Changes in version 0.8.0 (2026-06-02)                  

Per-project settings: save / restore

  - Model configuration is now keyed by (project, purpose) — the data
    file is no longer part of the key. A project's several input files
    (a small test extract, the full dataset) share one
    variable/parameter configuration, so switching files keeps the
    setup. get_project_settings() and set_project_settings() lost their
    file_basename argument accordingly.
  - Button-only save. The "Save current as default" buttons are the save
    mechanism: the section 3 button saves the target, effective date,
    and predictor configuration; the section 4 button saves the earth
    call parameters and the Allowed Interactions matrix. Each button
    updates only its own half (read-merge), so they never clobber each
    other. Fit no longer auto-saves — you can fit experimentally without
    overwriting your saved default. There is no on-change auto-save.
  - Save and restore are server-side and DB-authoritative: configuration
    is written to / read from projects.sqlite directly from the inputs
    at the render and click, with no localStorage round-trip. This
    removes a class of restore races and a JSON double-encoding bug that
    could corrupt a saved row on the next save.
  - The Effective Date field is shown in all purposes (general/CMA and
    market values have an effective date too, not just USPAP/IVS
    appraisals); it is still only used to compute sale_age in
    appraisal/market modes.

Database durability

  - projects.sqlite opens in WAL journaling mode where supported, for
    crash-safe writes and non-blocking reads.
  - The settings-table schema migration runs in a single transaction
    with crash recovery: an interrupted upgrade rolls back to the
    original table (no orphaned _old, no half-copied data), and a
    previously-stranded _old table is restored on the next connect.
    Legacy per-file rows are collapsed to one row per (project,
    purpose), keeping the most recent.

Bug fixes

  - Predicting on raw data with a Date column as a model predictor no
    longer errors ("subscript out of bounds" / column-count mismatch).
    Newdata is now aligned to the trained frame (align_to_training_):
    date columns are coerced to the model's numeric encoding and factor
    levels are matched. Affects the Intermediate Output and RCA exports.
  - fit_earth() drops a non-zero newvar.penalty (with a message) when
    case weights are present, since earth does not support that
    combination — previously it errored mid-fit (notably in
    market/appraisal mode where a skipped row is encoded as a zero
    weight).
  - Character date columns are parsed with the same multi-format set as
    validate_types(), so any column that validates as a date also
    coerces (no more silent failures on MM/DD/YYYY and similar).

Project model (regProj)

  - New first-class project concept replaces the old per-file workflow.
    A project is a stable, named entity at a fixed location in the
    regProj tree (<root>/<purpose>/<flat_segment>/<os>_in/... and
    <os>_out_<method>/...), holding all input files, outputs, and
    settings together. Files within a project travel as a unit.
  - Top-of-sidebar Project picker with sort (Recent / A-Z) and a New
    Project wizard that captures purpose, country, and admin-level
    cascade with country-specific terminology.
  - Path layout is flat:
    <purpose>/<country>_<state>_<county>_<city>_<project>/<os>_in/<file>.
    All admin levels concatenated into one segment via _. Reduces depth
    from 13 to 8 directories under the regProj root. Encoded by
    regproj_flat_segment(), decoded by regproj_parse_flat().
  - Cross-OS multi-leaf scaffold: every project gets mac_in, mac_out_*,
    ubuntu_in, ubuntu_out_*, win11_in, win11_out_* siblings.
  - Active-project model drives output paths automatically. The legacy
    Output Folder field and Project Location cascade are gone — output
    folder is set from the active project at session time.
  - Section "Import Data" reads from the active project's <os>_in/;
    files added manually are picked up via Refresh.

Geo data + variable-depth admin schema

  - New geo.sqlite (in regProj root) replaces the old
    .regproj-index.json. Two tables: countries and admin_entries with
    variable depth via (country, level, parent_codes) index. Supports
    any number of admin levels per country.
  - Comprehensive shipped data:
      - US: 51 states, 3,076 counties, ~21,000 incorporated places
        (Census).
      - GB / DE / IT / FR / SE: full GeoNames-derived state / county /
        city data (~45,000 entries combined).
      - SG: 1-level (planning area) data for Singapore.
  - Total ~70,000 admin entries shipped; users can add more via the
    cascade's "create new" path. regproj_index_get/put API unchanged for
    callers, just SQLite-backed now.
  - DE specifically uses admin3_code (Kreis) instead of GeoNames'
    admin2_code (Regierungsbezirk), matching how German appraisers think
    about administrative geography.

Per-project settings (projects.sqlite)

  - New projects.sqlite in regProj root replaces the user-level
    settings.sqlite for project model settings. Keyed by (flat_segment,
    file_basename), separate JSON columns for earth, glmnet, and mgcv
    settings/variables/interactions.
  - Public API: get_project_settings() and set_project_settings() —
    read/write project settings programmatically without launching the
    Shiny UI. Designed for ValEngr integration and batch automation.
  - Settings now travel with the regProj tree (sync, backup, share with
    colleagues — all settings come too). User-level settings.sqlite
    retained only for locale defaults.

Quarto report split: Generate + Convert

  - Section 9 — "Generate Quarto Report": writes a self-contained .qmd
    bundle (source + plot assets + reference.docx) under
    <project>/mac_out_earth/<base>_qmd/. No Quarto rendering happens at
    this step.
  - Section 10 — "Convert Quarto Report": file picker + format
    checkboxes (HTML / Word / PDF). Renders any .qmd file (not just
    earthUI-generated) to selected formats. Useful for combining reports
    across projects via Quarto's {{< include >}}.
  - New exports: generate_quarto_report(), convert_quarto_file().
  - report_data.rds is now a lean ~hundreds-of-KB asset (down from
    hundreds of MB) — the bulky earth model object is no longer saved
    since the qmd reads pre-generated plots from disk.
  - Quarto .qmd template now self-renders against a sibling
    report_data.rds when no params are passed, so quarto preview
    Appraisal_1.qmd works standalone.

Settings tab

  - New "regProj Root Folder" config in the Settings dropdown — set the
    location of the regProj tree per machine. Persisted in the per-OS
    prefs file at R_user_dir("earthUI", "config")/prefs.json.
  - Resolution order: REGPROJ_ROOT env var → prefs file → per-OS default
    (~/regProj Mac/Linux, C:/regProj Win).

Other

  - Server startup extends PATH with /usr/local/bin, /opt/homebrew/bin,
    and TinyTeX bin paths so Quarto / pandoc / latex are findable from
    the Shiny session even when launched from a stripped-PATH context.
  - Per-session DB connections (one geo, one projects) — eliminates
    per-render connection overhead.
  - Sales Comparison Grid now exported as build_sales_grid() from the
    package (extracted from the old inst/app/sales_grid.R). Available to
    batch scripts and ValEngr.

                        Changes in version 0.7.0                        

Per-Purpose Settings

  - Switching purpose (General / Appraisal / Market) now fully clears
    all state: imported data, model results, tabs, variable
    configuration, and earth parameters. The app resets to a clean
    default state.
  - Settings are now stored per purpose. localStorage keys include a
    purpose suffix (_general, _appraisal, _market), so each purpose
    maintains independent variable configuration, earth parameters, and
    interaction matrices for each imported file.
  - SQLite backup keys encode purpose (filename||purpose), so settings
    persist across browser sessions per purpose+file combination.
  - When a file is imported after a purpose switch, previously saved
    settings for that file+purpose combination are automatically
    restored.
  - Backward-compatible migration detects old-format localStorage keys
    (without purpose suffix) and copies them to the correct
    purpose-suffixed key on first load.

Fitting Modal Auto-Dismiss

  - The fitting modal and backdrop now auto-dismiss 1.5 seconds after
    tabs finish rendering, preventing the overlay from blocking sidebar
    sections.
  - On error, the backdrop is removed immediately while the modal stays
    visible with the close button so the user can read the error.

                        Changes in version 0.6.0                        

Nord Theme Overhaul

  - Navbar, sidebar, and all UI elements now use Bootstrap CSS variables
    (var(--bs-body-bg), var(--bs-body-color), var(--bs-border-color))
    instead of hardcoded colors, so light and dark modes adapt
    correctly.
  - Theme toggle button redesigned as a circular icon matching the
    glmnetUI and mgcvUI style.
  - Custom data-eui-theme attribute replaces data-bs-theme to avoid
    conflicts with Bootstrap 5's built-in color mode system.
  - Consistent Nord palette usage across earthUI, glmnetUI, and mgcvUI.

Predictor Settings Table

  - Column headers "Include", "Factor", and "Linear" now render
    vertically (rotated text), saving horizontal space.
  - Checkbox columns grouped together (Include, Factor, Linear) with the
    Special dropdown moved after them.
  - Header row uses position: sticky with a solid theme-aware background
    so it stays fixed while scrolling the variable list.
  - Shows "Select a target variable above to configure predictors." when
    no target is selected, instead of an empty bordered bar.

Data Tab Fix

  - Appraisal mode data preview now shows all columns on initial load
    when no target or predictors are selected yet. Previously only the
    "row" column was visible.

Section Info Icons

  - Blue "?" info icons added to section headers (Sections 1-4, 6-9)
    with Bootstrap popovers describing each section's purpose.
  - Info icons are right-justified within the sidebar using absolute
    positioning. Popovers open to the left to avoid overflow.

Purpose Mode Improvements

  - Switching purpose (General / Appraisal / Market) now clears all
    model results, RCA state, and report assets to prevent stale data.
  - Purpose radio selection saved back to localStorage for persistence.

Button Styling

  - Buttons updated to use Frost-palette classes (btn-primary,
    btn-outline-secondary) instead of Aurora classes (btn-success,
    btn-danger) per the shared UI conventions.

                        Changes in version 0.2.0                        

3D Interaction Plot Fix

  - Fixed plotly surface transposition bug — add_surface() uses z[i,j]
    at (x[j], y[i]), the transpose of base R persp(). Data point dots
    now correctly align with the surface in interaction contribution
    graphs.

Report Rendering

  - New prepare_report_assets() function pre-generates all plots (PNG +
    PDF) and pre-computes all data, so render_report() only runs
    Quarto/pandoc format conversion.
  - render_report() gains assets_dir parameter to accept pre-generated
    assets for faster multi-format rendering.
  - Report rendering now runs asynchronously via callr::r_bg() with a
    modal dialog showing elapsed time and Quarto progress. The app stays
    responsive.
  - HTML reports now use KaTeX instead of MathJax for faster math
    rendering.
  - Word reports now include "Page X of Y" page numbers in the footer.

Post-Fit UX

  - Results tabs appear immediately with "Waiting for processing to
    complete." messages while the model is fitting. The RCA Adjustments
    tab shows "7. Calculate RCA Adjustments & Download must first be
    initiated and completed."
  - The Data tab persists across fits — same output IDs used before and
    after fitting, so the data table is never destroyed and recreated.
  - Tab content renders on-demand (only the active tab computes).
  - auto_export_for_mgcv_() (saveRDS) now runs in a background process
    to avoid blocking the UI after fit completion.
  - Fit log and mgcv auto-export deferred via session$onFlushed() and
    callr::r_bg() so tabs appear instantly.

Event Logging

  - New session event log: <filename>_earthui_log.txt in the output
    folder records start/end timestamps and elapsed times for Model Fit,
    Download Output, RCA Adjustments, Sales Grid generation, and Report
    rendering. One file per data file, appended to across operations.

Testing

  - 71 new tests (1026 total):
      - eval_g_function_() direct unit tests for all component types (17
        tests)
      - Plotly surface transposition verification (15 tests)
      - prepare_report_assets() and render_report() with assets_dir (15
        tests)
      - Expanded export report error handling tests

                 Changes in version 0.1.3 (2026-03-18)                  

Locale & Regional Settings

  - Country-based locale system with 31 country presets controlling CSV
    separator, decimal mark, thousands separator, date format ordering,
    and paper size.
  - Country dropdown with individual override dropdowns for Paper, CSV
    sep, Decimal, and Date format.
  - Global locale defaults saved via "Save as my default" (SQLite
    persistence), independent of per-file settings.
  - Number formatting on plot axes and slope labels adapts to locale
    (e.g., German uses period thousands, Finnish uses space, Swiss uses
    apostrophe).
  - CSV import uses locale-aware separator and decimal mark.
  - PDF reports respect locale paper size (Letter or A4).
  - Date parsing tries locale-preferred format order first (MDY for US,
    DMY for Europe, YMD for Sweden/Japan).
  - Currency symbols removed from all outputs --- earthUI is now
    currency-agnostic.

                        Changes in version 0.1.2                        

Sales Comparison Grid (Appraisal Mode)

  - New Sales Comparison Grid output for appraisal workflows — generates
    multi-sheet Excel workbooks with subject and up to 30 comps (3 per
    sheet).
  - Auto-recommended comp selection based on gross adjustment percentage
    (< 25%), sorted by gross adjustment.
  - Sale Price / Concessions / Net SP row with formula-based Net SP.
  - Grouped rows for Location (longitude, latitude, area), Site Size
    (lot_size, site_dimensions), and Age (actual_age, effective_age)
    with combined value contributions.
  - CQA|Residual row with formula-based remaining residual that
    auto-decreases as the appraiser fills in residual feature
    breakdowns.
  - Adjusted Sale Price formula: Net SP + all adjustments above Total VC
    row.
  - Sheet protection with locked formulas and data cells; unlocked
    residual feature input cells for appraiser entry.
  - Haversine-based subject proximity calculation for each comp.

Special Column Types

  - Added new special column types: dom, concessions, actual_age,
    effective_age, lot_size, site_dimensions, area.
  - Special type badges displayed next to variable names in predictor
    settings.
  - Single-assignment enforcement: only one column per special type
    (except display_only which allows multiple).

Intermediate Output Improvements

  - Ranking columns (residual_sf, cqa_sf, residual, cqa) moved to
    leftmost position in the Step 6 download for easier CQA evaluation.
  - Excel number formatting: residual_sf as currency (2 dp), residual as
    currency (0 dp), cqa_sf and cqa as numeric (2 dp).

UI Improvements

  - Fit Earth Model button always visible (no longer inside collapsible
    section).
  - Minimum sidebar width (500px) to prevent predictor settings column
    overlap.
  - Wider notification popups (450px) with word-wrapping for long file
    paths.

Bug Fixes

  - Cross-validated R-squared now uses model$cv.rsq directly instead of
    parsing cv.rsq.tab.

                        Changes in version 0.1.0                        

Core

  - Shiny GUI for interactive earth (MARS) model building.
  - Data import from CSV and Excel files with automatic snake_case
    column naming.
  - Variable configuration with include, factor, and linear-only
    controls.
  - Full exposure of all earth() parameters through the GUI with inline
    help popovers.
  - Cross-validation automatically enabled for interaction and variance
    models.
  - Settings persistence via localStorage across browser sessions.
  - Light/dark mode toggle.

Allowed Interactions

  - Allowed interaction matrix for constraining degree >= 2 models.
  - CSS sticky headers — top row and left column stay visible while
    scrolling.
  - Click variable name to toggle all its interactions (symmetric
    toggle).
  - Allow All / Clear All buttons.

Multivariate Models

  - Multi-response model support: select multiple target variables to
    fit cbind() earth models.
  - Per-response equation display, summary metrics, and ANOVA
    decomposition.
  - All plot functions accept response_idx to select which response to
    visualize.
  - Observation weights via the weights parameter in fit_earth().

Model Fitting

  - Asynchronous background fitting via callr::r_bg() with real-time
    trace display and elapsed timer.
  - Automatic nfold/ncross adjustment for variance models.
  - Synchronous fallback when callr is unavailable.

Visualization

  - Variable importance bar charts.
  - Per-variable contribution plots with piecewise-linear slope labels
    and knot markers.
  - g-function plots: 1D line, interactive 3D surface (plotly),
    static 3D perspective (persp()), and filled contour.
  - Correlation matrix heatmap.
  - Diagnostic plots: residuals vs fitted, Q-Q, actual vs predicted.
  - Adaptive axis formatting — 3 decimal places for lat/long-scale data,
    commas for large values.
  - Slope labels scaled to axis range (/0.001 for small-range, /unit for
    large-range variables).

Model Equation

  - LaTeX equation with g-function notation rendered via MathJax in the
    app and native LaTeX in PDF reports.
  - Full LaTeX special character escaping (_, $, %, &, #).

Report Export

  - Publication-quality HTML, PDF, and Word reports via Quarto.
  - Both 3D perspective and contour plots for degree-2 groups in static
    reports.
  - Earth model summary, ANOVA decomposition, and raw earth output
    sections.