v1.4.0 - Plug It In

This update comes with some significant changes under the hood for plugin developers, most notably a new plugin bundling format inside .eop files (Elite Observatory Plugin) which allows developers to package .NET build outout as-is into plugin bundles.

Note

This download is now version 1.4.1 with a hotfix for a plugin loading issue.

These new plugins can also be updated in-place without needing to close Observatory first, though a restart is still necessary in order to load the new version.

Users should not notice any difference in normal usage, and existing plugins will continute to work as before.

• Add WasFootfalled and WasLogged to Scan and ScanOrganic events respectively
• Fix issue where ancillary files would incorrectly be included in retroactive pre-read as if current
• Fix datatype issues with squadron contribution values
• Complete rework of plugin loading to avoid unpacking .eop bundles and holding files open
• Improved plugin update check to provide direct link to update and allow plugin self-update (@fredjk-gh)
• Explorer "Eccentric Orbit" built-in check now indicates whether planet is landable
• Improved Wine-friend build process and audio chime support (@flusedev)

v1.3.0 - On Top Of Things

Some tidying, some minor features, and some catch-up!

Most notably for users this release adds per-windows "Always On Top" functionality, accessible in the top-left system menu (click the icon in the corner).

Also new is a built-in way for plugins to notify that they have updates available.

For those of you pledged to my Patreon or with your own Azure/OpenAI TTS services this update also coincides with an update to Observatory Herald which uses the new plugin update check and improved plugin messaging features to generally improve its user experience.

For plugin authors this version includes the long-awaited refactor of inter-plugin messaging, with thanks to @fredjk-gh.

• Add "Always On Top"
• Add plugin update check
• Add new core method for plugins to easily display message boxes
• Add GUIDs to plugin interface for identification
• Handle new journal events and properties for Vanguards
• Improvements to inter-plugin messaging
• Improvements to plugin error handling

Don't Repeat Yourself...

One small feature, some under the hood handling, and a couple of small but important bugfixes. Of note this fixes an issue with repeated notifications being emitted by the Herald plugin, which provides higher quality voice notifications and is now available for all patrons as well as anyone with their own Azure Cognitive Services account.

• Add right-click context menu to "Core" tab
• Fix issue where plugins moved to the first tab position couldn't open their context menu
• Fix issue where notification messages destined for plugins were not properly de-duplicated
• Add handling of system colonization related journal events

Trailblazing

A small catch-up release to add support for journal changes in and after the Trailblazers and Powerplay 2.0 updates, plus some assorted missed values. If you were experiencing crashes in and around the bubble and colony systems this should resolve it.

Huge thanks for @fredjk-gh for doing most of the lifting on this one.

Persistent Fixing

This release fixes an issue with persistent notifications, for real this time.

• Fix issue where updated notifications could fail to pass Guid correctly when parameters inconsistently populated.
• New IObservatoryCore.UpdateNotification(NotificationArgs notificationEventArgs) method which does not require redundant Guid parameter.
• IObservatoryCore.UpdateNotification(Guid id, NotificationArgs notificationEventArgs) is now deprecated in favour of IObservatoryCore.UpdateNotification(NotificationArgs notificationEventArgs). The removal of the obsolete method is not currently planned for any specific release, however plugin developers should move away from it when possible.

Persistence Pays Off

This release fixes an issue with persistent notifications, such as those used by Botanist to track current scan status, which prevented notification plugins from being able to properly handle them. This should be most interesting for anyone using MattG's Stellar Overlay.

In addition there is now an option for alternative journal monitoring which actively polls the files to check for changes. This should only be enabled if you're having issues with the normal monitoring not responding to journal changes.

• Pass generated GUID in initial NotificationArgs object for persistent notifications.
• Add option for polled journal monitoring
• Several under-the-hood fixes for settings and error handling (@fredjk-gh)

Tab Order Bugfix

Quick bugfix to address a reported possible crash when loading saved tab order.

The portable archive also no longer includes an all-defaults config file which would inadvertantly overwrite existing configs.

Pop a Tab

Some asked for improvements of plugin tabs and popouts are now implemented. Most notably tabs can now be re-ordered by dragging them with the mouse.

Additionally popped out plugins now remember their popped out nature and should pop themselves back out again on Observatory launch.

Finally, the UI should spend less time in an awkward half-drawn state during startup, this is most noticable when doing a read-all on launch, but should also be a marked improvment in general.

• Improve UX of initial UI load
• Popouts now remembered
• Tab re-ordering
• Implement duplicate title suppression for native voice notifications (@fredjk-gh)
• Fix naming of bespoke body names by Explorer (Earth isn't a primary star!) (@fredjk-gh)
• Improve Framework handling of unrecognized values for enums
• Tweak intra-plugin messaging to allow destination to be specified, prevent senders from receiving their own message, and prevent duplicate receiving by dual-role plugins. (@matt-g-dev)

v1.2.4 - Count++

Three, count them, three bugfix releases since 1.2.0!

Some small issues were identified with 1.2.3, so we're up to four!

Simple audio chimes are now available for notifications as well, for those who wanted some kind of audio alert, but didn't care to have them spoken.

This update also includes a refactor of the plugin settings window. It should now be somewhat more compact and behave better on differently sized displays.

• Added "Chime" option for audio notifications
• Major refactor of plugin settings window
• Fix an issue where numeric plugin settings could cause an error if they specified a minimum value above 0 (fredjk)
• Added DirectoryInfo as a valid datatype for plugin settings
• Corrected behaviour for internally focusing a plugin while popped out (fredjk)
• Restore missing "Plugin Folder" button
• Corrected handling of application audio to not mess with windows mixer
• Update behaviour when installing plugin from double-click of .eop file to automatically restart Observatory
• Expanded framework notifier interface to include necessary information for persisted notifications
• (1.2.4) Fix an issue in Botanist where re-played journals without accompanying Status file data could cause errors
• (1.2.4) Relax "on screen" requirement when restoring plugin popout locations to be in line with those of the main window

v1.2.2 - Sizing It Up

A quick bug fix for two small issues which most people may never notice, but are critically debilitating if you're affected by them.

• Fixes sizing issue on some lower resolution displays
• Restores functionality to change journal path by double-clicking journal folder location