=Preliminary Notes=
  * Any errors or issues should be reported using the Issues tab of the project page.
  * VMT is best run inside the Matlab environment, but we have provided a compiled version of the program that will run without Matlab.  To use the compiled version, one must have the [http://www.mathworks.com/products/compiler/mcr/index.html Matlab Runtime Library 2012a (v 7.17)] installed.  Note that versions of VMT prior to 2.4b require the older [http://www.mathworks.com/products/compiler/mcr/index.html Matlab Runtime Library 2010a (v 7.13)].
  * Be patient, processing speed depends greatly on CPU and RAM.  Status of processing is shown in the Matlab command window (and in limited status windows).  A message will alert the user when processing and plotting are complete.  Alternatively, the user should check the lower left hand corner of the main MatLab screen to ensure a “busy” statement is not visible (the program may appear to be idle at times of heavy computations).  However, in some cases, “busy” does not appear and program is still running (not sure why).  The figures are plotted last, so if your figures have not appeared (or been updated), the program is likely still running.  Users running the compiled versions of VMT must rely on the status windows to alert you of progress.
  * The program has not been tested extensively on many platforms.  Some issues may result with plotting, saving figures, etc. on platforms with different graphics capabilities and screen resolution.  Please report these issues.
  * Due to forward compatibility issues, the current version of VMT (2.4b) is not compatible with older versions of Matlab (e.g. 7.0.4).  If you experience issues of matlab crashing when running VMT, please either upgrade Matlab to the newest version or run the compiled version of VMT.
  * VMT includes some error handling, however, not all errors have been encountered.  Matlab users will encounter error reports in the command window that identify the problem, however, users of the compiled version of VMT will not get such error reports.  We have tried to identify the most common errors and provide the user with feedback in the status window.  Please report errors and crashes if encountered.   If VMT fails to respond, an unexpected crash may have occurred; however, some large data sets take time to process and plot.  To check if the program crashed, try loading only a single transect to determine the apparent crash was simply a processing time issue.
  * Take time to play with the program and the vertical exaggeration, vector scaling, vector spacing, and smoothing window parameters to obtain a clear figure.  The initial figure may be poor if the default values do not represent the cross section well (likely in many cases).  Within about a minute, the user can quickly find the suitable settings for the cross section and velocity field by varying the settings (start with vertical exaggeration, then vector spacing, then vector scaling—also leave smoothing windows set to 1 initially (you can later turn off smoothing to see the effect it has on the plot)) and pressing the ‘Replot Button’.  These settings will likely work for other cross sections in the study reach. 
  * Some example plots are located in the ‘Examples’ subdirectory in the VMT directory.  This directory also contains some example data to get you started.  This data is for example purposes only and should not be published under any circumstances.  
  * I suggest outputting bathymetry once for a batch of transects.  Turn off plotting and save options (*.mat, *.kmz) and select “Output Multibeam Bathymetry” and push the load data button.  Select a batch of ascii output files for a reach.  Batch processing in this way creates one xyz file for the whole set of transects rather than individual files.  Output format is (ensemble, x, y, z).  One also has the option to output time of the sample, pitch, roll, and heading in addition to XYZ data.

_NOTE:_ This document contains a list of known problems/bugs.  If you experience problems, please look here first.