Release Notes
[Fix] = Bug fix, [Chg] = Feature change or interface revision, [New] = New feature
| 1.5.8 | Release Date: 26 May, 2007 | |
| Implemented 5/18/07 |
Sky Commander catalogue export tweaks | |
|
Allow numbered format if ID is numeric and has more than three characters. |
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| Resolution |
Implemented. Bonus: Fixed bug where if the Highlighted-only option was used, it was ignored. |
|
| Implemented 5/17/07 |
Add a default sort order for plans | |
| Add a default sort order for plans, so that when a plan is opened (or created) it will be initially sorted in that order. | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. "Use as default" checkbox added to dialog (and a Clear button). Note that the sorting mechanism in V1.5.x is not functioning 100% correctly. | |
| Fixed 5/14/07 |
Autostar Tour glitches | |
|
It does not seem possible to create an Autostar tour: a. Such the the second (description) line/field is blank. b. Such that if you specify ID _and_ Name in the first line (title), you actually get both. |
||
| Resolution | Fixed. | |
| Fixed 5/14/07 |
Jupiter and satellites at incorrect orientation | |
| Jupiter and satellites at incorrect orientation w.r.t N (however, position is correct). | ||
| Resolution | Fixed. | |
| Fixed 5/12/07 |
Scripting: APPlanObject.Rise and APPlanObject.Transit return same value | |
| APPlanObject.Rise and APPlanObject.Transit return the same value. | ||
| Resolution | Fixed. | |
| Implemented 5/12/07 |
Scripting: SaveXXXValue/RestoreXXXValue globally | |
| Currently SaveXXXValue/RestoreXXXValue save parameters per plan document. Add an option to do this globally, so that all plans share the same saved parameters. | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. If you call SaveRestoreGlobal(true) at the beginning of your script's main program (before any RestoreXXXValue calls), then the values will be stored in the application prefs rather than per plan document, and will be shared with all plan docs using the script | |
| Implemented 5/11/07 |
Send object coordinates to external app | |
| Add ability to send object coordinates to external app (e.g. CdC or EquinoX) from the Observing/Planning tab (using right-click contextual menu). | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. "Centre in XXXX's FOV" entry in the Observing list and Planning list contextual menus, where XXXX is your external app (Cartes du Ciel or EquinoX). | |
| Implemented 5/11/07 |
Scripting: ListWindow line/cell formatting | |
| Add the ability to format a line or cell of a ListWindow (e.g. bold, italic, text colour, background colour, etc.) | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. CellFormat and CellColor do the job. | |
| Implemented 5/11/07 |
Scripting: Sequential writing to ListWindow | |
| Be able to write a new line to a ListWindow (rather than specifying row/column). This would allow a "console"-like window. | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. ListWindow.Append(s1,...sn), where s1..sn are strings (n>0) will assign the strings to the row after the last one written to. Hence a sequence of Appends will act like sequential writing. | |
| Implemented 5/11/07 |
Scripting: ListWindow refresh | |
| Currently the ListWindow only refreshes occasionally. Add a method of refreshing it instantly. | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. ListWindow.Refresh. | |
| Implemented 5/10/07 |
Scripting: Play an MP3 track | |
| Add the capability to play an MP3 track from a script. | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. PlaySound() plays a given sound file asynchronously, at a given volume. Several sounds can be played simultaneously. StopSound will stop a playing sound. All playing sounds will be stopped when the script terminates. | |
| Implemented 5/10/07 |
Scripting: MinimumSlewSort starting at given RA/Dec | |
| MinimumSlewSearch should be able to start at the object closest to a given RA/Dec (e.g. the current pointing coordinates of the telescope). | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. Optional RA and Dec parameters added to the MinimumSlewSort method. | |
| Implemented 5/10/07 |
Scripting: MinimumSlewSort using application parameters | |
| There should be a way of doing the MinimumSlewSort on an array of objects using the parameters last specified when the user did a Minimum Slew Sort in the application. | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. Use mss_Application as the method parameter. | |
| Implemented 5/9/07 |
Scripting: Be able to access List Windows from 2nd script | |
|
Script A creates a ListWindow. Script A ends and the ListWindow remains open (Script A is designed to do this). Would it be possible for Script B to be started (or even A restarted) and detect the presence of the still open ListWindow? |
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| Resolution | Implemented. ListWindows() returns an array of all existing open list windows. Also implemented is the ListWindow.Title property that will help in identifying list windows. | |
| Implemented 5/4/07 |
Show "reticles" for all eyepiece FOVs as an FOV option | |
| Show "reticles" for all active eyepiece FOVs as an FOV chart option. | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. | |
| Implemented 5/4/07 |
Merge plan feature needs generalising | |
| Include a way of merging objects that don't already exist in the target plan and ignoring them if they do, where duplicate objects are determined by their Names and/or IDs being equal. | ||
| Developer Analysis |
...and possibly their positions matching too. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. | |
| Implemented 5/4/07 |
Be able to avoid opening plan files at startup | |
| Add some method of avoiding opening plan documents at startup, without having to reset preferences. This is useful if you have a corrupted plan document that causes the app to crash, for example. | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. Hold down the Ctrl key (Control key) on the keyboard at startup. | |
| Implemented 5/4/07 |
Be able to change Seeing scale from pop-up menu | |
| put a "Change to Antoniadi/Pickering scale" entry in the popup menu to save having to find the prefs option. | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. | |
| Implemented 5/3/07 |
Add ability to open Catalogue windows when no plan is open | |
| Add ability to open Catalogue windows when no plan is open. | ||
| Resolution |
Implemented. Object→Open Catalogue/s... |
|
| Implemented 5/3/07 |
Be able to change import/export settings | |
| Be able to change import/export type settings after adding fields (e.g. changing from Excel to comma-separated). | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. | |
| Implemented 5/3/07 |
Specify export line endings | |
| Be able to specify line endings when exporting text. | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. | |
| Implemented 5/1/07 |
Handle CdC V3 | |
| Windows only |
Cartes du Ceil V3 has a different executable name. Allow automatic/manual selection of the version you want. | |
| Developer Analysis |
Not only does it have a different name, but a whole new way of communicating. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. It's not particularly reliable with current versions of CdC V3 though. | |
| Fixed 4/29/07 |
Using the delete key on the Planning list will often delete two entries | |
| Using the Del or BkSpc key on the Planning list will often delete two entries, rather than the expected one. | ||
| Resolution | Fixed. | |
| Implemented 4/29/07 |
Deleting objects with observations | |
| Deleting objects in the planning/observing lists gives no warning. If associated observations would be also be deleted, then perhaps an OK/Cancel warning should be issued. | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. | |
| Fixed 4/29/07 |
Global observations of planets do not have data attached | |
| Global observations of planets do not have data attached. | ||
| Resolution | Fixed. (at least I assume I must've fixed it some time in past few months. The problems seems to have disappeared in V1.5.8) | |
| Implemented 4/28/07 |
Scripting: DoubleClick for more than one list | |
| If there is more than one list in an EditParameters dialog, it would be useful to know which one was double-clicked. | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. DoubleClickedList() returns the title of the required list. | |
| Fixed 4/28/07 |
Editing ratings of global observations | |
| Editing non-numeric ratings of global observations doesn't work. | ||
| Developer Analysis |
Workaround: use the numeric equivalent. | |
| Resolution | Fixed. | |
| Implemented 4/28/07 |
Scripting: Adding "special" objects to a plan. | |
| Ability to add planets, sun, moon, etc. to a plan. | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. AddSolarSystemObject(). | |
| Implemented 4/28/07 |
Scripting: MoonPosition and SunPosition | |
| Add MoonPosition(d,ra,dec) to return the moon's coordinates at datetime d. Ditto for the sun. Perhaps even the various planets. | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. SolarSystemPosition(), which will return ra/dec positions of Moon, Sun and planets. | |
| Fixed 4/28/07 |
Centre FOV On does not work | |
| The "Centre FOV On" FOV chart contextual menu item does not work. | ||
| Developer Analysis |
This appears to happen on non-US systems only (verified). | |
| Resolution | Fixed. This bug also affects the Slew To command on the FOV contextual menu, which presumably didn't work either. | |
| Fixed 4/28/07 |
Sky EWNS does not affect direction indicators on planning tab correctly | |
| If you tag the Flip East/West and/or Flip North/South in the Display Options of the Sky-tab, then the arrow in the Observing-tab indicating the direction of view changes direction according the Flips, but the letters EWNS don't swap accordingly. | ||
| Resolution | Fixed. | |
| Fixed 4/28/07 |
Problems with bad coordinates on non-US operating systems | |
| On a system with non-English number formatting (e.g. 1.000.000,34), objects are being added with bad coordinates. | ||
| Developer Analysis |
This can be caused if you have inconsistent number formatting settings in your OS. In this case, both the decimal point and the thousands grouping character were accidentally set to the same character (and Windows didn't pick it up. Boo.) | |
| Resolution | Fixed. An alert is now shown on startup if this kind of problem is found. | |
| Implemented 4/27/07 |
Make telescope limit alerts more understandable | |
|
When telescope limits are exceeded, beeping starts up, but there's no other indication. Perhaps some text somewhere: "Telescope Alt Limit exceeded", etc. Also, checkboxes to enable the limits would be nice. |
||
| Resolution | Implemented. | |
| Implemented 4/27/07 |
Fix Date should lock in current date/time by default | |
| If an existing plan is opened and does not have a fixed date, clicking the 'fix date' button displays a date & time other than the current date & time. I'm guessing it might be the date & time the file was last saved. I think it makes more sense to show the current values. Likewise, clicking the box to the left of 'Fix Date' should lock in the current date & time. | ||
| Resolution |
Implemented. Partially. Clicking the "Fix Date..." button now initialises the dialog with the current date/time. Holding down Shift when you do that will initialise it to the previous values. However, I do not believe clicking the checkbox to the left of the button should change the fixed date/time. It is convenient to set a fixed date/time and then use the check box to toggle that fixed date/time on and off. |
|
| Implemented 4/27/07 |
Refresh from catalogue warning | |
| Give a warning when Refresh from Catalogue is done if any required catalogues are not present. | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. | |
| Implemented 4/27/07 |
Include DST start/end time | |
| Include DST start/end time. Currently the algorithm just assumes midnight. | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. | |
| Implemented 4/27/07 |
Annual rise/set graphic contextual menu item | |
| A menu item in the annual graphic to change between Y-axis "Altitude" and "Time of night". Save going back to the "preferences" all the time. | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. | |
| Implemented 4/27/07 |
Increase window size "memory" | |
| The size/position of plan documents is sometimes forgotten. Increase the "memory" so that more documents can be used without losing that information. | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. 100 documents will be remembered. | |
| Fixed 4/27/07 |
Script upload interrupted by closing window too soon | |
| Script upload can be interrupted by closing the window too soon. | ||
| Resolution | Fixed. Window is prevented from being closed until the transfer is complete. | |
| Fixed 4/27/07 |
Rise/Set graphic set time | |
| Setting time using the contextual menu on the Rise/Set graphic sets the time to the current day, rather than the day specified if Fix Date is active. | ||
| Resolution | Fixed. | |
| Fixed 4/27/07 |
Closing and saving untitled document | |
| Closing and saving untitled document doesn't add the document to the Recent Documents list. | ||
| Resolution | Fixed. | |
| Fixed 4/11/07 |
Transit time incorrect | |
| Transit time incorrect . It appears to be outside the Rise-Set timeframe. | ||
| Developer Analysis |
This appears to be a side effect of having an upper horizon defined. The set time is being taken as the time at which the object first disappears, even if it reappears later that night. | |
| Resolution | Fixed. Only the lower user-defined horizon is taken into account when computing rise and set times. | |
| Fixed 3/3/07 |
DST in southern hemisphere bug | |
| Daylight Saving Time rules for the southern hemisphere do not work. | ||
| Developer Analysis |
Workaround: manually adjust the GMT Offset rather than defining and using a DST rule | |
| Resolution | Fixed. | |
| Implemented 2/2/07 |
Non-truncation on Excel export | |
| Add a feature to split a large field over several rows rather than just truncating it at 255 characters, when using "old style" Excel export. | ||
| Resolution | Implemented. "Truncate" option (default: 0ff) in Preferences→General. | |
| 1.5.5 | Release Date: Monday, January 8, 2007 | |
| Fixed | Refreshing Objects from Catalogues not functioning correctly | |
| Refreshing Objects from Catalogues is not functioning correctly. If an object does not have a catalogue, a catalogue can be assigned, but subsequently double-clicking the object doesn't reveal the object in the catalogue. | ||
| Resolution | Fixed. | |
| Fixed | Opening times for new documents | |
| Opening a new document can take a long time if you have large catalogues set up to be FOV Defaults (F column in Preferences→Catalogues) | ||
| Developer Analysis |
When a new document is opened, the default is to draw the Pleiades, which can take a while if you have large stellar catalogues as defaults, deleting of duplicates, selected, etc. | |
| Resolution | Fixed. The FOV should no longer be constructed for a new document - until the FOV tab is selected. This might also improve the opening time of non-new documents as well. | |
| Implemented | Open HTML files from Help menu | |
| Be able to open HTML files from the Help menu, a la the PDF file situation. | ||
| Resolution |
Implemented. .htm or .html files (or aliases/shortcuts) up to one level deep will be added to the Help menu. If the HTML file contains a Title tag, it will be used in the menu. Note: new feature: if a subfolder contains a file/folder called "-nosearch" that subfolder will not be searched for HTML files or PDF files) |
|
| Fixed | Find... button in Resources→Sites doesn't work | |
| The Find... button in Resources→Sites doesn't work, i.e. it never is enabled. | ||
| Resolution | Fixed. Bonus: You can now use the Find... button when no sites have been defined or no site is selected. | |
| Implemented | Scripting: ListWindow functionality | |
|
a. Be able to set/get ListWindow max row and column. b. Be able to save/restore ListWindow contents to/from a tab-separated text file. |
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| Resolution |
Implemented. a. Rows and Columns properties allows getting or setting of the list rows/columns. b. Read and Write. See the scripting manual for details. |
|
| Fixed | Crash when downloading plans | |
| Crash when downloading plans. This occurs if more than one plan is selected for download. | ||
| Developer Analysis |
Workaround: do one at a time. | |
| Resolution | Fixed. | |
| Fixed | Downloading plans is clumsy | |
| Downloading plans is clumsy, especially since the advent of "untitled" plans in V1.5.4. A method to download and create on the fly is required. Also, when saving the untitled downloaded plans, present the user with a more meaningful name than "New File x". | ||
| Resolution | Fixed. | |
| Fixed | Lookup ID... returns bogus results | |
| Lookup ID... returns bogus results. | ||
| Developer Analysis |
This is a bug relating to recently added catalogue annotation code. The annotations are being searched - they shouldn't be. | |
| Resolution | Fixed. | |
| Fixed | Tweaks to Sky Commander Catalogue Export | |
| Tweaks to Sky Commander Catalogue Export feature as per vendor's e-mail message. | ||
| Resolution | Fixed. Minor tweaks involving maximum object counts, etc. | |
| 1.5.3 | Release Date: Friday, September 29, 2006 |
| Implemented | Adding duplicate ID objects to a plan |
| Add the ability to add (optionally) an object to a plan that already has an object with the same ID. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. You are now given several choices: Cancel the operation, don't add duplicates, add as duplicates, replace existing duplicate objects. |
| Implemented | Custom highlighting with transit times |
|
Add transit times to the edit custom highlights script. A does- and does-not option between specific hours would be very helpful in sorting entire observing plans/catalogues. |
|
| Resolution | Implemented. |
| Implemented | Make the DSS Image disclosure triangle more obvious |
| Make the DSS Image disclosure triangle more obvious, particularly on Windows. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. Changed the disclosure triangle widget for a toggling button, which is larger and has a small icon. Some rearranging of the text next to it was necessary - the largely redundant "Time Source" has gone. |
| Implemented | Scripting: Global observation access |
| I really wanted a way to iterate through the global observations (all of them, not just those for a particular object). | |
| Resolution | Implemented. There is now a globally-defined nGlobalObservations and GlobalObservation(i) that returns an instance of APGlobalObservation. This includes all fields visible in the Global Observation window. Read-only at this time. See manual for details. |
| Implemented | Scripting: Adjust columns to fit text |
| Would it be possible to enable Edit → Adjust List Columns to Fit Text for script-generated list windows? | |
| Resolution | Implemented. This is now automatic and non-optional. No change to scripting interface. |
| Implemented | Enhancement to High Precision Slewing dialog |
| Add a mini-sky chart to the HP Slewing dialog. | |
| Resolution |
Implemented. Note: current ra/dec has a square around it, target ra/dec has two rings around it. |
| Implemented | Enhancement to Intelliscope calibration dialog |
| Add a mini-sky chart to the Intelliscope calibration dialog. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. |
| Implemented | Enhancement to Iterative Polar Alignment dialog |
| Add a similar mini-sky chart to the IPA dialog as the ones introduced in the Drift Alignment Helper dialog. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. |
| Implemented | Darkness Calendar |
| A calendar or preferably a report with the following information: Sunrise, sunset, all 3 twilight times, moonrise and moonset, moon phase. | |
| Developer Analysis |
Looks like a perfect scripting exercise. |
| Resolution | Implemented. Via scripting. A "Darkness Calendar" script will be uploaded as a user-contributed script. |
| Implemented | Scripting: Sun/Moon rise/set times, etc. |
| Sun/Moon rise/set times, etc., twilight starting/ending times, moon phase, etc. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. See manual. |
| Implemented | Highlight objects visible with current telescope |
| Add an "easy" method to highlight objects theoretically visible through the currently selected telescope (in terms of magnitude). | |
| Resolution | Implemented. Highlighting popup now has "Visible in Current Telescope" and "Not Visible in Current Telescope" entries. |
| Implemented | Splash window for a script |
| Ability to display an image from the Internet as a splash screen. | |
| Developer Analysis |
Add some new calls to enable this, viz: sub ParameterWindowBackdrop(path as string) sub ParameterWindowNoCancel |
| Resolution |
Implemented. Use the following code, e.g.: ParameterWindowBackdrop("http://www.ilangainc.com/astroplanner/pic/main-s.jpg") ParameterWindowNoCancel call EditParameters("Whizzo Skript") |
| Implemented | Scripting: User-contributed uploads |
|
a. Add a "prepend all prefix files to script before upload" option b. Ditto for library scripts, if any exist. |
|
| Resolution | Implemented. |
| Implemented | Scripting: New catalogue-related features |
| a. Add ability to identify catalogues by type, find number of objects in the catalogue of that type, magnitude range, etc. | |
| Resolution |
New APCatalog methods: function HasType(ntype as integer) as boolean function nObjectsOfType(ntype as integer) as integer sub MagnitudeRangeOfType(ntype as integer, byref mfrom as double, byref mto as double) New general methods: function CatalogsWithType(ntype as integer) as APCatalog() |
| Implemented | Add Google Earth features |
|
Add Google Earth features to: a. Show current site/all sites in GE b. Get site info from GE (Note: this is relatively easily done on the Mac via AppleScripting. Windows will be more difficult) |
|
| Resolution | Implemented. Mac OS X only at present. In the Map... dialog (available in Resources→Sites) you can (a) show the current site in Google Earth, and (b) set the current site lat/long to the centre of the currently open Google Earth map view. |
| Implemented | Object availability chart |
| Allow the Annual Rise/Set graphic to display (optionally) object availability each week for a year. Given a selected object, each vertical bar would represent the hours of darkness from 1600 to 0800. The bar would be shaded to show the various phases of twilight then the central portion would be shaded to show the availability of the object. | |
| Developer Analysis |
i.e. x-axis would be week of the year, y-axis would hour of the night. Overall shading would show darkness conditions. A vertical red line segment would show the hours the object was above the horizon. A yellow line segment could show the hours the moon is above the horizon. |
| Resolution | Implemented. Y-Axis option in Preferences→General→Rise/...graphics. NOTE: This is quite compute-intensive, esp. for solar system objects. |
| Implemented | Scripting: Return strings from GetChoiceParameter |
| GetChoiceParameter currently returns a zero-based index. It would be convenient if a variant of this could return the actual chosen string caption. Ditto for GetPopupParameter and GetCheckListParameter. | |
| Resolution |
Implemented. function GetChoiceParameterAsString(title as string) as string function GetListChoiceParameterAsString(title as string) as string function GetPopupParameterAsString(title as string) as string |
| Implemented | Scripting: Script menu items for user-contributed scripts |
|
User-contributed scripts→ Upload User-contributed scripts→ Download |
|
| Developer Analysis |
The upload function should probably stay where it is, since it's a relatively rarely-used function (for most users). |
| Resolution | Implemented. User-contributed scripts→Download... added to Script menu. |
| Implemented | Add RA range highlighting |
| Add the ability to highlight based on an RA range (e.g. 20h to 0h, etc.) | |
| Resolution | Implemented. |
| Implemented | New plan document icon |
| New plan document icon, to complement the new application icon. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. |
| Implemented | Global Observation tweaks |
|
a. I often sort my global observations to find information or to detect trends. When doing this I find the "No Filter" and "No Observing Aids" text to be unhelpful (not only does it reduce the visual difference between nothing and something, but "No Filter" sorts in between "DeepSky" and "UHC"). Could the empty settings be changed to just display blank in the Global Observations list view? b. I also have a user-defined field for altitude, which I like to display with a degree symbol (ie: 23°). However, if I set the field to numeric, it drops the degree symbol, and if I don't, I have to remember to type a space in front of single-digit altitudes (so string sorting works numerically). I'm not sure what the fix is here (I could imagine recognizing symbols or adding formatting strings to the numeric popup), but anything you can think of would be appreciated. |
|
| Resolution |
a. Done. b. What happens now is if you sort the Value 1 column, it first sorts on the User Field 1 column and then within that sorts the Value 1 column. Numeric items will be sorted in order, and separated from non-numeric items. Ditto for Vaule 2. |
| Implemented | Feedback/Cancel for Plan Creation Wizard. |
| Provide better feedback w.r.t. progress in the Plan Creation Wizard. Allow for user cancelling of the process. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. |
| Implemented | Scripting: Library scripts |
| A method to have "library" scripts prepended to all executing scripts is desired. Also, optional initialisation code in those library scripts should be executed before anything else. | |
| Developer Analysis |
Note: Any executable code in a script prefix file or library will be executed before the script code is run. Hence if you have initialisation code, just include it as a sub() and call that sub. e.g. sub Init_for_lib_Whatever() // Insert initialisation code here end sub Init_for_lib_Whatever // Calls the initialisation code |
| Resolution | Implemented. Any script whose name starts with "lib_" will be considered a "library" script and will _always_ be included before any other script or prefix script. The script will be shown with a bold-face name in the script list. Multiple library scripts can be defined: they will all get used in every script. And, yes, library scripts can have their own prefix files too. |
| Implemented | Optimise plan document save speed |
| Optimise plan document save speed. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. In most cases this won't be particularly noticable, but if you have a complex FOV and a lot of objects, it might save a few seconds. |
| Implemented | Scripting: Ability to draw rectangle on FOV |
| I would like to be able to draw a rectangular box (representing a camera FOV) at multiple points in an FOV view. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. canvas.FOVRectangle(title, width, height, angle, ra, dec) |
| Implemented | Scripting: Double-clicking ListChoiceParameter |
| Double-clicking ListChoiceParameter should select the entry and effectively click the "OK" button. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. SetListChoiceParameter now has an optional "doubleclick" parameter. Setting it true will cause double-clicking the list to have the same effect as clicking the OK button. |
| Implemented | Scripting: Allow manipulation of Resources |
|
Currently Resources are read-only. The ability to: a. create new resources, b. delete existing resources, and c. manipulate their contents, is desired. |
|
| Resolution |
a. r=NewSite(name),...,r=NewFilter(name) b. DeleteSite(name),...,DeleteFilter(name) c. All (well, most, actually) attributes are now read/write. Attempting to assign bogus values causes no change. |
| Implemented | Scripting: Method to minimise, maximise, restore main window |
| Windows only |
Add a method to minimise, maximise, restore the main window. |
| Resolution | Implemented. MinimizeMainWindow(), MaximizeMainWindow() and RestoreMainWindow (no effect on MacOS). Also MainWindowStatus(), which returns -1, 1 or 0 to determine the current state of the main window (returns 0 on MacOS). |
| Implemented | Scripting: Screen Size |
| When creating a Canvas it might be useful to have a function that returned the current screen size (in pixels). | |
| Resolution | Implemented. ScreenSize(width,height,left,top[,physical]) returns size of actual physical screen, or [default] the size of the available screen (taking into account menu bars, status bars, docks, MDI frame windows, etc. |
| Implemented | Scripting: ConstellationNames/ConstellationAbbreviations |
| Add ConstellationNames() and ConstellationAbbreviations(). | |
| Developer Analysis |
Note: Constellations() is currently available, but it returns a list of "abbrev - Name" |
| Resolution | Implemented. |
| Implemented | Magnitude projection tool for Minor Planets |
| One thing that would be really good for my NEO/Minor Planet work would be a Magnitude projection tool/graph. ie. We already have a position in sky graphic plotted against moon and observatory horizon for a specific time each day, it would be nice to have a similar graphic that plots the magnitude of the object over the same period so we can work out if the object is getting fainter, brighter, by how much, etc. to see if a target is worth tracking or to drop it if it will likely get too faint too quickly. | |
| Resolution |
Implemented. a. The Preferences→FOV→Solar System Object Motion now has a Show Magnitude checkbox. This displays magnitude on the FOV. b. Moving the cursor over the Rise/Set graphics on the observing tab displays the magnitude of the object. |
| Implemented | Clear Sky Clock link for site resources |
|
Add a weather information link to the Clear-Sky Clock site in the Sites dialog box. When a site is selected, clicking the link would display the appropriate weather (and other) information page for the site (applicable to North American sites only) |
|
| Resolution | Implemented. Observation→Clear-Sky Clock does the trick (finds the Clear-Sky Clock for the known site closest to your lat/long). Only applicable to North American sites. |
| Implemented | Highlighting on Azimuth |
| unfortunately, I don't always have clear view all around. Therefore I find it desirable to be able to delimit also to Azimuth on the "HIGHLIGHTING -- RULES Tab". Is it possible to install this? | |
| Resolution | Implemented. |
| Implemented | Multiple chart #'s in Observing list |
| Is there any way to get Astroplanner to list relevant page numbers for more than one paper atlas in the observing lists? I make extensive use of both Uranometria and Millenium Star Atlas in the field, and would like to list chart numbers for both atlases in my observing list. Astroplanner clearly has the ability to calculate the relevant page numbers for multiple atlases. Could one of the user defined fields be configured to list a second atlas page number automatically? | |
| Resolution | Implemented. |
| Implemented | New splash screen |
| It's about time the splash/About window was redone. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. |
| Implemented | Plan Wizard should set Fix Date/Time |
| When using the Plan Wizard to create a plan for a particular site, telescope, date and time, the plan document should be initialised to fix the date/time and current site and telescope to those settings, where applicable. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. |
| Implemented | Add list of Sites to Plan Wizard |
| The Plan Wizard dialog refers to the current site. It would be convenient to be able to change the site from within the dialog. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. Popup menu of sites is now available. |
| Implemented | Default site resource should define the default site location in preferences |
| The user should be able to transfer the "default" site resource location to the Preferences→General→Default Site Location. Perhaps that option could be presented to the user when the Default checkbox is set in Resourecs→Sites. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. If the Default checkbox is checked and the location differs from that in Preferences, the user is given the option to change that location. |
| Implemented | Add objects to plan from Sky chart |
| The ability to click on an object in the Sky chart and add it directly to the plan document as an user object is desired (a la (http://www.ilangainc.com/astroplanner/reports/details/381.html) for the FOV). | |
| Resolution | Implemented. Contextual (right-click) menu will have an "Add xxx to plan" if the cursor is over any star in the Bright Star catalogue. Selecting the entry will add that object to the plan. |
| Implemented | Auto-save of plan documents |
| Add an option to cause open plan documents to be auto-saved every, say, 5 minutes. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. Plan auto-save setting in Preferences→General. |
| Implemented | Add Celestron alignment star choice algorithm |
| Add Celestron alignment star choice algorithm for 2- and 3-star alignment. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. Setting in Preferences→Sky determines whether Best Pair, Celestron 2-star, or Celestron 3-star algorithm is used. Note: for the 2- and 3-star cases, all possible pairs/triples having the required restrictions are listed in no particular order. |
| Implemented | Add upper user-horizon limit |
| Add upper user-horizon limit, for those who are observing from severely restricted sites (e.g. a balcony). | |
| Resolution |
Implemented. WARNING: This feature makes irreversible changes to the AstroPlanner Resources file. Make sure you make a backup before using this version of the application. |
| Implemented | Alignment star enhancements |
|
a. Should be able to reject alignment stars based on slew limits. b. Add upper altitude limit for alignment stars |
|
| Developer Analysis |
Note: already honours user-defined horizon. |
| Resolution |
a. Done. Now honours limits set in Preferences→Limits. Adds "Lim" to Reject column in list. b. Done. Additional setting in Preferences→Sky. |
| Implemented | Printing observations in compressed mode |
| I tried printing from a plan window, using multi-line compressed mode, but I get only one line of my observing notes. The rest is truncated. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. If the notes field is the last field then it is printed in its entirety. |
| Implemented | Add "Add all Messier Objects" to Special popup |
| As a convenience, add "Add all Messier Objects" to Special popup | |
| Resolution | Implemented. |
| Implemented | Improve DSS cache management |
|
Improve DSS cache management: a. Display ID/Name of DSS image (if available) b. Enable further (optional) levels of folder structure in the cache folder. This would allow for cleaner control. c. Allow a secondary cache (on, say, a DVD) d. Make DSS Index use relative rather than absolute file paths so that the DSS cache folder can be moved without having to recreate the index. |
|
| Resolution |
a. Done. b. Done. DSS Options dialog now allows this as an option. c. Done. Preferences→General. d. Done. You will have to recreate the existing index file in order for this to come into effect. |
| Implemented | Changes to handle large, segmented catalogues |
| The USNO A2.0 catalogue consists of 24 separate files (representing the 24 zones of 7.5° of declination). It would be convenient if the application considered them internally as a single giant file, at least for selection purposes. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. Partially, at least. |
| Implemented | Add better Excel export capability |
| Allow export to Excel in the newer XML format. This should remove some of the restrictions of the older format (e.g. strings limited to 255 characters). It does, however, require newer versions of Excel, Open Office, or NeoOffice to be readable. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. Preferences→General→Excel Export allows you to choose the newer XML style of export. Truncation does not occur. |
| Implemented | Option to scale star sizes to fit currently set magnitude limits |
| Currently the star sizes in the FOV are scaled for a large range (either 0-10) or (0-20) (extended). If you are displaying, say, bright stars < 5 mag, then an option would be to have a star scale from 0 through 5. This would improve the difference between stars of differing magnitudes. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. Fixed Mag. Scale checkbox on FOV tab under Display Options does the trick (when off). This will make many folks happy, I suspect. Note that this is now the default method. |
| Implemented | Add extra alternate catalogue path |
| Add extra alternate catalogue path. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. Required minor changes to layout of Preferences→Catalogues and the Catalogue Manager window. |
| Implemented | Keep ID/Name info for DSS images |
| Currently, only coordinate information is saved for DSS images. As a convenience, save ID/Name information so that it is easier to manage the cache manually. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. |
| Implemented | Scripting enhancements II |
|
a. Set/GetListChoiceParameter that allows single selection from a list. b. Announce script availability to Yahoo group. c. Ability to specify minimal resources required to run a script, and reject execution if not met (e.g. specific catalogues, telescopes, eyepieces, AP Version, etc.). d. Ability to disable one or more choices (radio buttons) in SetChoiceParameter, perhaps by optional boolean/integer array, or perhaps by special string prefix. e. Associate a control in EditParameters with a BooleanParameter, so that its enabled status changes with the value of the checkbox. f. Extend GetURL to handle arrays of parameters, and to POST as well as GET. |
|
| Resolution |
a. Done. b. Done. Checkbox on upload dialog. c. Done. Script→Script requirements... (see picture) d. Done. Prefixing a choice with "!" will disable that choice and it will not be selectable. e. Done. ParameterDependency(a,b), where a is the title of a parameter, and b is the title of a BooleanParameter. f. Done. Second form of GetURL. |
| Implemented | Warning on Excel export |
| There is a limit on exporting text to Excel of 255 characters per cell. There should be a warning if truncation occurs. | |
| Resolution | Implemented. |
| Implemented | Scripting enhancements I |
|
a. Platform() function that returns platform_Windows, platform_MacOSX, or platform_MacClassic. b. ScriptName, ScriptNames, ScriptFilePath, ScriptFilePaths. c. Assignment of keyboard shortcuts to scripts. d. Allow multiple prefix files (as opposed to currently, where only daisy-chained references are allowed). e. Debug(s()) (array of strings). |
|
| Resolution |
a. Done. b. Done. c. Done. Can assign 0 through 9 (see picture) (becomes Cmd-0 through 9 on Mac, Alt-0 through Alt-9 on Windows). d. Done. Separate prefix names with semicolons (;). e. Done. |
| Fixed | Scripting: Opening dialog while Progress window visible |
| Opening a dialog (e.g. OKCancel) while Progress window visible should make the Progress window disappear while the dialog is showing, and reappear afterwards. | |
| Resolution | Fixed. Progress widget window is temporarily hidden when dialogs are displayed. |
| Fixed | More maximising and other windowing problems |
| Windows only |
(a) Set both the parent to maximized. Close the program Open the program Click on the maximize button for the parent window - it resizes larger than the monitor display. It should never get larger than the current display. It should be resized smaller if no previous window was set. (maybe 75% of the current display) (b) The child should also resize smaller if no previous size was set. It is currently resizing to full screen which is larger that the maximized parent. (c) Dialogs should not be resizable. Some appear to be. |
| Resolution |
Fixed. (a) Done - this one was surprisingly challenging. (b) Done. (c) Done. |
| Fixed | Scripting: Highlighted objects problem |
| Since the set of highlighted objects can change during the execution of a script, it is possible to get an "off-by-one" error. Also, if new objects are added or existing ones deleted, problems can occur. | |
| Resolution |
Fixed. Whenever nHighlighted is called, it now "freezes" the set of highlighted objects returned by HighlightedObject. Adding, deleting or changing objects will "force" a recounting of highlighted objects. A warning has been added to the manual. |
| Fixed | Downloading catalogues from within the application is unreliable |
| Downloading catalogues from within the application doesn't always work, esp. for larger catalogues, and crashes can occur during decompression. | |
| Resolution | Fixed. Beefed up the code. If it fails, it will retry (hopefully). |
| Fixed | Argo Navis list export includes non-ASCII characters |
| Argo Navis list export includes non-ASCII characters (probably UNICODE greek characters, etc.). This causes the Argo Navis unit to choke. | |
| Resolution | Fixed. Greek characters are converted to their English form (e.g. "Alpha"). All other non-ASCII characters are replaced with "?". |
| Fixed | Drift alignment concerns |
|
When I use the drift alignment helper, I get stars overhead that are WEST of the Meridian. I was taught that the stars overhead should be on the East side of the Meridian, about 10 degrees or so, to be sure that by the time setup is done, the star is still East of the line. Looking East, it chooses stars that are at least 45* over the horizon. This leads me to believe that the software is not recognizing my location properly. |
|
| Resolution |
Fixed. In order to help here, the following changes have been made: 1. Only stars east of the meridian are shown in the upper list. 2. The Time column shows the time, in minutes, until the star crosses the meridian. 3. Small graphics show the positions of the stars in the sky, the user horizon, equator, etc. to assist in visualisation. |
| Fixed | Scripting: SetCaptionParameter problem |
| SetCaptionParameter doesn't take into account "fullwidth" parameter. | |
| Resolution | Fixed. |
| Fixed | Scripting: ParameterDependency problem |
|
If I have two checkboxes followed by two captionless popups: SetBooleanParameter("For Specific Telescope", nTelescopes > 0) SetPopupParameter(true, ".1", CurrentTelescopeIndex() - 1, Telescopes) SetBooleanParameter("At Specific Site", nSites > 0) SetPopupParameter(true, ".2", CurrentSiteIndex() - 1, Sites and I try to enable/disable them: ParameterDependency(".1", "For Specific Telescope") ParameterDependency(".2", "At Specific Site") then unchecking a checkbox always disables the last captionless control (even if it specifies the first). |
|
| Resolution |
Fixed. Added bonus: if (as in the above example) a parameter caption string is effectively empty, then the colon (:) is not appended. |
| Fixed | Plan Creation Wizard glitch |
| The Plan Creation Wizard doesn't update the enabled/disable state of the Add button (or the warning message in red above it) when choosing Select All or Select None under Types of Objects. | |
| Resolution | Fixed. |
| Fixed | Delete Conditionally does not reset hourglass pointer |
| In the Delete Conditionally dialog (gotten to from the lower right corner of the Planning tab), the pointer is stuck on the hourglass (watch, to you Mac folks). | |
| Resolution | Fixed. |
| Fixed | Hicksons Compact Group catalog problem |
| The Hicksons Compact Group catalog is misnamed HGC instead of HCG (and the targets inside it all have the same typo in their IDs). | |
| Resolution | Fixed. |
| Fixed | Script menu problems |
| Windows only |
Some script duplication and renaming problems - resulting in bogus Script menu entries. |
| Developer Analysis |
The Script menu isn't being rebuilt when scripts are deleted or duplicated. On Windows the ordering appears to be non-deterministic. |
| Resolution | Fixed. |
| Fixed | Crash on showing FOV if ID=planet name |
| If you give an object a planet's name as an ID, and Type is not "Planet", the FOV tab will crash. | |
| Resolution | Fixed. |
| Fixed | RA/Dec field value verification problem |
| Some RA/Dec fields (e.g. in Global Obs Edit dialog) show an invalid status (text is red) when the the value is OK. | |
| Resolution | Fixed. |
| Fixed | Non-ASCII characters in resource names |
| If I modified a field in a global observation (Visual Aid, for instance), other fields with non-ASCII characters got "augmented". For instance, I have one of the user-defined columns recording altitude. This usually has a degree symbol (°) after the number. There are also a few places where I used a degree symbol, or a fraction (∏) in the Observation Notes. In any case, when updating the Visual Aid in an observation, the non-ascii characters in other fields in that observation would get a garbage character inserted in front of them. | |
| Resolution | Fixed. |
| Fixed | Excessive flashing when windows resize |
| Windows only |
There is a lot of screen flashing going on when AP starts up especially if there are more that one plan loaded and they have 400 objects like Herschel and Menard 400. It looks like the program is having a spastic fit. |
| Resolution | Fixed. |
| Fixed | Maximised window problem |
| Windows only |
If I maximise a plan and then add objects say from NGC catalogue, then Astroplanner resizes and I am unable to gain access to control bar at top, the only way is to select restore from taskbar and then I can just see enough of title bar to resize application to full screen again. This behaviour occurs no matter what screen resolution is used and is repeatable on both my desktop and laptop computers. If the plan is not maximised then this behaviour does not occur. If I add an object such as a planet problem does not occur. |
| Developer Analysis |
Wasn't fixed in V1.5.3b1. |
| Resolution | Fixed. |
| Fixed | Extra line on Sky chart when Best Pairs displayed |
| There is an extra dotted line on the Sky chart when Best Pairs are displayed. It goes from the corner to the middle of the line joining two alignment stars. | |
| Developer Analysis |
Ignore the extra line. It's an artifact of a recent change and will be removed. |
| Resolution | Fixed. |
| Fixed | Scripting: EditParameters arrangement problem |
|
// The following code does not show the caption correctly: dim SiteValue(-1) as integer SetCaptionParameter(false,"List of available sites:") SetCheckListParameter(true, "Sites", SiteValue, Sites, true, 5) call EditParameters |
|
| Resolution | Fixed. |
| Fixed | Flickering (Windows) and inability to edit (Macintosh) |
| Windows exhibits screen flickering (esp. with plans with few objects) and an inability to edit on Macintosh, since the current edit field loses focus. | |
| Resolution | Fixed. |
| Fixed | Plan document doesn't remember Observer field |
| Windows only |
Plan document doesn't remember Observer field when saved and restored. |
| Developer Analysis |
This appears to be a Windows-only problem. |
| Resolution | Fixed. |
| Fixed | Night vision problems |
| Windows only |
When night vision is on: a. Cannot see images in the DSS Image Display window. b. Images to the right of the observing list are not converted to the night vision colour. |
| Resolution |
a. Fixed. b. Fixed. |
| Fixed | Global observation window crash |
| Still a problem. Occurs occasionally, esp. when sorting columns in the window. | |
| Developer Analysis |
If you have Preferences→Observations→Global Obs Database→"Save changes whenever plan documents are saved" switched on, and you save a plan while the Global Obs. Database window is open, then...crash (next time you play with the Global Obs. window). Workaround: Turn that option off. |
| Resolution | Fixed. |
| Fixed | Global observations not shown in Obs column |
| Not all global observations are being shown in the Obs column when a plan is opened. However, opening Preferences "magically" makes them all appear correctly. | |
| Developer Analysis |
I'm surprised no-one saw this one before now... Only applicable if you have the cross-reference IDs option ON in Preferences→Observations Workaround: The only workaround is to open and close Preferences. |
| Resolution | Fixed. |
| Fixed | Application icon a no-show |
| MacOSX only |
The new application icon is a no-show on Mac OS X. |
| Resolution | Fixed. |
| Fixed | Saving plan docs creates "ghost" files |
| MacOSX only |
Saving a plan document with a name longer than 31 characters creates an identical "ghost" file with a truncated file name. |
| Developer Analysis |
This is caused by some internal vendor code that has not been changed from the Mac OS Classic 31-char file name restriction. |
| Resolution | Fixed. A workaround has eliminated the bogus file. |
| Fixed | Crash when Global Obs Window is used |
| Exception occurs when Global Observation window is used. | |
| Developer Analysis |
This is a preferences problem (I think). Workaround: delete AstroPlanner.prefs or hold down Shift key when launching to reset preferences. This is a bit drastic though. |
| Resolution | Fixed. I think. Warning: will reset the Global Observation Window column ordering to the default. |
| Fixed | Scripting: Error on missing prefix file |
| Raise an error if a prefix file is not found. At present the only indication that a pathname is incorrect is when the editor flags an 'Undefined identifier' or similar error. | |
| Resolution | Fixed. Warning message now emitted. |
| Fixed | Scripting: Detecting [Read|Write|Append]TextFile failure |
| [Read|Write|Append]TextFile: Cannot tell if operation failed or user clicked 'Cancel' as Nil is returned in both cases. | |
| Resolution | Fixed. Integer variable FileErrorCode can be accessed to learn the reason for the nil return. See scripting manual for details. |