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The following describes the most significant changes which occurred in the
AST library between versions V5.0 and V5.1:
- The astUnlock function now has an extra parameter that controls whether
or not an error is reported if the Object is currently locked by another
thread.
- The Prism class has been modified so that any class of Region can
be used to define the extrusion axes. Previously, only a Box or Interval
could be used for this purpose.
- The values of the AST__THREADSAFE macro (defined in ast.h) have
been changed from ``yes'' and ``no'' to ``1'' and ``0''.
- Improvements have been made to the way that Prisms are simplified
when
astSimplify
is called. The changes mean that more types of Prism will now simplify
into a simpler class of Region.
- The PointList class has a new method,
astPoints,
that copies the axis values from the PointList into a supplied array.
- The PointList class has a new (read-only) attribute, ListSize, that
gives the number of points stored in the PointList.
- The handling of warnings within different classes of Channel has
been rationalised. The XmlStrict attribute and
astXmlWarnings
function have been removed. The same functionality is now available via
the existing Strict attribute (which has had its remit widened), a new
attribute called ReportLevel, and the new
astWarnings
function. This new function can be used on any class of Channel. Teh
FitsChan class retains its long standing ability to store warnings as
header cards within the FitsChan, but it also now stores warnings in the
parent Channel structure, from where they can be retrieved using the
astWarnings
function.
- A new function called
astIntercept
has been added to the Frame class. This function finds the point of
intersection beteeen two geodesic curves.
- A bug in the type-checking of Objects passed as arguments to constructor
functions has been fixed. This bug could lead to applications crashing or
showing strange behaviour if an inappropriate class of Object was
supplied as an argument to a constructor.
- The
astPickAxes
function will now return a Region, if possible, when applied to a Region. If
this is not possible, a Frame will be returned as before.
- The default gap size between the ISO date/time labels used by the Plot
class when displaying an annotated axis described by a TimeFrame has been
changed. The changes are meant to improve the labelling of calendar time
axes that span intervals from a day to a few years.
- A new function called
astTestFits
has been added to the FitsChan class. This function tests a FitsChan to
see if it contains a defined value for specified FITS keyword.
- The AST__UNDEF<X> parameters used to flag undefined FITS keyword values
have been removed. Use the new
astTestFits
function instead.
- The astIsUndef<X> functions used to test FITS keyword values
have been removed. Use the new astTestFits function instead.
Next: Changes Introduced in V5.2
Up: Changes and New Features
Previous: Changes Introduced in V5.0
AST A Library for Handling World Coordinate Systems in Astronomy
Starlink User Note 211
R.F. Warren-Smith & D.S. Berry
24th May 2011
E-mail:ussc@star.rl.ac.uk
Copyright (C) 2009 Science \& Technology Facilities Council