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Version 7.0 Update 1 and 2

In line with previous Platform installers, Platform 7.0 Update 2 is a cumulative release that contains all enhancements and fixes from previous Platform releases and service packs. The Platform environment pre-requisites are listed here Platform Prerequisites.

Changes in 7.0 Update 1 and 2 - For Everyone
  • ASCOM Remote - Added a non-standard behaviour option to omit the raw parameter on Telescope CommandXXX method calls.
  • 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.
  • OmniSimulators - 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.
  • Astrometry - The built-in DeltaT and DeltaUT predictions have been extended to February 2026.
Issues Fixed in 7.0 Update 1 and 2 - Platform
  • 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state properties now always query the device rather than the Device Hub cache, which could be 3 to 5 seconds out of date.
  • 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.
  • Installer – Now shows a prompt if a reboot is required rather than immediately rebooting.
  • TraceLogger - 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.
  • 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
    • Fixed issue that caused even number Switches to be invisible in the Switch UI
    • Improved the camera simulator logic for mapping colours in the 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 color 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".
Changes in 7.0 Update 2 - For Developers
  • Help – Added interface histories to every member showing when they were introduced, revised or deprecated.
  • Documentation - Added an interface "change history" summary PDF showing the year and Platform in which every ASCOM interface member change was introduced.
  • TraceLogger – Now has an option to print Unicode characters above 127 rather than displaying them as hex codes.
Issues Fixed in 7.0 Update 2 - For Developers
  • DriverAccess – Added the Platform 6 interfaces to the list of implemented interfaces. This ensures that DriverAccess objects that are referred to as Platform 6 interface types rather than as DriverAccess concrete classes, continue to work under Platform 7. For example, the Platform 7 DriverAccesss telescope component now reports that it implements both ITelescopeV3 and ITelescopeV4.
Breaking Changes (For Developers) in Platform 7.0 Update 2
  • None.
Known Limitations - Developers
  • The components in the Astrometry.NOVAS namespace are fully usable from .NET languages but are not fully accessible through COM from scripting languages because a number of parameters are passed by reference or use structures that do not pass across the COM interface. Two work rounds are available:
    1. Use the Transform component in the ASCOM.Astrometry.Transform namespace, it is fully COM compatible.
    2. Create your own COM presentation component that encapsulates the SOFA or NOVAS 3.1 functions that you require and presents them in a COM compatible fashion to suit your needs. This component can them be consumed by your scripting application.