Version 1.6.3 - 4th November 2008
Version 1.6.3 of AstroGrav is an upgrade containing a range of minor improvements and bug fixes. This information is intended for existing users who are already familiar with AstroGrav and want to quickly find out about the main changes. This is a free upgrade for customers who have already purchased a license, so that all you need to do is download Version 1.6.3 and use it in place of your old version. If you have any problems with this new version, please don't hesitate to contact us so that we can help you out.
Version 1.6.3 of AstroGrav has the following new and improved features.
Improved Object Searching
Version 1.6.3 of AstroGrav includes several improvements to the Edit / Find... command. It is now much more tolerant of what you type as a search string, so that the error message telling you that an object could not be found will now be seen much less often. For example, if you have a simulation containing the objects "Star/1", "Star/2", etc, you can now find "Star/123" simply by using the search string "123", instead of having to type the whole name as in previous versions. You can even use just part words as a search string. For example, if you search for "upiter" in a solar system simulation, it will find Jupiter successfully.
The default search string that is first displayed when you use the Edit / Find... command has also been improved to be much more useful. In previous versions of AstroGrav, the name of the currently selected object was used as the default search string - a choice that was hardly ever of practical use. In version 1.6.3 of AstroGrav, the default search string is a copy of the string that you previously used. This is most useful if you accidentally mis-type your search string, as you can now simply correct the mistake instead of having to re-type the entire string.
Showing and Hiding Data
Version 1.6.3 of AstroGrav allows you to show or hide the data in the corners on model windows as desired, instead of always showing it whether you wanted it or not. To make use of this, bring a model window to the front, choose the View / Show / Data menu item, and notice how the data in the corners of the window is hidden. Choose the same command again to return the display to its original state.
Opening Files
Version 1.6.3 of AstroGrav includes a correction to a fault that could cause valid ast files to be rejected as invalid in certain circumstances. This fault was unintentionally added in version 1.6.2, and was not present in earlier versions. It has now been corrected, so that valid ast files should now always open without any problems.
Sample Simulations
Version 1.6.3 of AstroGrav includes the following updates to the Solar System sample simulations.
- Jupiter's moon "2003J14" has been renamed "Kore".
- Saturn's moons "2006S04", "2006S06", and "2007S1" have been renamed "Greip", "Jarnsaxa", and "Tarqeq" respectively.
- The Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) "2001 UQ18", "2003 EL61", and "2005 FY9" have been renamed "Altjira", "Haumea", and "Makemake" respectively.
- Recently discovered large Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) have been added.
- The start date has been changed from 01/01/2008 to 01/01/2009.
Other Improvements
Version 1.6.3 of AstroGrav also has many other minor improvements and bug fixes, including the following.
- A bug has been fixed that sometimes caused the status bar to fail to update correctly.
- Evolution has been speeded up by over 10% in some cases, although by much less in most cases.
- In the four Protoplanets... sample simulations, the central star has now been fixed so that the system does not slowly drift off center as the simulation evolves.
- The drawing of model windows has been slightly speeded up.