AstroPlanner Changelog

What's new in AstroPlanner 2.2

• SkySafari observation import. You can now (optionally) import observations from SkySafari observation lists.
• You can add a fixed text prefix to imported fields in the Generic Text import feature. e.g. you might wish to add the prefix "NGC" to a field containing only the NGC catalogue number. Generic text import and export now have a Text Modifications feature on each field that allows prefixes, suffixes, substitutions, etc.
• You can now have fixed text import fields. e.g. if you are importing a file of double stars, you might want to force the Type field to "Dbl". Generic text import and export now have a Text Modifications feature on each field that allows prefixes, suffixes, substitutions, etc.
• Double star orbits. Computes double star orbits, given elements embedded in select double star catalogues (currently the WDS catalogues).
• The Mag-7 Star Atlas (http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1052) is supported as a chart numbering target.
• You can now import non-ASCII text (i.e. with text encoding such as UTF8, UTF-16, etc.), and retain any non-ASCII characters (e.g. Greek).
• Enabled axis movement commands in ASCOM.
• When exporting sessions/observations to a text file, etc., you no longer need to specify the start and end dates. Those dates are now optional so that it's easy to export, say, all observations, all observations starting on a given date, etc.
• If you export a field containing line endings (e.g. the Notes field) to a text file, extra lines are created. A new setting in the export dialog substitutes given text (default = " / ") for any line endings found in a text field.
• User-defined field formatting. You can now optionally define a user field to display in bold, italic and/or underlined. Additionally, user-defined field scripts can override the display style individually.
• Added buttons to the Date/Time controls that allow you to step forwards or backwards through time, with a variable step size (from 1 second to 1 year).
• You can now use an USB Flash drive, instead of a DVD-ROM, for loading catalogues.
• Added the facility to list/search catalogues for objects nearby (within user specified angular distance) from current telescope position or current selected object. Object > Search > Find Objects Within Radius...
• Added the ability to add more than one constellation object at a time from the Add Special popup menu.
• You can now right-click the list of alignment stars in the Sky tab and select: Add alignment stars to plan...
• When a constellation object is selected in the object list, and the Field of View tab is selected, the FoV chart is made to fit the whole constellation by setting the FoV diameter.
• Allow multiple Object Types in custom highlighting.
• Added "Ignore All Rules" to the custom highlighting rule set popup. This gives a quick way to disable a rule set temporarily.
• You can now import and export Cartes du Ciel (V3.10 or after) observing lists. File > Import > Cartes du Ciel Observing List... and File > Export > Cartes du Ciel Observing List...
• Field of View Display Options now has Reticles/FoVs > Crosshairs/Grid... This allows you to add cross hairs or a grid to the chart. Double clicking lets you choose the grid spacing or crosshairs.
• Each Telescope resource can optionally create and use a custom alignment star set. This alignment star set will be used even if the resource defines a telescope mount with built-in alignment stars. Any star in the Bright Star catalogue can be used. You can also upload/download to a user-contributed library of alignment star sets.
• The dialog that lets you select multiple new objects now has the guide for double star identifiers and Greek letters.
• Edit > Copy IDs copies the ID column of the object list to the clipboard. You can then paste it into a text file of your own choosing.
• Observation > 7Timer Chart shows an observing conditions chart based on data from 7timer.com. This works internationally (apparently).
• Off-axis Guider support in the Field of View chart. Custom reticles now have three choices for rotation: Rotate with the Reticle Rotation slider, rotate with the FoV Angle slider, or no rotation. If you make your main imager reticle have "No rotation" and the pick-off mirror reticle have "Reticle rotation" then the pickoff mirror will be adjusted w.r.t. the imager using the Reticle Rotation slider. The FoV Rotation slider can be used to rotate the FoV under the main imager reticle for framing.
• When adding a user image you can now specify the size, center coordinates, and orientation w.r.t. North of the image. See page 182. Any such user image will be displayable in the FoV. Also, if you select the user image in the Image Manager then you can edit the attributes where necessary.
• Synonym checkbox added to the New Object dialog. If this is checked and the All... button used then IDs will be searched as well as synonyms based on the object's coordinates.
• Added the ability to create your own Chart# definitions (for the Chart# column). You can also upload and download as user-contributed definitions. In the Chart# tab of the Object List preferences window.
• Improvements to the Help > Revision Notes window: Show the list for all releases, show bugs-only, etc.
• Object List preferences > Sorting > Show groupings after sorting a column. If this option is set then whenever you sort the object list, a black line will appear between groupings (e.g. sort on Constellation the line appears between constellation changes; sort on R.A. the line appears on every hour change, etc.).
• Added Load... and Save... buttons to the catalogue search dialog. This allows you to save and reload complex search parameters.
• Added a "Set plan date/time" checkbox option to the visibility section of the catalogue search dialog. Setting this option will set the plan's date/time to the beginning of the specified period when the search is done (regardless of the search results).
• Added a right-click menu to any date fields, containing relevant entries, e.g. sunrise, moon set, etc. This is a convenient way to set the date/time to often-used values.
• The tally of observations in now displayed in the top of the Observation Database window as the "total # of observations for # of objects".
• The Site Status window now allows the local time to be fixed to allow for future planning, shows the current moon altitude and the time of the next rise/set, and has a keyboard shortcut. Additionally, clicking the "Site:" label next to the current site popup on the plan document window will open the Site Status window.
• On most (but not all) list widgets in the application, including the observation database window lists, object list, etc. you can right-click and select Appearance... On the Appearance dialog there's now a Columns tab that allows you set the style separately for each column in the list: bold, italic, underline, the color of the text, and the color of the background.
• A new "Components" field has been added for objects in order to deal with double star components in a more consistent fashion, rather than just being embedded in the Notes field. New versions of the WDS will populate this field automatically.
• The magnitude limits for particular catalogues being displayed in the Field of View chart can be set via File > Catalogue Manager > Settings and Coverage (change the FoV Min Mag and FoV Max Mag columns).
• Once set, those limits can be used via the FoV Display option: Display > Obey catalogue min/max magnitudes. In the FoV catalogue list, any catalogues with limits will have a suitable icon displayed to the left of the catalogue name.
• Movement commands (NESW) have been implemented for the ServoCAT and Ultima 2000 telescope mounts. Using the arrow keys in Telescope > Telescope Control Palette will use a combination of slew and cancel-slew commands to move the mount.
• Added a "Selected object/s" option separate from the "Objects" option in the Sky chart Display Options.
• Added a Scale Factor setting in Preferences > Printing. This is typically left to the default value of 1, but can be changed if your printer driver is printing at an incorrect size.
• Right-clicking the user-defined fields listbox shows "Show Column: xxxx" or "Hide Column: xxxx" (for defined fields xxxx). Selecting one of these toggles the column's visibility in the object list. Note that it doesn't change the position of the column-to do that you'll still need to go to Edit > List Columns...
• Added a Reset option in Catalogue Manager > Preferences. This will reset all "used" Plan Creation Wizard objects so that they can be chosen again.
• Added a Catalogue Notes field to objects and renamed the existing Notes field to User Notes. This separates notes derived from the source catalogue from user-entered notes. Particularly useful when you refresh the catalogue notes - i.e. the user notes are left untouched.
• • Modified the Refresh Objects from Catalogues feature and revised the code. You now have more control over how objects are updated. See page 175. • All objects in the object list now have a corresponding constellation map displayed to the right of the object list (available in the list of images under the image display). The constellation is displayed with borders, figure, and naked-eye stars, as well as the position of the object (and any other objects in the plan that are located in that constellation). The generation of this map can be turned off in the Object List preferences.
• Statistics tab has been added to the observation database window. (Note that Observation > Statistics... has been removed). This tab shows one (or more, depending on the window size) tables and associated pie charts showing various statistics of the observations in your database.