2.1.1 the above issues have been resolved. It is recommended that all users upgrade to v2.1.1
if possible.
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Table 1: Keyboard Shortcuts for Rich-Text Fields
Action Keyboard Shortcut Action Keyboard Shortcut
Cut Ctrl+X Increase font size Ctrl+]
Copy Ctrl+C Decrease font size Ctrl+[
Paste Ctrl+V Left align Ctrl+L
Bold Ctrl+B Right align Ctrl+R
Undo Ctrl+Z Centre align Ctrl+E
Redo Ctrl+Y Increase indent Ctrl+T
Italic Ctrl+I Decrease indent Ctrl+Shift+T
Table 2: Keyboard Shortcuts for Menu Items
Action Shortcut Action Shortcut
File > New Tree Ctrl+N Edit > Edit Node F2
File > Open Ctrl+O Edit > New Child Ctrl+Ins
Node
File > Close Ctrl+F4 Edit > Cut Ctrl+X
File > Save Ctrl+S Edit > Copy Ctrl+C
File > Save all Ctrl+Shift+S Edit > Delete Ctrl+Del
File > Print Ctrl+P Edit > Delete Child Shift+Del
Nodes
File > Exit Alt+F4 Edit > Move Node Up Ctrl+Up
Edit > Move Node Ctrl+Down
Down
View > Collapse Tree Ctrl+Left
at Selection Level
View > Expand Tree Ctrl+Right Calculation > Force F5
at Selection Level Update
View > Zoom In Ctrl+Plus
Ctrl+MouseScroll
View > Zoom Out Ctrl+Minus Plots > Tree Plots Ctrl+T
Ctrl+MouseScroll
Move node selection Up
up
Move node selection Down Help > View Manual F1
down
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