LUA plug-in: Ephemeris(?) A work in progress...

[BobHegwood]

Bob, I'm unable to reproduce this bug; both in SVN 4590 as well as 1.6 official. I've Xp, though. All boxes work perfectly when moved, even when the boxes overlying theirselves. I have a 4:3 monitor, you 16:9 (if I'm not wrong) but I do not think is matter of monitors. Do you have some customization software, docklets, widgets that could interfere with? Something that "rule" the left screen, e.a sidebars, dockbars, etc?

My CRT is 1680x1059 pixels, and I do have the Vista sidebar operating at all times.
This is overlayed by whatever program is running, however. If I were you, I simply
wouldn't worry about it. Like I said the functions themselves work flawlessly.
Probably just my darned Vista system again.

Thanks again though... I really like the Moon Phases and the other functions as well.

-Brain-Dead

[Fenerit]

If I were you, I simply wouldn't worry about it.

Instead it is important. Being it so few feedbacks here if even the only one (you) has problem, you will agree that the business is serious. Thus, my considerations moves toward:

1) the LUATOOLS. Since the hook now concern the plugins, however the presence of ../extras/lua_edu_tool folder can disturb; being in it a file called config.lua; if is this the case, rename the folder with an underscore before it: e.a. ../_lua_edu_tools;

2) a duplicate file elsewhere;

If other hints goes bring to my mind, I will post it.

[symaski62]

The screendump below show the ephemeris plug-in together the Vincent-Cham plug-ins. They works seamlessly. Now, since symaski62 "can't wait" I've decided to post an alpha version. The installation is simple and require the plugins above.

http://marauder.webng.com/files/ephemerides.zip

ok compris

[BobHegwood]

Fenerit?

Just so you can see what I'm talking about:
The first picture displays the picture box and Moon Phase display
as they should be on the screen on my system...

Vista1.jpg

The second screen shows what happens if I try to move the Picture Box even very slightly:

Vista2.jpg

I have turned ON the ephemeris display in the second picture so that you can see that
it does work correctly.

Dunno if this helps or not, but I just thought I'd show you what happens on my system.

Thanks again, Brain-Dead

EDIT:
The only way I can get the Picture Box back to its normal position is to restart Celestia.
Also, the Moon Phase display also behaves in this manner. If I try to move the Moon Phase
Picture Box even very slightly, it will appear up in the upper left-hand corner and cannot
be re-positioned unless I restart Celestia.

Hope this helps? Thanks again, Brain-Dead

[Fenerit]

Sorry Bob, on my system all the boxes moves and behaves normally as the "commons" windows does. No windows' freezeing. I do not have idea about the causes. I'm waiting for further feedbacks by users.

[Fenerit]

Bob, the strange thing in your description is that the rest of boxes (NOT the pictures' ones) doesn't seems affected by "jumps" or "hangings". So I wonder whether something of wrong concern the images' folders (to which the pictures/Moon displays are linked).

[BobHegwood]

Bob, the strange thing in your description is that the rest of boxes (NOT the pictures' ones) doesn't seems affected by "jumps" or "hangings". So I wonder whether something of wrong concern the images' folders (to which the pictures/Moon displays are linked).

Nothing that I'm aware of...
All the images in the file work to perfection, and all are sized at 512x512 pixels.

Anything else I should be aware of?

Thanks, Brain-Dead

[Fenerit]

The least thing you can do, for curiousity, is:

1) seeing whether also a bit more lower graphics resolution shows such behaviour;
2) Supposed Vincent/Cham's plug-ins works well before ephemeris, do try whether even ephemeris only work well (do comment Vincent/Cham's plug-ins within config.lua.
If taken alone does works and together not, the problem should be more subtle. (Although, on my system, there is not problems) For the rest, I should like to have more users' feedbacks; whether the problem has been found in other configurations too, or not.

[BobHegwood]

1) seeing whether also a bit more lower graphics resolution shows such behaviour;

Tried it at 800x600 and got the same behavior.

2) Supposed Vincent/Cham's plug-ins works well before ephemeris, do try whether even ephemeris only work well (do comment Vincent/Cham's plug-ins within config.lua.
If taken alone does works and together not, the problem should be more subtle. (Although, on my system, there is not problems) For the rest, I should like to have more users' feedbacks; whether the problem has been found in other configurations too, or not.

Commenting other routines does nothing to affect the picture box and moon phase displays.

Like I said earlier, I would simply ignore this for my system.

Thanks again, Brain-Dead

[jogad]

Hello,

I should like to have more users' feedbacks

On my system, Windows XP and my large screen (1920 x 1200 px), all is ok

One thing yet, but very tiny. When I turn off the ephemeris tool and then resize the celestia window, if I reactivate the tool later, I am not always able to move it with the mouse.
And even if I keep it activated, it cannot always be moved on the all screen.

Good luck

[Fenerit]

Hello,

I should like to have more users' feedbacks

On my system, Windows XP and my large screen (1920 x 1200 px), all is ok

One thing yet, but very tiny. When I turn off the ephemeris tool and then resize the celestia window, if I reactivate the tool later, I am not always able to move it with the mouse.
And even if I keep it activated, it cannot always be moved on the all screen.

Good luck

First, thanks for the feedbacks, Jogad. Personally, on my system I can always move the box, so I think that such issue must be searched within the different screen resolution:

When I turn off the ephemeris tool and then resize the celestia window, if I reactivate the tool later, I am not always able to move it with the mouse.

No problem here for me;

And even if I keep it activated, it cannot always be moved on the all screen.

Here I suppose you aren't able to move the box well-toward the bottom of screen. This fact is relate with the "box' s stretching" issue that I'm unable to fix. Unless will fixed, do consider it as a behaviour "willingly" imposed for not overlaying the console Fundamentally, when I built such plug-in I thought to something to stick under the Celestia HUD, moveable just whether there have been new entries in the default HUD, and that, moreover, were to rest in there once sticked.
Anyhow, is still in develop...

[NorthOfPolaris]

Hi Fenerit and all those following this thread.

Congratulations on making this lua plugin work. It works well on my system which includes Windows XP with all updates, Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT graphics card with the most recent software drivers. I run the program on a 1280 x 768 screen. My Celestia version is compiled from svn revision 4952

The plugin responds well to the Ctl-6 and Ctl-7 keys.

The image shows that I have moved both the text box and the moon box from their original positions. There is no real value in doing this but I only wanted to test the relocation of the boxes. Changing to full screen and windowed view moves the moon box to the bottom right corner as expected. If I use the Ctrl-7 to switch the moon box on and off, it shows up again exactly where it was before switching it off.



As you can see, the screen is quite busy and everything is working well.

Well done Fenerit.

Serge

[Fenerit]

Thanks Serge. Well, you have Xp, a 16:9 screen, a resolution much higher in horizontal and a graphic card much more performant than mine. Thus, now I suspect that is Vista more critic under this aspect.

[Fenerit]

- Improved light time: now account for radii. Negligible for planetary distances, significative for the Moon.

[Fenerit]

An update. (with the new improved light time)


Note: the images' samples are taken here and there and are not subsequents.

Ephemeris' HUD now show the "central" new/full Moon phases as well as eclipsed/eclipsing moments in multicolors (customizable). They are elongation based, so, do consider the exact moment (predicted) of the new/full phases, the moment in which the elongation "swing back". The rest is yet based upon days, but the lenghts for new/full phases are now changed as "begin/ending new" and "begin/ending full". The elongation's method allow the more precise prediction of the next new/full phases, and as such have been added. I've check the eclipses (Moon/Sun) up to 6745 and it match, then I was annoying.


http://marauder.webng.com/files/ephemerides_upd.zip
Two files only, backup the extants and/or add in the new ephemeris_cfg your custom settings if any. The screen's HUD position you have saved will rest the same, since the update doesn't concern it.

[Fenerit]

The previous link has been update newly. I've forgot that light time is observer based, so the radius to subtract was just of the target and not that of target and the Earth. I apologize for the inconvenience.

[Fenerit]

Last alpha update. Major issues:

- Fix a bug which prevented the HUD to be displayed with Mercury/Venus in narrowest conjunction/oppositions (strange Celestia's behaviour: such planets were as "black hole" when the radius vector of the elongation constraint was of the same value of high float's local constant).
- Rebuilt and normalized several formulas;
- Retrieved all the synodic periods of SS' objects through info.Orbitalperiod (S = 1/|1/E - 1/P|) so that have been added the elongations to the minor bodies;
- Added Sun position angle (bright limb) for the Moon;
- added theoretical visual mag. for Pluto and dwarfplanets;
- Added visual magnitudes to the asteroids through the mean abs. mag. and the Slope parameter drew up from the MPCORB values for 3899 asteroids;
- Added objects' Earth subpoint (thanks to Chris' function in Script forum);
- Split functions (ephemeris_func.lua) from the main ephemeris.lua file for shortening the file;

http://marauder.webng.com/files/ephemerides_upd_last.zip
Two files only: ephemeris_func.lua and ephemeris.lua. No changes have been made upon the rest, thus is assumed you have the previous update. Extract as usual, backup first. The new file must be in the same folder.

[BobHegwood]

Two files only: ephemeris_func.lua and ephemeris.lua. No changes have been made upon the rest, thus is assumed you have the previous update. Extract as usual, backup first. The new file must be in the same folder.

Thanks for the continuing updates. As long as I don't try to move the
boxes, works great on my Vista system.

I love this LUA addition. Have created picture boxes the way I want
them for all of the planets, some moons, Black Holes, Pulsars, etc...
These abilities need to be added to Celestia itself in my opinion.

Many thanks, Brain-Dead

[Fenerit]

Thanks for the continuing updates. As long as I don't try to move the
boxes, works great on my Vista system.

This indeed may be really annoying. Do you have Celestia under ..\Program Files folder? I've heard something about experienced malfunctions when a program is in there. I wonder whether Vista can impede the writing of the box's setting in real time when one do move the box; thing that, as such, doesn't happen on Xp.

[BobHegwood]

This indeed may be really annoying. Do you have Celestia under ..\Program Files folder? I've heard something about experienced malfunctions when a program is in there. I wonder whether Vista can impede the writing of the box's setting in real time when one do move the box; thing that, as such, doesn't happen on Xp.

Have it under C:\Program Files (x86) where all 32-bit programs must be installed.
Don't worry about the box movements on my account though. I absolutely love
these improvements to Celestia like I said. Works great, and I really don't need
to move the boxes anyway.

If you continue to try to figure this out though, it may help to know that if I
try to move the picture boxes, I have to re-start Celestia in order to get them
back to where they should be... If I try to move the ephemeris box, I have to
completely re-install the whole lua-plugins system in order to get the ephemeris
box back to where it should be. Beats me.

At any rate, like I said I love these additions. Keep em coming.

Thanks again, Brain-Dead