Date: March 14, 2017
From: Bob Jacobsen
Subject: Test Release 4.7.2 of JMRI/DecoderPro is available for download.
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 second in a series of test releases. We expect this series to end in the next JMRI production release around the middle of 2017. (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.
(Since JMRI 4.7.1) JMRI no longer supports the portable paths resource: or file: that
were deprecated in JMRI 2.13. When loading a panel, an error message will be displayed
if the panel contains a path that starts with resource: and the panel will
not load until changed using an external editor. Paths starting with file:
cannot be automatically flagged because JMRI allows file: URLs.
(Since JMRI 4.7.1) JMRI applications will not load a panel file that fails XML validation; an error will be shown that should explains the error, allowing it to be fixed using an editor. (The explanations remain a work in progress.)
(Since JMRI 4.7.1) The LocoNet Server (the LocoNetRMI service; not the LocoNetOverTcp service) in this version of JMRI doesn't properly interoperate with JRMI 4.6 or before. The workaround is to update both client and server JMRI machines to the same JMRI version. We expect this will be fixed in JMRI 4.7.5.
(Since JMRI 4.5.6) As part of fixing the TMCC throttle issue, the handling of TMCC preferences was changed. If you have a TMCC connection configured, please go to the "Defaults" pane in the Preferences window and make sure that the TMCC connection is selected for the appropriate device types.
(Since JMRI 4.5.2)This and future releases of JMRI may not function on OS X if the Java SE 6 provided by Apple is installed. OS X operating system updates routinely remove this version of Java SE 6. Please raise any issues concerning this on the user's group.
To remove Java SE 6 from OS X, follow these steps (these steps assume JMRI is installed in the folder /Applications/JMRI, if not, adjust the following paths as needed):
El Capitan only: Reboot into Recovery Mode by restarting your Mac and pressing Cmd-R until the Apple logo appears. Once in Recovery Mode, select Terminal from the Utilities menu.
/Applications/JMRI/PanelPro.app/Contents/Resources/uninstall-java6.sh It can take
up to a half hour to complete. Wait for the message Removed Apple Java SE6.
El Capitan only: Run the command bash /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/Applications/JMRI/PanelPro.app/Contents/Resources/uninstall-java6.sh /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD
It can take up to a half hour to complete. Wait for the message Removed Apple Java SE6.
(Since JMRI 4.5.2)Support for directly executing AppleScript within JMRI has been removed due to changes in macOS and Java outside our control. If you require the ability to use AppleScript, you may be able to add this capability on your own by visiting JMRI AppleScript Support, but please be aware that this may not work on upcoming releases of macOS or Java.
(Since JMRI 4.5.1)Internal turnouts and sensors need to have complete, individual system names. The names "IT" and "IS" (without any suffix) are no longer permitted: "IT12" is fine, but just "IT" is not. Most panel files that contain these should automatically migrate them to new names when saved, but in some cases you might need to manually update them.
(Since JMRI 4.3.3) You can now set the order of your startup items: If you're opening panel files, running scripts, etc as the program starts up, there's a preferences pane that lets you easily set the order in which those happen. If you've set the order manually (e.g. by editing configuration files) in the past, please check this preference to make sure it's set the way you want.
(Since JMRI 4.1.2) Jython has been upgraded to version 2.7.0 with the following potentially breaking changes:
java.io.IOException: Mark invalid error, set "jython.exec=true" in a custom python.properties file or rewrite the script to be less than 100,000 characters per file. Note that when using "jython.exec=true" it may be desirable to run the included script jmri_bindings.py as a startup action to emulate the evaluation environment used when jython.exec=false.(Since JMRI 4.1.1) Decoder definitions that use the "ivariable" form are now deprecated. Definitions included with this release have been converted to the new form. If you have decoder definitions with the older "ivariable" form, they will no longer validate, but can still be used for the first couple of test releases in this series. Please ask on the JMRI Users group for help converting them, or just drop them and use the current definitions.
Please note that the download links in this and future JMRI releases link to Github servers. If that doesn't work for you, the files up to 4.11.x are also still available from the SourceForge.net servers. Please let us know of any problems.