--- /dev/null
+Known problems and limitations
+==============================
+
+* Application crash might occur on the data publication in the study if both data server and CPP container
+ are running in the standalone mode.
+
+
+* Sometimes regression test bases give unstable results; in this case the testing should be restarted.
+
+
+* SALOME in general supports reading of documents from earlier versions but the documents created in the
+ new version may not open in earlier ones. However, some studies may work incorrectly in SALOME 9x; mainly
+ it concerns studies with Post-Pro data in which med v2.1 files have been imported. Due to removal of med
+ v2.1 support and deprecation of Post-Pro module in SALOME series 9x, there can be problems with opening
+ of such studies in SALOME.
+
+
+* Compilation of OCCT by Makefiles on a station with NVIDIA video card can cause problems because the installation
+ procedure of NVIDIA video driver removes library ``libGL.so`` included in package libMesaGL from directory
+ ``/usr/X11R6/lib`` and places this library ``libGL.so`` in directory ``/usr/lib``. However, libtool expects to
+ find the library in directory ``/usr/X11R6/lib``, which causes compilation failure (See ``/usr/X11R6/lib/libGLU.la``).
+ We suggest making symbolic links in that case using the following commands (*Note: you need root permission to do this*):
+
+ .. code-block:: bash
+
+ $ ln -s /usr/lib/libGL.so /usr/X11R6/lib/libGL.so
+ $ ln -s /usr/lib/libGL.la /usr/X11R6/lib/libGL.la
+
+
+* ParaVis and Mesh modules work unstably using a remote connection. You can use VirtualGL to benefit from the remote
+ graphic card (launch vglrun salome), or use mesa_salome to bypass the graphic card (but it is slower). For ParaVis,
+ you can also launch pvserver in the remote desktop and connect to it from your local computer. Finally, clusters
+ often provide their own solution to access visualization nodes for remote post-processing. Ask the cluster's support
+ for dedicated information.
+
+
+* For the current moment, because of the ParaView application architecture limitations, ParaVis module has the
+ following known limitations:
+
+ * ParaVis module works unstably using a remote connection; when SALOME is running on a remote computer, activation
+ of ParaVis module can sometimes lead to the application hang-up.
+
+ * Different visual artifacts may take place in ParaView or VTK viewer when using a remote connection; this is a
+ limitation of indirect rendering: ParaView uses OpenGL 2.0 backend which some features are not supported by indirect
+ rendering.
+
+ * ParaVis module compilation can fail on 64-bit platforms when building ParaMEDCorba plugin (due to crash of kwProcessXML
+ tool during generation of the plugin documentation). In such case it is necessary to unset ``VTK_AUTOLOAD_PATH``
+ environment variable and restart the compilation, for example:
+
+ .. code-block:: bash
+
+ $ unset VTK_AUTOLOAD_PATH
+
+ * Loading big files in ParaVis might render SALOME instable. This problem is expected to be fixed in one of the next
+ releases; it can be temporarily avoided in the current version by applying one of the two solutions below:
+
+ * In ParaVis settings (ParaView tab -> RenderView tab), increase the amount of memory under "Remote/Parallel rendering
+ options" to something bigger than the default 20 MB (for example 200 MB).
+
+* ParaView application may crash during start-up on Linux because of graphics card driver's limitations. The following
+ workaround may help solving this issue:
+
+ .. code-block:: bash
+
+ $ export VTK_DISABLE_VISRTX=1
+ $ export VTK_DISABLE_OSPRAY=1
+
+* Med library (medfichier) can read only MED files of version 2.2 and newer.
+
+* Users can experience OpenGL issues when running SALOME on virtual machines or with Intel graphic chipset. If such
+ issue occurs, use run_mesa_salome.bat to launch SALOME.
+
+* For Windows 10 operating system, the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2017 is required. It can
+ be downloaded from the official Microsoft site:
+
+ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads
+
+ For convenience, the distributable is included into the SALOME archive as well.
+
+* Because of the known 8192 character command line limit, On Windows, the installation directory should be as short as
+ possible, e.g. ``C:\SALOME-9.13.0``.On Linux and Windows, the installation folder should not contain spaces or
+ special characters.
+
+
+* There are known issues about behavior of the automatic link between Shaper and Mesh. The behavior will not be optimal
+ if several iterations between the two modules are done by the user.
+
+* When invoking context help from dialogs of Shaper module, an error message can be observed in the case of using old
+ versions of Firefox as the default browser:
+
+ .. code-block:: bash
+
+ PCOMGlueLoad error for file /usr/lib64/firefox/libxul.so:
+ /usr/lib64/firefox/libxul.so: undefined symbol: FT_Palette_Select
+ Couldn't load XPCOM.
+
+ This error message happens, for instance, with Firefox v75. The problem is caused by incompatibility of freetype
+ library, shipped with SALOME, with old versions of Firefox. The problem is not reproduced with newer versions of
+ Firefox (e.g. v89). To solve mentioned problem, we suggest installing latest version of Firefox, or using other
+ browser (e.g. Chrome) as the default one.
+
+
+* Users can experience problem with launching SALOME because of absence of Python 3. For SALOME, Python 3 is a
+ mandatory pre-requisite. It is available as a native package on most of Linux distributions, so if you experience
+ this problem, just install the corresponding package. For example, on Debian or Ubuntu:
+
+ .. code-block:: bash
+
+ $ apt install python-is-python3
+
+ If you are not able to install Linux packages (e.g. because of lack of permissions), you can use one of the following
+ workarounds:
+ a) Source environment file supplied with SALOME distribution:
+
+ .. code-block:: bash
+
+ $ . env_launch.sh
+ $ salome
+
+ b) Generate a Bash script and use it to start SALOME:
+
+ .. code-block:: bash
+
+ $ ./install_bin.sh
+ $ sat launcher SALOME-9.13.0 --exe runSalome.py -n salome.sh
+ $ salome.sh
+
+* There is a known issue with saving / loading large size studies. The issue is caused by SALOME architecture and CORBA
+ used as the transport between components. CORBA has 2 GB data transfer limit, so one may experience this issue with
+ saving / loading big studies in default mode. This size limit can be partially bypassed by using “multi-file” save-mode.
+
+
+* SALOME version 9.7 introduced a “Session Less” mode allowed using SALOME API without launching CORBA servers. There
+ is a known limitation that “session less” and “standard” modes cannot be mixed in the same session as this may cause
+ various artifacts.
+
+
+* On Fedora platforms, users can experience issue displaying SALOME icons. The issue can be resolved as
+ follows:
+
+ .. code-block:: bash
+
+ $ dnf install qt5ct
+ $ export QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME=qt5ct
+ $ qt5ct
+
+ Then, in qt5ct interface, choose "Fusion" instead of "Adwaita" or "Breeze" that are causing some issues.
--- /dev/null
+New Features and Improvements
+=============================
+
+GEOM
+----
+
+* Add Fuzzy parameter to partition and boolean operators
+
+ The Boolean and Partition operations now support a fuzzy parameter in GEOM, either interactively or through API.
+
+* Preserve colors with clipping plan
+
+ Colors of objects are presevered when creating a clipping plan.
+
+ .. image:: images/clipping_geom.jpg
+ :alt: Clipping plan preserving colors of objects
+
+SHAPER
+------
+
+* Select feature/results by double-click results/feature
+
+ It is now possible to select the result of a feature, or the feature corresponding to a result
+ by double-clicking the feature or the result.
+
+* Select text in Measurement
+
+ Text in the measurement panel can now be selected and copied.
+
+* The Object Browser now automatically expand to show newly created objects
+
+ * Node of the part when it is created.
+ * **Results** folder when the first result is created.
+ * **Groups** folder when the first group is created.
+ * **ShaperResults** node when switching to SMESH module.
+
+* Simple Python API to access subshapes of a result
+
+ New methods where created in the Python API to simplify creation of complex Python scripts and to be able to loop over all elements of a results:
+
+ * ``vertices()`` to get all points of a result or feature
+ * ``edges()`` to get all edges of a result or feature
+ * ``wires()`` to get all wires of a result or feature
+ * ``faces()`` to get all faces of a result or feature
+ * ``shells()`` to get all shells of a result or feature
+ * ``solids()`` to get all solids of a result or feature
+
+* XAO Export format
+
+ When exporting to the XAO format, it is now possible to export the BREP in a separated file.
+
+* Automatic rotation of shapes
+
+ The OCC3D Viewer in SHAPER supports now an automatic object rotation, which gets triggered when
+ the user dynamically rotates the view and keeps the mouse moving while releasing the mouse button.
+ This functionality needs to be explicitly enabled in the Visualization preference of the SHAPER
+ module by checking the **Enable automatic rotation** option.
+
+* Sketch Circle construction point
+
+ It is now possible to show the construction point of a circle in the Sketcher. After the
+ creation of the circle, this point can be moved along the circle and used with constrains.
+
+ .. image:: images/circle.png
+ :alt: Clipping plan preserving colors of objects
+
+* Sketch Rectangle creates center
+
+ The construction of a rectangle by its center now creates the center as an auxiliary point.
+
+* Improve ShaperResults
+
+ * Fields are identified with new yellow icons to differentiate them from groups.
+ * results/groups/fields are renamed or deleted when updated in SHAPER.
+
+* Preserve colors with clipping plan
+
+ As for GEOM, colors of objects are preserved when a clipping plan is active.
+
+
+MESH
+----
+
+* New mesh import/export formats with meshio
+
+ `meshio <https://github.com/nschloe/meshio>`_ Python library allows to import/export meshes into several formats.
+
+ Use the "other formats... (meshio)" item from "File > Export" and "File > Import" menus.
+
+* Beta Law distribution for Wire Discretisation
+
+ A new type of distribution "Beta Law" has been implemented.
+
+ .. image:: images/beta_law.png
+ :alt: Beta Law distribution
+
+* Export structured CGNS (2D and 3D)
+
+ An option was added to the Export Mesh dialog for the CGNS format. When this option is checked,
+ the mesh is exported as a structured mesh preserving information of different meshes coming
+ from blocks and their relationships.
+
+ .. image:: images/structured_cgns.png
+ :alt: Export structured CGNS
+
+* Option to filter Hexahedron for BoddyFitted algorithm
+
+ Add Set Quanta option and Quanta value in the Body Fitting hypothesis to allow replacement of
+ polyhedrons by hexahedrons on the body frontier based in the quanta
+ (PolyhedronVolume/HexahedronVolume) relation.
+
+ .. image:: images/quanta.png
+ :alt: Filter Hexahedron
+
+* Standalone and remote meshers for GMSH
+
+ Implementation of Stand Alone and Remote version of 3D mesher in GMSH plugin. Allow parallel
+ computation of tetrahedral elements based on a 2D triangulation of disjoint solid bodies.
+
+* Standalone meshers for Netgen
+
+ Standalone versiosn of Netgen meshers are available for:
+ * NETGEN_1D
+ * NETGEN_2D
+ * NETGEN_1D2D
+ * NETGEN_1D2D3D
+
+
+Other
+-----
+
+* Verbosity Level
+
+ In addition to verbosity activation it is possible to steer verbosity level using
+ ``SALOME_VERBOSE_LEVEL`` env variable. The verbosity and verbosity level is also activable
+ programmatically. Verbosity and Verbosity level are propagated to Python servers
+
+* Performance trackers
+
+ It is now possible to activate some performance trackers to launched Python servers across
+ computing nodes implied in YACS graph computation. Performance trackers are light processes
+ monitoring performance of Python servers. Log of performance (CPU/Mem/HDD usage/ElapseTime)
+ are stored into a server regularly dumped into file.
+
+* Usage of computers with node coupled to SSD in HPC
+
+ In case of architecture of HPC containing computer nodes coupled with SSD drive KERNEL offers
+ capacity to take advantage of these in case of exchange of big amount of data between two nodes.
+
+* Safe Python evaluation
+
+ A new mode of Python has been developed into Python servers. This mode launches Python execution
+ in a dedicated process to be fault tolerant. This mode also offers a mean to replay all failed
+ evaluation for debug purpose.
+
+* MultiProcess Lock Mecanism
+
+ New mechanisms have been developed to implement multi process barrier and critical section.
+ These mecanisms can be useful to implement some tests.
+
+
