Known Bugs

Bug Reports: If you think you have found a bug within FlamMap, we would appreciate hearing from you. Please check the Known Bugs below and the FAQs page to make sure that this problem has not already been resolved. Then, send a copy of any screenshots and a detailed error message describing the problem and what you were doing when the problem arose to the Fire Applications Help Desk. This will help us to recreate the problem and then resolve the issue.

Known Bugs
FlamMap Version 3.0
Fuel Moisture Conditioning is greyed out as a selection in the FlamMap Inputs Tab and cannot be used when using a landscape file (.LCP) developed and downloaded from the Wildland Fire Decision Support System (WFDSS).
Description	FlamMap 3.0 returns the following error message when attempting to load an LCP file that was developed in and downloaded from the Wildland Fire Decision Support System (WFDSS). When this occurs Fuel Moisture Conditioning cannot be used in FlamMap 3.0. This issue is caused by FlamMap incorrectly interpreting the NoData value -9999 in the LCP header file. The error occurs even though the value -9999 is only in the LCP header file.
Status	This bug will be corrected with the next planned release of FlamMap in late 2010.
Work Around	The remedy is to load the WFDSS LCP into FARSITE and Save the LCP with a new name. This procedure rewrites the LCP header file correcting the -9999 value problem. Open FARSITE using the following menu items: Input > Landscape Utilites > Generate Landscape File (.LCP).
	Click on the Load File (.LCP) button. Navigate to the location your WFDSS generated LCP is stored and load the LCP. The LCP filename should appear in the upper right as shown below if successfully loaded. Click on the Save File (.LCP) button. Navigate to the location you want to save the LCP and Save the LCP with a new name.
	You should now be able to load the saved LCP into FlamMap 3.0 without the error message.
FlamMap crashes when attempting to open a previously-created FlamMap project that used gridded winds derived from either WindNinja or WindWizard in the analysis.
Description	The following error messages occur when opening a previously saved FlamMap project that used gridded wind products from WindNinja or WindWizard in the analysis. This error occurs after the user has saved the project with the gridded wind data incorporated in the FlamMap project and the user attempts to reopen the FlamMap project at a later date. This issue is caused by a gridded wind field that is of the same extent or just slightly smaller than the FlamMap landscape (.LCP) file.
Status	This bug will be corrected with the next planned release of FlamMap in late 2010.
Work Around	The remedy is to use a gridded wind field that is larger than the LCP file as illustrated here.
Specifying more than 20,000 Random Ignitions in FlamMap results in 85,536 random ignitions to actually be simulated.
Description	Error occurs anytime more than 20,000 random ignitions are specified. This causes FlamMap to actually simulate 85,536 random ignitions as illustrated here. This issue causes an increase in processing time as FlamMap is simulating an additional 65,536 fires more than necessary.
Status	This bug will be corrected with the next planned release of FlamMap in late 2010.
Work Around	This bug only occurs when 20,001 or more random ignitions are specified. Using a number of random ignitions less-than this number will not cause this error.
Burn Probability Function's ASCII Output Doesn't Line Up with Landscape in FlamMap or ArcMap.
Description	The burn probability ASCII output is shifted and does not line up properly with the landscape in FlamMap or when imported into ArcMap. The issue is caused by the extent of the landscape file (LCP) and whether the LCP contains large areas of NoData as illustrated here.
	This same error can occur if the LCP is isolated and surrounded by large areas of NoData, similar to an island. In cases where a landscape file (LCP) contains large areas of NoData this issue will occur every time the burn probability is calculated for the landscape regardless of the input or output spatial resolution. For computational efficiency during the burn probability modeling, FlamMap crops out these external areas of NoData. By doing this, FlamMap does not waste time evaluating areas of NoData external to the actual LCP. The shift or misalignment of the burn probability output is caused by FlamMap incorrectly calculating a new X/Y coordinate reference based on the cropped burn probability ASCII.
Status	This bug will be corrected with the next planned release of FlamMap in late 2010.
Work Around	The remedy is to create a landscape minimizing the area of NoData surrounding the LCP. For irregular shaped LCP’s ensure that the LCP touches the edges of the minimum bounding rectangle as illustrated in this example.
	A second work around is to have the LCP as a rectangle without areas of NoData external to the LCP as illustrated here.
Online Help System Returns – "Action Cancelled" or "The Page Cannot Be Displayed"
Description	After downloading the updated Help File, the file may not display correctly and links within the document may not work properly. When accessing the Help File within the program the following error is returned: "Action Cancelled" or "The page cannot be displayed" in the CHM viewer. This problem is found on machines with the Windows® XP Operating System and potentially Windows® 2003 Operating Systems.
Status	A security update for Windows® XP will block access to the Online Help system which is in Microsoft Compiled HTML Help (CHM) file format. The security update in Windows® XP blocks the active content in CHM files to protect your system security. The problem is completely described in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 902225.
Fix	In Windows® Explorer, right-click on the CHM file, select Properties from the pop-up menu. Click on the Unblock button immediately below the Advanced button on the General page. Click Apply, then the OK button. Once the CHM file has been unblocked, the Unblock button disappears and the Online Help file content should now be viewable. This is method 2 described in the Microsoft Knowledge Base article referenced above.
Fuel moisture conditioning not functioning properly when multiple processors are selected.
Description	Calculated dead fuel moistures may be incorrect when using the conditioning period feature and more than one processor is specified. Unfortunately, the bug is inconsistent and may not always occur when a fuel moisture conditioning period is specified and multiple processors are selected.
Status	This bug will be addressed in the next release of FlamMap in late 2010.
Work Around	When setting up a FlamMap run with fuel moisture conditioning the user should set the Number of Processors to one (1). The setting is found on the Fire Behavior Outputs tab in the Processor Usage section.
FlamMap crashes on Forest Service computers running Windows XP operating system
Description	FlamMap crashes partway through the run. This bug has only appeared on Forest Service computers running Window XP. This can be confused with another bug (see below) that occurs on all computers when utilizing a conditioning period in a FlamMap run.
Status	This bug is being investigated to find the best way to fix it.
Work Around	Three work arounds exist for this bug. If FlamMap was installed while the user had Administrative Privileges (the usual case), run FlamMap while after again acquiring Administrative Privileges. Administrative Privileges can be acquired for the current day at http://gadgets.ds.fs.fed.us/EUTools/ad_promote.asp. While you have Administrative Privileges, change the Permissions of the C:\Program Files\Flammap3 folder to Full Control for the Users group. Reinstall FlamMap in a folder other than C:\Program Files when the user DOES NOT have Administrative Privileges. One suggested location is to create a C:\FlamMap3 folder to install in.
FlamMap crashes when attempting a run using the conditioning period feature
Description	FlamMap crashes when attempting a run using the conditioning period feature but runs successfully when not attempting the use of a conditioning period.
Status	This bug will be fixed in the next release of FlamMap in late 2010.
Work Around	This problem occurs when FlamMap attempts to adjust the fuel moisture for a cell and a NODATA value for one of the topographic themes is found. You can check this by looking at the number of NODATA cells for each of the topographic themes. The number of NODATA cells should be the same for all three of the topographic themes. If one of the themes is different (usually the slope theme) that theme needs to be recreated. Usually the problem shows up when the cells with no slope are given a NODATA value instead of 0 or -1.
Problem viewing ASCII grids created with FARSITE
Description	ASCII grids created in FARSITE do not display correctly when viewed in FlamMap v3.0.0. After loading the grid the display pane appears blank, but on closer inspection (and perhaps zooming in) you will see a single column of cells displayed along the left side of the display pane.
Status	This bug is planned to be fixed in the next release of FlamMap.
Work Around	A work around is to import the FARSITE grids into a GIS, then export them as ASCII grids and they should then display correctly in FlamMap.
Unable to Open Saved or Archived FlamMap Projects
Description	When attempting to reopen a previously saved FlamMap Project (.fmp) file the "Unable to find Ideal Landscape File" error message appears and the project will not open. When attempting to load an archived project (.fza) file a generic error message appears and FlamMap crashes.
Status	This bug is planned to be fixed in the next release of FlamMap.
Work Around	If you are attempting to open a FlamMap Project (.fmp) file first make sure the Ideal Landscape (.lcp) file has not been moved or renamed sine the project was last saved. If this is not the case it appears there is no way to open the saved .fmp or .fza files. This problem has only been observed with projects containing large landscape files and multiple TOM/MTT runs. So limiting saved projects to one TOM/MTT run may prevent the problem. You can also save the results as individual ASCII grids or shapefiles as a precaution.