I know. The silence is deafening. I know that you’ve been visiting the site looking for the next update, and finding nothing new.

Why no updates? Because all of my available time recently has been devoted to developing and polishing a new software tool for you instead of spending it writing more posts. I really want to make this little program the best it can be, so your patience is really appreciated.

In this case, no news is good news. I really think you’ll like utility program, so watch for it, barring any currently unforeseen problems, within the next few days or so.

Until then, get a refresher on runtime parameters, project files, and maybe filters.

And since I’m busy working on a Monarch project, I’ll throw in some homework for you to do on your own too.

If you don’t already have it, download the Monarch Functions Reference Guide. It’s not installed normally with Monarch.

Now within the guide, find precisely three functions that you haven’t used before. For this exercise, you only need three. Choose ones that look like they’d be a good fit for the type of work that you normally perform with your models. Now incorporate them into your models in ways that either makes the model easier to create or understand, or improves its performance by generating data or fields that you couldn’t previously extract.

Increase your familiarity with the available functions at your own speed, three at a time – maybe every other week, and you’ll be well on your way on your quest to excel with Monarch.