Hi folks,
I'm still collecting bug reports. Once those slow down, I'll
update the update. Anyone have anything to report?
Some comments about the Vista "no first display" problem, and
wrong colors for some asteroids and comets, problems with the
CCD focal length, the trail issue raised by Tiziano Magni, and
the Great Red Spot longitude (i.e., if these aren't problems for
you, you can ignore the rest of this message:)
VISTA "NO FIRST DISPLAY" PROBLEM:
Yesterday, I found and fixed this problem (I'm reasonably sure).
I had thought it was Microsoft's problem, but may have to admit
that sometimes, I _do_ make mistakes. This one is caused by
Guide's unusual support for multiple languages: shortly after
it starts up, it looks to see what language it should use, then
loads those menus. The re-loaded menus often covered part of the
chart, causing the entire chart to be redrawn. Rather than have
this "draw and redraw" at startup, I suppressed the first draw.
Vista is, I think, a little bit more intelligent about all of
this, and recognized that the redraw wasn't necessary. Since the
first draw was suppressed, _nothing_ was shown. Now, Guide will
refuse to draw the chart until the menus are loaded. I think this
solves the problem, though I'll feel more confident about this
once several Vista users agree.
ASTEROIDS/COMETS IN WRONG COLOR:
Jari Suomela pointed out (via private e-mail) that certain
asteroids were being drawn in the wrong color. It turned out that
they were being shown in the "comet" color, while comets were
being shown in "asteroid" color. It also turned out to be easy to fix.
CCD FOCAL LENGTH:
Jari Suomela also pointed out that the focal length reported
in the CCD frame can change a few nanometers when Guide is restarted.
Still looking into this, though I've a good idea as to what's going
on and how to fix it.
TRAIL LABELLING ISSUE:
Tiziano, when you first mentioned this issue, I misunderstood
what was going on. I think I understand it now, and have fixed the
problem.
The behavior you mention is actually intentional. Suppose you were
starting a trail at 10:00, and wanted labels every six hours. If the
labels started at 10:00, then there would be labels at 16:00, 22:00,
and 4:00. But it would make more sense (usually) to have the labels
at 0:00, 6:00, 12:00, and 18:00.
The problem is that I extended this idea to the sort of labelling
you're describing, with labels every five days. In that case, there
is no reason for the labels not to start where the trail starts, and
I have made that change.
There is one remaining small issue: right now, the first point
on the trail is _not_ labelled. I may fix this, but it's possible
that I will stick with the current "only interior points on the trail
are labelled" scheme, at least until after the update is posted.
GREAT RED SPOT LONGITUDE:
Jari also noticed my comment about the Great Red Spot longitude.
Guide now has a table of historical GRS data, in 'grs_lon.txt'. I
had typed in some values running from 1986 to the present, plus an
extrapolated value matching the current slow drift of the GRS. Jari
sent a scan of some data covering 1831 to 1952; this data, plus a
few data points in the 1960s gleaned from ADS (Astrophysics Data
Service), will be in the update. If you want to get an advance
look, download
http://www.projectpluto.com/grs_lon.txt
Data is still very sparse between 1952 and 1986, and there is
no data before 1831.
-- Bill