Version 2

Advanced visibility modelling

One of the enhancement requests I receive often is to do a better job of modelling visibility of stars, etc. In AstroPlanner V1.x, there was little or no modelling of visibility. For V2, some more advance algorithms have been added (namely those developed by Bradley E. Schaefer). Continue Reading »

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V2.0a31 and counting

Development continues afoot. The beta stage is fast approaching. My list of enhancements is now a lot shorter, and many of the items on the list are either going to be moved into the next version, or will be taken care of during the beta stage. Here are some of the more notable features and changes added recently. Continue Reading »

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Backup and Restore

Two of the more frequently asked questions, by users of AstroPlanner V1.x, are:

  • How do I backup my AstroPlanner files, in case I have a crash and need to restore them?
  • How do I synchronise my AstroPlanner files and settings on my desktop computer with my observatory laptop?

Here’s a new feature in V2 that should target both of those concerns. Continue Reading »

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V2.0a22 and counting

It’s been a while since V2.0a1 was released. Lots of bugs have been fixed, features improved and added, etc. However, we’re still a fair way away from V2.0b1, so I thought I’d just show some of the more extensive changes that will be coming your way.
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V2.0a1 released

The first alpha of V2 was released to a select group of beta testers this week…

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Scripting, Part 3

As the release of V2.0a1 approaches, some serendipity has greatly improved the scripting interface, and has bypassed the need I had to do some nasty Windows debugging (which I referred to in an earlier post). Non-geeks need read no further.

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Softer landing for crashes

In V1.x, when there was an internal uncaught exception, you were informed that AstroPlanner was about to nose-dive into the ground, an error log file was written, and the app exited, taking all your changes with it.

In V2, this process is little less likely to cause hair loss. Sure, there will still be uncaught exceptions (i.e. bugs that need fixing), but now you have some options…

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Bye Bye MDI

The Windows MDI (Multiple Document Interface) GUI, used in V1.x is history. You are no longer restricted to the bounds of the main window. Each window has its own menu, and can be placed anywhere (even, I assume, on multiple monitors).

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Printing – part 1

One of the major gripes about V1 was the somewhat inflexible and limited printing mechanism. No-one was satisfied (including me). You could never get your plan objects and or observations printed the way you wanted them. More annoyingly, you had to waste paper to see what you were going to get.
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Converting from V1 to V2

(2023-03-11) WARNING: Please note that the feature described in this blog post no longer holds true. The database format used in V1 no longer works on modern processors and OSes. Hence only catalogues are compatible with V2. Plan documents, observations, and resources cannot be upgraded or imported into V2. You have been warned.

Until a few days ago, the conversion from V1 to V2 file formats was all done transparently from within the V2 application. All files that needed to be converted were processed and new files created. This was done in such a manner as to avoid conflict with V1. i.e. V1 could continue to operate in parallel with V2. This was all well and good, but then a few issues occurred that forced me to change my tune…

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