Release Notes for JMRI 4.19.2 release

Date: January 12, 2020

From: Bob Jacobsen

Subject: Test Release 4.19.2 of JMRI/DecoderPro is available for download.

Notes:

This is a test release. Please post a note if you encounter any new or old bugs! And please back up your JMRI files before installing this, in case you want to go back to an earlier version.

This is the next in a series of test releases. We expect this series to end in the next JMRI production release in early summer 2020. (See the tentative release schedule)

Some of the changes involved are quite extensive. They may require a certain amount of experience before they are working well. Therefore, this test release should be considered experimental.

JMRI is now only available under the GNU General Public License. For more information, please see our copyright and licensing page.

Update From Older JMRI Versions

If you are currently using JMRI 4.11.9 or earlier, we strongly recommend that you update to JMRI 4.12 and make sure that's running without errors during startup or on the JMRI log. Once you have JMRI 4.12 running OK, store your configuration and panel files and use those from then on. There have been changes in serial port support, panel file format and configuration options since those earlier releases, and moving to the stable JMRI 4.12 release is a good way to work through any possible problems.

If you are currently using JMRI 4.7.3 or earlier on Linux or macOS (Windows doesn't need this), you must update to JMRI 4.12 and carrying out the migration process described in the JMRI 4.12 release note before updating to this release.

If you are currently using JMRI 4.17.7 or earlier, including if the previous paragraphs convinced you to update to JMRI 4.12, we strongly recommend that you update to JMRI 4.18 and make sure that's running without errors during startup or on the JMRI log. Once you have JMRI 4.18 running OK, store your configuration and panel files and use those from then on. There have been changes panel file format and configuration options since earlier releases, and moving to the stable JMRI 4.18 release is a good way to work through any possible problems.

Known problems with this release

• None

New warnings for this release:

• The system names for Routes are required to start with "IO" to avoid ambiguity or confusion with Reporters (the system names of which start with "IR"). JMRI 4.19.2 or later should automatically rename Routes correctly, but it is possible that references to those Routes will need to be updated.
• The Logix system names for LRoutes (RTX*) and Sensor Groups (SYS) now start with "IX:". These changes are NOT backward compatible. Once a panel xml file has been saved with the new names, opening it in previous versions of JMRI will result in errors.
  • The RTXINITIALIZER Logix will fail with an error message.
  • The Sensor groups will not be active. Attempting to edit them will result in a Java null pointer exception.
  To recover, delete IX:SYS and/or IX:RTXINITIALIZER from the Logix table and re-create them. Hint: Use the Logix table Select >> Browse feature to get the current contents before deleting them.

Older warnings

See the JMRI 4.18 release note for more warnings predating the 4.19 development series, including pointers to various migration issues. These may be relevant to you if you're updating from an earlier version.

• Since JMRI 4.19.1 JMRI now enforces the standard form of system names, where the system is denoted by a single letter or a letter plus digits. Some users of JMRI 4.18 or earlier might have incompatible values. If you have one of these hardware connections:
  • Anyma DX512 using “DX”
  • DCC++ using “DCCPP"
  • DCC4PC using “DP"
  • JSON client using “json”
  • MRC using “MR"
  • Marklin CS2 using “MC"
  • Raspberry PI using “PI"
  • TAMS using “TM”
  you may have to migrate. Please update to JMRI 4.18 prior to installing JMRI 4.19.1 (or later) and check the JMRI Console to see if there are any instructions there. See the migration page for additional information.
• Since JMRI 4.19.1 The getBeanByUserName and getBeanBySystemName calls in the various Manager classes are no longer needed with Java 8 and have been deprecated for eventual removal. Their replacements are getByUserName and getBySystemName respectively. If you use getBeanByUserName and getBeanBySystemName in script or Java code you've written, please switch to the new names.
• Since JMRI 4.17.5 JMRI's scripting support now defaults to the UTF-8 character encoding for all script files on all platforms. This may require that some scripts be re-saved using UTF-8.
• Since JMRI 4.17.5 Windows Only The JMRI installer removes the existing lib folder from a JMRI installation when upgrading JMRI. The existing lib folder contents are retained in the backup folder. This means that any files you have added to the lib folder will be removed.
• Since JMRI 4.17.5 macOS Only This version includes changes to how the final .dmg file is built, signed and notarized. This was done to increase compatibility with macOS 10.15 Catalina. Please drag the JMRI icon to the Applications folder to install this release. For more information on Catalina compatibility, see the JMRI website.
• Since JMRI 4.17.4 Panel file NamedBean items such as Turnouts, Sensors, etc are now written to panel files in order by their Manager system prefix and system name. Previously, they had (roughly) been written in the order they'd be read from the earlier file(s). This will result in a big change to the order the first time a file is re-written, but after that it should be much more stable.
• Since JMRI 4.11.4 There are issues with the Pi-SPROG One command station operation. A number of workarounds should be applied:
  • Do not turn on the track power until the power supply to the Pi-SPROG ONE is turned on
  • Do not enable extra debugging through default.lcf, nor open the system console window
  • Do not open the SPROG console window
  • Disable power conversion (CV 29) in all locos
  • If connecting via VNC (or similar), setup the screen layout before turning on the track power
  Pi-SPROG One with version 2.4 or earlier firmware will cause a timeout after a track short circuit. A dialog box will open to inform the user of this. The track power will be turned off and must be turned on again using the power control.

Download links:

Please note that the download links in this and future JMRI releases link to Github servers. People are welcome to distribute the download files further via other websites, etc. If you want to check that you've received original, unmodified versions, please check the files against the checksums shown below.

Changes since Test Release 4.19.1:

The list of included commits is available from our GitHub code repository.

Hardware Support

• Fixed a problem introduced in JMRI 4.19.1 that prevented the function buttons in the on-screen throttles from working on some types of computers.
• Fixed a problem introduced in JMRI 4.17.7 that causes a partial crash when reading in historical consist data from the consist.xml file.

Logix

• The system names for generated Logix definitions created by Sensor Groups (SYS), LRoutes (RTX*), Route Exports (RTX*), USS CTC and LE Slips now have a standard Logix prefix of "IX:". The existing names in panel xml files will be automatically migrated during panel loading. A dialog box will be displayed with the results. The details of the affected Logix renames will be displayed in the JMRI System console. The migration will also apply to any other Logix which has a system name that does not start with IX.

Signals

Signal Masts

• Matrix Signal Masts can now drive up to 10 outputs.

Web Access

• The RESTful API end point /json/version (start the JMRI web server on your local computer to follow that link) has been added to provide a list of JMRI JSON API versions supported by the running JMRI instance.
• The JSON services have been rewritten to potentially support multiple version of the JMRI JSON API in a future release.
• JSON services now optionally take a version number as part of the URL. See the JSON Server JavaDocs for details of this change. This should have no impact on existing clients.
• The JMRI JSON API version has been incremented to 5.3.0 to reflect the above changes.

Virtual Sound Decoder

• In the jmriusers forum it has been suggested to open a JMRI throttle automatically when a VSDecoder via Roster Entry is added. VSD does already save the Path and the Profile of a VSDecoder in the Roster Media. This PR adds a new attribute: VSDecoder_LaunchThrottle = yes launches a JMRI throttle automatically. The new attribute is stored when the user clicks the "Save to Roster" button. The new attribute can be changed manually or by a Jython script.
• Rework on Auto-Load, see the details.
• Added a further action "STOP_AT_ZERO" for the "ENGINE_STARTSTOP" trigger. See the VSD documentation

Miscellaneous

• Petr Sidlo added a Pragotron clock, which is digital clock found in many European train stations.
• The getBeanByUserName and getBeanBySystemName calls in the various Manager classes are no longer needed with Java 8 and have been deprecated for eventual removal. Their replacements are getByUserName and getBySystemName respectively. If you use getBeanByUserName and getBeanBySystemName in script or Java code you've written, please switch to the new names.
• The system names for Routes are required to start with "IO" to avoid ambiguity or confusion with Reporters (the system names of which start with "IR"). JMRI 4.19.2 or later should automatically rename Routes correctly, but it is possible that references to those Routes will need to be updated.
• Daniel Bergqvist provided information on how to use the GitHub Desktop tool for JMRI development.
• Updated the JDOM library from 2.0.5 to 2.0.6. Removed the unused JDOM 1 support.

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