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ASCOM Platform 7.0 - Update 2

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@Peter-Simpson Peter-Simpson released this 28 Nov 11:21
v7.0.2
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Peter-Simpson Peter Simpson
GPG key ID: D9AE8431D54C3154
Learn about vigilant mode.

Installer

The installer is located in the "Assets" section at the end of these release notes

Changes from initial Platform 7.0 release

Update 2

  • TraceLogger
    • Localised strings in log files created by the TraceLogger component can now display as expected rather than containing hex dumps. This new behaviour can be enabled through the Options menu in the Diagnostics application.
    • Unicode characters above code point 255 are now displayed as four hex characters when hex display is enabled rather than being truncated to two characters.
  • Astrometry - The built-in DeltaT and DeltaUT predictions have been extended to February 2026.
  • Device Hub
    • Operational state properties now always query the device rather than the Device Hub cache, which could be 3 to 5 seconds out of date.
    • Fixed composite slewing that was broken by a change in Update 1
  • Dynamic Clients – Fixed an issue in Telescope.SlewToAltAz causing it to be called when it was not available, resulting in a not implemented exception.
  • Chooser - Fixed an issue that prevented manual creation of Dynamic Clients.
  • Installer
    • Fixed an issue where the installer would not start if a previous install was interrupted.
    • Now shows a prompt if a reboot is required rather than immediately rebooting.
  • Omni-Simulators
    • When changing configuration using the Chooser's Properties button, the OmniSimulators now present a Setup dialogue with a browser link to the OmniSimulator UI rather than a message box.
    • Fixed issue that caused even number Switches to be invisible in the Switch UI
    • Improved the camera simulator logic for mapping colours in a source image, read from a file, to the target image that is returned to the client. The new approach maintains the same resolution and FOV with all sensor types. Each pixel in the source image now corresponds to one pixel in the final image, but filtered through the colour filter of the cell.
    • The ObservingConditions DewPoint property calculation now uses any override values specified for temperature and relative humidity.
    • The ObservingConditions DewPoint property units are now shown as Celsius,
    • The ObservingConditions WindGust and WindSpeed property units have been corrected to "metres per second" from "miles per hour".

Update 1

  • Device Hub - Fixed an issue that prevented the configuration from being changed when log activity to disk was disabled.
  • Chooser - Fixed an issue that prevented some drivers (e.g. the Gemini Telescope driver) from being selected.
  • Omni-Simulators - Improved message that is displayed when the SetupDialog method is called.
  • ASCOM Remote - Added a non-standard behaviour option to omit the raw parameter on Telescope CommandXXX method calls.

Operating System Compatibility

Following discovery of issues when installing Platform 7 on some Windows 7 systems, the decision has been made to restrict Platform 7 to Windows 10 build 1809 (October 2018) and later operating systems. For context, Windows 7 is now 15 years old and Microsoft withdrew support for this operating system over four years ago in January 2020.

Platform 6.6 SP2 is the latest Platform release for those who prefer to stay with Windows 7 or 8, and continues to provide good access to both COM drivers and Alpaca devices.

Platform 7 Highlights and Dependencies

This release focuses on the asynchronous behaviour interface changes presented in the consultation held between July and October 2023.

Use of asynchronous programming techniques improves the end user experience by ensuring that user interfaces remain responsive while long-running operations are underway. Their use also speeds up tasks by enabling operations to be run concurrently rather than serially.

This release implements the post-feedback interface changes and is backward compatible with Platform 6 and earlier clients, drivers and Alpaca devices.

The Platform requires the following Windows and .NET versions:

  • Windows 10 build 1809 (October 2018 release) or later
  • .NET 3.5 to be installed (this will be installed automatically on Windows 10 and 11.)
  • .NET 4.8 to be installed

Changes for Everyone in Platform 7

  • Simplified Start menu
  • The default log file location can be customised to something other than Documents\ASCOM using the ASCOM Diagnostics tool.
  • Focus on technical changes to improve performance and application usability.
  • Updated user guide that includes Alpaca.
  • ASCOM Remote and the ASCOM Omni-simulators are now installed as part of the Platform and do not have to be downloaded and installed separately.
  • The Omni-Simulators are now the default Platform simulators.
  • The Platform now includes the "JustAHub" hub application to host 32bit in-process (DLL based) drivers and enable them to be used by 64bit applications.
  • An alert will be generated when a new Platform version is released.
  • The Platform installer is more resilient and reliable.
  • Dynamic Clients
    • The Dynamic Clients now provide access to the Alpaca device's HTML configuration pages though the SetupDialog method when the Alpaca device is connected. Previously all access was blocked.
    • When connecting to an Alpaca device that cannot be reached, the Dynamic Clients now time out in about 4 seconds rather than the up to 30 second delay in Platform 6.
  • Device Hub
    • The activity log page now has a "Save Settings" button to save the current logging configuration. This will be restored when Device Hub is next used.
    • The activity log now starts recording activity as soon as Device Hub is started, even if the activity log is not visible.
    • The activity log can now optionally be written to disk.
    • A configuration option has been added that will automatically show the activity log when Device Hub starts.
    • The telescope rate offset fields and "Send to telescope" buttons are now enabled only when tracking at sidereal rate, in line with the interface specification.
    • Device Hub now shuts down more quickly than previously.
    • The F12 key now toggles the Device Hub "Keep on top" state.

Platform Issues fixed in Platform 7

  • The installer no longer displays a successful install message when an error occurs
  • Telescope Simulators - These now respect the TrackingRates configuration setting and the TrackingRates property returns a PropertyNotImplementedException when tracking rates are configured to be not available.
  • Profile Explorer - The visual appearance has been improved when the application starts and is re-sized.
  • Device Hub
    • Hosted devices are now polled directly every time a client application asks for an operational property value such as Telescope.RightAscension. The previous behaviour of returning cached values could result in returned values being up to 5 seconds out of date with the device.
    • The default dome radius in the dome geometry configuration has been changed from 0.0 to 2000.0 to ensure that dome synchronisation works "out of the box".
    • When a device does not supply an expected numeric value, the displayed text in the Device Hub is now "Unavailable" rather than "NaN".
  • Diagnostics
    • Fixed a bug where a non-existent directory could cause an unexpected Diagnostics error.
    • Fixed issues being reported when some telescope simulator settings were not at their default values.
    • The full Windows 10/11 version name e.g. "Windows 11 24H2" is now displayed rather than "Windows 10".
  • Chooser - Fixed exception when starting the Alpaca device manager application when no device was selected in the Chooser drop-down list.

Changes for Developers in Platform 7

  • The developer components are now included with the main installer and no longer need to be installed separately.
  • A new DeviceState property for all interfaces that returns the entire device operational state in a single call.
  • New asynchronous Connect and Disconnect methods for all interfaces.
  • New asynchronous methods and API clarifications.
  • The "How to make an ASCOM driver" document has been completely re-written to document the current process.
  • New platform-neutral online documentation: ascom-standards.org/newdocs
  • Increased documentation clarity on where asynchronous operation is expected
  • DriverAccess now has convenience methods to retrieve device state in a single call.
  • The driver templates have been updated to support Platform 7 interface changes.
  • SOFA has been updated to release 19 as issued on 11th October 2023.
  • Please note that Platform 6 versions of Conform are incompatible with Platform 7 and a warning is issued by the Platform installer to this effect. An updated Platform 7 compatible version is available on GitHub.
  • Interface version numbers have all increased by 1.

Development Issues fixed in Platform 7

  • NOVASCOM – Fixed error in Sun Ephemeris calculation introduced when the Code was transcribed from C++ in 2009.
  • Driver template – Fixed issue in Focuser Link code that resulted in an out of the box Conform fail.
  • Fixed issue in NOVAS 3.1 component where the ephemeris file may not have been closed on DLL unload.
  • The installer now pre-populates historic leap second data so that AstroUtils.DeltaUT1 works out of the box when there has been no earth rotation data update.
  • Fixed a bug introduced in Platform 6.6 SP2 where a DriverException was returned instead of more specialised exceptions like InvalidValueException.

Installer SHAs

SHA256: e696459635ad74449bbdeca4be9b0e89159d781087ab1694b3489cebb5c88742
SHA1: e519673850c204a627840d0fa456540f565ad4e9

Assets 3
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