Timechart

New Feature

This TimeChart release supports importing EPICS StripTool configuration (*.stp) files, in addition to the TimeChart's own JSON config files -- a new feature from the previous release.

You do not have to specify any additional parameters to let TimeChart know you are importing a StripTool config file. Just follow the same workflow when importing a config file to TimeChart -- it does not matter whether the config file you are trying to import is a TimeChart JSON file or a StripTool STP file.

For instance, you can import a StripTool config file from a command parameter just as you would with a TimeChart JSON config file:

timechart --config-file <path_to_stp_file or path_to_json_file>

TimeChart will figure out which config file type it is given, and will import the settings in the file appropriately.

Bug Fixes and Enhancements

1. Fix the crash if an empty curve is selected.
2. Detect a curve's connectivity state by using the curve.connected attribute instead of checking for NaN value

TimeChart is off to a new release, v1.1.0.

New Feature

Allow importing a config file from a command parameter:

timechart --config-file <path_to_json_config_file>

This will start TimeChart with the customized settings as specified in the config file, and if the config file contains one or more existing PV names, TimeChart will start graphing the PVs.

TimeChart currently can import only JSON config files it has exported. Support for Strip Tool config files is scheduled to be available in the next release.

Enhancement

Re-arrange the graph background and axis and grid color buttons. Make them close together as they're categorically related.

Bug Fixes

1. Add the show right y-axis setting to the exported config file, and handle this data during config file import.
2. Make the data settings reset a separate button for the Data tab

======================

Today we're releasing TimeChart 1.0.0, one of the latest graphing applications for control systems!

Built with [Python Display Manager (PyDM)](https://github.com/slaclab/pydm "PyDM"), this inaugural release of TimeChart aims to meet most of the control operators' charting requirements. This initial release offers the following features:

Performance
* Responsive graph drawing, scrolling, scaling, pausing/restarting, and zooming in/out
* Responsive and modern UI with dynamic layouts adaptive to the user's actions

Customizations
* Graphing in synchronous and asynchronous modes
* Customizable Redraw Rate, Data Sampling Rate, Ring Buffer Size, and the time duration in Hours : Minutes : Seconds to automatically allocate a ring buffer large enough to collect the duration's data
* Elaborative appearance settings available for each curve and most of the graph's visual elements, such as Title, Legend, Background Color, Axes and Grids

Data Exporting and Importing
* Export the curves' data to a CSV file
* Export the graph's current settings to a JSON configuration file
* Export a graphic snapshot of the graph into a PNG file
* Import a graph's JSON configuration file and start TimeChart's plotting immediately

Acknowledgements
* Special thanks to facility stakeholders, hhslepicka, mattgibbs, teddyrendahl, and all other early contributors for getting this special project off the ground.

We anticipate TimeChart's features to keep growing; how fast it is depends on your contributions and support. Appreciate all feedback, ideas, suggestions, and bug reports. Try out TimeChart today!